23 weeks
We were again in the coliseum, and this time there were giant screens lowered down. The judge came out. "Today, the prisoners were taken to the top of the Mount Suinasid Trail. You can see them being removed from the back of a prisoner van. They all are unchained. They all are given a backpack, wearing appropriate clothes, and have with them one week of provisions."
The volume goes up on the screen. A Lycan looks at them, "This backpack contains enough food and water for a week, a sleeping bag, tent, first aid, and matches. This trail is treacherous and has the nickname avalanche windowmaker. You were shown how to survive an avalanche last night. It is easy to start one on this trail. It should only take 5 hours to go to the bottom if you're careful. It doesn't take much to trigger a death trap. Your collar has a tracker on you if we need to retrieve you. There are guards at the bottom of the trail."
They took off down the trail. Terrance, Sian, and Peter stayed together on the track. What they did was go into their wolf form. Which they were surprised they could do since they could not feel their wolf. A commentator says, "I know you are wondering how they turned into a wolf. The priestess knew they would need a wolf even to have a chance to get through the gauntlet. She had a portion of their wolf power placed in a charm. That charm holds around 48 hours of wolf power inside it."
We then watched as Peter attached their bags to Terrance and Sian. Sian carried Peter's bag. Terrance carried Peter. They took off cautiously down the trail.
Mitchell, Styles, and Kyle started down the tail in human form. These three had done mountain climbing together. They got a rope and tied themselves together. Then they took off down the narrow trail on the cliff's edge.
Xavier decided he would take off on his own. He was in his wolf form. He felt the pack and these younger ones betrayed him. He blamed them for him losing his power. He got up above Mitchell, Styles, and Kyle. He pushed a large rock and caused an avalanche to come down on them. He smiled at his accomplishment. He growled down toward where he saw them, "Sorry, Styles. You choose the wrong one to team up with. Kyle had kept quiet and not asked if one of the pups could be his. Our story would never have changed." He then carefully continued down the trail.
The crowd in the coliseum gasped in shock at what Xavier did. They watched him watching his sons and Terrance heading toward the way the avalanche had been. Xavier ran and met them. Peter said, "Dad, glad you're ok. Do you know if Mitchel, Styles, and Kyle are ok from that avalanche?"
Xavier pointed to where the worst of the avalanche went and said, "Kyles slipped and let out a loud yip. I saw the ridge above them break and come down atop them. Then it went down over the drop. They are gone."
Peter looked very sad. "Styles was a great friend. We were great sparring partners. I never expected to see an avalanche take him out. He was a great mountain climber."
Then they continued down the narrow ledge trail together. I was making sure to stay quiet.
The crowd at the coliseum was horrified to see Alpha Xavier acting that way. They could see from the camera on the collars flashes of red going in and out of Xavier's eyes. They knew he was losing his sanity. He was going pure rogue.
When they completed stage one of the gauntlet, a snowstorm started moving in. The Lycan who met them informed them that the mountain storm interfered communication. Peter reported that the top three of Crimson Blood were gone. Xavier showed them on the map where he thought they went over the ledge.
There were three hours of daylight left. The Lycan informed that phase 2 was the predator race. They have to get through the valley. This valley had wild animals. These were shifters who gave up their humanity but were not rogues. The animals in there would be hunting them for food. Lycan looked at them and said, "This is more about strategy than strength. Good luck."
On the way into the valley, they stopped. They made weapons. They used sticks, rocks, and ropes to make axes and spears. Peter was good at tracking. When they saw signs of wild packs, they headed up into the trees. Peter took the lead, followed by Sion, Terrance, and Xavier. They realized a pack of wild wolves was tracking them in the trees. They jumped and swung from tree to tree. Xavier moved ahead to ask Peter a question. When Sion and Terrance were looking below, Xavier broke the branch partially and then continued. He was talking to Peter when they heard a scream and a snarl. They double back and see Terrance's body being mauled by the wolves below. Peter went back and assisted his brother differently. They got to the trail that led out of the valley. When they hit that trail, the wolves turned around.
They climbed out of the trees. They started walking up the trail leading out of the woodland valley. Snow was coming down heavily. They got one tent built. They decided it would be crowded but better to stay together- the father and his sons. They ate their package meal and climbed into their sleeping bags for the night. They were tired and were glad Gauntlet 2 was done.
The people in the coliseum were stunned that Alpha Xavier had taken out four people in one day. His sons were not even aware he had done it. But the gauntlet was supposed to be survival of the fittest. They all went home. The judge announced that tomorrow's event would be the last. It would take place in the Coliseum.
The following day when Sian and Peter woke up, their dad was gone. They went outside and noticed all the extra gear and food were gone. They rolled up their sleeping bags and tent. They then continued to the top. Then they got there and found two Lycan guards dead. They saw their dad's collar on the ground. He had spread dirt over the camera. The people in the coliseum were shocked.
Sian and Peter unrolled their sleeping bags and placed the Lycan bodies in their sleeping bags. They sat down and waited for the Lycan guards to show up.
Their father was now a fugitive. They knew he had gone rogue.
The last day of the gauntlet was canceled, and the two brothers were sent to the Lycan jail.