Colours were streaking across the sky. Mostly green and violet. Not a full rainbow, but pretty all the same. Something seems out of place though, but I can't really place it.

'You're awake.' (Joshua)

'Am I dead?'

'Manfred said you were alive, so probably not.' (Joshua)

'How long was I out?'

'A little over six hours.' (Joshua)

A while passed in silence.

'You know, there's only sixteen of us left. Louis, Anne and Tony gave up.' (Joshua)

'Manfred sure sounded like he was going to quit too before our last fight.'

'Nah. I think he realised how much we were relying on him.' (Joshua)

'Didn't Tony say he was going to become a noble?'

'He woke up screaming after his encounter with Elaina. At first, we thought she did something to him, but it was looking at Sophia that set him off again, so it's probably not actually Elaina he's scared of. Made a right mess of his pants and the yard too.' (Joshua)

Heh. So he's all talk at the end of the day.

'Did anyone win?'

'No. But Alicia didn't pass out in her fight with Elaina and they actually went one on one for a while, before Elaina won with her weapon. That was the only fight that didn't end in less than three seconds. I guess nobles are really born different.' (Joshua)

Maybe true nobles are born different. Talking about pants...

'Did you do something to me? I don't think I was wearing this earlier.'

'I was wondering when you'd notice. You can slap me now.' (Joshua)

If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

'I'd like to slap the man who died for me, but I can't seem to get up. You sure I'm not dead?'

'From the amount you threw up I wasn't sure, but I think Manfred can be trusted.' (Joshua)

'How am I going to get married now that you've touched me all over?

'Don't worry, nobody wanted to marry you anyway.' (Joshua)

'Jerk.'

A cool breeze wafts over the ridge. The leaves rustle.

'So Gwyn can use the wind to throw weapons as if he had extra hands.'

'Yup.' (Joshua)

'And Sophia can teleport.'

'I don't think so. I think the 'her' that spoke the signal was an illusion all along, and the real Sophia was on the field before we even entered the circle. The worst thing is I can't even be sure, but if she had moved, I should have felt it, so I don't think she even moved except to tap us with her daggers.' (Joshua)

'Any idea what Elaina did?'

'None. It's something that affected balance, though. But I don't know how she did it. Or how Alicia managed to resist it.' (Joshua)

'How did she do against the others anyway?'

'This is all hearsay, but apparently a dagger to the face by Gwyn, a dagger to the throat by Sophia, and she got blown into the wall by Glenn. You're probably the only woman who didn't hit the wall, even the gorilla pretending to be a woman did.' (Joshua)

'You saying I'm heavy?'

'I didn't say that.' (Joshua)

'You thought it.'

'No comment.' (Joshua)

'Why did you die for me?'

'I'm not dead yet.' (Joshua)

'You know what I mean.'

An owl hoots softly.

'I don't know.' (Joshua)

'Are you pretending to be stupid now?'

'No, I mean that I don't know why. When I saw him staring at you I just had a bad feeling, and my legs moved.' (Joshua)

'You can't take revenge for your family if you're dead.'

'I know.' (Joshua)

'Don't do that again, you're worth more than me.'

'I can't promise that. And the instructors don't agree.' (Joshua)

'What do you mean, I just got wrecked by all of them in a row without even a chance to fight back.'

'You and Alicia were the only ones who consistently tried to fight back. Even I gave up after the fight with Sophia.' (Joshua)

'Fat load of good that did when I passed out for six hours.'

'Elaina gave you special treatment.' (Joshua)

'What's that supposed to mean?'

'She said that she held back for most of the rest of us, and only you and Alicia took the full power of her magic.' (Joshua)

'She enjoy tormenting weaklings or something?'

'The opposite. She said you would have resisted anything less.' (Joshua)

'Whatever they think I am, they're wrong.'

'Probably. Nobody else was knocked out longer than an hour.' (Joshua)

'Where's everyone else anyway?'

'Dennis and Michael are having their bath. You had first dibs since nobody wanted to smell your puke.' (Joshua)

'Jerk.'

'Don't puke next time and I won't have to clean up your mess.' (Joshua)

A stick cracks in the heat of the campfire.

'Heh.' (Joshua)

'What?'

'Now that I think about it, everyone will smell your puke whether they want to or not.' (Joshua)

'Huh?'

'Remember what Michael said on the first day?' (Joshua)

...

'Shit flows downstream.'