The synthetic molar still felt a little strange inside her mouth, but on balance, Codi decided it had definitely been worth it. She'd spent a day under observation in the on-site medical centre to make sure she hadn't developed a concussion, but her natural resilience held her in good stead. All she had to show for her trouble was a hefty bruise and a fake tooth.
So training continued uninterrupted. If Bronagh Llewellyn noticed the mark on Codi's jaw she didn't let on. She seemed to be satisfied with the resolution that had been struck.
Gareth was still far from her friend, but Codi noticed a slight and unmistakable alteration in his attitude. He could still be surly; argumentative, but he no longer made snide comments behind her back. He'd treated her with a begrudging respect since they'd returned from the tackle-ball match. He began applying himself more directly to the training exercises and the results were immediate. The whole of group Cyan found their rhythm under the firm hand of Thradd Winters' leadership without internal conflict distracting them. Codi marvelled at how quickly the group of untested children transformed into a unit of ferocious combatants.
People were more accepting of Leela now, too, having seen her invited onto a team with the academy's best fighters. The tackle-ball game had done wonders for her credibility and status among the other recruits. Privately, Codi still had serious doubts about the girl's fighting capability– she was still the same slight, timid individual that she had been before – but she kept them to herself.
On they plunged through a merciless training schedule and in a matter of weeks free sparring became a staple part of their routine. It would still be some time before Gauntlet exoskeletons were issued but that didn't stop the instructors arming their pupils up in practice suits and letting them clobber the hell out of each other.
Codi established herself quickly as the premier contender from group Cyan. Although Gareth was a wily and competent fighter, she had natural ferocity and sheer determination on her side. She beat everyone in free sparring, dishing out plenty of punishment and encouraging advice where she could. The role of mentor was not one she wanted, but every now and again it felt wrong to just shut up after watching someone make a crippling and totally avoidable mistake. She found she was almost a second coach to Leela.
A month after the tackle-ball game Codi arrived at the academy like she did every morning, bussed in with a host of regulars from her building. They went through the motions, gearing up in the gendered locker rooms and filing into the cavernous Battlecast gymnasium. What waited for them today, however, was very different. Codi stopped and stared.
An enormous racecourse now dominated the centre of the room, a circular arrangement easily four hundred metres in circumference. And this was no ordinary race course. This one was filled with obstacles from whirling arms of machinery to pendulums, moving floors, water pits, stun traps and floating platforms. It looked like a mad scientist's toy train set.
"What in the world?" she murmured.
"Training for the Mayhems," Ripple explained. "You'll see."
Codi didn't doubt her. She fell into step with the crowd of recruits as they split off into their respective groups. Once they'd gathered with their instructors they stood in a perfect semi-circle facing Bronagh Llewellyn. She stood on a raised plinth at the start of the course and a thin smile of amusement tugged at the corners of her mouth.
"Good morning, everyone," she boomed, her powerful voice echoing around the gymnasium. "Those of you who are returning will know what is about to happen. Those who are new, I will explain it to you." Codi felt the head instructor's gaze sweep over her like a wave of fire.
She hopped down off her podium and began pacing, weaving in and out of the lines of bewildered looking youths. Some of them, like Ripple and Gareth seemed unconcerned, being veterans of previous Gauntlet campaigns. Codi felt her nerves beginning to jangle as she waited for the woman to continue.
"The Gauntlet is not as easy as fighting and seeing who wins," Bronagh began. "Your ability to beat another contender in a face to face confrontation may not be enough to get you through." More confused looks. "The hardest thing any of you will face – be you veteran or new blood – is your Mayhem."
A ripple of curiosity passed through the group. Codi thought back to her first competition and the insane contraptions the Gauntlet organisers had used to create ever more extravagant spectacles for the free for all stages. Her eyes wandered over the obstacle course and she put two and two together, even as Bronagh continued.
"In a Mayhem you will have to rely on agility and speed just as much as combat ability. You will also need to rely on luck." Her eyes blazed as she dared any to contradict her. Many of these new contenders wouldn't like the idea of luck playing its part in their chances. "Your awareness of your surroundings and your ability to adapt, these things will get you through a Mayhem. Do you understand?"
There was a low rumble of ascent, whereupon Bronagh yelled, "I said, DO YOU UNDERSTAND?!"
"YES MA'AM!" the Battlecast hopefuls shouted back in unison, galvanised by her dagger-sharp voice.
"Good." In an instant Bronagh's voice returned to its normal level. "Now then, we have a very simple method of preparing you. Most of you are already progressing well in your combat studies. This will be the second part of your education. Every group will run this obstacle course as a relay, simultaneously. It is very simply, a race. When the runner from your team reaches the back of the line, the next runner may start." She smiled dangerously. "The last team to finish will run the course again, twice. I suggest you take care."
For the first time since she'd arrived at the Battlecast Academy, Codi felt a shiver of worry go down her spine. For the first time she would now have to rely entirely on other people. She could only run the course once – then it was out of her hands and that thought made her very uncomfortable.
