Page 11 of Their War

I entered the tree line, my eyes scanning left and right, keeping on the balls of my feet and ready for an attack. While I knew we were being watched by the people in the stands, the ever-present globe still followed me as I progressed through the trees, the hairs on the back of my neck standing on end. My gut was telling me that I was being stalked by more than just the orb.

After thirty minutes of remaining on high alert, I was beginning to fatigue. I'd lost weight since being kept in the cell, unable to stomach the slop that I was served and barely eating enough to stay alive. Add the magic drain to that and the fact that I hadn’t been able to sleep much, and I was dead on my feet.

Flashing back to a book I read as a teen about games where children hunted each other for entertainment for the masses, a strikingly similar scenario to what I found myself in now, I eyed a massive tree ahead. The branches hung low enough that I could climb them easily with a running jump. I just had to summon the energy to accomplish such a feat.

Doing just that, I grasped the branch, hissing at the bite of the bark into my hands from the impact, pulling myself up until I could move to the next branch. Finally stopping about halfway up since the branches higher up didn’t inspire my confidence that they'd hold my weight, I settled in with my back against the trunk. Thankfully, my rope was coming in handy again, and I tied myself to the tree so I wouldn't roll off as I tried to shut my eyes. Hopefully, when I woke, I'd feel a little stronger, both physically and magically.

It didn't take me long to drift off, but it felt like only a moment since I had closed my eyes that a sharp snap of a stick on the forest floor had me startling awake. My eyes felt like they were coated in sandpaper. I was so tired, and I rubbed them until another sound, soft whispers on the wind, reached my ears.

Stilling, I scanned the forest for the source. Suddenly, the tree I was tied to started to sway, tossing me back and forth, bending until I knew it would break any second now. Terror struck me, my fingers shaking as I tried to untie myself quickly. If I fell to the forest floor from this height, I would most likely die. Or, at the very least, I would wish I was dead.

I heard the creaking and groaning of the wood as the tree continued to bend first one way and then the other as if caught in a hurricane but without the winds. The force of my weight pushing against the rope had only ensured that the knots I had tied tightened. Scrabbling at the rope that had once been my salvation but was now most likely going to be the end of me, I pulled and twisted, breaking fingernails and tearing skin in the process. All that mattered was that I got out now.

The rope finally released, falling to the ground below as the tree swayed again. I hugged the limb, realizing there was no way I could climb down, but if I timed it right, I could drop without hurting myself. A loud crack sounded out through the near-silent forest, deafening in its intensity and signaling that I'd only get one chance at this. This tree was going down hard and fast.

As the tree started to fall, I maneuvered myself so that I could dangle, watching the ground approach faster than I had anticipated. Not yet. Not yet. Now. I told myself as I pushed backward off the tree, hoping to clear the other limbs as they came shattering to the ground, sending splinters off into the woods on impact.

Hitting the ground, I rolled, thankful for the Jiu Jitsu rolls that I'd drilled until they were second nature. Still, it hurt like a mother as I tumbled across rocks and limbs along the ground, the wind knocked from my lungs. Finally coming to a stop, I gasped in a breath, inhaling deep lungfuls of air as I tried to force my heart to calm down. I'd made it. I was in one piece, for the most part.

Rolling to my hands and knees, I went to push up to standing when I realized I wasn't alone. Four men and a Chosen were standing circled around me. The blonde I recognized as the bitch who'd pushed me into the servant and caused us to spill the drinks. Narrowing my eyes at her, I settled into my fighting stance, light on the balls of my feet and ready to move. “Genevieve. What a pleasure it is to see you again.”

Sue me. My sarcasm was always going to get me into trouble. “Look at the trash, boys. This filth thinks that she deserves the right to compete in these trials as if she's worthy,” she said, crossing her arms with a look of disgust on her face. Seriously, that was not a good look on her.

Obviously not knowing when to shut up, even when I was clearly outnumbered, I responded, “Didn't anyone ever tell you that jealousy is not a pretty shade of green on anyone? That includes you. Sorry to tell you, honey, but envy is so not your color.”

“As if I'd be jealous of some poor, human filth. You're nothing, and when I'm crowned Queen, I'll make sure you pay.” Smirking at me as if she knew something I didn't, she moved in until she was just out of range, speaking more quietly as she formed an air bubble around us, our orbs that followed us like RPG pets clearly outside of the soundproof barrier.

