I went out of balance earlier and I think First's hands that were holding my legs got stuck and... I was falling. I was unsteady because Fifzen's dracodile spewed fire that we didn't expect. Our dracodile suffered damage, that's why it twitched in painwhile avoiding the fire. That explains the heat that I am feeling. The light burn that I got made me twitch. I'm not sure, but when I fell, I saw the grin of one of the gold team's members riding on Fifzen's dracodile.
"Ahhh!!!" I squalled out loud.
This is even worse than our elevator ride. Is this it? The end of me? I still want to get to know myself and gain all my memories back. I can't die yet.
As my tears rolled down my cheeks before I completely landed on the ground, I saw a dracodile approaching me. Is that Third? With so much distress I am feeling, I just closed my eyes. I am waiting for them to catch me, hopefully.
***
"Hey! Second, hey!"
I can hear a boy's voice. I opened my eyes, and my vision became blurry. I blinked and saw them all around me. Ninezen? Why is he here with me? I am lying down, and my head rests on his lap. Aeizen, Sectwen, and Thirtwen are also here. Why am I with the gold team? What happened after I fell?
"Second, are you okay? How do you feel?" Thirtwen questioned me.
"Good thing we caught you," Sectwen commented.
"Yeah, just on time," Aeizen added.
I smiled at them. I sat down and coughed. Indeed, this is a miracle. I thank them for saving me. If it wasn't for them, I'd be dead. I did not expect that the enemy team would save me. Friendship beats this game, huh?
I sat up straight. "W-Where are they?"
"There," Ninezen pointed at my group, who had just landed. First, Third, and Fourth ran closer to us.
"Second…" Fourth was crying and hugged me. This girl has always been tearful. "Please don't do that again." She pleaded like she was begging me not to die.
I looked at myself, and I had no severe wounds. Just a few scratches, my tracksuit is dusty, and my hair is messy.
"Thank you," Third expressed his gratitude to them.
I got up and shook myself. "Thank you. Words might not be enough to express my gratitude but…" I bowed to the four of them. "Really, thank you!"
They smiled at me, and Aeizen, Sectwen, and Thirtwen got on board. Ninezen talked to us before boarding. "Pardon our team's behavior." Then he ran and rejoined his group to fly.
Third just nodded and we left speechless. "Let's go," he commanded. Even though we act as two teams, the gold team has a certain gap from each of their own.
"Oh, Third," he turned to me. "This is it." I handed him the gold necklace I had gotten earlier. Well, I managed to hold it tightly as I fell into the thick air. Thank goodness. My sacrifice was for something.
He looked surprised. "I didn't foresee you to claim the necklace from them despite you falling off." He adjusted his eyeglasses. "Good job." He smirked, and he took the necklace and hid it in his pocket. I was glad because Third praised me. I feel like my boss commended me and promoted me to the job. "But next time, try to be more careful. Stop digging your own grave, okay?" I chuckled at what he said.
Have I always been this reckless? This is the second time I have almost got scolded for being one. The first is when First and I were in the maze. I should really reconsider my actions to protect myself and my team. First patted my back and gave me a warm and reassuring smile. He looks like he agrees with what Third said.
We ran because we have one more necklace to seize to finally clear our goal for this category. To be honest, I feel guilty for stealing their necklace because Ninezen's group helped me from the instant death fall. Do I deserve this second life of mine? Do they deserve to lose like this? I am doing such dirty work. I don't deserve their kindness at all.
We stopped running in front of our silver dracodile to ride when…
"Oh my! Our silver necklace is missing!" Fourth shrieks.
Huh? I saw that the necklace hanging from one of our dracodile's feet had gone missing.
"Sh*t! We're tricked. D*mn!" Third cursed angrily. His fist clenched and he frowned.
Because of my accident, they didn't keep an eye on our dracodile and the necklace on it. The gold team took that chance to steal and trick us. I don't know if it was Ninezen's group that, while Third parked our dracodile to check on me or the other gold team of Fifzen did it.
I did not anticipate this to happen, but it is not impossible. Ninezen's group as a culprit renders a higher chance of doing it since I didn't recognize Fifzen's group landed near our dracodile. I abruptly remember the grin I saw earlier before I finally fell. An accident happened on our team, but it gave the gold team an unprecedented chance. Now, I feel worse. I don't know anymore if I helped my team or got baited, which can lead to our loss. I bit my lower lip out of frustration. Not a bad move, gold team.
"Argh!" Third is trampling on the sandy ground out of annoyance. "Hop on, we still need to seize the remaining one."
The frustration is evident in Third's voice and tone. Only now have I seen him become troubled like this. He is your type of leader who is competent and afraid to be beaten but in the right way.
We obeyed his command but even before the dracodile spread its wings and flapped them in the air, we saw Fifth's group land by our side.
"Fifth, what happened?" Third was astonished as he questioned Fifth. We were surprised as well.
Fifth frowned as if he were troubled. "We landed when the gold team said that you guys are in danger, but you guys weren't even there, so when we are about to go back to fly…T-They got ours."