Uncovered

Chapter Seven - Loky

Listening to Finn give his motivational speech whilst standing between two hulking men, Loky felt the world around him go into slow motion. With no clue in the world as to what this session would involve, he saw Finn's mouth moving, but was unable to comprehend the words. His whole body pulsated with a mixture of anticipation and nerves, his ears were ringing with white noise.

When Finn stood directly in front of him, his whole focus shifted, and he heard. He heard Finn's deep voice as it thundered through his ears, he heard the assertive, confident tone as it washed over him like a rogue wave. Most of all he heard the words. And from the way Finn stared into his eyes; looking straight through to his soul, he knew then that failure was not an option.

Standing in front of them all again, Finn was now holding a large pitcher of wine. Loky waited anxiously for the toast. God knows why he had wine. What was there to celebrate?

"Today,"

Finn began, holding up the pitcher with one hand,

"you have all come here for the chance to earn endless wealth, and have the opportunity to uphold one of the greatest honours bestowed to a man."

He continued even louder, his deep voice booming across the arena.

"You are not going to war. You are here to guard the wealthiest man to have ever lived, Mavric Wyatt... With your lives."

"The price you pay is high, yes. Your families will be compensated for; if you had the nerve to leave any behind."

Loky listened intently, as did all the others.

"Today I make a toast to you. May the successful ones live long and prosperous. The remaining... let's hope you've done enough in life to pass through hell."

Well, that was certainly encouraging. Finn walked over to the first man, and offered each one a single sip until it was Loky's turn to accept his fate. With a shaky hand, he grasped the pitcher and stared into the opening, contemplating that his entire future would depend on this very day.

He didn't allow himself to think of the consequences as he lifted the pitcher to his lips, tilted his head back, and swallowed one large gulp of the deep red brew. His nose tingled, and his throat felt hot as it went down. Loky didn't drink often, so he had a harder time swallowing the mixture then everyone else. Finn continued down the line and Loky couldn't help noticing there was a funny taste left in his mouth.

"Let the games begin!"

Finn's deep voice boomed across the arena and Loky's mind raced contemplating what the first test would be and whether he'll be ready.

***

Sweat was flowing freely over every inch of Loky's body, as he, and everyone else, was in the middle of their first test. A 10-kilometre run through the hunting game park, behind the Manor. They had to weave through tall trees, jump over logs, duck under low branches and a small section of the course ran past a rapidly flowing stream. This place would have been beautiful if his lungs weren't burning and he had time to stroll through at an easy walking pace.

His legs were currently running on autopilot, each movement burned every muscle, and he was pretty sure his feet weren't even touching the ground. Gulping in as much oxygen as he could to stop his head spinning, Loky was only in the middle of the pack. This wasn't a race, Finn specifically mentioned this at the beginning. Along with the fact there were no rules.

Out of nowhere, someone grabbed Loky by his collar and pulled him backwards. "Out of the way shrimp." Almost falling over himself, Loky watched the sweaty back of the large, middle aged man run further ahead. Something stirred within, some sort of primal instinct that didn't like being pushed around, sending Loky's feet running faster. He will catch this man, and he will learn what happens when you pick on someone for their size.