Page 149 - Fourth Wing

Don’t underestimate the challenge of the Gauntlet, Mira. It’s

designed to test your balance, strength, and agility. The times don’t
matter for shit, only that you make it to the top. Reach for the ropes
when you have to. Coming in last is better than coming in dead.

—PAGE FORTY-SIX, THE BOOK OF BRENNAN

CHAPTER

TEN

I look up, and up, and up, fear coiling in my stomach like a snake ready to

strike.
“Well, that’s…” Rhiannon swallows, her head tilted just as far back as

mine as we stare at the menacing obstacle course that’s carved into the front

of a ridgeline so steep, it might as well be a cliff. The zigzagging death trap
of a trail rises above us, climbing in five distinct switchbacks of 180-degree

turns, each increasing in difficulty on the way to the top of the bluff that

divides the citadel from the flight field and the Vale.
“Amazing.” Aurelie sighs.

Rhiannon and I turn, both staring at her like she must have hit her head.

“You think that hellscape looks amazing?” Rhiannon asks.
“I’ve been waiting years for this!” Aurelie grins, her normally serious

black eyes dancing in the morning sun as she rubs her hands together,
shifting from one toned leg to the other in glee. “My dad—he was a rider

until he retired last year—used to set up obstacle courses like this all the

time so we could practice, and Chase, my brother, said it’s the best part of
being here before Threshing. It’s a real adrenaline rush.”

“He’s with the Southern Wing, right?” I ask, focusing on the obstacle
course running up the side of a fucking cliff. It looks more like a death trap