The two boys circle each other, a predatory stare in their gaze. A gong rings, and one violently attacks another. Blood spurts from the nose of one of the boys, and I wince in sympathy for him. The boy roars in pain, clutching his nose. I already know how this fight is going to end.  And it's not going to be good.

Sure enough, six minutes later, the original attacker stands victorious over the prone body of the other boy. His face is still bloody, his left eye is swollen shut, and he is completely dead to the world. I had tried to take mental notes of strategies that seem to have worked well for previous competitors, but I still feel as clueless as I did thirty minutes ago, when this stupid Trial began. I can only pray that I am not the only one that feels this way.

Almost everybody has participated in a fight already, and I know that I am next. My competitor, a girl named Naria, stands beside me in stony silence, shooting me little glares every so often. The tension between us is incredibly thick. But I'm not feeling terrible...I think I can take her. She is thin and bony, and while she is taller then I am, I am stronger. And faster. And unlike her, I'm not afraid to get down and dirty to win....the consequences are far too steep to simply be 'mediocre.'

"How are you feeling?" Laura whispers in my ear as the boy is carried out of the room and to the awaiting medic. She has already fought (and won mind you) and is guaranteed a spot in the top five. Good for her and all, but we are still competing against each other. As nice as she is, there can still only be one winner.

"I'm ready." I whisper back, clenching and releasing my fists. I swing my arms back and forth, trying to release all the tension I am feeling and focus on staying in this competition.

I can do this. I can do this. I can do this.

By the time they call my name, I've managed to convince myself that this is going to be alright. I mean-c'mon. I grew up on the streets. I know how to fight. Well, I've seen lots of fights, and that's pretty much the same thing as participating in them....right?

I step into the centre of the ring that they have set up for us, and look around quickly. Those who are still in fair condition after their own battles stand around silently, staring at me with judging, mean looks. Some are nursing minor injuries, others are whispering to those surrounding them. I can't hear them, and am suddenly very grateful for that. I don't want to hear them degrade me.

Naria steps into the ring with me, and turns to face me. She is a Middling-used to watching this sort of thing growing up. But she still looks just as nervous as I feel. In other circumstances, she would be beautiful. Carmel skin, short black hair, and deep brown eyes, she definitely would turn heads at home. But here, her skin is a waxy pale, and her hair is disheveled. She looks terrified. She is a just normal girl, that fate dealt a tough path. Can I do this to her? Can I fight; can I hurt her? Do I have a choice?

With a shake of my head, I push those blasphemous thoughts out of my head, and refocus on my mission. I can't lose this battle. I can't. I need to fight.

When the gong clashes however, I freeze. It's like my feet are glued to the floor, and I can't move. With a flick of her hand, I fly across the room (courtesy of Naria) and hit the glass barrier with a loud crack. Pain radiates from my back, and for a second, I am completely stunned. What just happened? But when I see Naria, slowly advancing towards me, autopilot takes over, and I spring back to my feet. I close my eyes for a moment and summon my fire, burning brightly in my hands. Opening my eyes, I throw white hot balls of fire at her-like a child would throw a ball at his friend while playing. Except these balls aren't so harmless. One singes Naria's arm, and she screams in pain. Doubling over in pain, she clutches her burned arm, whimpering.

For a moment, I forget what we are doing. I forget everything, and I jog over to Naria with concern.

"Are you alright?" I shout, grabbing her shoulders and shaking her gently. She looks up at me, hatred burning her eyes, and suddenly I am up in the air again, unable to breathe.

Naria has her good arm extended, holding me up in the air. Her invisible fingers are wrapped around my throat, and I have no air whatsoever. Grasping at my neck, I flail my arms and legs desperately-trying somehow to dislodge these icy fingers of death from my airway. Now normally, flailing isn't recommended in these situations as it causes you to lose oxygen faster, but somehow, I get lucky.
My wild foot manages to connect with Naria's head, and we both drop to the ground. Able to breathe again, I gulp air desperately, greedily sucking it back into my lungs. It takes me a few more moments of blissful oxygen intake to realize that while I have gotten to my feet, Naria has not. When I look down, her eyes are rolled in her head, and she is passed out.

