Today was the day: the final cut.

Walking through Battlecast's cavernous main doors, Codi could feel her heart thumping inside her chest. It didn't make sense to be nervous. She'd been guaranteed a team spot, but she still needed to see it; needed to know it was real. That, and she desperately wanted to know who would be accompanying her into the jaws of the Gauntlet.

The tension in the air was palpable as she joined the other hopefuls filing into the main gymnasium. There were forty of them – that meant twenty more names were still to be blotted off the roster. Those that had come before were still scattered around, the students who'd opted to remain at Battlecast to take another crack at the team next year. They weren't training now, though. Heads turned as the finalists trooped in – it was a procession and a death march.

Codi fell into step with Chris and Ripple, but she caught Leela's eye from across the group. The other girl managed a nervous smile before her gaze shifted back to the head instructor.

There was no podium today. Llewellyn stood on solid ground, just like the rest of them, with the senior instructors flanking her like a guard of honour. The forty surviving fighters pressed in, but left an arc of space over two meters wide between them and the coaches. There was a moment of foot-shuffling and jostling before the recruits settled. Then, without any introduction or ceremony she started speaking, her powerful voice echoing out over the gym.

"First, I want to congratulate each and every one of you for making it this far," she declared. "It will not have escaped your notice that competition here is ferocious, more so than any other academy in space. Whatever happens today, all of you can be proud of your achievements."

An almost inaudible hum of appreciation rippled through the finalists. Codi looked around at their faces – all of them masks of grim determination. She wondered if she looked the same.

But Bronagh Llewellyn was still talking. "And I have some good news, at least for some of you. With such an exceptional crop of new fighters I was able to...persuade the academy financiers to increase our compliment. We will be taking twenty-five of you to the Gauntlet."

Now the murmur was definitely audible and she saw the determined façades crack as the others started exchanging excited looks. Their odds just went up. She glanced at the two veteran fighters beside her. Chris O'Leary's mouth had twitched into a smile, but he stood calmly, his massive arms folded across his chest. Ripple, as usual, didn't give any hints as to what she might be feeling. Across from them the nervousness in Leela's expression fell away, replaced by one of hope.

"Those of you not on this list," Bronagh continued. "Are still welcome to attend the Gauntlet in a spectator capacity, and I mean it when I say I hope to see all of you return next year."

And then she started reading out names from the dat-pad in her hand.

"Chris O'Leary."

No surprises there then. She caught his eye; gave him a small nod. He returned the gesture but otherwise his expression didn't change.

"Ripple Thawborn."

Two out of two. So far none of the fighters had really reacted. Everyone had been ready for this.

"Codi James."

A shudder of delight rushed through her at the sound of her name, the sound of confirmation and validation of everything she'd been working for. She exhaled a long, slow breath and closed her eyes for a moment. That was that – she was going back to the Gauntlet.

A low murmur eddied through the group at the announcement. She caught some encouraging looks and a couple that were not so pleased. Still, if anyone still harboured misgivings about her inclusion they kept to themselves.

"Gareth Hosk."

She smiled thinly and looked to her right where Gareth stood. The tight expression on his face loosened and she saw his shoulders visibly relax. A boy next to him clapped him on the back – another shook his hand. When his gaze found her he gave her a thumbs-up with one hand.

The names continued to ring out like the chimes of a clock. Some were expected – competent second or third year veterans; new recruits that had excelled. Others were less so. Prissa Alder, their capture the flag reject still made the final cut. So too did Cassandra Riven and Cardle North, both returning fighters from last year. Barro Carter, a rookie who Codi hadn't even spoken two words to arrived in as the twelfth name which caused a few raised eyebrows.

Twenty names into the list and Codi started to see the veneer of easy calm among the Battlecast hopefuls crack. One boy gnawed on a knuckle; an older girl had both hands pressed together against the list. Only five of the remaining twenty still had a chance and no matter how their head instructor tried to dress it up, anyone who didn't make the cut would feel like a failure.

On Bronagh Llewellyn went, reading out the five final names. Each one ratcheted up the tension, every syllable a gift to one person and hammer blow to another.

After what felt like an age, she reached the last name on the list, and when she read it out Codi couldn't suppress a grin.

"Leela Crockett."

She could see her friend biting back a cry out of respect for the others, but Leela's joy was clearly plastered on her face. She saw Gareth's expression darken just a fraction and a hum of surprise echoed through the group, but it there was no going back. Leela had made it.

And fifteen faces fell in abject disappointment.

Llewellyn let the dat-pad drop, looking out at their faces. She waited for a moment, letting the outcome sink in.

"Congratulations," she said at last. "Those of you who have been unsuccessful this year, please return to your instructors. The rest of you, come with me."