“In fact, if I happen to get rid of you during the trial, I've been assured that I will be crowned. Titania said to do whatever was necessary to ensure you didn't get out of this trial in one piece.”

“Is that so?” I asked, keeping an eye on her men from my peripheral vision. “Funny how you both feel the need to get rid of me. I mean, if I'm so trashy and so clearly not a threat, then why all the need to cheat?”

Clearly not happy with that point, she narrowed her eyes at me and crossed her arms over her chest, pushing her breasts forward as she did so. “Somehow, you've found a way to cheat the system and have been able to get selected as a Chosen. There's no way someone like you, with so little of your own power, would be selected. The only reasonable explanation is that you're cheating somehow. I really don't care how you’re doing it, but I'll be damned if you take this from me. I've been preparing for this role my whole life, and some scummy piece of crap on the bottom of my boot isn't about to steal it from me.”

“You know, when I first got here, I would have agreed with you. I couldn't understand how someone like me was Chosen. But after meeting the current Queen and then you, I can totally see why Avalonia had to go to Earth to find a qualified contender.” Goading her even further, I continued. “I know it bothered you when Lennox was selected as my consort and not yours. Then I went and won the first trial without even trying. To be quite honest with you, I didn't want to be Queen. I simply wanted to return to my life on Earth.”

Giving that a moment to sink in, I continued, “But after seeing the damage that Titania has done and what someone like you would do, I can no longer walk away. I can't stand a bully, and that's exactly what people like you and her are. You can't get the power and loyalty you desire without forcing others to submit to you with no thought to anyone but yourselves.

“So, you can try to kill me, make sure I no longer compete, but I promise you this. I won't go down without a fight. I will take you with me one way or another. If you still feel brave enough, then come at me, bitch,” I challenged her.

She wavered, her eyes giving a brief glimpse of fear at my bravado before hardening, her hand moving until it looked like she was pulling something. The air from my lungs was being snatched from me as she smirked, confident in her victory. “Yes, I know that you've been weakened after your stint in the dungeons. Oh, and that little gift from the Queen has also ensured that you're pretty much left without any powers.”

Starting to gasp, my muscles weakening, I said, “You sure about that?”

As soon as the puzzled look crossed her face, I exploded forward, punching her with a jab, cross combo that knocked her from her feet and caused blood to gush from her nose, dropping the shield and letting blessed air back into my lungs. I fell to one knee, gasping in huge lungfuls of air, desperately trying to recover before she did.

“You bitch!” she screamed, holding her nose. One of her Consorts rushed to her side, but she brushed him off as she stood back up. Seemed like one of her Consorts’ powers wasn't healing. Ain't that a bitch.

My laughter only angered her further, causing her to rush me. I jumped to my feet and out of the way easily, but vines wrapped around my ankles, tripping me and sending my body crashing into the ground. “Who's laughing now, you stupid cunt?”

I fought to stop the vines from swarming me, but they quickly wrapped around my arms and legs, essentially pinning me to the ground. Genevieve stomped over to me, her hunting boots quite sturdy, as she studied me, held prone before her and completely at her mercy. Trying desperately, I searched for my men's magic, a trickle of power meeting my request. Not enough to help me in this moment, barely a drop in the bucket that was the size of an ocean.

“Take a good look at my face, cunt. It's the last one you'll see,” she told me, blood from her nose dripping down on the ground beside me. She smirked at me again before rearing back and kicking me hard in the ribs. I felt a couple of them snap, biting back a scream of pain, trying not to move and make the injury worse. The last thing I needed was a punctured lung.

“My boots have been reinforced with steel, so I'm sure that hurt like a bitch.” She walked around to my other side, dragging the moment out before kicking me again, twice. I felt another rib break and couldn't keep myself from trying to bend over, gagging as the second kick landed in my liver.

The vines still held me tightly as her men watched on, a wicked gleam in their eyes. I met each of their gazes as she kicked me again. As I cried out, I caught a glimpse of shame on one of their faces. He was the smallest of her men, pale and skinny but with a kind face.

The funny thing was, while I was the one getting the shit kicked out of me, I felt sorry for the guy. He had to live out the rest of his life tied to this bitch. No one deserved a fate like that.

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