Being A Champion

The Forest

"Champions! Ready?" Maya cracks her next.

"Three!" She takes in a deep breath, slowing her heartbeat.

"Two!" Her eyes focus in on the deep, dark woods ahead, starting to adjust to the darkness.

"One!" Her mind empties out. Only sole instinct remains, it's all she'll need.

The loud canon echoes out and Maya is already sprinting through the trees. Every fiber in her urges her to create distance between the two boys, then move into a more stealthier approach. She flies past trees, jumps over roots and dodges branches. She can hear the heavy pounds of feet behind her, looking back Lucas is a few feet away while Charlie is even further back. She can hear Lucas' heavy breaths and Maya smirks, she's not even at half her speed. Deciding playtime is over, Maya goes all out and leaves the two champions in the dust. She can't tell if her feet are touching the ground anymore, she feels like she's flying and she knows those two won't keep up. 

She continues to sprint until her calves start to pulse and she is certain she can no longer hear them. She stops quickly and surveys the area. Trees are becoming thicker and the air is darker and colder. She holds her breath and listens to any warning of another presences. It's odd how eerie silent it is and yet, how deafening the woods are. Not a single sound enters Maya's ears, but the silence seems to yell out. Letting out her breath, Maya controls her breathing to normal. She's not entirely sure how far she ran or if she's even close to the center of the forest, all she knows is she needs to keep moving and be ready for whatever the forest throws at her.

She quietly, but quickly continues into the thickets of trees. Her steps are careful, her head is constantly moving looking for any threats, her wand is ready by her side, spells on the tip of her tongue. She won't be caught off guard, she can't be caught off guard. Not with all the time she has put in, that Headmaster Woods put in with her. She'll win this and bring her school honor and glory.

That's when she hears it, the slightest rustle of leaves, extra footsteps. 

Maya stops abruptly, crouching low and looking off to her right. The darkness is thick, concealing whoever-whatever-is stalking her. Her breaths are even, heartbeat stays steady, she's not afraid, she can't be afraid. Her eyes slowly rake the trees and shrubs, looking for the slightest thing out of place. Her ears are on high alert, listening closely trying to find extra breathing. Keeping low, Maya carefully makes her way over to where she heard the sound. She doesn't do the whole hiding game, if Lucas or Charlie wants to follow her and not find their own way to the center, well Maya can't have that. She'll just strike their asses down right now if she has too. 

As she comes closer to the area, a loud shriek has her jumping into a defensive stance and her wand at the ready. Whipping around, she hears loud steps charging towards her and whatever was in the bushes are forgotten as the creature comes into her sights.

"Oh, this is gonna be fun." She mumbles with a grin.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Holy shit!" Spencer roars out as the crowd gasps.

Riley's heart just about explodes out of her ribcage seeing the beast in front of Maya.

"Oh my god! That's a Manticore!" Farkle screams out in confusion. "'Safe this year' my ass!" Riley's jaw slacks, her hands shake, she's frozen in fear and she's not even near the beast. 

"I thought those things were only found in Greece?" Spencer yells right in Riley's ear and any other day she would be pissed, but she can't even find it in her to blink. The beast is huge in stature, it's body pure muscle, that dangerous tail sways slightly, the darts ready to be launched. Riley is almost falling over the railing, her eyes trained on the screen meant for seeing Maya.