Page 40 of Midnight Trials

I’ve been in here for well over an hour now. At least, that’s what it feels like. I have no way of telling if I’m right or not. All I know is that Joel and I were woken abruptly by pounding on my door, I was given five minutes to get dressed, and then I ushered here. The last two times I’ve been in this room, I wasn’t kept waiting for long, but this time is different. They are probably making me wait to prolong the anticipation of what’s to come.

I know what’s waiting for me, unlike the other competitors, so at least I know what to expect from the trial—a fight against another champion. I can only hope that the small amount of training I’ve managed to squeeze in will help. While I wait, I run over the drills I’ve practiced with the others, moves that work when fighting a larger opponent. Deciding to use the time usefully, I start stretching and going through a warmup. The last thing I want to happen is for me to get a stitch while fighting.

A strange, quiet clicking noise followed by a low buzz cuts through my focus, and I freeze, trying to work out what’s changed.

“Prepare yourself,” a metallic voice intones from above, filling the small room. Eyes wide, I look around frantically and spot a tiny speaker in the top corner. How had I not noticed that before, and what am I preparing myself for?

“Step back from the door,” the voice orders again.

Frowning, I follow the instructions, my heart racing in my chest as the door swings open. A guard comes in, his expression twisted into a sneer. His eyes travel up my body, but there’s no desire in his gaze at all, oh no, this male absolutelydisdainsme. I have no idea what I’ve done to deserve such hatred, but I keep my mouth shut so as not to antagonise him. He looks as though he’d take any excuse to use that truncheon hanging from his belt.

“Put this on.”

The order is followed by him shoving something into my chest, startling a gasp out of me. Grabbing onto it, I glance down and see that it’s a helmet, like one would wear on a motorbike, complete with visor. What in the goddess’s name do I need this for? I hesitate too long, and the guard reaches towards his hip, so I jump to action, lifting the helmet and sliding it on, only to be surrounded by darkness.

That explains the visor then. Panic threatens to overwhelm me, and my breathing speeds up despite my attempts at calming it. I can’t see. I’m trapped in darkness. Desperately, I reach for the edge of the helmet, determined to yank the damn thing off, except something slams into my hand, causing me to cry out in pain and shock.

“Don’t touch the helmet,” the guard growls, although I swear I can practically feel his pleasure at having the opportunity to hurt me. Whatever I do, I can’t give this male an excuse to punish me. I feel his touch on the helmet, the sound somehow amplified, and flinch on instinct. There’s a loud click, and a tiny shaft of light appears at the bottom of my vision, allowing me to see my feet. The feeling of being trapped recedes a little, and I focus on what I can see—my shoes and the dirty grey floor.

“Come.”

Silently, I allow myself to be half dragged from the room, stumbling along beside the guard. I want to fight or scream orsomething, but all of my energy goes into not falling on my face. The guard takes all sorts of twists and turns, and I’m pretty sure at one point we double back on ourselves, but without being able to see, it’s not long before I lose my bearings.

A bright light blinds me despite only having a tiny window to see out of. Rapidly blinking away the tears, I try to focus my gaze and work out where we are. Sounds are louder here after the silent corridors and rooms, and when the wind caresses my face, I realise I’m outside.

Doors slam, and I’m quickly loaded into a vehicle, my head shoved down as I blindly climb in. We’re not in the car for long, perhaps ten minutes, which tells me that we’re either still in town or just outside of its borders. For the last challenges, I woke up to find myself in the trial, so I’m not sure why it’s so different this time. I can only assume because of the proximity of the arena we’re heading to, but I’m confused that I’ve not seen or heard any of the other champions yet. Of course, they could just be trying to unnerve me, and if that’s their goal, they are succeeding.

The car jerks to a halt, and I slam against something hard and cold—what I can only assume is the side of the vehicle. Hissing through clenched teeth, I attempt to right myself, but the guard’s hand lands on my shoulder, dragging me out into the morning sunlight. It’s disconcerting not being able to see beyond my feet, and completely dehumanising. I feel like a prisoner.

I’m ushered into a building in silence. I can feel the distant presence of other werewolves, hundreds of them, so I must be at the arena now. Attempting to keep myself calm and not imagine the worst, I take slow, deep breaths. Hinges squeal, startling me and shattering my false sense of calm, but before I have the chance to do anything, the helmet is yanked from my head. Blinded by the sudden change of light, I raise my hands to shield my eyes, just as I’m shoved from behind.

Stumbling forward, I barely manage to keep myself upright, turning in time to see the guard smirk and shut a door between us. My head is pounding from the stress and strain on my eyes, the bright lights only making the crushing pain worse. Realising that I’m not in immediate danger, I close my eyes and rub at my temples, trying to ease some of the tension.

“Give me strength and wisdom, great goddess.” The prayer falls from my lips, and I press my hands over my heart as I continue to speak to the great divine. “Keep watch over my friends and mates while I can’t. Help me survive this trial.”

A gentle, loving presence settles over me, surrounding me with warmth, and I know the goddess is here with me. Tilting my head back, I allow a small smile to curve my lips as I bask in her love.

You’re stronger than you know, littleone, the goddess whispers into my mind.Listen to your instincts, they will guide you.I expect her to go then, her words filling me with strength and confidence, knowing I have her on my side, but I feel her pause, as if she’s got something more to say, but either doesn’t know how to say it or doesn’t want to.

Be cautious of your emotions during the fight. Remember who you are at your core, the kind, generous female you’re growing into.With that, I feel her presence pull away, her last words ringing in my mind.

Confused, I slowly open my eyes and look around the empty room, which looks much like the one I was taken from. Why did the goddess caution me before she left? She doesn’t mince her words, and she wouldn’t have said anything unless she was truly concerned.

Any further musings I might have had on the subject is cut short when a tinny voice fills the space. I’m not as surprised this time, and I glance around until I find the speaker and a small camera beside it.

“Welcome to your next trial,” the voice intones. “You are about to enter an arena where you will face off against another competitor. To win, you must be the victor in the best of three bouts or render your opponent unable to continue. Youmustwin your match to proceed to the next match.”

Blowing out a long breath, I concentrate fully on the voice, listening for loopholes or anything that might help me win this thing.

“Everyone has been split into groups, you must finish at the top of your group to go through to the next trial—the semi-finals,” it continues. “There will also be runner up places for the two who score the highest in the final round but don’t win their match.”

There’s a pause, and I get the feeling I’m being watched. Lifting my gaze to the camera, I stare into it, allowing them to see the look of determination on my face.

There’s a hiss from the speaker that sounds distinctly like a noise of anger before someone clears their throat. “Good luck.”

It’s clear that this is the last thing the speaker wants to wish me, but I don’t care. There’s a little part of me that’s feeling smug, knowing I got under their skin. It’ll probably backfire on me. I’m not supposed to be giving the council any reason to dislike me any more than they already do, but I just can’t help myself.

Focus, Laelia, I order myself. Instead of winding up the council, I should be preparing for the fight I’m about to take part in. My mind spins with all the rules, trying to store them away. I have no idea how many groups there are, nor how many will be in my group. I struggle to get through one fight during practice, and now I’m going to have to face an unknown quantity of opponents, not to mention the fact that I have to win three bouts. There’s no way I can last that many rounds.

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