"You heard the lady," Thradd roared. "Get yourselves in some kind of order and get ready to work!"
They scrambled to obey, joining the general surge towards the starting line of the obstacle course. Codi found herself at the front of the line with Gareth tucked in behind her. The others simply piled into a random order and when she looked back she saw, with a pang of regret, that Leela had been shunted to the back of the line. She may have garnered more tolerance from her colleagues, but she was still regarded as one of the weakest entrants to the academy. She would have to do a lot more to really earn their respect.
There was nothing to be done about it now thought. Codi looked left and right down the line where the other groups spread out. The course was more than wide enough to give every person a few metres to their left and right to make collisions unlikely. Ripple stood immediately to her left, emotionless as ever as she waited; to her right a sturdily-built boy from Group Red.
She swallowed her apprehension and locked her eyes onto the first line of obstacles: a series of swirling metallic arms, padded and arranged in an interlocking pattern at different heights. The competitors would have to leap through and around the whirling obstacles. Although she had experience in the Gauntlet, Codi had no experience of this mind game of a test course. Right now she was back to square one. She could only hope her natural aptitude for all things violent would keep her in touch with the others.
"First runners," Bronagh yelled, holding her hand high. "Are you ready?"
"Yes Ma'am!" the first rank of fighters responded in chorus.
The head instructor waited for a few agonizing seconds before letting her arm drop and roaring. "GO!"
Ten young men and women shot from the starting line like cannonballs. Ripple was out in front, as fleet and agile as the wind. A boy from Group Orange was close behind, and Codi headed the rest, legs pumping. In the corner of her eye she could see the boy from Group Red pounding along barely a couple of feet behind her.
She forced an extra burst of speed and hurdled the first of the swinging arms. Hitting the ground, she immediately fell into a roll under the second and came to her feet smoothly. As she fell back into her sprint she saw that Ripple's lead had increased. Fixing her eyes on the veteran's sheen of white hair she made it her goal to catch up.
They hurtled out onto a section of track where the floor panels were shifting from side to side and back and forth. Reluctantly, Codi slowed her pace, knowing that it would be worth picking carefully through this barrier rather than falling onto the rolling conveyer.
She heard a curse from over her shoulder and glanced back to see the boy from Red fighting to get back to his feet as the floor swept along underneath him. Despite herself, Codi allowed a fleeting smile to flash over her face. Her foot slipped on one of the moving panels, but she managed to hop with it and readjust her balance to avoid toppling to the ground. She stopped, stationary for just a second, before launching forward again, skipping in an awkward half-run until she reached the end of the moving plates. Just before she reached the track, however, her right foot was swept from under her by a jolting floor movement and she pitched forward, crashing hard into the synthetic polymer surface.
Biting back a curse, Codi dragged herself upright and kept running. The slip had dumped her into fifth place.
After the first bend in the track she hit the opening and closing water pits. A long section of track had been paved with black metal trapdoors around three feet square that seemed to be opening and closing at random. Now well out in front, Ripple had stopped for a moment, staring at the arrangement. Then off she went again, bounding daintily in a zigzag through the course.
There must be a pattern! Codi tried to keep the route Ripple had taken fixed in her mind as she thundered on, fighting to control her breathing. She caught up to the girl running in fourth just as they reached the minefield of water traps.
Heart in mouth, Codi didn't stop and went hurtling out into the line of fire. She followed Ripple's route as best she could, not letting her feet touch the ground for more than the briefest of instants as she avoided the opening doors. A yelp and a splash told her the other girl had not been so lucky.
However, she didn't manage to hit Ripple's route precisely. She put one foot wrong and very nearly went head first into the water herself. One arm snapped out and she caught the edge of the open trapdoor. She was barely a meter from the safety of solid track again.
Swallowing a deep breath, she gripped the edges of the open door with both hands. Codi shoved herself upwards, at the same time pushing off hard with her legs. The force propelled her over the last couple of trapdoors and deposited her on the track beyond. She rolled for a few feet and scrambled back to her feet once more.
Ripple was even further ahead now.
Codi shook that thought away. She didn't need to be the best right now. Right now she just needed to not be the worst. Perfection could come later.
A long stretch of open track let her close back up into joint third, running neck-and-neck with the boy from Group Orange. Then they reached the next bend in the course which opened out into a veritable canal of water. A row of long black rectangular slabs of black metal lay in front of them.
Looking out into the expanse of the canal, Codi saw with horror that Ripple and another boy were already riding their boards into the jaws of the Battlecast obstacle course. Swinging, hammer-shaped pendulums thrummed back and forth and between them she could see long black rods that signified the stun traps. If they touched the bottom of the platforms they would deliver a small jolt of electricity, enough to knock a runner off their platform and into the water below.
Never one to back down from a challenge, Codi jumped onto the nearest platform and it immediately started moving at a startling pace that almost threw her backwards. She managed to get herself balanced, crouching low as she waited for the fast approaching pendulums.
