Klaus couldn't understand whether Maethe had been too innocent or too self-centered to have fallen into such a simple trap at the very beginning of the exercise
As soon as she managed to touch the flag in the center of the clearing, Nathan's voice cut through the silence.
"You fell right into our trap, didn't you?" Nathan said, and then Maethe heard the rustling of the bushes nearby.
Maethe turned around and before she could think about running, a sword lightly touched her shoulder.
"You're out." said a black boy with frizzy hair.
The girl from the athletics department took a deep breath, disappointed in herself. "I can't believe I was so foolish."
Nathan came out of the other bushes as well, put a hand on Maethe's shoulder and said:
"You weren't that bad, it's just bad luck that I'm the mastermind of my team. Now, tell me, you're on Klaus's team, aren't you? Tell me where he is and I promise not to steal your flag."
Maethe took Nathan's hand away from her and looked at him with disgust. "Do you really think I'm that stupid? I'm not going to finger my comrades like that, I know that elimination only obliges me to stay in a neutral area for fifteen minutes."
Then she turned her back on the two boys and started walking.
"Besides, if I were you, I'd be more worried about your flag being so badly positioned."
Klaus watched silently from the dense foliage as Nathan and his colleague talked to Maethe. The air was charged with tension and the expectation of an imminent confrontation. He held his bow tightly, ready to act at the right moment.
Meanwhile, Maethe used the minutes of her elimination to reflect on her strategy. She recognized her mistakes and was determined not to repeat them. With steady steps, she returned to the battlefield after fifteen minutes, her determination shining in her eyes.
As she approached the area where her flag lay, Maethe spotted Klaus and Lucas ready to defend it. She smiled, feeling grateful to have such reliable allies. With a nod to Klaus, indicating that she was back and ready to resume the fight, Maethe strategically positioned herself next to them.
At the same time, Nathan and his colleague, still feeling the impact of Klaus' counterattack, met with their team to discuss a new approach. Nathan was determined to recover the lost flag and show that his team was still in the game.
The forest echoed with the sound of rapid footsteps and snapping branches as the teams moved strategically, looking for opportunities to attack and defend. Klaus, Maethe and Lucas maintained a solid defensive posture, watching every movement around them. For the moment, it seemed that they were the only ones with the advantage of a flag.
However, suddenly a scream echoed through the forest. Klaus and Maethe, as the attacking duo, moved quickly to see what was happening. They soon spotted two boys from the Athletics Department running through the forest.
One was holding a flag, running as fast as he could, but the person behind him was Edward, and although they were running through trees with roots in the ground that got in the way, they were running very fast.
"He's fast," said Klaus.
"More than anyone." Maethe said, looking admiringly at Edward, and then shook her head, as if scaring away indecent thoughts. "And very dangerous too, of course. His team is in this region, we need to go the other way."
Maethe stood up and was about to turn around.
"Wait." Klaus grabbed her arm and stopped her. "He's running and he's busy, it's a chance for us to get either his flag or that of the team he's competing against."
"Didn't you hear me say that he's very dangerous? Lucas isn't with us, and his only advantage against a runner is a sword. There's no way you can fight Edward empty-handed."
"And who says we are empty-handed?" Klaus took an arrow from his quiver.