by Jason Letts
“It was good for what it was,” he said. “But I’m hoping for bigger and better things in the future.”
“That’s a good attitude to have,” Mira said.
They parted ways in town, and Mira turned to take the road home. She walked through her front door, and took a seat on a comfy chair. Without school to go to, it seemed for a second like nothing had changed from when everything in her world existed within walls of mist. But moments later she remembered all the work she needed to do and the precious little time in which to do it.
***
When she wasn’t working on her creations in her basement laboratory, Mira spent her free time in the following days preparing in every way she could. She wrote detailed strategies on what she should do if she turned a corner and ran into any of her competitors. She frequently talked with her parents about their experiences and how to deal with being the seventh one to start. She also went out for long runs in the woods, with her father tagging along.
“I thought your father was with you?” Jeana asked when Mira slipped in through the sliding glass door.
“He’s coming. Don’t worry.”
They looked back through the glass pane at Kevin, who jogged in like a wounded dog. Sweat drenched his shirt, his face was red, and he gasped for breath.
“I let you win. Trying to build up your confidence for the weekend,” he said, collapsing onto the floor.
“Thanks,” Mira said. “I’ll need all the confidence I can get.”
“You’ll be fine,” Jeana said. “Just remember there is a time to fight and a time to run.”
“Oh! Speaking of time, I have to go meet Chucky.”
Mira grabbed a bulky bag and in the next moment the front door closed, signaling her exit. Still looking a little flushed from the run, she walked down to the outpost. She saw Chucky standing in the marketplace, right where they had agreed and at exactly the right time. He held the jar, full of goopy jelly, in his hands.
“I hope it wasn’t too difficult to do,” Mira said.
“Not at all. I’ve got to start getting myself into better shape anyway. It helps to have a plan of attack.”
“Yes,” Mira agreed. “And this should help as well.”
She reached into her bag and pulled out a silver helmet. Dings speckled the surface, but it looked like it would fit. She even glued some padding on the inside and the edges so it wouldn’t rub.
“I think you’re going to turn some heads this weekend,” she said, handing the helmet to him.
“And now I might even avoid cracking open my own in the process,” he said. “Here. I hope this stuff does whatever you need it to. Most often it ends up just getting in the way.”
She took the jar in her hands and held it up to her eyes. She felt confident it would do what she needed it to. Chucky’s look caught her attention though, and she dropped the jar into her bag. It looked like he had something else he wanted to say, but nothing would come out. Some people brushed by them, causing Mira to look over at the Darmen Exchange office. Yannick wasn’t there, and she wondered what happened to him.
“Good luck,” Chucky said at last. And he meant it.
“Thanks, you too. I’ll see you before the sun comes up the day after tomorrow,” she said.
Chucky watched her turn and walk away. She maneuvered through the crowd and out of the gate. Now that she was gone, he thanked her for being a friend to him, for caring and trying to help him when no one else did. Disappointed, he kicked his foot against the dirt.
***
Long bouts of optimism and despair gripped Mira in turn over the coming days. In some moments, the glory of victory was already a foregone conclusion, but she moped around in others as if she already experienced defeat. She had to laugh at herself and these thoughts that gravitated to the extreme. “Such is the mind,” she would muse to herself.
Still, she couldn’t pull her thoughts away from the mystery of how it would all play out. Listing the variables would never account for all of the possibilities. She tried to anticipate the options, but they were countless. No matter how many plans she prepared, she knew the entire trial would come down to all of those split-second decisions that can never be planned for ahead of time.
Running through the woods, she’d swung by the schoolhouse, half expecting and half hoping to see some of her classmates training. Stillness and silence filled the forest, however. Other than Chucky, she hadn’t seen any of them. She wondered what plans they’d prepared, and if those plans would disrupt her own.
Her jitters increased as that last day dragged on. Jeana urged her to relax, to do something fun to get her mind off of it, but Mira couldn’t stop checking and testing her equipment. The fear that it wouldn’t work perfectly kept her in the basement long after the sun had gone down.
“You’re not going to get enough sleep for tomorrow,” Jeana said.
“If left to myself, I probably wouldn’t sleep at all,” she said, setting everything down so it would be ready in the morning. She still had the static charger on her arm, deciding not to remove it when her mother convinced her to get some sleep.
“Then I’ll happily intervene,” Jeana said to Mira when she finally came up the stairs. She marched her daughter up to her room and watched her get into bed. Her clothes were dirty and oily, but Jeana decided to let it go. Kevin came over from his bedroom across the hall.
“I feel like the whole world hinges on tomorrow,” Mira whispered with her head on the pillow and a blanket over her shoulders. Her parents snickered before trying to comfort her.
“The world will be much the same this time tomorrow as it is right now,” Kevin said.
“Can’t I have it though? Can’t I just have one thing in this life? I want to win so badly. What could ever become of me if I don’t?”
“You can’t see it now because you’re so tired, but you can still be a great success even if you don’t win tomorrow. I would say few things could prevent you from being a success, and tomorrow’s trial is not among them,” Jeana said.
