Valiance

Chapter 18

Holy cow! This is chapter 18! Ahhh! Hope you all like it and thank you for sticking with the story! Enjoy and leave comments about what you think! Next chapter is going to be BIG! lol. Anyways, enjoy!

Chapter Eighteen.

Gage woke in the morning, the sound of shuffleing feet around him.

“What's going on?” He asked, a little groggy. All of the others were already awake, putting their boots on. He mimiced them and stood, tightening his belt. The sun was only beginning to rise over the fields. The sky was a golden grey colour; it would be a warm day.

“I think you should all see this!” Chale shouted from a bunch of trees set in the middle of the field. He saw Sephy, talking to Alec and Clint. She met his gaze for a moment and then turned away again. He wondered if she had returned to camp immediatly after they had spoken, or if she was alone for a while, like he had been.

“He has been shouting for over ten minutes!” Swithin moaned.

“What's up?” Gage asked Alec. He shrugged his shoulders.

“I have no idea. Chale just went to stretch out his leg and then he woke everyone up, yelling. They all took their time walking over to Chale who was leaning against one of teh several trees for support.

“Through here.” The sky above them was clear and blue. It would be a nice day back in Vistic. They followed Chale into the clump of trees and froze when they reached the other side.

“I'm going to kill Eragon.” Gage swore, his mood changing dramatically, catching everyone's attention for a split second before they all saw what he did. Five people stood infront of them with bags over their heads. They were all different shapes and sizes; one very tall and obviously female, while another in a wheelchair, hooked to an oxygen tank. Although they couldn't see their faces, it was clear who each of the people were; Alec's brother, Swithin's friend, Cint's grandmother, Chale's mother and on the end, Joshua. It seemed, that Sephy got a free pass this time. All of the covered people infront of them seemed a little different, Gage noted. He was unable to see their faces, but something was strange. Joshua stood, a little oddly. Gage looked at Sephy and exchanged a horror stricken glance with her. He then moved his eyes back to his brother.

Sephy turned at the sound of rustleing. Behind them, a man in a purple suit appeared, his black hair slicked back with a little poof on top.

“Hello ladies and gentlemen of Vistic! I am privilaged enough to be here with contestants Alec, Clint, Swithin, Persephone,” he passed them, trailing his hand on Sephy's arm. “Chale and last but not least, the man who has caused so much contraversy, he has gotton his own billboard, contestant Thirteen, Gage Welker!” The man went and stepped infront of the hooded boy in the wheelchair and all of them exchanged confused glances.

“My name is Julius and I will be the game keeper for this lovely bunch.” Julius's face looked young and fresh but it was clear that he had to be in his late thirties. He wasn't old, but he was no fresh daisy, either. Gage eyed the people with the bags over their heads. None of them moved an inch as they stood, completely still. He glanced around himself to look for the cameras that were clearly filiming Julius, but couldn't see any.

Sephy tried to take a step forward to go to Julius, but Gage held her arm back. His hand sent goosebumbs up her arm as she was glad Gage couldn't see them. The others around her were completely motionless. They didn't go to speak and she thought she even saw Gage go to speak, but no sound came out, he just stood, looking at Sephy. The hairs on the back of her neck rose as she felt something in the pit of her stomach. It was a gut wrenching feeling. Today would not be a happy day. It would always be remembered.