Being frozen with fear of death was one thing. Terrifying to the core. So gripping that it choked the breath out of you. Not exactly how I felt in my plight, yet not so far off. Because of my fur, my skin felt glued to the soil, making every breath a painful chore. My head and the tip of my tail, the only parts that remained above the surface of the fighting floor, were free of this damn uncomfortable grip.

Of course, to shift back crossed my mind. A thought I dismissed at once. My forms were not magically created, like my mane. I was actually shifting. As my body shrank, my body hair receded and so on. The way I was stuck underground was asking for a lot of fucking pain if I tried.

Ronnu patted me on the head, quite amused in fact, stood up and whistled so loudly that I flinched. Speaking of pain. To see who she was gesturing at, annoyingly, was somewhere beyond the capacity of my neck to turn.

Before long, another set of footsteps reached my ears. “You don’t see this often.”

“You don’t,” Ronnu laughed at the man’s comment on my shitty situation. “Can you get her out?”

“Sure, ma’am. It’ll only take a second. You down there, try not to move,” the man told me. As he crouched down to put his hands on the ground, I could finally see all of him through my domain, not just his legs. He was a mage.

I don’t know why, but when Ronnu said, “Let’s get you out of here.” I thought she was going to punch the ground with her fist and smash it to pieces or something. Well, to be honest, I like the option of a mage who knew what he was doing a lot better. Instead of worrying about my parts being shattered along with the surrounding ground, I just had to prepare myself to swim in the swamp again.

It didn’t happen.

The ground just pushed me out. Weird as hell; that went without saying. Surprisingly subtle, too. The mage really knew his stuff.

“This feels great,” I moaned in delight, my feet firmly planted on the ground, me free to breathe and move. In a flurry of joy, I circled the two of them, cackling happily, then shifted back and hugged the guy. “Thank you, thank you, thank you so much.”

“You should find a tent,” Ronnu cleared her throat, making me realize what I had just done. Red as a beet, I let go of the mage and covered myself with my wings and tail. “S-sorry, I didn’t mean to . . .”

“I didn’t mind,” the man graced me with a smile. “But I guess you’re not up for that tent visit, are you?”

“No.” I shook my head and gave him an apologetic look when laughter came from the stands. The guy wasn’t bad looking, he even had a fairly chiseled body for a mage, but sex was out of the question for the time being. To feel comfortable with it, I had to solve my core problem first - completely. Alas, the way the cycles worked in here, that was something I could only do outside of this echo.

Although I had to admit that the thought of hooking up with someone from the distant past was quite exciting in its own way.

“Come on, Grey. If you’re done flirting, let’s give your friend a chance to shine.”

Unable to agree more, I stopped short anyway. “Grey, ma’am?”

The High Commander smirked. “Did you have your hopes up that we were on a first-name basis now? That we’d be pals now? Ah . . . don’t drop your ears. I’m just messing with you a little. Anyway, that was me letting you know that I’d remember you. If you want me to call you by your name, you’d better do a damn good job on the battlefield.”

I kept my mouth shut. However, I could feel with all my being how much the woman tried to keep her distance from her men, even when her heart yearned otherwise. It wasn’t hard to guess why. To protect her heart from loss.

***

“Not a bad fight,” Geran praised me as soon as we were back in the stands.

“Not bad? It was damn brilliant. I had so much fun watching you - the suspense. Were you going to drown, or would the rat freeze first? The bets were off. Great hair trick, by the way,” Vienlin added ecstatically as she threw her arm around my neck and pointed at Stella. “This one was really worried about you, you know.”

My squad leader didn’t deny it. “I thought you were a goner, Korra. That beast was a terrible match for you, and . . .” she shot an accusing glare at Ronnu.

“What, Palemoon? You expect someone to pull your ass out of the gutter for the rest of your life? You’d better get that thought out of your head. Anyway, to get you to stop barking at me; Grey wasn’t about to die - not for a while. But I guess knowing what can kill you and what can’t comes with experience.”

If she was talking about watching enough people die, then that was knowledge I would hate to learn. “I’m sorry, ma’am. I . . .” Stella stammered, not really knowing what to apologize for. She didn’t say anything, didn’t even open her mouth. All she did was give her a look.

“No need to get your tits in a twist. When the guy downstairs is done, you can show me what you’re really made of.” There was already another fight raging on the fighting floor below us. No sign of the swamp I was drowning in or the frozen crystal rat ball. My fight was history, and the crowd’s attention shifted to the man and the beast he was facing. “Grey, as it turned out, held back quite a bit when you fought me.”

“I’m nothing like her.”

“I’m not saying you are, Palemoon. I’m just pointing out that sometimes it takes a real fight; not until you’re really struggling to survive to understand what you’re really capable of.”

A chill ran down my spine as I swallowed dry - what I’m capable of - such as slowly freezing someone to death.

