Chapter 13
chapter
thirteen
Haven
Days pass in a blur of practice. Some days, I can barely carry myself to bed. Spider trains me hard once we fuel up after dinner, and we go at it till midnight. He’s teaching me to fight multiple opponents. It’s helpful that his power allows him to create many versions of himself.
I want to be prepared in case we have another “free-for-all” or if Aric colludes with his friends and jumps me.
His stares have grown more hostile as our training continues, and I know it isn’t just good-natured rivalry; he’s still friendly with Rei and acknowledges Flint.
It’s only me he despises, because I’m a Common.
I keep my door locked. My gloves remain strapped with blades. And I remain on high alert.
Spider sent me a list of everyone’s powers to my tablet. I memorized it as I ate breakfast.
Aric: Transporter
Rigel: Sonic
Tyson: Elementalist (Air)
Odette: Elementalist (Earth)
Lane: Elementalist (Fire)
Rei: Kinetic
Flint: Shifter
Kaia: Shield
The nine of us are wary as we stand in a wide circle. The squad leaders stand behind Ender. He has been missing from our past few sessions, so his return is disturbing to say the least.
This has to be our first test. The one Spider has been preparing us for.
Ender stands in the center. Black t-shirt clinging to his muscles, arms folded menacingly across his chest.
“Eight people will survive today,” Ender says. His voice cuts like glass. “One of you will not make it to the end of this evaluation.”
Everyone is in their practice clothes. Cotton gray pants and an identical t-shirt. We’re not allowed to use guns during combat, so everyone is strapped with their chosen knives. We’re ditching the practice blades today.
“The aim is to fight without breaking your focus,” Ender explains. “The test ends when one of you dies.”
The environment switches, and we’re in a dense forest on a high circular platform. The walls vanish above us and are replaced with a false sky that settles overhead. This has to be one of Ender’s illusions. The simulation they use for mock battles isn’t this realistic.
The wind blows through my hair, tugging at my braid.
Ender and the others vanish as the world reshapes itself, but I know they are watching.
“This is not a test of strength,” Ender continues, in his monotone voice. It echoes around us, as if hidden speakers are planted in the clouds. “It’s a test of awareness.”
My gaze slides, unbidden, to Aric. He’s already watching me.
The threat in his eyes is clear. His mouth curves, just slightly, as if we’re sharing a private joke.
My fingers flex inside my gloves.
“Let’s work together,” Flint says, glancing at Rei and me. “Us against them.”
“I’m not sticking my neck out for her,” Rei says with a sniff of her nose. “They’ll be gunning for her.”
A shockwave rips through the circle, throwing us apart. I hit the floor hard, breath escaping from my lungs as the world explodes into motion. Jagged stone walls cut through the ground, slicing the group into isolated pockets.
They are separating us.
I roll to my feet and slip out my blades. Someone screams in the distance.
This ends when one person dies. I will not let it be me.
There’s a tunnel ahead of me. I’m in a maze now.
It stretches like an abyss. It’s so dark I can barely parse through the shadows.
I have to remind myself that nothing here is real.
Nothing can hurt me. I have to ignore my surroundings and focus on the threats.
Minutes pass by as I stalk forward, heart pounding viciously in my chest.
A figure bursts around the corner, nearly knocking me off my feet. Rei’s eyes are wild, and blood streaks across her temple.
“They’re hunting us.” Rei gasps. “We have to stick together.”
Doubt creeps through me like vines around a decaying building. This could be a ploy to stab me in the back. Maybe Aric put her up to it?
I hold out my knife. “Get out of my face, before I cut you.”
“Did you hea—”
The air shifts. Aric appears in front of me. His palm is resting on the shoulder of Rigel and Tyson. They fan out behind him, blocking every exit of the tunnel.
Aric straightens slowly, rolling his shoulders. His gaze is fixed on me. Ender never mentioned that powers are not allowed. I’ll have to survive this with nothing but my knives and wit.
“Looks like your luck finally ran out,” Aric says with a cold smile.
Rei edges closer to me, shaking.
Aric’s friendship doesn’t seem to extend to the tests.
“Too weak to fight me alone?” I ask. “It’s not enough to use your powers. You need to assemble them.”
His smile sharpens.
“Oh,” he replies. “They’re here for her.”
He points at Rei.
“No hard feelings, Rei,” Aric says. “But you drew the short straw. You got put on her team. And only one of us makes it to the end.”
He lunges, and so do his friends. Rei and I stand back-to-back. I don’t like her, but it’s us against them.
