Chapter 28: Hermia’s Trial
It was the seventh and eighth obstacles that defeated her. The first was of a strange wooden construct of bars and platforms that she had crawl around like a snake. By the time she emerged, Korrigan had taken the lead and Hermia was a half-second behind. The eighth obstacle was another net, only this time on the ground. Phantasia found her waistcoat entangled while Korrigan and Hermia slithered through with ease. They passed over the stream again – this time via a series of rope swings – for the penultimate tag.
The final tag was at the end of a long straight carved through the undergrowth and Phantasia could see the finish line in the distance. Korrigan was in her element now, sprinting forward with long, slender legs, while Hermia kept pace behind with her muscular thighs. If she darted forward in flight, Phantasia would pass them before they reached the halfway mark, but limited to her feet and wearing trousers impractical for sprinting, she found herself forced into a jog. It would be easy for her to leave it at that – winning wasn’t important, after all – but she’d come this far, and wasted enough time, that it seemed silly not to compete until the end.
Her trousers fell into the grass as she phased out of them and, free from their constrictions she dashed forwards. She knew she’d never catch the others, but by the time she crossed the line she’d gone from being half the stretch behind to only a metre. Ceres’s averted gaze when Phantasia came to a halt told her she’d made another one of her unintended blunders. Korrigan sauntered over, giggling.
“I’d never have thought you were the type to run around in your underwear!” she said.
Hermia had only just regained her breath when she noticed what had happened. She spotted Horatio hovering next to her, his face bright red, and thumped him hard in the shoulder. “STOP LOOKING, you pervert!” She slapped her hand over his eyes and dragged him away as he stammered protests.
“Poor guy,” said Ceres.
Korrigan appeared next to Phantasia and waved the now-battered trousers in her face. She put them back on, trying her best to laugh off the incident.
“I needed the extra speed,” she said.
“It’s awesome you could think that quickly!” said Korrigan, who showed no sign of the discomfort. Hermia, on the other hand, was still giving Phantasia a suspicious glare when she returned.
“How fast was she?” she asked Ceres.
“Nine minutes fifty-one,” replied the purple-haired hippie, checking the time against a list in her hand, “That’s faster than your first run!”
“Figures,” Hermia scoffed, “And look, not a bruise or scratch on her. She’s worse than Korrigan,”
Korrigan pouted. “Hey, that’s not fair!” she said, lifting her top to show her waist, “I’ve totally got scratches! And my hair is a mess!”
Hermia ignored her and walked over to shake Phantasia’s hand. “Well, at least we know you’re cut out to be part of the team,” she said, “Still gotta work on your team skills and you’ve got to get some proper sporting wear. We can’t have you stripping down to your underwear every time you get uncomfortable. I did say you should have changed,”
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