by Azalea Ellis
My breathing slowed as I watched for it to appear again. A flutter, a flap of wings, and a flash of movement between the leaves. I crawled onto my windowsill and reached forward, then pulled myself onto the closest branch. It dipped a little under my weight, but held strong.
I crept forward, and found the bird again. It darted away, chittering what I could tell were insults from the tone. My head snapped around to follow its path, and I pressed myself closer to the branch. I wanted to chase it, to see if I could catch it. Then I realized what I was doing. The trance-like state snapped away.
I gasped and froze, but before I could move to safety, my vision went blurry, my head started to spin, and my whole body began to burn and tingle. I wrapped my arms around the tree branch and hung on, squeezing from the terror of not knowing if I was about to fall off or not, because my balance was shot. My stomach rolled and I heaved a little, bile spilling out of my mouth. My fingers felt like burning hot knives were piercing through the tips of them, and suddenly something was cutting my skin where my hands overlapped the opposite forearm. It hurt, but I was too disoriented and terrified to loosen my grip. Was I dying? Was NIX finally killing me?
"No," I groaned, and heaved again, spewing sourness as my body started into mini convulsions. I bit my lip until the iron taste of blood spilled onto my tongue. I realized I was probably having an adverse reaction to the Skills I'd just gained. If so, I only had to wait a few minutes and it would subside.
So I held on even tighter as both stars and waves of darkness burst across my eyes, my arms bled, and my body burned and shook.
But the symptoms didn't subside. They grew worse, my grip on the trunk somehow slipped, and then my body twisted off, and I fell.
The wind brushed my skin like a caress as I plummeted, and I slammed into the branch below and bounced off. Then the next branch, and the next. I felt like a little metal ball in one of those old pinball machines. But somewhere on the way down, I started to understand the twisting of my body, the pushes and pulls that moved it. I caught a branch with my arms and almost ripped them out of the sockets trying to slow myself. The next branch I hit with both feet, but still slipped.
Then I slammed into the ground, but spread some impact through my ankles and knees before throwing myself sideways. A few bruising tumbles later and I came to a stop, four stories below where I'd started out, and still alive.
I crawled to my hands and knees, making a mental examination of my body. The wounds from the day before, though somewhat better, were all still there. Duh. The pain, shaking, and sensory disorientation were gone. A few cuts, definitely some bruises. But nothing serious compared to what I'd been through lately. Except that below my face, pressed into the weak grass, short bloody claws tipped my fingers.
I rose to my feet and held my hands in front of me, curling and uncurling my fingers. Everything was strangely clear and light, as if the sun had gotten brighter. I looked around to make sure I hadn't been transferred to a Trial without realizing it, but it was the same world I'd always known. The same backyard, unexceptional except for me, the girl who'd just fallen four stories out a window and landed on her feet.
My forearms bled from puncture wounds, no doubt caused by the claws, when I was clinging onto the branch for dear life. I spit red and tried to wipe the blood from my ravaged lip. I was shaking, tired and feeling half-drunk. I took a few deep breaths to steady myself and shut out the outside world. “Display Characteristic Skills,” I choked out.
Characteristic Skills
Tumbling Feather:
Kinetic Class
Increases Grace and Agility. Improves sense of balance and motion. Skill effects will expand and strengthen with Player growth.
Spirit of the Huntress:
Spirit Class
Increases Grace, Agility, Perception, Focus, Physique, and Stamina. Nails extend and sharpen on command. Increases chance to land on feet after a fall. Aggressive tendencies increase. Skill effects will expand and strengthen with Player growth.
I swallowed. “Oh. My. God.” This type of thing was something I hadn’t even imagined. The bonuses were amazing. “Bunny! What just happened? This Skill, it’s—I’ve—” I searched for words, hitching.
HEY. LOOKS LIKE YOU’VE GOT A COUPLE CHARACTERISTIC SKILLS. AND ONE IS QUITE GOOD. THE PERCENTAGE OF SPIRIT CLASS SKILLS IS VERY LOW, FROM WHAT I UNDERSTAND.
