Chương 2: Chapter 2 The Race
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Blood dripped down her chin, but she ignored it. Holding her blades steady, she waited for her opponent to make a move. Aella slashed and dodged as he finally attacked.
Rolling to the side, she came up with her blades leading. They sunk deep into his side, causing a strangled cry to erupt from his lips. Jerking them out, she danced away from his wild swing.
Panting hard, he glared at her and growled, charging forward slashing with his sword. Rolling to the side, she allowed him to chase her, while keeping an eye on the timer. Suddenly slashing at his legs, his eyes went wide. He hadn't expected it. Her blade dug into his thigh, cutting the major artery, before she rolled away again.
Crouching in front of him, she watched him bleed out. The fight left his eyes as the blood left his body. She was no stranger to death.
Slow clapping reached her ears as she slowly stood and cleaned her blades on her opponent's shirt sleeve. He didn't need it anymore.
"Very nice. Even when we cut your allowed time, you manage to make it look like you are bored." The Sergeants voice rumbled throughout the room.
"Wasn't this her third fight today?" asked another voice she had grown to hate just as much.
"Yes, with each one being more difficult than the last."
"Impressive. She doesn't look tired at all."
"Shall we test her endurance next?" He stopped just outside the pit she stood in, pointedly not looking up at them.
"Try her in the Race. If she can pass that in five minutes or less, then she can move on to the next stage. I just hate that she's a half breed."
"Young, too," added the Sergeant.
Aella bared her teeth at them, as the cage was lowered into the pit. She hated that cage. They treated her like an animal, so she obliged them in acting like one. But she also knew that if she didn't go into the cage as soon as it was opened, they wouldn't feed her. Growling at the metal contraption as it drew closer to the ground, she stalked over to the dead body and slashed open its chest.
She could hear them pausing up above her, watching as she reached into the chest and pulled out the heart. As blood dripped down her arm, she took a bite. It was rubbery and slimy, but it would fill her belly. She hated that cage, and she was going to make them know it. If they weren't going to feed her, she would feed herself.
"Get her in that cage! I can't do anything with a feral child. Sergeant, if she does that again, kill her."
"Yes, Counselor."
Snarling in anger, she threw the heart at the disgusted look on the Counselor's face, and was rewarded to see surprise and a hint of fear. Unfortunately, the Sergeant pulled her to the side before the heart hit her. Aella was sure it would have been a direct hit.
Jumping onto the side of the cage, she climbed up to the top, then started climbing the rope. She was done with this madness, and getting the hell out of this place.
The Sergeant sighed, and grabbed his club. She paused, eyeing him as he waited for her to get higher. If he hit her with that thing, she might lose her grip and fall.
"Go get in that cage, or I'll kill you now." His rumbled words left no room for her. She examined her surroundings, but she knew there were no options left to her. Baring her teeth in annoyance and anger, she slid back down the rope and climbed into the cage.
"She's too wild to ever be our king. Make sure you stack the odds against this one. I want a king that can be controlled." Her red eyes flashed at Aella, letting her know that she hated her. She was in control, and wanted it to stay that way.
"Of course, Counselor." The Sergeant bowed to her, as she left.
Aella slumped to the floor of her cage, knowing that she had a long night ahead of her. She thought the odds were already stacked against her. How could they possibly get worse?
She found out later. Things could always get worse. They tied her to a pole and whipped her. She refused to cry out, which made them hit her even harder. She took note of who did the whipping, and who just stood to watch. The Sergeant didn't let them kill her, or whip her too bad, she could still stand when he called them off.
As she stumbled to her corner of the room, in too much pain to move fast, she noted the eyes from the boundaries, of those who were too scared to stand up and offer her aid, or to join those who enjoyed her pain. These kids only wanted to survive. They didn't care to be king either.
When the supper cart was pushed into the room, she didn't even bother to check it out. She already knew she would be refused even a scrap of bread. Picking up her shirt, that she had left here before they pulled her into the whipping area, she carefully ripped it into strips, making sure to draw each rip out, and make it as loud as possible. She could see forms cringing in the dark and smiled to herself.
Starting at her neck, she started wrapping the bandages around her torso, to stop most of the bleeding. They would come for her early, whether she slept any or not.
The Sergeant woke everyone early the next morning. Aella stood with the others, wrapped in her bloody bandages. Everything hurt, but pain was temporary. She knew it would pass. The other kids shied away from her, even though she was smaller than all of them.
