V2Ch130 New Discovery

As the lead racers were nearing the end of the trap forest, a tiny black bird had landed at a particular spot. Several racers were passing by but, they did not interest the bird. The avian had managed to peck out two thin needles from a tree. One where Ruby had been not long before. The little bird had a destination to reach. It took off with the needles held in its beak.

Ruby had finally managed to catch up to Durt, no thanks to his scrounging at the collection obstacle.

"See ya, Sis."

This time, Durt had taken the ten coin door before Ruby could collect any. She cursed under her breath as the lizard man wasted no time in snagging a single coin and raced to the one coin door. She decided to do the same. At this point, other racers were about to catch up. Ruby wanted to stay ahead of as many of them as possible.

Durt was satisfied with a newfound bit of information. His idea from earlier may come to fruition on the final lap. Now that he was in the lead, he wasn't about to take any slow routes.

Ruby followed the lizard man through the one coin door. Surprisingly, a runner had come through the door only seconds later. Someone on foot was catching up with the fliers.

More than one runner had actually started to catch up. Unbeknownst to the participants of the race, the trap forest has a second purpose. If only fliers were in the lead, more traps were set in the air to slow them down while some ground traps were temporarily disabled, giving the runners a fighting chance. Similarly, if more runners were in the lead, there would be fewer air traps and more ground traps.

The trap forest obstacle is an equalizer.

To Ruby's horror, just as she had crossed the finish line, three runners and another flier had passed her. She was now starting the final lap in sixth place. However, she was now more determined than ever, as evident by an almost evil smile.

She put in some extra effort to move through an opening from the first obstacle just ahead of another contestant, causing her victim to get caught in the closing door. It wasn't lethal but the sounds coming from behind Ruby indicated to her that it was painful.

The second wall of doors had only 4 openings. Ruby moved into the slipstream of the contestant closest to her. As each individual sped through their individual openings, the corresponding doors closed behind them. All but one.

A treant with unusually long limbs was about to reach the final opening. He straightened out his body and shot through, causing all the other doors to open. Ruby was hot on his heels, causing that same door to close.

The third and final wall was in the same condition as the last. Four openings to five contestants.

Knowing how some treants were built, it was very likely that this one's body was very condensed. The weight of a single fae should be almost nothing to him.

As the treant ran, his lanky arms alternated forward and back. Ruby took hold of his left arm when it came back and within her reach. Just as she had hoped, she was brought forward at an increased pace. The treant brought his arm forward, she let go and was shot ahead stealing the opening in front of the flier. A loud thud could be heard as the flier wasn't able to stop soon enough to avoid the now closed door.

Ruby was finally able to return to her top speed, allowing her to slowly pull ahead of the runners before reaching the lava pit.

She knew that Durt was probably already on his way up the wall. The only way to have a chance at catching up would be to take the flying route of the lava pit.

*WHAM*

Just as she was about to enter the tunnel to the lower level, the treant fell from the sky directly in the line of her path.

His start was slow. She curved around to pass him again. Through the tunnel, she could hear his thundering footsteps, echoing around her.

He was about to follow her into the fliers path. 'What was his plan?' She wondered.

The tunnel got brighter and hotter until she emerged from the tunnel into the large open cavern. The heat was intense. The only motivation she had to keep going, was knowing that her brother had already successfully navigated the heated maze. Probably twice now.

She wove through the pillars as quickly as she could, lowering her expectations on how elegant she may look. Through her best efforts, the image of the treant was peeking through between pillars to her right. He was swinging from pillar to pillar, nimbly dodging any lava balls that came his way.

Ruby lowered her flying height to try and match his height. Her hope was that a lava ball would come for her and take him out.

She spotted it. A lava ball that could do the trick. She pulled a mid-air loop, narrowly avoiding the path of molten rock.

It flew straight between two pillars where the treant should have been. She flew forward and looked to her right, hoping to see some kind of evidence of a successful hit.

*WOOSH*

The same lava ball had come straight back through in the opposite direction. She stopped as hard as she could, her arms and legs propelled forward by her momentum. As it passed by inches away from her legs, she felt the burning heat sear her skin from the close proximity.

She watched it land against a pillar. A piece of the treant was attached to it and wrapped itself around the pillar, holding a large portion of the molten rock in place. The piece of the treant ignited in flames. He must have launched a piece of himself to counter the dangerous glob.

The distraction was too much already. Ruby rushed through the rest of the lava pit. She came out trailing behind the treant once more.

The cool air helped relax her some, but the burned flesh on her legs still throbbed.

The treant started doing something strange. Ruby watched him reach both of his arms forward. They stretched out further and further until they were maybe seven or eight times the length of his body. His stride slowed to allow for the abnormal action.

She saw her opportunity.

His arms fell and landed ahead of him, piercing and grabbing hold of the soil.

Ruby managed to reach his foot and latched on before his arms started to reel themselves in. She held onto him for yet another ride.

'This time will be a little different.' She thought to herself.

As he got closer to his hands, their speed increased exponentially. When they reached the last ten feet of his arms, he detached.

What was left behind were two thin-looking and leafless trees. The tops split and became branches. It was too fast for her to see up close but Ruby thought she saw sprouting buds on the branches.

The two were flying through the air. Ruby started climbing up the body of the treant. He finally noticed and turned to see his stowaway.

"Stooop. Riiiiidiiiiiing. Meeeeee."

His voice was deep, rough and had a dull echo to it.

Ruby just smiled.

"Hehee."

The treant was surprised at her expression. She got a good hold of him at both sides of his torso. The momentum of his launch gave her a slightly advantageous position.

Her wings began to flap. She didn't need to fly forward. All she did was move the trajectory toward the fliers wall on the right.

The treant began to notice what was happening. He started to struggle. His limbs seemed to reverse at the joints.

"Time to fly."

The treant suddenly got nervous and rushed his movements to catch her. It was too late. She had launched off of him and thrust him straight down.

Ruby let out another victory smile as she raced to the top, listening for the crash.

*boom*

The distance had dulled the sound of the impact. It still amused her, though.