—Bunny—
A few moments passed while I took it all in, and then a slow smile spread across my face. “Lucky me.”
I slunk back into my house and hid out in my room, and hid the empty Characteristic token shells in a side pocket of my pack. Somewhere along the way my nails returned to normal, which I was grateful for. I decided to skip school, and stayed in my room trying to make the claws come out again.
Zed helped to cover for me again with my mom, though not without some frustration when he saw the new cuts on my forearms. I felt guilty for causing him so much worry, but I couldn't tell him the truth. Even if I did, it would do nothing but cause him more stress.
I fell asleep at some point, with the sun shining on me through my open window, and woke when a shadow passed in front of the light, darkening my closed eyelids. Something poked my shoulder.
I jumped and shot straight up, attacking.
By the time I registered that little China was the one standing in front of me, I had both of her thin arms squeezed in my hands, the claws were bared, and my lips pulled back from my teeth in silent menace.
Her eyes and mouth gaped open, surprised and speechless.
I relaxed my grip on her and sat back onto the bed. "Sorry, China. You surprised me."
"Yeah, apparently." She rubbed her arms where I'd grabbed them. "You weren't at school today, what happened?" Her eyes caught on the cuts and bruises that covered my exposed skin. "Are you okay?"
I frowned and nodded. "Yeah. But why are you here?" I pushed my hair back from my face as if scraping the cobwebs from my mind. "How did you know I wasn't at school?"
"I go to Jefferson High, Eve. Didn't you know?"
I looked her up and down. She didn't look old enough to be a high school student.
She must have seen the doubt on my face, because she said, "I do!" and punctuated her words with emphatic stomp of her small foot. "Why does everybody think I look like a little kid?" She crossed her arms.
I chuckled. "Well, maybe you would be more convincing as a high school student if you didn't stomp your foot like a little girl."
She opened her mouth, closed it, looked down at the offending foot, and uncrossed her arms. "Well, I'm a freshman."
I resisted the urge to continue teasing her and said, "I didn't know you went to Jefferson."
"Well, I do. But that's not the point. What happened to you? You look like you just had a Trial, or got hit by a train, but there shouldn't be any Trials for another six days or so, except for people with a Characteristic..." She trailed off. "Did you just have your Characteristic Trial?"
I paused, then nodded. "Yeah."
"Oh. I thought those normally happened somewhere in the first few weeks. I assumed you’d already had yours."
That’s because I wanted her to think I was more experienced, so she'd trust me more and accept my usefulness. But not too experienced, so she wouldn’t think it was weird when I pumped her for information. I shrugged and grinned. "Well, I'm relatively new. But I got some good Skills, apparently. Just haven't quite figured out how to use them yet."
She sat down in my chair, the only other seating in the room beside my bed, and grinned. "What did you get? I might be able to help."
"Something called Tumbling Feather, and Spirit of the Huntress. Spirit of the Huntress is the one I'm more focused on. It gives me these claws." I held up my hands to show her, but my fingertips had already gone back to normal. "Well, I don't know how to make them come out. Seems to just happen involuntarily."
"Like when you're scared or angry?"
"Yeah. How'd you know?"
"Because they came out when I startled you just now. Good thing you just grabbed me and didn't slice. Why don't you try and bring out that same emotion again?"
I took a deep breath and searched for the feeling again. Something like anger, but more confident. My fingertips itched, and I looked down to see the short claws poking out once again. I flexed my fingers and felt the longing to assert my superiority over something, over someone.
China stared at me in awe, and I felt a heady sense of pleasure at her open acknowledgment of my power.
I willed my fast-pumping heart to calm down, and the exhilarating feeling slipped away, along with the claws. "Damn. That was crazy." I let out a shuddering breath. "Aggression is one of the side effects. Maybe not the best idea for me to do that with you around right now."
