Safehaven

Chapter 35

Striding toward us with green eyes aglow, the man's shape resembled that of a shadow. His lean frame looked like it might blow away at the slightest breeze, but he traipsed on relentlessly. I stared openly. What in the world was he doing here? Nobody had claimed the orb. Finally reaching the center of the clearing, Nathen stopped and turned to Holly. She was still shivering, but I couldn't tell if it was from the trauma of the cold. The wind had picked up, and waves pounded the side of the cliff, creating a dull roar. Slowly, Nathen peeled off his wind breaker and draped it over Holly's shoulders. The girl accepted it gratefully. Then, Nathen spun to the rest of us. "The game is done. Head back to the castle." He had to shout to be heard over the howling wind. Wide eyed, my friends and I obeyed, Holly tucked in our midst. Mark and his group followed at our backs, but stopped when we reached the glowing org, which symbolized the end of the game. "But nobody's won the game." Mark almost whined. His face was pulled into a pitiful frown. His friends mirrored him. Nathen, who was at the back of the procession, scratched his chin thoughtfully. "Some one almost died tonight, boy. Are you really going to ramble on about a winner? Besides, the person to blame is yourself." At this, Mark hung his head, but I could see that he wasn't sorry for what he had done. He was sorry that the game had to be stopped, but he continued along with his group was they trampled on. Around 20 minutes later, our party broke through the dense thicket, and onto the grassy school grounds, where Sage and the soul mates were waiting. The girl was having a nasty cut on her forehead cleaned up by one of the nurses. The animals lounged at her feet. But, at the sight of us, she leaped up and squealed. And much to the nurse's distress, Sage barreled towards us, animals at her heels. She merged into our group and smothered Holly in a great big hug. She pulled away. "I heard what happened." She said, suddenly solemn. "You alright?" Holly just shrugged. The wind breaker she had been given was a little large, and slipped off one of her shoulders. "I fine. But I'm not volunteering to do that again." She quickly added, earning a slight chuckle. It was such a relief that we were all back together again. Over the course of the next hour, everyone was checked out by attendants on the seen. As a friendly nurse checked for broken bones, I saw Mark and his posse being thoroughly scolded by Nathen. And yes, Mark did look a little upset. I had to smile at that. Finally, my friends and I were free to go back up to the castle. Because of tonight, school was canceled tomorrow as sort of a "recovery" day for the Games competitors. In other words, everybody was happy, and Holly was treated like a hero. And even though it was like 11 o'clock at night, hundreds of students were still out and about in the castle. We got several compliments as the Ember Keepers made their way back to their rooms. When the door to the noisy hall was shut, a huge sigh of relief as let loose. Quinton and Sage collapsed on the couch, along with Dash and Felix. Holly made it a little further and wilted into a padded chair by the fire with Rinal. Even with the hot flames throwing light across her face, the girl refused the give up the jacket. Instead, she huddled in like a blanket and fell asleep in seconds. That left Jada, Antigone, and I still standing. Sage and Quinton were now snoring on the couch. Quietly, the 3 of us exchanged good nights and creaked up the stairs after one another. I stumbled to my door, Gwindol not too far behind. At our approach, the doorknocker spoke. "Password?" I mumbled something unintelligible and leaned against the doorframe for support. I was so fatigued, all I saw were shadows. The door swung open, and I somehow made it into my room. I slipped on my night clothes and crawled into bed. Practically melting into the covers, I bundled up to ward off the draft. Gwindol huffed, and settled for the crook of my knee. There, he curled up like an oversized cat, ears twitching every so often. I sluggishly mulled over the day as sleep took hold . Everything seemed so surreal! The prophesy, the Games, had that all happened today? As I succumbed to the realm of the night, one thought kept echoing in my head. I had flown.