The world twisted and got all blurry around us and we were back in the grand hall-arena. My stomach did this gross flip thing, probably thee effects of being teleported twice in minutes.
The noise hit me first. Cheering, shouting, groaning, crying, all of it mixed together into this crazy wall of sound. My eyes adjusted to the bright magical lights overhead, and I saw all the other competitors showing up around us in bursts of colored light.
Some teams were already celebrating, jumping and hugging each other. Others looked totally wiped out, dropping to their knees the second they appeared. A few were crying, their faces buried in their hands or their teammate's shoulders.
"We made it," Kai said beside me. His voice sounded rough and tired. "We actually made it."
"Yeah," I said, but the word came out flat. My eyes were already looking through the crowd, searching for...