After a moment of incomprehension, her eyes widened and she leaned backward. “Oh. Yeah. Good thinking. Umm…so how was the Trial?”
I bit my poor lip. “I’d rather not talk about it.”
She frowned and shook her head at her lap. “Of course. That was stupid. Sorry.”
I shrugged. “No big deal. But what about you? Your Skill, I mean? Will you show me?”
She hesitated for a second, but went to my still-open window. “I can speak to animals.”
I almost snorted, thinking she was joking, until I saw the bird from earlier fly to the edge of the sill, and then hop onto her finger, cheeping curiously.
“He says you jumped out of the tree earlier.” She lifted wide eyes to me.
I coughed behind a fist and looked away. “Uh…well, that’s impressive, I’ll admit. But you said there’d be another Trial in six days?” I changed the subject.
“Yeah.” The bird flew away. “The normal ones happen every ten days or so. I heard that it used to be longer, before, but then it just suddenly changed. Who knows? It might change again someday, but for now you can pretty much count on ten days in between.”
“So if we know we’ve got six days, we should start to prepare. There are some things I think would be useful for the Trials. I’d also like to spend some time with you practicing our Skills and working out strategies for different scenarios.”
“If we’re lucky enough to get the same Trial,” she muttered.
“What?”
She looked up, startled. “Oh. It’s just that the Trial you enter is somewhat randomized. Unless you form a recognized team, from what I understand it’s just luck if you get put with the same people. Being close together when the Boneshaker starts helps, but it’s no guarantee.”
“Well, how do you form a recognized team? Bunny?”
When he acknowledged me with a pop-up screen, I repeated my question.
YOU HAVE TO HAVE MORE THAN TWO PEOPLE.
—Bunny—
“How many?”
FOUR OR MORE. ONE LEADER, THREE OR MORE FOLLOWERS FOR A TEAM, WHICH IS THE FIRST LEVEL OF COMMAND.
—Bunny—
My mind was racing. “And once I’ve got them, what then? Just tell you we’re a team?”
YES, BASICALLY. AT THAT POINT YOU’LL BE GROUPED TOGETHER FOR TRIALS. TEAMWORK IS A RECOGNIZED, IMPORTANT PART OF THE GAME, AND BEING PART OF A GROUP GIVES CERTAIN EXTRA REWARDS.
—Bunny—
“Four.” I grinned. “That’s not so hard.”
Chapter 12
I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain.
— Frank Herbert
I spent the next six days planning and preparing for a Trial. I met in person with China to discuss her previous Trial experience. My link was broken, and my mom refused to get me a new one. From China, I gained knowledge of the different types of Trials, and some insight into Skills and the effects of the various Attributes.
I continued to level up and train my body, and put Seeds into Intelligence and Mental Acuity. Being able to think quickly in a tight spot might allow me to avoid situations where I needed brute strength or speed. Plus, the brain was much harder for me to spontaneously level up with training than my physical Attributes were. I sheathed and unsheathed my claws until they obeyed more reliably.
Zed continued to keep my secret. Although he reluctantly stopped asking me to confide in him, he still watched me suspiciously.
When I heard the Boneshaker, I woke from a dead sleep with a choking gasp, as if I’d been drowning and had just broken the surface of the water. I clenched my thin summer blanket so hard I felt the bones in my hands creak like the hinges of a rusty door.
After a few seconds of panic, I scrambled out of bed, dressed in cargo pants, a long sleeve shirt, and a jacket, the closest I could come to military-type gear. Underneath it all I had the two-banded, transforming vest armor that I’d taken off the skeleton my last time around. I started recording with a small mirror I’d brought to my room. Then I grabbed the small backpack I’d prepared and slung it on.
I stood there in the dark, trembling in my bedroom as I waited to be taken into the Trial by that dizzying wave. The song filled me and burst outward.
I stood in a city. The buildings were taller, twisting and flowing and more beautiful than any I’d seen before, and overgrown with tenacious greenery. Only the occasionally boring rectangle was there, unlike the city where I’d come from.
