I took a moment to fully comprehend Vera’s victory. She won. She won. For the first time since the Culling began, I smiled. I passed the first section. Christopher didn’t smile though.

Back when I lived in the orphanage, the children would all use the same rag to clean themselves. It laid next to the sink; broken, worn and depressed. Its fibers were falling apart and it held an uncleanable brown that disgusted even the bravest of the children. Christopher in this moment reminded me of the rag. Worn, tired and completely, utterly, broken.

Though I decided not to cripple him before, I realised I ruined his life in a different way. I took away his chance to enter the Academy and, in doing so, took away his chance to impact the world.

The Seer foretold the way that the world worked. She was never wrong and she will never be wrong. It’s part of her Gift. She said that no one outside of the Academy would make an impact on the world and so they won’t.

Vera and I took that away from him. This opportunity to do something. To be something.

I’m not selfish, I told myself.

I’m not selfish, I’m not selfish. I repeated it like a mantra. Here, it was survival of the fittest. Kill or be killed. I knew that Christopher would’ve taken that opportunity away from me too. I would rather him be nothing than me. But looking at his downcast face, I still pitied him.

“That’s the last round,” the Guide announced. “The Ruler will now speak to you.”

A burly man with dark red hair suddenly wrapped into the space next to the Guide. He tilted his head and the area around us was suddenly cut off from the rest of the world. All of us were closed off by a black dome that reflected no light; a black that embodied the concept of darkness. The Ruler smiled warmly, his regal clothes giving off a cool air to him. Relaxed almost. “Congratulations to everyone here. If you are here inside my domain right now, it means that you have passed the first stage of the Culling. Only two more stages left to go!”

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The Ruler paused when no one applauded. He furrowed his brow and the sound of cheers and applause filled every corner of the dome even though no one moved. Domain control, I noted. He smiled at his own claps as though what he said deserved congratulations. “All of you will be moving on to the next phase of the Culling while the losers outside of my domain will be escorted out of the Academy.”

He collapsed his domain and the bubble around us sunk slowly into the ground. Forty, I counted quickly. There’re only forty people around us.

The Guide bowed. “I thank the Ruler for his kind words. In the second stage of the Culling, you will work with the remains of your team. In your pairs, you will make your way over to the church over there.” He pointed over to a building more than fifty meters away. The church laid alone in the otherwise full grounds of the Academy. Its walls were covered in pale moss, and the windows were visibly stained even from this distance. Around it were patches of dead grass, and clouds of light fog.

“The first five groups to make it into the church will pass this phase of the Culling while everyone else will be eliminated. The Ruler will set up a barrier around the church for the first three hours. During this time, you may fight among yourselves, though killing and maiming is forbidden. If you believe yourself strong enough to break the barrier, you may go ahead and try and finish this part of the Culling early.”

The Ruler looked towards the direction of the church and waved his hand. A pale blue field surrounded the building, releasing a faint glow. This is one of his weakest barriers, I realised as I looked into his mind. From what I could tell from his thoughts, Vera wasn’t strong enough to break it, and neither was I.

The Guide smiled. “You may begin now.”

The Ruler warped himself outside of the field we were in, and chaos broke loose. The initiates around us surged in waves. It was at the moment when my body was pushed by the tides of people that I realised Vera wasn’t near. Oh crap, I’m alone.