Page 35 of The Lost Art of Revealing Hidden Truths (The Lost Arts #3)

He should have guessed, actually. Molun struck him as the sort who would definitely forge off wildly and try to bring in that big win, and he just might succeed. He was pretty sure that Delana would do the same. Arvus might be more likely to play it safe. And that left Perian, Nisal, and Brannal.

“What do you want to do?” Perian asked Nisal .

They shrugged. “It does sound more fun to look for their ribbon.”

And it would be more active. Otherwise, Perian was going to wind up just standing around unable to actually defend the ribbon because he didn’t have any abilities.

“And just think,” Molun said, “if we can get you the ribbon, you can just run for it. None of us are allowed to stop you with our elements.”

“Uh,” Perian said, “please keep in mind that I don’t have the conditioning of a Warrior or Mage Warrior.

Onadal really tried, but I only ran when he absolutely made me.

Brannal didn’t say you can’t stop me physically , and while I’m sure that you’re not going to do anything to hurt me on purpose, I can see a flying tackle in my future if we use that method. ”

Molun waved this aside. “Nisal and I can protect you, and then you just go for it.”

Perian still wasn’t totally sure about the logistics, but he couldn’t help but be buoyed up by Molun’s overwhelming enthusiasm. (Even though this might be how all terrible ideas started.)

“We could split up,” Perian offered after a moment. “I could show you where the ribbon is, and then one of you stays to defend it, and the other two go after the other ribbon.”

“Too easy to be picked off,” Nisal said with a shake of their head.

Maybe strength in numbers did make the most sense.

“But,” Molun said after a moment, “that doesn’t mean we can’t try to muddy the waters a little. What if we cause a disturbance and then rejoin one another?”

“But if they’re all together, they’ll know we’re not attacking them,” Perian pointed out.

“But if they’re not, they won’t be sure if one of their team members is in trouble. Even if they’re all together, they’ll probably still wonder what’s going on. Are we actually all over there? Are we trying to protect our ribbon? Come on, let’s mess with them!”

Yes, this was definitely how all bad ideas started, but Nisal was grinning now, too.

“Let’s do it,” they said.

And so that’s what they did. They were heading in the best estimation that Perian had of where Brannal had been going yesterday, with a guess that he’d thought the same as Perian and had decided to get the ribbon further away as the best chance of it staying hidden.

They were all keeping their eyes peeled, trying to look for light yellow.

They spread out enough that they could just see one another but were covering more distance.

Periodically, first Molun and then Nisal would dart off, and there’d be the sudden sound of wind in the distance, or the spattering of water in the trees.

Perian supposed it was a bit like they were getting a sudden and unexpected shower in part of the forest. He tried to keep an eye on everything, amazed by just how much there was to look at when you were trying to scrutinize a forest. He was very glad Brannal had specified that they needed to tie the ribbons around a tree.

They had a range of a couple of feet from Nisal’s height to Brannal and Arvus’s, but that was so much better than the entirety of the forest from roots to crown of every tree.

If everything was still, Perian thought he might have a better chance at finding the ribbon, but it seemed as though everything was moving all the time.

It was the wind rustling through the branches and leaves, an animal scuttling around the ground.

It was the way the light was shining through the forest that made it look as though something had moved when it actually hadn’t.

There were the varying colors of the leaves in the trees, the leaves that had fallen to the ground, the ones that were still growing, the underbrush… There was a lot, and Perian had never inspected a forest as carefully as he was now.

Nisal darted off again, and Perian knew they would whip the fallen leaves around and send the wind whirling through the trees.

Perian hadn’t fully grasped how complicated this could be, and he felt like he was on tenterhooks, just waiting for… he wasn’t sure what, really. It was like a spring wound up inside of him, poised tight, because at any moment, he might spot that yellow material and need to bolt back to camp.

Nisal returned, and they continued to move forward, scanning every which way. Every time they saw light bark or yellowed leaves, Perian thought this might be it, but it never was. It was like a needle in a haystack.

It was a good thing Brannal had put a time limit on this, or they would probably have been out here until it grew dark, stubborn until the last.

Or what if Brannal’s team had already found Perian’s ribbon? What if they were sitting cozily by the fire while Perian and his team kept wandering, to finally head back there at noon, all defeated… to find that they now had to start cleaning everything up?

That was entirely possible, wasn’t it? How were you to know if the other team had won if you were just going in circles trying to find a ribbon that could be anywhere in this forest ?

What were the chances that you would just look up and—

Perian froze.

“Molun,” he called. “Nisal. Is that a ribbon ?”

