Our Hunt

Chapter 16 - Esme's POV

What's that on my nose? I thought lazily. I was awake, but still asleep. That kind of in-between stage, in which you are aware of things but not clearly. There it was again. A tap on my nose. This time it sent shivers down my spine. I stirred.

Tap.

"Urrrgh" groaning i turned over and lethargically slapped my face. I sat up upon performing this action as the 'tap' was in fact water droplets. My eyes fluttered open and my currently blurred vision showed the ice cave melting!

I took this opportunity to fill our three water bottles of the droplets, to stock up as there was a possibility we could land ourselves in some more trouble on the way to the river. Sam had told me that night, the river was famous for it's spectacular waterfall.

Three hours later and the cave had melted away just enough that it created a whole for us to scramble out of. I was the first to exit the frozen shield. With a little boost from Tanner I hooked my leg over the top and heaved my body out through the gap. The Ice drew all of the warmth I had from my body in one touch. Cautiously I slid down the side of the mound and landed onto the dewy foliage around us.

With Tanner and Sam eventually beside me, I suggested we kept trekking towards the river. Sam agreed, almost too enthusiastically, and lead the way, his confident/cocky personality overriding all other characteristics he possessed.

We walked and walked, for miles, but it felt good to be moving again, being trapped for nearly three days is not the best fun.

I was in an unusually good mood.

SAM'S P.O.V!!!

As we walked I smiled to myself. Thank the heavens the ice cave melted, I was worried we would be stuck there for longer. The quicker I can get rid of these idiots the better, I easier I can become champion, and become the beholder of the object! It was so close I could taste it, bitter sweet victory! A few miles to the river, the waterfall, I shall loose the love birds Tanner and Esme there and I can set off for myself. Up to the summit, where the object lay waiting for me, balanced in a golden basket in the tree tops. My mind wandered further....

TANNERS P.O.V!!!

I felt refreshed. The surroundings were still frosty but the temperature was rising, so all traces of ice and winter weather will be gone soon enough. It was a trick the mountain played on us. It tries to stop the contestants now and then. In one of the first ever hunts, the worst trick the mountain conducted was a huge forest fire, that killed all of the remaining hunters, leaving the object in no ones possession. Esme's mum encountered torrential rain that resulted in flooding, she and a few others survived (unfortunately including Joe, the man who killed her). Not good for them, but it sure was helpful to the desert that was bone dry, as it is now. I was totally absorbed in my own thoughts, that I tripped over a protruding root from a tree. Esme burst into a fit of giggles behind me and I blushed as I regained my balance. I turned to her with raised eyebrows, and she suddenly tried to restrain her laughter by clasping her hand over her mouth. I winked at her and she answered me with a huge grin.