章 19: Frey's Challenge

"Gwen, do you need help getting ready?" Frey asked as he helped his sister get up.

"No thanks you." she tended to slur her words early in the morning. She limped to her dresser and pulled out a clean pair of clothes. "Do you ever wonder why our parentsss left us here?"

"No, I don't. They gave us names and raised us for a few years, but that was all they gave us. I don't want to give my time thinking about why when I have a life to live." Frey left his sister and prepared breakfast out of the scraps from yesterday's dinner. He heard a bang followed by curses. "Is everything OK in there?" he yelled.

"I'm fine! I just need," fiber slipped past itself, and something cracked. "Ow! I'm not fine!" Frey left the bowls and returned to find Gwen's limp leg caught in her pants. "Can you help meee up?" Frey sighed, picked her up, and pulled her pants up. "I can do the pants myself!" She shoved him away. He tried to argue but was sent back to the kitchen to finish preparing the breakfast. "I can do it myself. I just needed a little help, not to be babied." She muttered, but the words passed through the shack's thin walls and stabbed Frey in the heart.

"I'll be leaving now." Frey downed his scraps in one gulp. "I need to go get tested by Jameson to see if I can get a promotion." He hurried out before Gwen could respond. 'Why is she talking about our parents? She isn't thinking of looking for them again is she?' he argued with himself as he made his way to The Pit with the rest of squad three except for Wade. They gathered in front of Jameson.

"Today, I'm going to test all of you to see who can become the next squad leader. No one can back out." he stared at Hopi. "And if you fail on purpose you'll be punished." he glanced at Doevm. "This will be a physical test that measures how well one can get the rest to cooperate and defeat a difficult goal. Here are your new spears." He pointed to the ground and a bag full of spears appeared. "Pick them up. Hurry, you only have a few minutes before you start."

As the guards picked up their spears and placed protective points on them, Doevm asked, "What is our goal sir?"

Jameson pointed to himself: "All of you need to work together to land one hit on me. The lucky one who gets the hit becomes the squad leader." he smiled at everyone's pale faces. "It's like a round of sparring. If I hit you, you're out. We go until no one can stand or there's a winner. You have sixty to get ready." he pulled out his own spear and placed a protective point on it. "And one more thing, all the losers have to go to the rose fields for the day."

"But sir," Hopi complained. "Isn't that a little harsh on Frey? He can't even look at the field."

"Forty." Jameson got in a stance as did everyone else.

"R-Reverse formation one." Frey muttered. He was paling by the second. His hand slid on his new spear from his sweat.

'That's right Frey,' Jameson thought. 'You're scared. You know you're not going to be the one to hit me. You're going to the rose field you hate so much. Now what will you do? You're under a lot of pressure, what will you do about it? Show me all you're worth.'

Squad three surrounded Jameson, who shook his head, "You can't surround me before the fight even starts. Even if I'm the captain, I can't dodge everything at once." he backed away from everyone. "But good try. Thirty seconds."

The squad talked to each other. No one was getting anywhere without orders from Wade. Frey took a step back and held his spear close to his body.

"Twenty seconds." 'Come on, push through it. Pull everyone together.'

The squad yelled at each other. Everyone tried to be louder than the others, but the echoing room made it a jumble of noise. Frey tried to talk, but he kept thinking about the rose field and cast his head down. Doevm walked out of the center of chaos and disorder to the front of The Pit, at the furthest possible position from Jameson. His squad all glared at him but couldn't say anything.

They didn't know Doevm, only that he had saved their life once. Frey, on the other hand, had experienced his odd behavior before, and was tired of it. They had sparred every day. Even though they didn't talk, how they fought spoke volumes.

The last two days for Frey had been terrible. He almost died, got his ass kicked, his sister yelled at him, and now he was about to be thrown into the rose fields. The anger formed a headache in the shape of Doevm's stupid smile. Blood rushed to his head.

He snapped and bellowed, "Doevm, get your ass back here!" every voice was drowned out. "You always plot something in a fight, but after sparring with you many times, I know what you're trying to do! I'm sick of it!" A vein formed on Frey's forehead and spit flew everywhere.

