As she doubled back to return to the starting bank, she realized the problem.
They were to swim the length of the lake three times. She might be able to avoid the men who sought to bring her down, not just slow her down, with speed as she swam ahead of them. But when she circled back, they would be waiting for her. She’d have to gothroughthem with each pass.
The yellow-haired man surfaced close to her, on his way in while she was setting back out. He dove back beneath the lake, and she dove with him, needing to keep him in her sights.
Under the veil of the water, he withdrew a dagger and charged at her, his hand swiping deadly strokes at her torso.
This man knew how to fight in water, Rui realized. And he was very good at it. It was all she could do to block his attacks and avoid the blade.
One of the biggest challenges of fighting in water, besides the lack of air and the viscosity, was that if blood was drawn, the wound wouldn’t close. Rui had to avoid his blade at all cost.
She somersaulted and deflected, kicked and elbowed. And was only able to get past him with a well-aimed jab to his temple.
But not before his blade caught her forearm, leaving a two-inch gash.
She propelled herself forward, back toward the starting shore, as he swam the last lengths in the opposite direction, knowing that he couldn’t stop her this time without the risk of losing the race himself.
She surfaced and looked behind and around.
She was in the lead. Two other men were now ahead of her attacker.
One of them was on the far side of the lake, farthest away from her. She couldn’t see him well, but she knew him anyway. His broad, muscular shoulders gave him away as he stroked through the water, his arms like powerful human oars.
Wolfe.
If he kept this up, he would be one of the four contestants who moved to the next round.
She dove under again and focused on winning the race herself.
The gash on her arm wasn’t deep. She kept it close to her body to stem the flow of blood. She didn’t have time to stop and wrap it, which would help. She needed to finish this race before her strength seeped out along with her blood.
The dark-haired man with the broken nose was waiting for her close to the original bank. He came at her with a dagger as well, but she batted him back without a thought. Unlike the other man, he was not used to water, moving too slow and clumsy to be a true threat.
Back and forth she swam.
With each pass, the blond man managed to leave a new wound. Though she maintained her lead, her many bloody slashes were draining her.
The water was not her friend in this instance. It exacerbated her wounds, stealing her strength instead of invigorating her.
It was Wolfe, Rui, her pursuer and two other men between them who were clear favorites to win the race.
The dark-haired man who attacked her first had long-since been disqualified for not completing even one leg of the competition. But that didn’t prevent him from trying to slow Rui down whenever she came back to the original shore.
On her final leg back to the starting point, Rui could feel her limbs dragging. Her strength was all but depleted. The blond man was gaining on her. He was taller and stronger, and no matter how she tried to even the odds to turn his own blade against him whenever they clashed, she could never cut him.
There were times when she thought for certain the blade met flesh, but he always came away unscathed. Either his skin was impenetrable or he was bloodless, because she couldn’t spill even one drop of blood.
His hand made a grab for her foot. She kicked as she dove, narrowly escaping him. He dove after her.
Deeper and deeper they went, only a hundred yards from shore.
He slashed at her calves with the dagger, but she anticipated his moves, twisting away at the last moment.
She kicked as she turned, connecting with his weapon arm, making him loosen his grip. She kicked again, aiming for the wrist, and jolted him enough to drop the blade.
He dove for it, likely knowing he needed this advantage against her.
She dove as well, undulating her body furiously, harnessing all of her remaining strength.