"Does this mean that I won?" I call out, backing away from Naria slowly-still massaging my throat.  The glass barrier enclosing us in this ring suddenly slides out, allowing me to walk out. Gratefully, I stumble out as a man walks in to collect the still unconscious Naria.

My legs suddenly feel like jelly as I try to comprehend what just happened. I just beat up a girl. I literally just beat somebody up. This is so uncharacteristic of me that I can't help but giggle to myself quietly. Maybe I'm in a bit of shock? It's hard to tell. It's hard to tell anything at the moment.

Quintus appears at my side instantly, armed with a bottle and some bread.

"Good job kid." He mutters, partially to himself, as he hands me the bottle. I take a big gulp of the sweet red juice, before handing it back to him. He replaces the bottle with the piece of bread, and intently watches me as I chew and swallow.

"You alright?" He asks me, taking a swig from the very bottle he just took from me.

I do a quick mental check, making sure I'm not injured before nodding.

"Yea....yea I think so." I mutter, taking another bite of bread.

"Good. Because you're about to go back in." He says before shoving me towards a clump of people in the centre of the room.

What? Fighting again?!

As I stumble towards the crowd, the realization hits me, and I feel like I was stabbed in the gut.

I was so focused on winning the first fight, that I had completely forgotten that I had to keep fighting until there was only one winner.

It's not over yet.

Dang.

"The remaining five of you have been randomly paired into twos. This will continue as per the last round did-same rules apply. When you lose, you are finished this Trial. If you win however, you will gain an advantage for the next Trial." The bored looking man is back at the front speaking again. We all have heard this before. Many times in fact. I honestly only think that they repeat the rules so many times for the sake of dramatic effect.

Quickly, efficiently, officials swarm us-guiding us into pairs. Soon, I find myself standing next to a boy. A tall, strong, menacing looking boy.

Please don't tell me I have to fight that!

Naria I could take. Scrawny, weak Naria I could fight. But not this beast! I have no chance. None whatsoever.

As I'm internally freaking out, the boy turns to me.

"I guess we're partners for this thing huh?" He says casually, as if we were talking about a school assignment. Not a life or death duel.

"Mhmm," I squeak, my voice an octave higher then usual.

"I'm Bayde, in case you were wondering." His voice is humorous-as if he thinks of this as joke.

He probably thinks that fighting me is a joke. After all, I'm just an Unmentionable. The fact that anyone could even dare to think that infuriates me.

I'll show him.

"Elixir." I nod cooly before turning to watch the pair currently duelling it out in the ring. I don't want to talk to this guy anymore.

"Alright then," he mutters under his breath. I don't respond. I just want to get this over with.

As soon as the gong rings a few minutes later, I don't hesitate. I'm not making the mistake of freezing again. I attack him with all I got, running at him with fire a-blazing. He is taken aback at first, obviously not expecting me to attack. He catches my first fireball in the chest, throwing him back. I don't give him a chance to recover, fury blinding me as I throw fireball after fireball at him. It feels so good to let it out. But Bayde is only hindered for a split second. Before I have time to really comprehend it, my fire is extinguished, and I am sopping wet. Bayde drenches me with water over and over again, pushing me farther away from him each time. Frantically, I attempt to relight my flame, but I can't get it.

"C'mon...c'mon c'mon! Argh!" I scream as I shake my hands violently, desperately attempting to relight a spark. But it doesn't come. Not in time anyways.

I am thrown into the air, huge gusts of wind spinning me round and round until I don't know which was is up and which way is down. Water is still attacking me from every direction, and I am so disoriented, it's not even funny. All of a sudden, the wind and the water stop, and I frantically fall from the air and onto the floor. My head hits the ground hard, and everything goes black.

A/N

Hi you guys! How are you guys? First of all, I'm super sorry for the spastic updates-life has been kinda crazy! But in a good way. :) happy Thanksgiving to all my fellow Canadian friends! And I hope the rest of you have a wonderful weekend!

The question of the day is.....if you could go live in any fantasy world, where would you go?

I'd definitely go and live in the wizard world and go to Hogwarts. Hands down. No question there. :)

Until next time lovely readers!

a_person66