Each step is a gamble; each stride is unknown as for the journey ahead you never know where it will take you. Having made it through the first arch intact the grey stallion couldn’t help but smirk, maybe this wouldn’t be all as bad as he had originally thought. Continuing forward with confidence it soon comes to light that things are not as safe as he had first thought. Following the path of assumed safety had worked for the first part but now that the path leads deeper into heart, things start to change for the worst. Where the leader had once stepped has now become unstable making the ground heave and twist beneath the earth, making things rather difficult to keep your footing. Stumbling a couple times as the ground broke down beneath his hooves the stallion slowed his pace drastically praying that he would not break his leg on one of the deeper holes.

One hoof in front of the other, that’s all that is possible at the moment but there had to be something more to help him gain some ground, but what? Racking his brain the only logical thing to do is to break from plan A and move onto plan B, whatever that one is. His thoughts were cut short as pain seared up his left hind leg unexpectedly as the loud hiss rang out around him. As the left hind hoof hit the ground it gave way just as the earth collapsed around it sending him sprawling forward fighting for balance like a newborn taking their first few steps. The hot geyser of steam continued to scream out as finally the grey managed to steady himself with all four legs splayed out sideways. Gritting his teeth to ride out the scalding pain he worked up the courage to look back at what damage the steam had done to his hind leg. While the hair was still present upon his hide but upon closer examination the skin over the outermost portion of his calf was bright red and felt like it was on fire. Damn!! That was hot!

Touching the tip of his hoof to the ground he was relieved to find at least everything was still working as it should. It was only the skin that had been damaged with the scalding steam, now the only hope was that it did not happen again. Trying to soothe the worry from Kiara he forced himself forward a few steps as if to prove that the damage was minor. Sucking in a breath he managed to push himself back into a full canter turning his eyes ahead once more to focus on where they needed to go next. The addict from before seemed to be just as tipsy as when they had sparred but had taken the opportunity of his mishap to pull ahead of him, not for long. Veering from the path he was following he decided it was wiser to take the path less travelled, at least in this situation.
The solid ground beneath his hooves felt great compared to the softened holey stuff from before, why hadn't he chosen to make his own path in the first place? Oh well, it was too late to change his original idea so he would just have to make up for it from here on out. A soft groan escaped his lips at the lull of pain caused by his scalded flesh as the muscles rubbed at it with each movement, once this was all over he would need to do something to take care of it.

Shaking his head a new bout of determination locked into place as his gaze focused on the other two studs up ahead, he was not going to give up that easily. Rounding through the second archway he knew he had to move faster if he was to catch them, time to take things up a notch. Pushing himself faster he blazed across the newly travelled ground not willing to make the same mistake twice, this was far from being over and he would prove it by winning this race one way or another.



Ciceron talks
Ciceron thinks
Kiara speaks