The first one swung harmlessly in front of her and she scuttled forwards. Its reverse stroke passed so close to her back that she felt a cold kiss of wind. Next she leapt between two pendulums as they swung in front of her,and then jumped again as her platform passed over a stun trap. She saw the crackle of blue pass through the metal for a fraction of a second before she landed again.
The next pendulum came on so fast that she had to jerk backwards sharply away from it. Codi gritted her teeth with frustration, trying desperately not to teeter backwards under the momentum of the platform. Her arms wind-milled and the next pendulum caught her a glancing blow.
It was like being hit by a dustbin. The strike knocked her into a spin and she felt her stomach lurch as she fell. With a snarl of effort she threw out her right hand and clamped her fingertips onto the end of her platform.She dangled there, toes skimming the water as it powered on regardless. However, another stun trap was fast approaching. Straining with effort she managed to latch on with her other hand and haul herself back onto the moving slab. She hopped the final stun trap and mercifully her platform slammed into the other end of the canal.
Codi started running again, her legs shaking with effort, adrenaline and relief. By now Ripple had already reached the final obstacle – a series of floating platforms the size of man-hole covers suspended over a sheath of gravity netting. The boy in second, a lanky individual from Group Green, had fallen back slightly but was still keeping pace.
The last obstacle was comparatively easy. She piled on what speed she could, streaking down the track and hop-skipping her way over the floating stepping stones. Sure-footing had never been her problem so she traversed them with relative simplicity before landing on the home stretch.
She allowed herself a glance backwards. She was in third, just, with the boy from Group Orange hot on her heels. Focusing on Leela's figure at the back of her line, Codi put her head down and ran.
She barely managed to stop in time and heard Leela yell "GO!" she crashed into the other girl. Breathing heavily, Codi leaned forward, hands against her thighs.
"You did well," Leela said.
"Hopefully well enough," she panted. Straightening up, she returned her attention to the race as the next set of runners took to the course.
Gareth was off and running now, but already disaster had struck. He'd fallen at the moving platforms and was flailing around in an attempt to get backup. By the time he did he'd dropped from third to sixth.
By the time he managed to get all the way around he was in seventh. Codi eyed him coldly as he skidded to a halt at the end of the line.
"GO!" she barked sharply, not taking her eyes off the boy. He shook his head, his face flushed with anger, and said nothing.
And the situation didn't get any better. Codi could only look on with growing frustration as the members of Group Cyan made an absolute hash of their runs, falling into water traps, tumbling over moving floorboards, getting whacked by pendulums and stunned by the traps.
By the time the ninth member of their team was making his run down the home stretch Group Cyan were firmly in last place and Codi seethed. Half of them were veterans who by rights should have been better than her at traversing the mad race course. But no, they were about to be put through the ringer because only she had been able to hold her own with the other groups. Ripple's team had already finished.
"I hate to say it," she said to Leela. "But you're gonna need to do something pretty special to get us out of this."
To her surprise the girl turned and gave her a vicious smile. "Just watch me."
The boy reached the back of the line. A voice shouted "Go!"
Leela was off the line so fast it took Codi a moment to register it. The young recruit sped off into the distance like a guided missile. To Codi's amazement her companion barely even slowed down as she reached the first obstacle of swinging arms. By the time Leela made it to the moving floor she'd already caught up with the nearest competitor. Again,the barrier didn't even slow her down. She streaked over it without even a faltering step.
"Hell's teeth!" she heard Gareth gasp from behind her. "She's like a scukking rocket!"
Codi could only nod. She watched in astonishment as Leela's scorching pace continued. She bounded over the water traps with ease, following the perfect route – and then it hit her. Being at the back of the line, Leela had been able to watch every other competitor tackle the obstacles with varying degrees of success. She knew exactly what to do! That, coupled with her phenomenal pace meant she was eating huge chunks out of the lead the other teams had built.
Sure enough, she passed another competitor just before she reached the pendulum run. Slight and nimble, she stepped effortlessly around the cumbersome swinging arms and bounced over the stun straps. She hit the ground running and set her sights on the next competitor. She caught up to him at the floating platforms.
Leela's relentless charge didn't stop there. She virtually flew over the steppingstones without breaking stride and by the time she reached the homestretch the rest of Group Cyan had burst into spontaneous screams of encouragement. Codi found herself laughing as the young firecracker roared down the final track segment.
The cheers were starting to come from other teams too.
She tumbled to a halt to be met with an adoring roar. Leela tripped, fell, rolled and came to rest lying on her back, eyes skyward as she fought for breath. A manic grin was plastered on her face.
Codi leaned over her, unable to stop smiling. "Now that was pretty special."
Leela could only give her a thumbs-up in response. Codi laughed. She saw Gareth staring down at their team mate, his face blank with amazement. She nudged him.
"C'mon," Codi said quietly. "Gimme a hand. Let's give her her moment."
For a moment he looked confused before he realised what she meant. He opened his mouth as though he wanted to object, but instead threw his hands in the air resignedly and stepped forward.
"I guess she earned it."
Together they heaved Leela upright and hoisted her up onto their shoulders. The cheers swelled and when she looked around Codi saw that even Bronagh Llewellyn was smiling too.