What If There Was Another Way

Chapter 3

I wake up, pumped for the day ahead. Today we are fighting. That is, if we passed the performance round.

When Horus, Bellona and I get to the Academy, one of the trainers directs Horus and me to locker room 1C. That means we passed! Meanwhile, Bellona goes off to find a seat. The locker room is already filled with people.

"Of course the Cadorets passed," mumbles someone in the corner.

We both ignore that person. I find somewhere to sit while I wait to see if Clove passed too. Most of my brother's friend group is here. They are composed of some of the more popular kids, ages 15-17. Cato is there too and Horus goes to sit next to him.

When Clove enters the door, I wave her over.

"For a 14-year-old, that was impressive," I greeted her.

"As if you didn't do well last year."

"This is about you Clove, not me," I inform her. It's very rare for a 14-year-old to make it pass the performance round.

More kids file in. After several minutes, one of the trainers comes in.

"Greeting tributes." It's as if we are already in the capitol, I think. "You all passed to the next round. For the coming days, you will fight against someone of our choosing. We pitted you against someone of a similar level to you so the fights will be fair." He takes a small pause. "You will be allowed any weapon of your choosing."

At that moment, another trainer comes in, carting a box full of body armor. We get handed our armor and we start putting it on.

"Body armor is required to wear," continues the trainer. "First to draw blood wins. But for the sake of your opponent, do not make it a deep cut. If you are on top of your opponent and have a blade to their throat or another weapon to their head then the match will conclude."

We listen silently, although we all know the speech by heart. It's the same speech that is used when we fight each other in training. The trainer calls up the first two people to get ready, then leaves.

The rest of us leave the locker room to find a seat to spectate. The first two both choose spears. The fight is pretty boring. They go back and forth, trading blows, losing spears and giving it to their opponent. Eventually, one of them, the leaner one, throws the spear and nicks his opponent's arm. The match ends and the next two people are up.

As the day progresses, it is unlikely that I'm going to have a go today. Some fights take a few minutes, while others drag on for what feels like half an hour. For the final match of the day, the trainer calls up both Horus and Cato. This, I smirk, will be interesting.

Cato chooses a sword while Horus goes for a spear. They give each other a handshake before walking to opposite ends of the makeshift battleground. The trainer calls for them to begin.

Both boys rush to each other, Cato swinging his sword while Horus moves his spear in a defensive position. Horus jerks his spear to the right, pushing the sword away, and quickly moves back, flipping the spear in the process so that the tip is pointed at Cato. Meanwhile, the blonde-haired boy readies his sword for another attack.

They trade blow after blow. Eventually, Horus gets the upper hand. His opponent swung his sword. My brother blocked with his spear, and in that position, before they separate, he knees the hilt (and possibly Cato's hand). Cato lets go of the sword, and before he can recover, Horus throws the spear, slitting a shallow cut on Cato's arm.

The trainer calls the match over and Horus the winner. Both boys shake hands again. Day one of combat, done, and only half of us left.

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