***

It wasn’t long before Stella was standing on the fighting floor, swords in hand, waiting for whatever was about to come out of the beast entrance. The way she carried herself made me wonder if I too looked so tense. Then again, who better to understand her uneasiness than me.

We were one fight away from the battlefield, the front lines, and home - or so we hoped. And that was no small pressure.

Fortunately for her, as in my case, a beast she was more than familiar with emerged from the entrance. The Highland Stalker. I don’t know if fate had such a bad sense of humor, but the beast she had been fighting for weeks was quite similar to me in a way - in my beast form, of course. A strange big foxhound. But no antlers, no moss on its head, no wings. Even its tail wasn’t as long and bushy as Sage. Yet . . . the creature was awfully similar to me.

Oh, and obviously no weird ability like shooting thorns.

The beast was just too damn fast. Honestly, it was probably just my bad luck with the Thorn Serpent. Most one-star beasts didn’t have abilities like that, they focused on physical prowess.

That being said, Stella’s work with the Highland Stalker was swift and merciless. Before I could get to grips with her cutting off the beast's tail, SHE SEVERED ITS HEAD.

The sight of it - not for the faint-hearted.

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“Impressive.” The gruesome display of hers awed Ronnu more than my first fight, annoyingly. “I must say, you both have exceeded my expectations, ‘Eichenralkes’. But as we all know, looks can be deceiving.”

“They most often are,” chimed in one of Stella’s mentors, the tall one with the beard.

“True,” the bald one nodded. “That chick looks like a pampered lady, yet . . . she’s pretty fierce.”

“I’m not sure we have much to teach her.”

“Stop joking, Barty,” Ronnu grunted. “Or are you telling me that your skills are at that level? If so, I will have to reconsider where to place you.”

As the others laughed, the green-eyed man frowned.

“She’s good, all right, but nowhere near as good as you.”

After saying that, Ronnu turned her attention back to Stella, giving her the same opportunity to show off her skills as I was given. Contrary to my expectations, considering how I ended up, Stella accepted without batting an eye.

Ronnu’s chest heaved with satisfaction, and she bluntly announced to the entire pit. “It seems our new recruits have bigger balls than most!”

Of course, the whole pit roared in disapproval, which she just laughed at. Rivalry between knight orders, I guess.

“Pit Master?!”

“Same deal, Commander?” came back as she silenced the Pit with her presence. The man didn’t seem too thrilled about the prospect of another fight, though. Whether it was because of her provocation or the fact that I walked away on my feet despite the beast he had pitted me against, I had no idea.

“Yes. Although if I were you, I’d be a little more careful with the beast you choose.”

“Is that a threat?”

“A suggestion . . .”

I could hear his teeth grinding all the way across the Pit. The man aside, it was nice to know that despite how my fight turned out; she didn’t like what kind of beast the Pit Master set me up against. Seriously, if it weren’t for my mane, which no one here had a clue about, well, except for Stella, Rairok, and Traiana, I’d be licking my wounds in defeat right now.

Instead, I found myself wondering what kind of beast would be Stella’s counter. I dared to think that she wouldn’t fare much better against the Crystal Rat. At least, assuming she wouldn’t be able to get her sword through the crystals the beast had for fur. My first thought - just any magical beast with strong defenses. A fast one might also be a tough opponent for her, and then some kind of flier. As far as I knew, she couldn’t walk on air like Deckard. Nor could she fly . . . well, like me, I guess.

When something that looked like an overgrown cross between a chicken and an ostrich, a Mirage Runner, came out of the beast entrance, I got the feeling that the Pit Master was mocking Ronnu. This was a beast that looked like it could be killed by anyone, not a two-star monster to be feared. It turned out that looks could be deceiving, even to my instincts.

When Stella eventually took the initiative to attack the chicken, it bolted so quickly that a mirage was left behind. Then again and again. Despite her aura-buffed speed, the chicken managed to elude Stella. She might have been fast with her swords, but not fast enough on her feet. The reason she quickly found herself surrounded by mirages of more than a dozen chickens. Chickens that turned out to be more than just mere mirages.

Even to my instincts, they were no different from the original, pushing the one-on-one fight into a struggle of one against a flock of them.

The beasts pecked at her from all sides while she parried their attacks with her swords. If I were her, I’d have plucked out all my feathers and probably even my fur in a few breaths. On the other hand, I wonder how the whole flock would react to my presence. Crystal Rat curled up into a ball in fear. Needless to say, not very helpful. But these chickens might stick their heads in the mud, or the whole flock might disperse, leaving one frightened original beast alone.

Anyway, Stella eventually found her way to the one runner in the flock and ended the fight the same way she ended the previous one - by decapitating it.

***

“I have to admit, when I found out that Maignes dumped you two on me, I was pissed at him,” Ronnu said when we got back to the Seventh’s facilities. “That son of a bitch does it all the time. He takes the rookie and . . .” she paused with a sigh and craned her neck. “In his defense, it’s a miracle to stumble across a decent knight who is not under the sod these days. What I’m trying to say is, I’m glad to have you, both of you. Once again, welcome to the 7th Order of Rosicrucian Knights, the Sevens.”