The dejected final group of casualties trooped reluctantly away with the senior instructors accompanying them, offering words of comfort to the most broken-looking applicants. Once they had been herded out of earshot and thrown into some sparring exercises to relieve their frustrations, Bronagh motioned for the remaining twenty-five fighters to follow her.

*

The Battlecast lecture hall felt an awful lot bigger with only twenty-five people in it. Codi joined the others as they piled into the first two rows, leaning forward and resting her elbows on her knees as she watched Bronagh Llewellyn take her place at the front of the room.

A conflicted mood seemed to hang over them. There was elation and excitement, mixed with an undercurrent of tension as they watched the head instructor. There was little over a month until the Gauntlet, and that month would be nothing short of gruelling for those accepted into the team.

Leela slithered into the seat beside her, knee bumping up and down involuntarily, fingers drumming against her thighs. She flashed a breathless smile, eyes darting around as though she had no control over them. Codi leaned over, taking a gentle grip on her friend's arm, feeling it trembling beneath her touch.

"Are you alright?" she whispered.

"I'm better than alright," Leela managed, though it seemed like a struggle to even get the words out. "I just...I can't believe it!"

"It'll sink in. Just...just stop bouncing around so much. You're making me nervous. I keep thinking you're going to have a heart attack."

"Sorry," Leela laughed, taking a shuddering breath and trying to regain control over her body.

When the gentle hum of conversation stilled, Bronagh looked out over her charges with a smug expression on her face. Codi found the site a little unnerving. Despite it all, she still found the woman coldly intimidating.

"Look around you," the instructor said. "The best of the best. You are the strongest, the fastest; the fittest athletes in the galaxy. It's a tremendous accomplishment to have made it this far." She started pacing back and forth as she spoke. "The Gauntlet begins in a month. Between now and then your schedule will be harder – your sessions longer. You will, eat, sleep and breathe the Gauntlet for the next four weeks. Then it will be out of our hands. It will be down to you, and what you choose to do with this opportunity.

"It will not have escaped your notice that some who were part either of your pairs, or capture-the-flag contingents are no longer participating. This is something you will simply have to adjust to. Some of you will now be excused from these events. We do not split pairings or teams lightly, nor do I expect you do find a new partner and train up to our standards in a month.

"This should simply underline to you how well you, individually, have acquitted yourselves. Take it for what it is: a compliment, a testament of faith to your abilities." She stopped and clasped her hands behind her back, an edge of hardness creeping into her voice. "While you are to be congratulated, I will not tolerate any complacency from any of you. You may have made this team, but that means you have to now work harder than anyone else. You owe it to yourselves. Go to the Gauntlet. Make this academy proud, make me proud, and make yourselves proud."

Someone started clapping and everyone else joined them in a scramble. Codi found herself surprised at how much noise twenty-five people could make.

"Now," Bronagh said, raising her hands for silence. "Let's go and find out what waits for you."

*

The twenty-five fighters now had the undivided attention of Bronagh Llewellyn. Along with two personally selected senior instructors, she took full command of their new regimen, and by God it was brutal.

To Codi felt like her first day at Brax-Delta all those months ago. Everything ached from the number of throws, kicks and punches she'd endured as the finalists launched into an almost perpetual sparring match. They rotated with ten pairs fighting, five standing out, sometimes with one fighter having to take on two or three others in a run before being switched out. Bronagh exhorted them to hit harder, to deliver their blows with conviction, slam their opponents to the matt as though it was the Gauntlet itself.

After two hours non-stop every single one of them dripped with sweat, snatching gulps of water between spars when they could, before being hurled back into the fray. Codi understood the mentality – the constant switching of partners mirrored the myriad of styles that they would encounter at the contest itself. While Battlecast, like every academy, had its preferred methods of teaching, every fighter was unique. Everyone found something that suited them, tweaking and refining combinations of disciplines into the most effective fighting technique.

Bronagh Llewellyn prowled among them, hard faced and watching with her sharp, dark eyes. She stepped in now and again to reel off a stinging volley of something that seemed to be equal parts advice and abuse. Then before you could respond she had moved on to sink her teeth into another unfortunate pairing.

Codi kept her head down and worked. It was hard to explain – they'd made the team but somehow a sense had been instilled in the fighters that this was not over. It hadn't escaped her notice that the others who'd been cut still trained in the gymnasium, now removed into their own cadres.

Every time someone managed to get around her guard she worked doubly hard to close that window. If she hit the mats she got back on her feet instantly, no matter how hard the fall. And when she dished out punishment of her own she made her intent clear in no uncertain terms. When they went to the Gauntlet she would be leading the way, setting the violent tone for others to follow.

