“Enkerai! Calm down,” Araktobi gasped trying to keep his younger brother’s head above the water despite his wild thrashing, “You’re ok! I’ve got you, I’ve got you!”

Enkerai slowly relaxed as he realised he wasn’t sinking into the water, and let his brother carry his weight. Araktobi gently guided Enkerai’s body to the bank. Araktobi may have been heavyset, but he was a skilled swimmer. During the uneventful trade times, he would often volunteer to teach swimming lessons. Enkerai, despite Araktobi’s pestering, had never attended. And now it had cost him the Gauntlet.

“Tobi… Tobi,” Enkerai panted, crawling across the mud, “I couldn’t- The water-.”

“You weren’t ready, Enke,” Araktobi slapped Enkerai on the back, rose to his feet in front of his younger brother and held out his hand, “But that’s okay.”

“But I was almost there, I was the fastest, I had the lead,” Enkerai gasped looking up at his brother's silhouette that blocked out the setting sun. The pink and purple hues of the sky cast a soft glow on his dark skin.

“But you acted like a child,” Araktobi smiled, “Leaping before you were aware of your surroundings.”

“Huh?” Enkerai responded, “No. If I was stronger - more able. If I could swim…”

“You can’t be good at everything, Enkerai,” Araktobi said, “I can barely climb a tree, after all. The key is to know what you’ve got and to use it to the best of your ability – whether that be your surroundings, your wits, or your allies.”

With that Araktobi gestured to the side of the lake Enkerai had leapt from and Enkerai looked on in incredulity as he witnessed many of other contestants climbing down the side of the cliff into canoes hidden at its base. The zip line was a possible route, but not a necessity. Enkerai hung his head in shame, his wet ponytail slapping against the side of his face as if punishing him for his poor performance. He must have looked a right fool floundering about in the air and splashing belly first into the water.

“Sometimes the most obvious route isn’t always the smartest,” Araktobi laughed.

“But you did good, Enke!” Enkerai looked up to see Kekere emerging from the edge of the forest that ringed the lake.

“We came as fast as we could,” His mother said, her gentle eyes looking at him with concern.

“But it’s ok,” His father echoed his brother’s words of reassurance. He then walked past Enkerai and picked up his staff which had washed up behind the two brothers, “There will be other chances.”

“But I wanted to be a man!” Enkerai said digging his fingers into the soft mud of the riverbank, the black soil oozed slowly through his fingers with a quiet squelch.

“Well, little brother,” Araktobi said, taking the staff from his father and holding it out to Enkerai, “You don’t need to be in such a hurry to grow up.”

The four all began laughing and Enkerai even found himself smiling as he grabbed onto the staff and pulled himself to his feet. Enkerai planted the staff firmly in the ground and looked up to see the joyful faces of his family just as the first explosion hit.

And then the screaming began.