Chapter 5 Five

The training ground had changed overnight.

Where rows of weapons and practice dummies once stood, there was now a massive circle etched deep onto the ground . Symbols marked the perimeter ancient, primal, and old as the blood that had once consecrated the ground. Warriors gathered like storm clouds around it, each one clad in trial wear light armor built for speed, not safety.

Mia stood at the edge, the morning breeze cooling her. Beneath her cloak, her heart was a drum, thundering.

She was Clinton Roy here. A ghost with fists.

"Group One," barked the Beta Stary "Into the circle."

A group of selected people stepped in twitching, glancing, measuring their chances.

Jessie stood a few feet from Mia and leaned in. "Watch their feet. That's where they always show fear first."

Mia gave a short nod, lips pressed tightly together. Her gaze swept the ring. And Jessie disappeared again.

Within seconds, it began.

The circle transformed from cold silence to chaos. Blades clashed, grunts filled the air, and the crowd roared. There were no rules except one: stay in the circle. The first five tossed out, eliminated from the Trials forever.

A boy swung too wide and was knocked over the edge.

"That's one," the Beta called out.

The crowd jeered. Not with sympathy but joy.

Mia's eyes narrowed. They cheer for blood, not honor.

Another fighter with trembling hands and wide eyes was cornered by two opponents. They didn't hesitate. A kick to the chest sent him sprawling on to the ground.

"That's two."

Mia clenched her fists. She remembered that look of terror wrapped in hope, the desperate wish to be seen, to belong.

Jessie had once told her, "A teacher that either breaks you or remakes you. Decide what you want to be."

Three more were tossed out. The trial ring was down to five.

"Circle's done," the Beta barked. "Group Two!"

Mia stepped forward.

This was it.

She pulled her hood down slowly. The cold air kissed her face, but her blood was fire. Around her, the others took their positions. Among them were tall boys from noble families, smirking like they already owned the ring.

She kept her head low.

"Begin!"

Chaos.

A spear thrust past her shoulder, and Mia ducked low, rolling beneath it. She sprang to her feet and twisted, driving an elbow into her attacker's gut. He stumbled, and she moved fast, slamming a boot into his knee. The snap echoed, and he fell screaming.

A hand grabbed her collar. She spun, grappling, their bodies twisting near the edge. Her boots scraped the circle's line one more inch and she'd be out.

No.

She shoved back with every ounce of strength, knocking her opponent into another fighter. Both tumbled and scrambled to recover.

Mia turned, only to meet a punch to her ribs. The air fled her lungs.

"Clinton!" someone shouted.

But she couldn't look.

Pain throbbed through her side, but she gritted her teeth and raised her fists. Another attacker came, this one faster, smarter. Their blades clanged slash, block, dodge, parry.

Mia twisted away and slid low, sweeping his legs from under him. He crashed down hard.

"That's two," the Beta called.

Another was tossed by brute force.

Three.

Her side ached. Her lip bled. But she was still standing.

"Behind you!" Jessie called.

Mia whirled in time to deflect a spinning kick, catching the leg and driving a punch into the fighter's inner thigh. He buckled.

Four.

Then a black-haired warrior named locked eyes with Mia, then backed up and launched herself at a wounded boy instead, tossing him from the circle with a satisfied grunt.

Five.

"Done!" the Beta roared. "Group Two done! Next group"

As they continued, Mia collapsed to her knees, gasping, heart hammering like it wanted out of her chest. Blood dripped from her knuckles.

She had survived.

Jessie rushed to her side, grinning. "Well done. Didn't expect much."

Mia wiped her mouth, teeth red. "Neither did they."

As they walked back to the sidelines, Jayson caught up to her, his eyes wide with worry. "You okay?"

"Yeah," she panted. "Still breathing."

He touched her back gently. "You were incredible."

"Don't get soft on me now," she muttered, though her lips twitched with the faintest smile.

Then came the next call.

"Next round. Form up in teams of five."

Mia barely had time to catch her breath. She stepped toward the newly forming lines.

Her breath caught in her throat.

Across the circle two of the guards from the night her mother died.

She knew those faces. The hunched one with the scar over his chin. The silent one who always stood at the right.

They had held Jessie down. She had never seen the man who slit her throat... but these two? They were part of the nightmare.

Mia's fists trembled.

"Clinton," Jayson said from behind her. "You okay?"

She didn't answer. Her vision tunneled.

"Please pair me up with them, please pair me up with them" she muttered to herself .

Her team was being announced. One of the guards was on the opposite team. And the other... was with her.

Her blood surged "Yes." .

She was going to make them pay.

"Steady," whispered the boy to her right–Jax, she thought his name was...but she barely heard him.

The horn blew.

And the fight began.

Like unleashed wolves, the two sides charged. Swords met fists, bone met bone. The ground was soon stained with the red splatters of bruised lips and split skin.

But Mia? She had no interest in the others.

Her eyes locked on the two guards.

She began with the one who wasn't on her team. The crooked-nose one came at her first. He didn't recognize her that much was clear to her. To him, she was just another young warrior in this godforsaken trial.

But she knew him. She could never forget.

He lunged.

She ducked and twisted, slamming her elbow into his jaw. He staggered, but she didn't stop. She struck again knee to ribs, punch to throat, a swift kick to his leg that sent him crashing onto his back.

"Clinton-!" someone yelled behind her, probably Jax, but she was already spinning toward the second guard.

The nervous-eyed one hesitated, surprised at how fast she'd downed his partner. But he braced himself, lifting his fists.

"You shouldn't have touched her," Mia hissed under her breath, almost too quiet for even herself to hear.

He threw a punch. She caught it.

He tried to twist. She slammed her forehead into his nose. Blood sprayed. He screamed.

Her hand reached instinctively for the dagger at her belt, a dull training blade, but it would do. Moreover this was one of the few challenges they could use weapons. She spun it in her palm and tackled him to the ground.

He grunted beneath her weight. His arms flailed, but her knee pressed into his chest, pinning him.

"You held her down," she growled. "You let them do it. You let them kill her."

"What-what are you talking about-?"

She drove the dagger toward his throat.

"HEY YOU!" a deeper voice barked.

Kelvin.

The command in his tone cracked through her rage like a whip.

She froze, blade trembling inches from the guard's skin. Her breath was heaving, uneven, like she'd been running for hours.

"Get off him," Kelvin ordered, storming into the circle as the others around them paused mid-fight, stunned.

Mia's hands shook. Her heart screamed don't stop, but her instincts the ones drilled into her since she was a child obeyed.

She stood slowly, dropping the blade onto the ground. It thudded dully, harmless now.

Behind them, the nervous-eyed guard was sobbing, hands over his face. Crooked-nose was being helped up by another trainee.

"Doesn't she get punished for almost murdering me" he asked

"Get back Kelvin. And do not interrupt a fight again. And the rules were to eliminate your opponent in any way possible including death."

Everyone was watching.

A quiet voice whispered, "She was going to kill him."

"She's crazy," someone else muttered.

Mia turned away, chin high, ignoring them all.

Jessie snuck in again. Led her a few paces away before stopping. "You need to control it, Mia."

"They murdered her," she said again, this time with a crack in her voice.

"I know. And you'll make them pay. But if you lose yourself to revenge now, all this your disguise, your place in the Trials, your father's name it all goes to waste. You'll never avenge her. Do you understand?"

Her teeth clenched so hard it hurt.

But finally, she gave a small, slow nod.

He sighed and stepped back. "Get cleaned up. You'll need a clear head for the next round."

She walked away from her without another word.

But inside her, a storm was roaring and she was ready for the next fight but before that, she had a score to set with Kelvin.