What Llewellyn's new ferocious training scheme underline now, however, was that Leela's one on one skills still needed a lot of work. It confirmed Codi's suspicion that the girl had only slipped into the team to give the Capture-the-Flag group a chance, at the expense of someone who otherwise deserved a spot.

She didn't begrudge Leela her position – the girl had grafted just as hard as anyone else, but she just didn't have the natural ferocity that a lot of the other kids wielded like a weapon. Without that, she didn't stand much chance in the individual bouts, and that's when the whole galaxy would be watching.

So it was with a heavy heart that she smashed her friend to the mats for the umpteenth time, with all the force she could muster. Leela let out a yelp of pain and scrambled unsteadily to her feet. Glancing around and seeing Bronagh occupied between Ripple and Gareth, she stepped close, grabbing her by her top.

"Leela, what's the matter with you?!" she hissed, feeling guilty even as she said it. "You do understand what being on this team means, don't you?"

"What...I...?" she stuttered.

"Damn it." Codi released her, shaking her head angrily. "We've had six free spars today and you've not even managed to land a hit on me. I'm not that good. You've got to want this!"

"I do want it!" Leela exclaimed desperately. "You're just...better than me."

"Not that much better."

"I'm trying my best."

"No, Leela, you're not," Codi snapped. "You're here because you're fast; because Bronagh wants a Battlecast sweep on all the disciplines. If that's all you want, fine. But you told me you wanted to prove all those people wrong – everyone who said you didn't have it in you. Being here because you can run won't do that. People need to see you fight."

Finally she saw Leela's timid exterior crack with a flash of anger. "You don't know that-,"

"Yes, I do." Shaking her head in annoyance Codi took up her position on the mats again. "Now stop screwing around, get a bit of steel in your backbone and hit me!"

The first attempt was wild, too far, and Codi sidestepped, hooking a leg and sending her opponent head over heels. Leela crashed to the ground again, and picked herself up with a furious expression on her face.

"You can do better than that," Codi goaded. "Hit. Me."

The next one was better, but she still had no trouble sliding away, blocking the flailing backhanded right, and kicking Leela's legs out from under her.

"I can do this all day, Leela," she said, circling as her friend dragged herself upright again. "I know you've got it in you."

And she saw the spark of anger flare behind Leela's eyes. It took a bit of digging, but she did have the tools buried beneath that slight, unassertive exterior. Codi beckoned her again.

This time the clash went on for several seconds as Leela came in slicing and jabbing with both more conviction and control. Codi stepped and pivoted to block the worst of it and lashed out. To her surprise and elation, the other girl was ready, jamming an arm up into place and kicking out hard with her right leg.

Codi twisted and clamped her arm down to trap Leela's leg against her body. Then something unexpected happened. Leela let out a wordless, animal snarl of frustration and kicked off the ground with her free leg. Using Codi's bodyweight as an anchor, the young fighter threw herself horizontal and wrenched her body to one side, simultaneously bringing her free foot across in a scything arc where it smashed into Codi's jaw.

Pain exploded in her head and she tottered backwards, losing her grip on Leela's leg. Her friend hit the ground and Codi staggered backwards, shaking her head to clear it. When she managed to focus again Leela was back on her feet, an expression of horror on her face.

"Sorry, Codi, I didn't mean-,"

She was interrupted by the sound of someone clapping slowly. Codi looked toward the source, and only then did she realise that the other pairings had slowly stopped to watch the unfolding duel. Bronagh strode towards them, a vulpine smile splitting her face as she applauded.

"Very good, Leela," she said. "And don't apologise. If you land a hit like that, it's your opponent's fault, not yours."

Codi rubbed her jaw gingerly. "She's right, Leela. We'll be doing worse to each other in the Gauntlet."

"Alright, rotate," Bronagh declared. "Cardle, switch in with Codi."

They obeyed, and as Codi walked off the mats she glanced back to see Leela still looking with an ashamed expression on her face. Well, they were halfway there at least. Codi gave her a smile, ignoring the pain in her jaw. It might take some time, but if she could coax more of that Leela Crockett out before the Gauntlet, the girl might not embarrass herself.

Bronagh walked over, taking up a position beside her as the pairs resumed their sparring. She leaned in close, speaking quietly into Codi's ear.

"That was well done."

"She's got the skills," Codi replied. "She just needs to find her teeth."

"Well, you've accomplished more with her in one short session than I have the entire time she's been here," Bronagh chuckled. "She's got a long way to go, Codi. Keep up the good work."

Codi raised an eyebrow as the head instructor stalked off, barking advice at another pair, their conversation dismissed in an instant. Looking back to see Leela slam into the mat once again at Cardle's hands, she smiled to herself.

If there was one thing she knew how do, it was to get people fired up.