The Midnight Watch

Chapter 15

We met the boys at the obstacle course. There was a brief group huddle away from the others as we confirmed the plan.

"Run like hell," Kai instructed us. "We've still gotta make it in under five minutes. You all know what to do about the ropes and the last obstacle."

"Yes, your Majesty," Alex teased.

"I prefer your Highness," Kai joked.

It began as any run of the obstacle course did. With a whole bunch of pushing, shoving, and falling over each other. But before the first obstacle, the five of us had started pulling away from the group. Mainly because the others weren't putting in much effort. They had lost the fight with the Shadowcats, so defeating the obstacle course today wasn't a priority.

The hurdles seemed to go faster than normal. Even the mud seemed to understand the importance of the situation and allowed me secure footing. When the rope across the river came into sight, I unbuckled the strip of leather that formed a sort of belt for our training clothing.

We hung back to let Alex go first, given that he usually had the slowest time. He slung his belt over the rope and hung on, letting momentum carry him down like a zip wire. Becky was next, then myself, then Ben and finally Kai. We jumped onto the rope before the previous person reached the opposite side, so that it was all over in less than thirty seconds.

Behind us, I caught a glimpse of Ethan's annoyed scowl before he climbed the rope manually just for pride's sake. It was unthinkable that he would copy Kai for anything. We dived under the net, those who reached the end first holding it up to speed everyone else up.

After that, it was just a matter of clambering over palisades and crawling through tunnels until the final obstacle loomed, giant and unyielding. Ben and Alex crouched a few feet apart, forming a foothold. Kai went first, so he could haul us up from the top. He took a run-up, pushed off the boys' hands and seized the top of the wall. Then he was up, scrabbling and kicking in order to sit atop the rough wood.

When it was my turn, I had it a lot easier. Ben and Alex lifted me up, and Kai pulled me the rest of the way. Form the top, I grabbed Becky's arm and pulled with all my strength, which wasn't much. Together, the three of us pulled Alex up, and then it was only Ben. That was a little more difficult, because he didn't have anyone to lift him.

But we managed it. And jumping down the other side took only seconds. All five of us sprinted to the finish line, gasping for breath and ready to collapse. The instructor looked down at us through narrowed eyes, stopwatch in one hand.

"Four minutes fifty-eight seconds," he announced.

I whooped, throwing my arms around anyone I could reach. We ended up in a tangled huddle of cheering, exhilarated teenagers.

G freaking G.

I didn't see Ethan arrive. I didn't see the look of pure anger on his face. I didn't see him punch Kai.

But I heard it. A sharp crack of flesh and bone hitting flesh and bone.

Pure chaos erupted. Nobody seemed to know what to do with themselves. I scrambled backwards as Ethan crashed into me, going for Kai again. I had just enough sense to leave one leg in his path, making him trip and fall in the dust. Becky seized my collar and dragged me out of the way.

She didn't go and help. And once I caught a glimpse of the fight, I didn't blame her. The two boys were fighting with an unprecedented level of ferocity. Punch after punch found their mark.

Alex lay sprawled a few metres away. It looked like he had taken a blow to the head in the initial impact. Ben seemed to want to get in the way, he was just having a hard time finding an opening. And the instructor was doing very little to help, shouting and threatening extreme punishments to both of them.