“Thank you, ma’am.” Stella and I both stood at attention. Without prior agreement, it somehow seemed appropriate to both of us. We may not have had a future in the Order, after all, we only had a little over two days left in the cycle, but getting in and being recognized made me proud.

“I’ll let Stouch know - he’ll assign you to units. But don’t expect it until tomorrow. I’ve already given him more than enough work to do today,” she said, smiling as if what she had been waiting for had come. “Now, if you will excuse me - I will return to my well-deserved rest.”

No sooner had she turned on her heel and headed for her tent than she pulled off her soaked shirt, humming a song.

Frankly, this woman was an enigma to me. You wouldn’t know how powerful she was at first glance, and you could easily mistake her for a woman who enjoyed her position, but still . . .

“Don’t think too much about it, Grey,” Geran’s hand on my shoulder pulled me out of my thoughts. “This is just our High Commander.”

“Yes, she may not seem like much, but when push comes to shove, she’s a woman you can count on,” Vienlin added, her eyes scanning me curiously. “Tell me, any shortcomings you know of?”

“Good question; it will give us an idea of where to start with your training.”

I was at a loss for words. It was the first time they had asked me that. I mean, right out of the gate. Usually, they just started pointing out my shortcomings. There were a lot of them.

“I don’t know . . . well, I know, of course, I’m just . . . I’m bad at magic.”

“Not really something we can help you with,” Geran spoke up, and Vienlin nodded. “Think of the beast stuff.”

“Well, I’d love to get better at fighting in my human form, but that’s not . . .” I muttered my thoughts aloud as I tried to piece together what I had learned about myself over the weeks and months here. “Sometimes, in combat, I still overthink instead of relying on my instincts. My prowl is far from perfect, and so is my pounce. You saw that I couldn’t do shit to that Crystal Rat. How would you have handled it? Then there’s my poison. I know I say this all the time, but I have to step up my game for it to be of any use to me in combat. I need to learn to use it more often, like my core. And there is . . .”

“Wait - wait - stop…” Vienlin putted her hand over my mouth, her voice a whisper in the air. “You have a fucking core?”

I had. Didn’t she . . .’Ah, shit!’ I fucked up.

“Haven’t you noticed, Vienlin?” The bald mentor of Stella asked, much to my horror. He heard what I said and pointed to his stomach. “Right here, right?”

“Ah, that’s what it was. I was wondering why that beast was trying so hard to pierce your guts,” the tall one joined in. They all heard my thoughtless yapping. “But damn, that didn’t cross my mind.”

“It wasn’t that hard to notice. Makes one wonder what you were doing there, Vienlin,” the third one, Barry, chimed in with a friendly grin.

“Fuck you, guys! I was enjoying the fight.”

“I think you were the only one, right Geran?”

The man, massive arms crossed over his chest, nodded. “It was obvious that the rat had noticed something. I simply assumed it was a weak spot. Who among us wouldn’t be thrown off by having their guts pierced?

“Hey, I noticed that too! I’m just not making a big deal out of it,” Vienlin argued.

“Sure.”

Their banter aside, Stella asked a question that popped into my mind as well. “Do you think the High Commander Ronnu noticed - her core - too?”

“Without a doubt,” her mentor replied to her whisper.

“B-but she didn’t say anything,” I pointed out when I found my voice back.

“She likely didn’t see a reason to.”

“. . .or there’s more to it than we should know?”

“No, just that some asshole put it in me. Are you guys - sirs, okay with this?”

“You mean if we don’t go and rat it out to the magi or someone higher up? Don’t worry; you’re one of us now, both of you.”

“And since you are Sevens like us, if we did, Ronnu would have our asses.”

“Out there, there’s nothing more important than trust.”

“If you have to worry about some of your buddies stabbing you in the back, you’re fucked.”

“Your whole unit might be fucked.”

“Out there, facing the beasts is where you need to focus on the fight and nothing else.”

“And ignoring that shitty whispering of Eleaden,” Geran added.

“Yeah, that too.”

“Anyway, you have nothing to fear from us, Grey.”

“As Ronnu said, glad to have Palemoon and you here.”

“It will be cool to see how you fare on the battlefield with that in your stomach, though.”

“Wait, it’s not that much of a help yet . . .” I stammered out, and they laughed. “Says the gal who dished out the same amount of magic a two-star magic beast did.”

Telling them that it was more or less a credit to my Heart of Magic that made me a magic ‘creature’ felt like too much. So I kept my mouth shut. Back there in the Pit, I revealed more than enough about myself already. Way too much, actually.

There was no regret in my heart over it, though. If I hadn’t done what I did, we wouldn’t be two days away from going home.