"You will all participate in the Race today. Those who can cross the finish line in five minutes or less will get to survive. Good luck."
Everyone immediately started murmuring to each other. One of the older boys, one of those who whipped her, asked, "What are the rules?"
"Rules? I already told you the rules. Now come on." He turned and left immediately. No one wasted any time following him. Aella brought up the rear, not trusting any at her back.
They made their ways through the underground tunnels, that had been carved by someone, to the entrance of a well-lit pit. It stretched ahead of them, with several obstacles laid out. Aella imagined there were plenty of obstacles that were hidden.
"There are too many of you to send on to the next level. This is generally how we weed you out. The only rule is that you must cross the finish line before five minutes is up. We will evaluate how many make it across, and decide if you have to do this again." The Counselor's voice rang out from the balcony she was standing at. From there she was well out of throwing reach, and had a view of the entire course.
Aella studied the little she could see from her vantage point, and took note of who was where. She knew there was no way she could run this thing twice. She didn't have the strength after the whipping she had endured, no meals for the past day, and the constant fighting she had been made to go through. The guards positioned around them, ensured that none of them tried to escape.
Taking a breath, she waited for the starting signal, then noted that there was none. The giant timer at the end had already started. Those cheaters.
Narrowing her eyes, she played out her moves in her mind, and began.
Kicking the feet out from under the two closest to her, she sent them flying down into the pit. She was able to get three more pushed down, before everyone else, distracted by her actions, started to move. Taking a flying leap off the ledge, she landed and rolled, minimizing the damage from the fall. Her back, on the other hand, took her breath away, and the blinding pain caused her to pause.
The five main bullies, that had whipped her, zeroed in on her while she was down. Gasping for a breath, she managed to make her body move, rolling away from their initial attack. Pushing herself up to her feet, as they stomped where she had just been, she threw a kick into one of their faces, almost falling. He fell to the ground, with a solid thump, and as she turned to run, she knew he wouldn't get up again.
Jumping over the first obstacle, she saw spinning blades on the other side, and just managed to catch herself on a protruding bar. Swinging out of the way, to safety, she heard one of those following her miss the bar and fall with a scream into the blades. No one else made that mistake.
Aella knew that she could easily get to the finish line before the time limit, but she wanted to make sure there weren't too many who crossed it. That meant she had to take some out.
Turning, she swept the feet out from under the kid who was right behind her. He was anticipating her attack, and jumped over her kick. Grinning evilly, he leaned down and she planted her fist in his face, sending him falling backwards into the blades. The other three were too close for her to try anything, so she turned to run to the next obstacle.
Was the time running fast? She was sure there was more time than what the clock was showing. Gritting her teeth, she realized they were cheating again. Pushing herself to run faster, she slowed down when she came to the wall. It had hand holds to help with climbing over it, and she had almost reached in to grab one, but something told her to check on it before she did, and she saw there were glass shards imbedded inside each hole. If she had reached in there…
Glancing up, she knew she couldn't get up there any other way. One of the other kids, who wasn't trying to fight anyone, ran past her, and started climbing, getting several feet up before he realized his fingers had been reduced to shreds.
Picking up speed, before he could fall, she jumped against the side wall, kicking off from it, and used the kid as a ledge, to kick off from and reached the top. He fell with a scream, knocking another kid to the ground. She paused to watch the bullies force the others to climb so they could do the same thing she had, but they were too heavy to pull it off.
Not waiting to see how they got over the wall, she gauged the remainder of the Race, and saw that there was a narrow ledge, held up with ropes. She would have to get across it to reach the finish line. Crouching as she studied the obstacle, she realized the ropes all went to the ledge where the Counselor was sitting. The Counselor smiled at her, holding up a dagger she was using to spear pieces of cheese from a tray.
If she ran full out, she might be able to still pull this off. As noises behind her signaled someone was getting close to the top, she started sprinting across. She fully expected to feel the ledge drop out from under her at any moment, but strangely it did not. Her balance was perfect as she ran across them, hardly making them swing at all.
As she reached the finish line, she looked up to see the Counselor was angrily arguing with another demon who was just as finely dressed as she was. He turned his gaze down to her, and she wondered who he was.
SUY NGHĨ CỦA NGƯỜI SÁNG TẠO 
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Sdrawkcab There will be several obstacles she has to overcome to prove herself. Aella has a benefit over the others that allows her to use her brain and not be overcome, but you'll have to wait to see what. Hope you enjoyed!
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