The little map popped up, and I followed its directions to a big, squat building. Light peeked out through its windows, making it stand out. The only other light was that of the stars and the…two moons? I stood for a few seconds, just staring up at the sky and trying to figure out what the heck I was seeing.
It’s funny how the brain tries to reject things it doesn’t want to believe. I actually rubbed my eyes to make sure I wasn’t seeing double, despite the fact that the two orbs were different sizes, and had different markings on their surfaces.
Then the side of the building opened as a piece of the wall slid upward. I jumped in surprise, but then saw other Players and the floating cube waiting inside, and entered.
Players milled about, but I didn’t have much time to observe them, because one of the pieces of wall slid upwards, and a large mouse walked into the room. Large meaning gigantic. It was four feet tall walking with all paws on the ground, and probably seven or eight feet tall standing on its hind legs. A spiked ball that looked like it could do serious damage tipped the end of its tail. The creature wore a military hat and jacket with colorful stripes and medals decorating the collar and chest.
The mouse—Or maybe it was a rat. How do you tell?—walked silently across the room, sniffing the air and inspecting us Players, who’d all gone silent. Someone whimpered.
It sat up on its haunches to address us. “Time is up. Those who are not here will be summarily executed.” The lights seemed harsh and bright under the weight of its presence. It twitched its whiskers, and another door slid up in the side of the wall, releasing an orderly row of long-limbed…soldiers? Well, they were dressed in uniform. Their arms and legs seemed abnormally elongated, but still corded with wiry muscle. Black goggles hid their eyes, and their noses were long and wide-nostriled. Something about their pale skin and twitching noses reminded me of rodents.
“I am the General.” The rat’s voice was loud, and traveled throughout the room. “For every two of you, there is one soldier. Once you leave this building, you are effectively fugitives, and they will be hunting you. You will escape to one of the extraction points.”
A mini map popped up in front of me, and everyone else, too, I assumed. It showed a 3-D model of the organically designed city. Yellow dots blinked—the extraction points. An arrow showed where I was, on the center of the map. I played with the model, using hand movements to turn the view and zoom in and out as the giant mouse continued to speak.
“If you are able to escape from enemy territory to the
extraction point without being captured, you survive, and you win. If you are caught, you lose. Along the way, there are a few ‘concerned citizens’ of this wonderful city.” He grimaced. “They will give away your location to your pursuers if they notice you, so beware. You will be given a small window of opportunity to leave the starting point. Exactly three minutes will pass before my soldiers are deployed.” He gestured with his tail to the creatures standing tall and silent behind it. “Are there any questions?”
I bit the inside of my cheek until blood flowed, slipped a finger inside my cheek to pick up some of the blood, then moved the hand under my shirt to rub the drop onto the center spot of the armor bands hidden beneath. Right over my sternum, they fit together with a small opening for their fuel. They picked up the blood and spread in secrecy to protect me. I was as ready as I could get.
A familiar voice called out lazily. “What happens if the soldiers catch us…but we kill them?”
My head snapped around. It was the girl from my first Trial. The gorgeous one who’d caught Mr. Wolf and ended the game of terror.
The General responded. “My soldiers are authorized to use deadly force to ensure fugitives do not escape. You are free to do the same to ensure the opposite.” He seemed impatient. “There will be no more questions. When the doors go up, you all have thirty seconds to leave this safe point. Then the countdown will start.” And at that, pieces of the walls all around us opened to the darkness.
I watched as the crowd disbursed through the various exits. The Spanish girl passed me on her way out but didn’t spare me a glance. I would have called out or followed her, but I needed to stay and make sure no kids had been put into the Trial again. I saw a few confused and scared people, but they weren’t children, and I knew I didn’t have the power to expend protecting them. So I left, alone.
Outside, many dispersed through the unlit streets, sprinting frantically to gain distance from their pursuers, while others huddled in groups, discussing plans in murmurs.