Chapter Forty-Four – The Three Events

  The next day, they were all up early, and back at First Field before the sunrise.

  It was odd walking through the dark city with the captain shrouded in her disguise. Gray had forgotten how difficult she was. Being with Rynn, though, made everything okay. He remembered what Ames had said, about how both Gray and Rynn never lost track of each other. Master Kreef would say she’d become a liability. Blind John, however, always said that a single soul was a candleflame but put enough souls together and they’d become brighter than the sun. Inseparable. Unstoppable.

  Rynn had become the center of his life, and he wasn’t sure he liked that. He was bonding with her even without the sex. That felt unfair. It was the bitter without any of the sweet, except that wasn’t true. Being with her was sweet enough.

  Gray and the two women were the first ones through the door of the canteen. The staff never looked directly at the captain, and while they were polite, they were also curt. Besides, they were busy setting up for breakfast and didn’t have time to really show the captain the hate they obviously felt in their hearts. Her disguise wasn’t working. What had she done to piss off the entire city?

  Settie didn’t seem to care. She shot Gray a glance. “Are you eating the ironbites? You should be up to three quarters at every meal.”

  “I can manage a half a muffin but my ability to drink charbrew makes up for it.”

  Like everything at breakfast, the hot drink was surprisingly delicious.

  Settie grunted. “You’ll do three-quarters today.”

  “I won’t,” he said. “We have two days to train, and I won’t spend one of them in pain or sick. Speaking of pain, what can you tell us about Ames. When I accessed her core, I felt this darkness in her.”

  The captain shrugged. “She’s a Quelling elf, and the Quelling have always been strange, reaching for power they shouldn’t have, always so very envious of their northern brethren. You should ask Rynnanatha. She might know.”

  Rynn was already walking to their normal table at the back near the windows showing the training fields below. The river sparkled in the starlight surrounded by the trees, blowing in the early morning breeze which was already hot.

  “I don’t think so,” Gray said.

  “Try three bites. If you have a severe reaction, I can adjust you. I’m here now.” She turned to him. “I am sorry for showing up so very late. Now, considering Blythe’s betrayal, it was just another part of her plan to betray us.”

  “Us?” Gray asked.

  The captain gazed at him with her beautiful dark brown eyes. “Us. As the sponsor of your squad, we are in this together.”

  “But what do you really want?”

  “For us to win. That’s all you need to know for now.” She walked away from him, and Gray took a moment to appreciate her curves. She was this powerful, mysterious, and difficult, but she was also a beautiful woman. The intensity of their kiss came back to him, and he quickly forced himself to focus on something else, or else he would have trouble walking to the table.

  Fives minutes after they sat down, their squad mates walked in.

  By that time, Gray had eaten his first bite of a berry muffin. The dough was sweet, the berries tart and gooey, and while it was good, it hit his system like a lightning storm. For whatever reason, the ironbites were especially potent that morning. He wasn’t sure he could do three, but he was going to try. He trusted the captain. He had to. She had given him his core in the first place.

  Midj sat her tray down, and it was piled high with food. “Love the treats. Those berry ironbites sure have a kick this morning. I ate half of mine in line.”

  Tomi’s tray only had a glass of milk and half of a lemon muffin. She sat there, without moving, and it took a minute, but Gray realized she was sleeping.

  Ames gave him a shy smile and then began to eat her scrambled eggs daintily.

  Settie frowned. “Welcome, girls. You must forgive me for being absent yesterday. I am thankful you are here early. I was given permission to field a team of five, but the way won’t be easy. There are fifty other teams that have the full seven. Two of which— Pinch’s squad and Blythe’s squad—have already proclaimed they are our enemies. Yes, I heard that Blythe and Sindara have been placed on another squad with five recruits I’m not familiar with. They will do all they can to hinder you if not kill you. Every year, there are several deaths during the Testing, though normally those do not occur on Culling Day.”

  Tomi wasn’t as asleep as he first thought. “Why do I think this year might be an abnormal year then? Or am I just not showing my team spirit?”

  “Squad spirit you mean,” Midj said. “No one is going to die.”

  “Someone has already died.” Rynn chewed her toast.

  All eyes went to her.

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  Rynn nodded. “Yes, but we shouldn’t talk about the murder. My Aunt Florence said never to talk about sad things during breakfast. Actually, she didn’t like anyone talking about sad things during any meal. She said bad news got in the way of good digestion. She was very adamant about good digestion. But I suppose I can tell you what I’ve heard. It’s not much. It was from a squad sponsored by the dwarves, and they think there might’ve been money involved. Everything was stolen, and this dwarf had been bragging about how rich he was. He was stabbed and all of his money was taken.”

  Gray knew the story, and he assumed it was either Froggy’s squad, since they’d already proven that stealing wasn’t beneath them, or it was Pinch’s, since she must’ve had a greed resonance. He’d seen how she’d gotten mana from her extortion.

  Settie frowned. “Murder for money is more rare, and yet, not unheard of. All is the Testing and all is the Test. If the murderer is caught, they would be executed. That is not unheard of either. However, the leadership at First Field isn’t what it once was. The Magistrate Crewel and the Dame Hekla are less worried about the recruits if those recruits can’t survive the summer program.”

