War Games<\/strong>.<\/p>\n[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.24.0″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.24.0″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_heading title=”Chapter 7: Up and Down” _builder_version=”4.24.3″ _module_preset=”default” title_level=”h4″ title_font=”|700|||||||” title_text_color=”#000000″ locked=”off” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_heading][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.24.2″ _module_preset=”default” text_text_color=”#1C1C1C” header_4_font=”|700|||||||” locked=”off” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n
I stood alone in the woods, waiting. Any second now, the five other teams would come crashing through the underbrush, bombarding me with paintballs.<\/p>\n
How did I get myself into these situations?<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause you\u2019re the bait,\u201d Asher had reminded me just before my teammates had run off without me.<\/p>\n
\u201cI hate being bait,\u201d I grumbled under my breath, clutching the messenger bag to my body.<\/p>\n
The yellow team found me first. The red team wasn\u2019t far behind. Every instinct I had was screaming at me to run, but I couldn\u2019t. Not yet.<\/p>\n
\u201cHand over the treasure, Savannah.\u201d Dante took a step toward me.<\/p>\n
Elliot of the red team cut him off. \u201cHey, not so fast. We agreed that our<\/i> team would retrieve the treasure. And that your<\/i> team would be backup.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI am not backup,\u201d Rhett said with disgust.<\/p>\n
I\u2019d gotten Dutch on my team, and Dante had gotten Rhett. Lucky us.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re not going to allow a team of meatheads to take possession of the treasure,\u201d Elliot declared.<\/p>\n
Rhett patted his paintball gun, a sneer twisting his lips. \u201cI\u2019d like to see you try to stop us.\u201d<\/p>\n
The other three teams arrived and immediately started pummeling the yellow and red teams with paintballs. That was my cue. I turned and ran.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019s getting away!\u201d someone shouted over the whoosh!<\/i> of paintballs.<\/p>\n
What remained of the five teams took off after me. I hopped over Asher\u2019s tripwire. As soon as I was clear, I broke out into an all-out sprint.<\/p>\n
\u201cLike we would ever fall for such a clich\u00e9 trick, Savannah Winters!\u201d Rhett taunted me.<\/p>\n
I could hear the heavy thumps!<\/i> of my hunters\u2019 shoes jumping over the very long rope.<\/p>\n
The sharp snaps!<\/i> of the dangling tree branches flicking against their heads.<\/p>\n
The springy zip!<\/i> of the trap, activated by all the commotion in the tree\u2019s lower branches.<\/p>\n
The resounding crack!<\/i> of the tree releasing its load.<\/p>\n
The wet splatter!<\/i> of paintballs and paint-filled water balloons breaking.<\/p>\n
The satisfying gasp!<\/i> of startled Apprentices, caught totally unaware.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe eliminated most of the enemy Knights,\u201d Bronte said as I ducked into the bush where my teammates were hiding.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think you mean I<\/i> eliminated most of the enemy Knights,\u201d Asher said with a smirk. \u201cIt was my plan.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd I executed it,\u201d I reminded him.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd a fine job you did too.\u201d Asher patted me on the back. \u201cOnly someone so short could jump over the tripwire without activating the treetop trap.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWow, you\u2019re complimenting me for being short.\u201d I rolled my eyes. \u201cAwesome.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWould you rather I criticize you for it?\u201d he chuckled.<\/p>\n
\u201cActually, I\u2019d rather serve a purpose other than bait<\/i> or short girl<\/i>,\u201d I told him honestly.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou guys can work this out later,\u201d Bronte snapped. \u201cWe need to get to the extraction point. And might I remind you all that we are still<\/i> outnumbered.\u201d<\/p>\n
She was right, of course, so we scooted out of our hiding spot and hurried toward the extraction point before our competitors untangled themselves from the painted pile. Anyone who hadn\u2019t been paint-marked was still in the game, and they would be coming for us.<\/p>\n
\u201cI see it!\u201d Kylie told us. \u201cThe trail marker! We just need to grab the phone attached to it and\u2026\u201d Her voice trailed off as she stopped at the post.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat is it?\u201d Asher asked her.<\/p>\n
Kylie turned around to face us, worry lines crinkling her brow. \u201cIt\u2019s not there. There\u2019s no phone.\u201d<\/p>\n
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\u2663\u00a0 The Knights of Gaia\u00a0 \u2663<\/h4>\n
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It\u2019s not easy being bait, but heroes make do. Chapter 7 of the Paragons Episode \u201cWar Games\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":2651,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ellasummers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2643"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ellasummers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ellasummers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ellasummers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ellasummers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2643"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/www.ellasummers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2643\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3167,"href":"https:\/\/www.ellasummers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2643\/revisions\/3167"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ellasummers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2651"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ellasummers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2643"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ellasummers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2643"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ellasummers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2643"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}