ZINA
Daemon in fact looked more annoyed that their little escapade had been interrupted, but when Marcus seed to be done pasting the posters, he addressed the crowd.
"I would like to say welco to the Arctic North, but considering that a lot of you will be leaving here in twenty-fours ti, I shall try my best to not make you very comfortable then."
So of the competitors shifted uncomfortably, while many wore a dark expression of seriousness like they were there to win and that losing was never even an option in the first place.
"They’re two thousand, seven hundred and seventy one of you here. You’ve been divided into groups of about thirty each to hunt down thirty artifacts that even I myself don’t know the location of."
The silence grew even more stifling as everyone listened to Daemon with bated breaths.
"That ans, they’re about ninety-three groups here, however only thirty groups who will each find the thirty artifacts will be able to advance to the next stage of the tournant. Seriously, it’s just good ole hide and seek, nothing too hard about it. I an there’s the fact that one group is allowed to find all thirty artefacts in order to weed out possible opponents, and there’s the fact that there is only a twenty-four hours limit to the ga, but how hard can it get?"
The crowd grew impossibly silent like a graveyard, but Daemon continued anyway. "To ensure fairness, I’ve employed the services of the notorious gambler, Belmont, in grouping the nas, as such, the groups have been assigned under the most random figure possible anyone could think of. So I assure you that the possibility of finding your brother or friend in one group is close to none unless the god of luck happens to be on your side."
If that was ant to assuage the crowd, the effect was far from that. As if on cue, the notorious Belmont waved from a lower pavilion where he stood, grinning while exposing so missing tooth.
Courtesy of his job description Zina was guessing. But who was she to judge?
"I am also unaware of the whereabouts of the artefacts. They have been skillfully hidden by the Hiders Organization who have only attached a vague map of each artifact in a sealed envelope that remains unopened. Each group will receive just one map."
On cue, Marcus displayed a bunch of envelopes that were in fact sealed by a rare golden seal. Zina knew it could only be the handiwork of the Hiders, an organization that was once made of common highway bandits but later rebranded themselves as people that could skillfully hide anything or anyone for that matter depending on preference.
They were so rich they could afford using lted gold as a seal.
"To ensure fervent fairness, they aren’t here like my good friend Belmont because their job has not ended yet."
The crowd glanced back at Daon dumbly while Zina sighted Fionna where she leaned against a wall, looking bored out of her mind. But despite her posture that indicates a lack of interest, Zina knew the woman was listening intently... possibly more than anyone. Yaren himself stood off to one corner, looking very unapproachable.
"Oh, I must have not ntioned it," Daemon said, feigning confusion, "for every three hours an artifact is not found, a Hider would be sent to change the location of the artifact thus rendering the map useless."
So the map was only valid for three hours?
The crowd groaned out at that, while so seed to curse at the fairness slash lack of fairness of the entire situation. There were too many of them, but amongst the grumblers, Zina could see so n and fewer won that had determination and steel sewn in their face.
"To ensure an even staunch fairness, another poster on the rules of the ga would go up, and the location of the ga will not be communicated until midnight which is when the ga will start." Daemon drawled, obviously enjoying the whole affair although his bland expression didn’t betray that. anwhile, it seed as though even the ones that rumored that Daemon would be unfair due to Yaren now wished the man would not be fair anymore.
"The ga is starting in the middle of the night?!" One man scread, his voice tinged with disbelief.
"Is that how to address the Alpha King you uncouth riff raff!" Another man intoned, "and why ask such a hussy question you wuss? Whatever happened to your wolf sight?"
Zina shivered at the thought that such uncultured n were participating in the tournant. But it wasn’t just them, so reputable Packs and even the four Houses sent their children to participate too, but winning the ga now seed like a gamble itself.
How would she be able to help Fionna?
The first ga seed to be a test on one’s ability to work in a group. A Pack was not run by one man; if the Beta, Delta, Gamma and Enforcer didn’t know how to work as a team, that was already a big flaw in itself so the first ga made logical sense. But the way Daemon was going about it would cleave the competition’s number heavily.
He was already making the most elimination using the first round.
If every of the thirty groups received one map and they would expire in three hours, how would they know where to find the location of other artefacts? Zina could imagine how; by spying and stalking the opponents and then by staking their whereabouts as well.
What a bloody ga this would turn out to be.
"Are you not leaving or do you want to continue to stay here and imagine what yours would be like?" Daemon taunted her while he made to leave.
Zina scowled at the back of his hair. She turned to follow him out as well, but then goosebumps peppered her skin as the hair on the back of her neck rose to pricking heights.
Zina turned sharply back at the crowd, searching for the culprit. Soone had been staring intently at her in a manner that had been far too aningful to ignore. It certainly wasn’t a familiar stare, besides, a quick sweep of the crowd showed that both Yaren and Fionna were no longer there.
Zina frowned, unable to shake off the sensation.
"I must say, I am jealous of whatever has stolen your attention this much."
Zina rolled her eyes while she followed Daemon out this ti around.
"It’s another banquet for your coronation this ti around. Pray tell, will you be gifting diamonds again?" Zina teased just for the sake of making conversation, but apparently, Daemon took her seriously for his dark eyes appraised her.
"Diamonds have gotten old," he said with a chuckle, "I’ve sothing far more interesting that would play out tonight. An Alpha searching for his missing Beta."
Strangely, despite their previous tug and tug on the issue, she found herself grinning at that.
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