They rushed over to him, and he pointed. Molun let out a whoop that he managed to half stifle as they realized that if there was about to be an ambush, they’d probably already given the game away.

Molun grabbed him, hugged him, and pressed a kiss to his hair.

“You’re the best. I knew I picked the right team!”

Perian could only laugh and try to be quiet, because he was still kind of stunned.

They all moved forward together, Molun and Nisal on high alert, because if the other team had decided they were going to stay here and defend their ribbon, then the three of them were going to be attacked at any moment.

Perian’s skin prickled with anxiety, but as they carefully approached the tree, there really didn’t seem to be anyone around.

“Stop!” Molun said, voice low but definite, and they froze.

Molun cautiously nudged forward with his foot over the leaf-covered ground in front of them, and then there was a gust of wind that blew away the ground cover that Perian realized was obscuring… a trap.

Oh, wow. A pit had been dug, and thin branches had been laid across it so that the leaves would obscure it.

Perian couldn’t tell how deep it was, because it was also filled with water.

It was pretty clear the whole team had worked on this.

If Perian’s team had fallen through, they would have been wet and annoyed, and Perian didn’t fancy trying to pull himself out without the help of the others.

Molun got a running start and jumped over the divide. It wasn’t too close to the tree, Perian presumed to preserve the root system. He wondered if Arvus had dug around the roots even out here. He probably had. Arvus seemed conscientious like that.

Molun reached up, and after a little bit of fussing, he managed to untie the ribbon. He grinned triumphantly and jumped back over the pit.

The ribbon was tightly clasped in his fist, and he looked triumphant, but he immediately handed it to Perian.

“Are you sure?” Perian checked. “You can probably run faster. Or Nisal. Nisal, you’re so good about not being noticed when you don’t want to be.”

But Molun was shaking his head, and so was Nisal.

“No, you’re the one with the best chance because we can’t slow you down with the elements.

Here’s what we’ll do. We’ll head back together, but Nisal or I will keep branching out and making noise elsewhere.

Brannal said we all have to get the ribbon to the fire pit, presumably so that we can’t just hide and ambush anyone who came close. ”

“If someone pulls it from my hand, you’re still going to love me, right?” Perian wanted to know, mostly joking.

Molun smacked a kiss to his forehead.

“Of course. And remember, them getting the ribbon back doesn’t mean they’ve won. They’ve got to hide it again, and there’s every chance that we can get it back from them, or at least keep harrying them with it. They’d have to shake us all off again to be able to hide it out of sight.”

That was true. They didn’t win by getting their own ribbon back to the fire. That made Perian feel better. He nodded, then looked at Nisal.

“Sound good?”

They grinned. “Sounds great. Let’s do this.”

Nisal went off first, and they heard a bunch of noise in the distance, which they assumed was them being an excellent distraction.

He and Molun were making their way steadily back towards the camp, but they’d agreed to go as quietly as possible.

This was the time they really didn’t want to attract attention.

Perian had the ribbon clenched hard in his fist, and he tried to relax a little.

That nervous energy was definitely piling higher and higher inside of him.

They had a chance of winning now, and he really wanted to do it.

Then Nisal was back, and it was Molun’s turn to take off, which he did with a grin and a wink, and Perian was amazed at how fast he could move without making a ton of sound.

“You all really train for this, don’t you?” he said quietly.

He knew they trained, of course, but even with this being an exercise, it felt different from what they did in the castle.

They smiled faintly. “We really do. Going after demons can just be a show of brute force and magic, but sometimes, you have to try to sneak up on a nest or get close to a group of lower demons before they attack.”

Perian nodded. He definitely wanted the Warriors and Mage Warriors to have every advantage against demons .

There was another clatter in the distance, and Perian was impressed with how far away Molun had made that sound. Hopefully, if the other team was anywhere near them, they wouldn’t think that they were sneaking back to camp at this very minute.

Molun rejoined them with a grin, looking slightly out of breath, and it was only when Nisal’s hand lowered that Perian realized they’d heard him coming and were ready to let loose had it not proved to be Molun. They really were good at this.

They continued on for a few minutes, and then Nisal slipped off again, disappearing almost noiselessly into the woods. Perian was doing his best, but being stealthy was definitely not his best skill.

Molun said, “I don’t think we’re too far now. It might be worth—”

It happened so fast that Perian couldn’t actually understand what was going on.

There was the sound of rustling, and what burst through the trees was huge, a blur of fur, fangs, and claws.

And they pounced , apparently, like they were the hunter who’d found its prey.

Perian saw Molun go down in a blur of thrashing limbs, heard snapping and screaming, and his heart caught in this throat.