  Gray laughed. “There were times I didn’t think I was going to survive the summer program. Random murder must stop people from coming. Too many murders and First Field won’t have any recruits.”

  The captain shook her head. “First Field is for the desperate.”

  “This doesn’t reflect well on us,” Tomi sipped her milk. “Then again, I’ve been called desperate before. Anyone else?”

  Midj stopped eating to chuckle. “Me? Never. Now, there were certain members of my family who desperately want me to do well but that doesn’t count.”

  “You’re right,” Rynn said quickly. “It doesn’t.”

  “Gray?” Tomi asked.

  He smiled at the cat girl. “There’s a fine line between motivation and desperation.”

  “Eat,” ordered the captain. “After breakfast, we’ll meditate, and then we’ll train. I know what the three exams will be on Culling Day, thanks to the ties that Gray and Rynn created during their time in the summer program. Three bites, Mr. Fade. Three bites.”

  He winced but didn’t disagree.

  He managed to get the final bite down, but then, walking down to their tree was painful. Soon, though, they were seated on the cushions under the big tree. By that time, the canteen was overflowing with recruits.

  Sitting near Rynn, Gray focused on his breath. Pain fought nausea in his belly, but he realized if he focused on the cores around him, it took his mind off his troubles. Not that he could find everyone’s core. The captain sat with him, but she had shielded hers. Trying to find it was like swimming in the ocean at midnight. With Tomi, her core was small and hard to find, though unlike Settie, he caught glimpses of it.

  The easiest one to find, of course, was Rynn’s, but that was only because he’d connected with her so many times before. Midj’s energy was also very welcoming, as was Ames, even with the strange shadows there. From the little he knew, most of the time healers had a kindness resonance, though humility and generosity could give someone healing powers as well. Even patience, the gentle side of the Fight Instinct could give someone that kind of power.

  Slowly, focusing on the women around him, Gray felt the pain lessen but the nausea remained. It tugged at his attention like sometimes when Yellow tugged at his uniform pants.

  Then, a bell ran out, and the meditation was over.

  The captain drew them in close, gazing out at the sand pavilions, which were starting to fill up with squads, including Freek’s orcs and Froggy’s band of thieves. She was making sure no one could over hear them.

  Settie removed her mask and set it on her cane. Her hat was tipped to hide her face. “We are fortunate to know what we will be facing on Culling Day. As a reminder, only teams that score at least one point in each of the exams will be allowed a spot. The day will start with a run, called the Crush Rush…”

  “Oh good, I love to run,” Tomi said sarcastically. “A good run is like a good nap except that it’s totally different in every possible way and I hate it. Is it really called the Crush Rush? It sounds so cozy and relaxing.”

  “We do not need your sarcasm, Tomika Ka,” Settie snapped. “Water barrels mean a run, and while we don’t know how long it will be, but I would imagine it will be two loops around the track starting and ending in the coliseum. The top three will get the majority of the points but only the first twenty squads will get points. That means there’s a good possibility that thirty squads will be culled. It’s vital we get someone in the top twenty. That shouldn’t be a problem, since Gray and Rynn have spent most of the summer running.”

  “And I’ve seen Midj sprint,” Gray said. “But it’s not just going to be a run, is it?”

  “It will start off as a battle,” Settie agreed. “Some will sacrifice squad members to take out the competition. We have to remember our purpose. The second event will be Sixblood. The rules are simple. A team gets a point if they pass a ball through one of the hoops on the side of the field. There are derivations of the game, depending on if they field all of the squads at once, how many balls there will be, and other factors. Do any of you have experience with sport of any kind?”

  Gray raised a hand. “We played street ball growing up, but we could only use our feet to shoot goals.”

  The rest of the women were silent.

  Rynn sighed. Gray knew what she was thinking. She’d spent her life learning to fight not mess around with balls. Tomi probably slept through all the sports and Midj wasn’t exactly lean and athletic.

  It was surprising when Ames raised her hand. “My father and I played a Quelling game which involves hitting a ball with a stick and then catching that ball. I was never very good.”

  “That’s better than the others. Perhaps you are better than you think. “ The captain cleared her throat. “Lastly, since you all saw the construction material, I believe they are crafting a dais, which means the third event will be Final Hold, which is another game that involves a ball. Anyone who gets hold of the ball and brings it to the central dais will get points. The longer they hold the ball on the dais, the more points they get. Whoever holds it at the very end gets the majority of the points. Some will sit back and wait until the final moment to grab the ball while others will be content to hold the ball if only to get a single point which would allow them to go on to Soulshred Week.”

  “Is it worth finishing in the final three?” Gray asked.

  “Yes. It comes with any number of benefits, but mostly, it’s an effective way of grabbing the attention of the Watchfire families. In the end, you aren’t called recruits for nothing. Your goal is to be recruited into one the families.”

  “Is that how you get paid?” Gray asked.

  Settie’s eyes narrowed. “I’m not doing this for money. I have money. I’m doing this for you five. This is my gift to you.”

  Gray lowered his head, trying not to laugh at the lie. He was pretty sure that no one else believed it either, but that didn’t matter.

  They needed to be the top team at Culling Day, and if they could do it with only five members in their squad instead of seven, the Watchfire families would have to take note.