“And, besides,” Kevin added, “do you remember the last time you wanted something like this? Tomorrow’s trial is another wall of clouds, and there’s no telling if you’ll like what’s on the other side.”
“Wait a minute. Did you just contradict me?” Jeana asked. “There’s only one thing she’ll find on the other side, success.”
Kevin puffed out his cheeks and came up with something quick.
“Who’s to say that she can’t have both, success and the unexpected?”
“Ok, Mira. Either way, we have you marked down for success. You better not disappoint us. In the long run, I mean, don’t disappoint us. Don’t worry about tomorrow.”
Mira laughed at her parents’ squabbling.
“Good night,” Kevin said.
“Good night,” Mira said.
Jeana asked her if she was ready, and Mira nodded yes. She leaned in to kiss her on the forehead, and when she pulled back Mira was already fast asleep.
“We’d better make sure we don’t all sleep in and miss it,” Kevin said.
“Yeah, what an awful shame sleeping in is,” Jeana said as they exited the room, quietly closing the door behind them.
Chapter 13: The Final Trial
As night slowly withdrew from the foggy wood, the first rays of day gave light to a gathering assembled on a dewy meadow. Trees, some young and some old, dotted the landscape, and stray bushes cluttered the edge of the forest floor. Chirping crickets and other buzzing composed a subtle hum in the background.
A cloaked man, standing tall, faced the battleground with perseverance and authority. Though the light of dawn came, a thick fabric shielded his eyes from it. The sounds, however, were enough to fill his ear. Each misty breath, like an ocean wave, delivered fear, hope, anticipation, and desire from the soul’s depths. Standing as though only he were present, Corey listened motionlessly and unwaveringly.
But he was not alone. Fifteen students, all wrapped in uni
form, formed a line to his left. From Jeremy, who stood closest to Corey, all the way down to Vern, they stared out at the grounds before them. In a moment, they would take to these fields and match their strength against their monumental hope. Though their hearts beat wildly, resolve and determination checked their expressions.
Mira stood seventh in line. The importance of this moment weighed so deeply in the air that she felt she could reach out and grasp it. She wore her static charger on her left arm and held her mechanical bird in the other, but these items did not seem out of place. Several other students brought items with them as well. Standing to her right, Chucky wore his shiny helmet. Dot carried a sack filled with stones. Rowland gripped a large metallic shield. Vern had acquired a potbelly since the fall, but he only carried a snotty rag in his hands. To these students, nothing else existed except the challenge before them.
Their parents and siblings formed a group behind them, anxious about the performances of their children yet completely unable to affect the outcome. Some prayed, some watched attentively, and some little ones dozed on the ground. Jeana and Kevin stood with smiles on their faces. Neither thought they would ever get to experience this. Parents saw this day as the event that brought their children to maturity, and their child absorbed their attention to such a degree that no one else seemed present.
To Corey’s right, stretched out along the grass on a small incline, the students of all nine other grades in Dustfalls Academy sat in rows and waited for the proceedings to start. They stared in awe and wonder, trying to catch a glimpse of their future selves. The students from each grade got a little smaller down the line, all the way to the five-year-olds in first grade, whose teacher tried desperately to keep them all quiet. Many of the teachers present remembered the seniors from previous years and felt invested in today’s outcome. Fortst wandered amongst the crowd, giving approving nods to the parents and mingling quietly.
“Who you think’s gonna win?” he asked Natalie, standing beside her with his arms crossed.
“The most likely winner will be Roselyn. She is the most powerful. No one else could walk out there and put everybody down at once like she can.”
Fortst nodded and silently moved on. A good show would reflect well on his work as a teacher.
The sun peeked between the mountains, shimmering through the fog and warming the air. All eyes looked to Corey to begin, their hearts racing even faster now that the waiting drew near to an end. When he spoke, his words thundered through the air and rang sharp in every ear.
“We will now commence with the Final Trial for Dustfalls Academy, senior year, and bear witness to the one who will forever and henceforth be known as their leader. Said leader will be declared after all others have been forced onto their torsos, and thus eliminated. Candidates will enter the grounds in one-minute intervals. They are free to use any and all means at their disposal. Lastly, once the trial begins, it will not stop until a winner is declared.”
The seniors took a deep breath, embracing the moment that had finally come. All eyes looked forward, each hoping to see their wishes become reality.
“When I speak your name, that’s when you step out onto the field,” Corey said, using a quieter voice that only the students could hear.
Jeremy cast a sidelong glance up at the old man, waiting for his cue. Intensity exuded from his face, a hunger that could not be denied.
“And so it begins, Jeremy,” Corey declared so that all could hear.
Jeremy would spend one minute all alone on the field of battle, but he wasted no time stepping out near the forest’s edge. A few faces glared at him, particularly those he sabotaged from the Team Trial. As he strode out, the buzzing in the trees grew louder and more discomforting. In the same moment that he turned to face the crowd with a malicious smile on his face, a massive swarm of insects descended from the trees and swirled around him. The wave of biting flies, mosquitoes, bees, flying beetles, gnats, wasps, and moths shocked his waiting classmates and left their jaws hanging open.
