“How do you expect us to fight each other?” one of the initiates asked. Lucas. His voice was deeper than it was the last time we talked; almost rough now, with a slight vibrato. His body looked less gangly than it did four years ago, and he held a confident demeanour that I wasn’t used to. But his lime-green eyes looked the same. And for a second, I’m the twelve-year-old girl I was four years ago: so happy to have a friend, and so desperate for them to stay.

A girl who was heartbroken when they left. Now, I only held a mix of bereavement and grief that hurt to describe and hurt more to feel.

I felt the same way I did a few moments ago when Seraphina used her Gift. Unable to move, and utterly powerless. I was frozen, but this time, the world didn’t freeze with me. And unlike before, I had no one to blame but myself.

The Guide nodded. “Great question. Within your groups, the person with the lowest Combat Power will fight the person with the highest Combat Power. Then the person with the lowest combat power will fight the person with the second-highest combat power. Finally, the people with the highest and second-highest combat power will fight. The person who loses the most after the three battles will be eliminated. If there are equal losses after the three rounds, then the person with the lowest Combat Power out of them will be eliminated.”

The Guide walked into one of the twenty circles that were placed equally spaced around the field, which had the number three written inside it. “Each group will be assigned a number and will fight in their corresponding circles. To win a fight, you have to get your opponent outside of the circle. All the information you’ll need will be above you.”

The blue screen that listed the Combat Powers reappeared in the sky above us.

As if to remind me how weak I was compared to the others. I scanned the screen for Christopher’s name to check his Combat Power and grimaced. Christopher had a Combat Power of 42. He was stronger than me.

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Vera looked at me almost pityingly. “I’m sorry, Kira,” she said, recognising where my eyes were looking.

I felt my heart beat race. I could hear my heart pounding in my chest and the rush of blood to my ears. This is how it’s going to end, isn’t it? The world felt too fast, and I was too slow.

Another screen appeared in the sky next to where the other screen floated, giving the group numbers. We’re in circle fourteen, I noted absent-mindedly while the rest of my brain whirled. I regretted not reading the mind of the Guide before picking my group, but most of all, I regretted being weak.

“Vera,” I said, already knowing what was going through her mind, “if you let me beat you, we can both beat Christopher and both pass.”

Vera paused to think about my proposal. “What if Christopher beats me, or if Christopher beats you?”

I didn’t respond though we both knew the answer. Then one of us will get eliminated.

Vera shook her head in disappointment. “How about this then? I’ll beat the crap out of both of you. As long as you beat Christopher, we’ll both make it through without any match-fixing.”

I shrugged meekly. “That’s probably a better plan, I guess.”

Vera smiled at me. “I know you think you're weak, but if you can just touch him, then you’ve won. Put him to sleep, throw him out of the circle. Done.”

I nodded, keeping Vera’s words of advice in my head. “I think we should head it our circle now. Circle fourteen,” I yelled to Christopher.

He teleported next to us and shook his head. “I’m not a carriage,” he said indignantly, but teleported us to our circle regardless. The circle was large; at least 12 metres across. Inside the circle, there were two smaller circles opposite each other, with the words: “Start here” written on them. I stood on one of the circles and Vera took the other.

“Go to your circles and stand where they tell you to,” the Guide yelled. “Remember, for this round, it’s the person with the lowest Combat Power fighting the highest. We’ll begin when I say so.”

I nodded to Vera. “Good luck,” I said.

“You too,” she replied.

After a moment of tense silence, the Guide snapped loudly to grab our attention. “Begin!”