I move swiftly. Rigel and Tyson rush Rei while Aric slowly makes his way towards me.
Rei flings them off with her powers, forcing them to crash onto their backs. It buys us time, but not enough. Aric dodges Rei’s attacks, vanishing before she can strike true.
He appears in front of me, eyes bright, barely out of breath from evading Rei’s attack.
Rei is facing another girl who just raced in here. An Elementalist who wields fire. Lane.
I lunge, swiping my blade across Aric’s forearm, tearing his skin. I’m quick, and he barely makes out the cut before blood pools on the ground.
“Spider’s been busy,” Aric says. “But it’s a waste of his time. You can’t build a Common strong enough to take down a Gifted, let alone an Untamed. You will not survive out on the streets.”
I keep my mouth shut. Everything here is unstable. It could reshape in the blink of an eye. It takes only a single moment for my focus to shatter and for him to get an opening. I don’t have the benefit of mouthing off and surviving.
The people in Division Eight used to say that death is liberation when you lived a sorrowful life, but I refuse to die when I haven’t yet sunk my teeth into the men who hurt me. So long as I live, there will be no reprieve for the wicked. There will be no leniency for their crimes.
I lift my twin blades, heart hammering, every lesson Spider drilled into me begs to be used. I fix my footing and bend my knees, waiting for him to strike first. I’ll let him tire himself out, and then I’ll attack.
Aric flashes behind me.
His blade flies towards my neck. I spin in time to escape it, and our blades crash. His is longer and slightly curved. Mine is short and jagged like teeth filed down into points. Steel crashes against steel, shrieking in the air like the cry of a wild animal.
The impact rattles up my arms, numbing my fingers.
He strikes again, a blur of motion. Aric aims high and low, feinting left before slashing right. His blade nicks my forearm, tearing the sleeves of my shirt, and another cut catches my thigh.
I give ground deliberately, letting him believe I’ve been cornered.
He’s toying with me. Weakening me for the final blow. And I let him think he’s won.
Heat scorches my hair, and I pat the end of my braid to extinguish it. Rei is passed out in the corner, and Lane is holding a ball of fire in her hand, which she is launching at me in rapid succession while Aric tries to back me into a corner.
Tyson and Rigel are gone, probably hunting Flint and Kaia.
I feel a flash of anger and leap at Aric. I slash his thigh, cutting deep enough to feel bone.
He howls in pain, and I smile in satisfaction.
I fling my second blade at Lane. She went back to finish Rei after she attempted to burn my hair, which was rather rude. My hair is my pride. Thick and long and dark as nightfall.
Aric’s team is working seamlessly; it’s clear to see that the casualty of this round is going to be one of us. Flint and Kaia aren’t here, but I hope they are safe.
My aim strikes true, and Lane whimpers as she falls to her knees.
The Elementalist is an easier target than Aric.
Aric is ignoring his wound and is standing upright once more, prepared to strike. He sees where I am headed and intercepts my path, but I anticipate it. I’m sliding on the ground, knees crashing onto the concrete.
I fly under his parted legs. I swipe my knife along his ankles, cutting his tendons.
He collapses to his knees. I stand up and race towards Lane. My heart thunders, beating so loud it aches.
Lane has recovered from my attack and now carries enough fire in her palm to leave her victim in ashes, and her sight is set on Rei.
I don’t like Rei. But, after Aric’s betrayal, she could be a potential ally. And if this is a taste of what the other tests could look like, I could use a strong Kinetic by my side. We have a stronger chance of making it through the next few weeks if we work as a team.
I don’t hesitate. Even though the thought of killing someone weighs heavily on my chest. I’ve never done this before, but if I wait a second longer, Rei dies.
I don’t think twice. I slide my blade across her throat. It grazes her flesh like a caress. I don’t see Lane’s face or reaction. Her fire fades, and she falls to her knees.
My hands are stained with the proof of my sins. Crimson flecks dot my palms like a morbid tattoo. My stomach churns, and for a moment I fear I’ll spill my guts.
The tunnel vanishes, and the floor smoothens beneath my boots.
The room reappears, and with it the others.
The timer blares, signifying an end to the test.
A body collides into me. Strong arms wrap around my shaking frame. For a second, I think it’s Aric, prepared to choke me, but I notice him across the room staring at me with a venomous expression.
“Mercy, that was magnificent,” Spider says. He smells like green apples and gunpowder. “You all survived. I thought you would let Rei die. You two don’t exactly get along, but you made the right choice. The more of you that stick around to the end, the better my chances of sticking it to Orion.”