“I’ve been waiting so long for this,” he said with a menacing laugh. “I’ve hidden the extent of my power from you all these years, and now I’m going to use it to wipe you all out, one by one. You’ll all be beneath me, right where you belong.”
His hateful voice carried over the eerie buzzing. He stood there, waiting for his first victim, while the circling swarm made him nearly invisible. Mary’s face went pale, and she wobbled on her feet. Corey would call her in any second, and then she would face an opponent more daunting than she could have ever imagined.
“Mary,” Corey said, and the girl took a tiny step forward. Her head jerked around, but there was nowhere to run, no way to fight back. All at once, the cloud of insects changed direction and flew at her. Her eyes widened in terror at the approaching swarm.
“I quit! I quit! I quit!” she screamed, diving onto the ground. She covered her face with her hands, but the flying menace returned to Jeremy as soon as she spoke. He laughed loudly.
“Pathetic, but it won’t be any different for the rest of you,” he said.
Mary got up and lurched toward her parents, dragging her arms behind her. She collapsed at their feet, sobbing hysterically.
“I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I’m sorry!” she cried.
“Who’s next?” Jeremy taunted, the buzzing carried his voice and distorted it into something monstrous.
Will clenched his fists and gritted his teeth. He breathed heavily through his nose, causing the grass on the ground to twitch and sway.
“I’m going to pay you back for all of it. All of the torment and all of the pain. I’m giving it all back,” he said through his teeth. Jeremy laughed, and the wave of flies seemed to laugh with him. Only Jeremy’s eyes were visible through the sheet of insects, and the two locked gazes.
“Will,” Corey announced.
Instantly, Will broke from the line of students and ran diagonally toward the edge of the forest. He turned to face the incoming deluge of insects, and he expelled a forceful gust that blew the swarm back into Jeremy’s face, tousling his hair and making him flinch. For a moment, they stayed like that, Will blowing back the flies that tried desperately to get near him. Jeremy dug his heels in and leaned into the wind. But soon the thick cloud of bugs spread out and attacked Will from all directions. Beetles, centipedes, and spiders emerged from the ground and crawled onto his feet.
Seeing things go downhill, Will dashed into the woods and left the crowd’s sight. The insects followed him, as did Jeremy.
“There is no escape!” he hollered.
And just like that they had disappeared into the woods. Most of the buzzing had stopped, and the crowd had nothing left to watch except for the evaporating mist.
“Roselyn,” Corey said.
Calmly and confidently, she began walking straight into the forest. Without rushing and without fear, she left the crowd behind her. A simple melody sprang from her lips, and its sound trailed behind her after she disappeared among the trees.
Mira and Chucky looked at each other. Their time had almost come.
“Are you nervous?” he asked.
She looked up at him, strands of his hair poking out from under the helmet, and she saw a sympathetic face.
“Yes, but nerves are good. It means I care,” she said.
“What did you do to your shoes?” he asked, looking down at them.
“So I care enough to look good. Do you have a problem with that?”
“Gerald,” Corey said, and the shifty, nervous boy trotted out into the forest to look for a hiding spot.
“Looks like I’m next,” Chucky said, exhaling. He wiped the oil on his arms onto his chest.
“What’s your plan?” Mira asked.
“I’m thinking about playing dead,” he said, and Mira laughed.
“Well I won’t give you away,” she said.
“No, you wouldn’t.”
They stood still for a moment, trying to listen for any sounds from inside but
nothing came. Chucky swallowed and looked back at his parents.
“Chucky,” Corey said.
He jogged out into the woods, and suddenly Mira was next. She looked at Rowland over the spiky, metal shield between them, but he didn’t return her glance. Turning to gaze back at her parents, they gave her a hopeful nod.
Just then, Gerald emerged from the forest. Sulking and with his head low, he dragged his feet back to the crowd. As he walked by Mira, she saw that every inch of his skin was covered in red marks. It looked painful, and it reminded her there would never be a moment without something threatening her. But she was ready for it. Mira pursed her lips and willed Corey to send her in. She couldn’t wait any longer.
“Mira,” Corey bellowed, and she took off running to the right, past the younger students and along the forest’s edge. Jeana and Kevin cheered, even though they got some funny looks from other parents as a result.
Mira ducked into the forest, and sprinted as fast as she could with the bulky and weighty metal bird in her arm. Dodging around the trees, she constantly swiveled her head, scanning the layout of the wood and trying to sense anyone nearby.
She saw a space between the trees with open sky above, and she set her bird down in the middle of it. She then tied a wire around a tree in the next instant, knotting the other end around another tree, forming a perimeter against the area where the other students seemed to go. She flipped on her static charger, which made a low, subtle hum, and she carried the bird’s controller feet in her hands.
She didn’t know how much time she had taken or if anyone watched what she had done, but she knew she had to keep moving, and so she started running through the woods. The forest all around her seemed alive. The sounds of yelling and fighting came from all directions. But she gave up her fear and went on.
One by one, the students ventured out into the unknown. When her time came, Aoi sent Vern an icy glare, so he knew she had it out for him. She stalked through the woods with poise and determination, hoping to run into anyone. Her only guide would be her racing heart.