"OK," Doevm walked back to his squad with a plain look. "Now what should I do?" He stood in front of Frey with his spear in rest position, the basic greeting for a squad leader.

Frey stared at the spear in rest position, then at Doevm's posture. He took a few breaths before whispering, "Thank you." All his anger vanished. "We'll get closer to Jameson and defend these idiots. We don't know how to lead but at least we'll last a little longer in pairs." He and Doevm stood in front of Jameson.

"Ten seconds."

"This is probably for the best." Doevm said. "They would take forever to figure something out. This is so much simpler. We can always try again."

Frey looked back, "What are you all doing? Get into your pairs."

"Begin." As soon as the word hit their ears, everyone was in formation two. They steeled themselves and charged forward. Green essence and yell sprouted from each member of the squad. Spears in hand, they were annihilated. Jameson morphed into a silver blur. Some were flung into the walls, and others just collapsed. All that remained were Doevm and Frey. "Two left." Jameson smiled. He dropped his spear and put his arms in the air.

"Now decide, which one of you will become the squad leader. You're both intelligent and strong, but there can only be one. Who will it be?" Jameson sat down and waited.

"Doevm, go get him, you deserve it." Frey put a hand on his friend's shoulder. "You knew I was on edge and used it to get everyone together. I couldn't do that and no one else here could. You were smarter than all of us combined. You pushed me to take command of everyone. I know you'll lead us into a good direction."

"Frey, I don't want to be the squad leader." Doevm put a hand on Frey's shoulder. "I know I could be a good leader, but that's too much pressure for me. You were stressed out and you were able to translate that into leadership. Your voice drowns out everyone else. I just pushed you so that your voice would be heard. I know you can do a better job than me. You do it."

Frey put another hand on Doevm's other shoulder: "No no no, you're being too nice. Don't put yourself down here. This is a great opportunity for you to grow. You deserve it. Go hit him."

Doevm put another hand on Frey's shoulder: "But if we are talking about who deserves to lead more, it's you. Think of everything you have to gain. Remember, if you lose, you'll go to the rose field."

Frey shoved Doevm away. "You do it."

Doevm shoved right back. "You do it. I'm not falling for Jameson's trap."

"I don't want to die; I have a sister to take care of." Frey aimed his spear at Doevm.

Doevm put his hands in the air. "You want to hit me? Do it. I dare you." Frey cursed and threw his spear down. "How about we put it to a vote." He turned to the squad. "Everyone who thinks I should lead, put your hand up." No one moved. "And everyone who thinks it should be Frey, put your hand up." Squad three put their hands up. "Now Frey, go hit him." Doevm smiled wider and more malicious than the devil, "Go on, I'm waiting."

"I'm tired of waiting." Jameson appeared and smacked Doevm in the head. "You're out." he grabbed the tip of Frey's spear and tapped his heart with it. "Frey wins, congratulations, you are now promoted to squad leader. Everyone else, go to the rose fields." he shooed everyone out and sighed.

'I guess that Frey could pass as a bodyguard. Even though he had help from Doevm, he still pulled everyone together with that yell. My ears are still ringing from it. Doevm was smarter than I anticipated. He saw Frey's mental state and provoked him in order to get everyone under control. He knew the squad would accept Frey as leader and pushed for a vote. What a terrifying individual. That does beg the question, why did he give up on the position of squad leader? I'm sure he had a plan to make himself squad leader. It can only lead to benefits. There's better pay, better treatment, and access to more resources. Why would he surrender the position to Frey?'

...

"Why did you help me?" Frey asked just outside of The Pit. The other members of squad three headed for the rose fields, so it was just him and Doevm.

"I need to test you." Doevm said. "Something is coming. When it hits, I need to know you can handle it. I know you can fight and grow stronger, but I need you to learn how to lead and strategize."

"What's coming?" Frey asked. "We're at peace. Nothing could be better. What are you so afraid of?"

"I'll tell you when we get there."