Fɪɢʜᴛ Fᴏʀ Aʟʟ || Tʜᴇ Cʜᴏsᴇɴ Eɪɢʜᴛ Bᴏᴏᴋ Oɴᴇ

ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ᴇʟᴇᴠᴇɴ || ᴛʀᴀɪɴɪɴɢ

I followed the rest of the group off to the side, a tad bit relieved to not go first. The wolverine, ostrich and jaguar all followed us, each with eyes only for their summoners.

Niko shook out his shoulders and cracked his knuckles, backing up so he was flat against the wall beside the others. I couldn't miss the dirty look Sasha threw him.

"Go!" Tyler's shout rang out, and they were off.

I found myself holding my breath, unable to look away as Niko sprinted past, across the room. He had a determined look on his face as he flew by, quickly drawing ahead of Navia and Tazi. Sasha wasn't so easy to shake, however.

I'd heard that the jaguar summoner had trained as a warrior, but only now did I actually get to see him in action. His strides were long and measured, carrying him just out of Niko's reach. They reached the wall a hairbreadth apart.

Sasha paused at the bottom and sprang up, slapping it as high as he could– a good two times his height.

Niko, however, took the more nimble approach. He leapt when he was still a pace or two away, kicking off wall to gain some more height. He ended up about half a metre above Sasha.

Then they hit the ground and were running again. Sasha reached the bag first, having lengthened his lead while Niko was still in the air. He rammed into it with his shoulder, grunting with surprise when he merely bounced off. The bag barely even swung.

Niko arrived at the bag next. He shot a look over at Sasha, clearly surprised. He then doubled his speed and took off with both feet, slamming into the bag with his full body. It swung a little bit, but not enough for me to be certain. The poor boy fell to the ground with a groan.

A sharp growl from beside me made me jump. It was Navia's wolverine– Cerco, I think? He was staring at the running girl with fierce eyes as she approached the bag as well. At the last possible moment, she dropped to a slide and kicked it from underneath, with both feet.

I was surprised when it bounced a little.

She rolled away just as Tazi ran up. He did the same as Sasha, hitting it with his shoulder, but with even less success.

"Good job!" Tyler said as they stumbled over, panting and wincing. "Next group!"

I stretched out my arms and gave Elle a quick pat. Then I lined up. Alright, we got this.

"Go!"

Using the wall for an extra push, I took off at a sprint, racing to the other wall. I could barely hear anything over the thunder of my own footsteps. Zay appeared in my periphery, drawing even and then passing.

A sudden, piercing whinny cut through the noise. It was clear and steady, and somehow bolstered me. Invigorated, I launched myself at the wall, smacking the bricks as high as I could. I spun in midair and landed on my feet, taking off immediately.

The bag was the next challenge.

You've got a strong punch, I reminded myself, and decided to use it. I barely even saw Zay hit the bag, or even knew where she was anymore. There was just me and this challenge. It came up faster than I expected, so all I could do was react. I punched it as I ran past, barely even pausing to see if it moved.

My knuckles stung and I slowed, breathing hard. I turned to Elle, who twitched her ears. She looked pleased with herself.

"That was great!" Ryan praised as we made over way back over. "What did you feel when Elle whinnied?" She turned to me.