Shattering the Alpha (Book #1)

The Lunar Trials Part 3

*NOT EDITED*

I was thankful that it was pretty bright outside. I think this would have been a million times worse if it were dark. I gathered whatever courage I had and started walking away from the crowd and towards my doom. Deeper and deeper through the clearing right before the woods. 

When I looked back, I saw that many of the members were off their seats and chatting. Yet, even from afar I could sense the nervousness. Nobody was particularly happy with how things were turning out. The kids were playing, but I am sure they had no idea what was going on. I tried to find Axel, to see him one more time before I left, but I knew that it wasn't in my best interest to waste time.

I pulled out my map and tried to focus. I unfolded it and stared at it. Hard. Well, this is absolute shit. I knew I was bad with directions, but I didn't know I was this clueless even if I were given a map. I rotated it several times, trying to make something out of it. Realizing how frustrated I was becoming, I started running towards the woods. I needed to let some of my anger out before I can focus. Running it off seemed like a good idea. Maybe that was stupid, but once the trees are cloaking me just a little bit, I can get the privacy to think and figure out what my plan is.

It did not take a long time before I was completely surrounded by trees. So, I grabbed the map again and took another go at it. Before, I could really focus, I heard a weird mechanical sound. I immediately got goose bumps and a chill ran down my spine. I just realized that I don't have any weapons on me, and nor was I allowed to shift. The sound paused for a second, then continued. And that is when I realized that this was probably one of the cameras that they planted here so that they can creepily watch everything that was happening. I released a sigh and tried to focus again on the map. Luckily, I noticed that in the bottom left-hand corner, there was a small rectangle with 11 little boxes in it. Was this their way of leaving me a clue?

I grabbed the pictures they gave me and tried to find a similar feature on that as well. I looked very closely, but I just couldn't find anything. I wasn't sure how long I had spent looking at the pictures, but when I looked up, I noticed the shadow on the trees was a little more slanted. I have to think faster! I'm running out of daylight time.

Putting the photo away, I thought about the map a little bit more. There were many symbols of trees, which was pointless to include because I was literally surrounded by about a million. I strained my brain, trying to think. There was also a little 'X' right by a right turn of a stream, and I was assuming that is where I was supposed to find the key. But, why would the little box be there?

Then it hit me: that was the stage! The big rectangle was the stage, and the 11 boxes represent the 11 council members. Ugh, those sons of bitches had to make this about them, didn't they?

Feeling a little triumphant, I figured out that this meant that I will have to tilt that map diagonally, to form a straight line with the 'X'. Perfect!

I started walking towards my destination, making a note of anything I saw, so that I can head back quickly without having to look at the map when I was racing a rogue. There was a huge boulder, that was also present on the map, and that made me feel pretty confident that I was doing this right.

I kept walking for a while, and eventually I started following a stream because that was the best way to stay on track, knowing that this stream was the right by the 'X'. It was very helpful that every curve of the stream was also drawn into the map, so I knew where I was relative to the key by counting turns.

The stream took a sharp right turn, and based on my counting and the map, I knew that I had reached my destination. I stretched my legs a bit and began looking for the treasure chest. It is silver, so I reassured myself that it shouldn't be able to camouflage with anything that was around it. I pulled the picture, to get another mental image of the chest before continuing. I didn't think they would bury it anywhere in the ground. That would have been impossible for me or the rogue to find. I also wasn't given a shovel, so I didn't expect to be doing any digging. So far, this was going well, and fingers crossed it will run this smoothly towards the end.