Morningstar

“It doesn’t make sense,” Zanna hears Icarus say. All of her team are gathered some place in the woods far from the rest of the groups.

“What doesn’t?” East asks.

“Everything,” Icarus says. “The final trial usually consists of the same thing: they place the remaining five teams of each academy in an elaborated field and make them kill each other until three teams from each academy remain standing. They only changed the location this time.”

“To a city,” Beta says.

“Yes,” Icarus answers as he nods, “to the city of Zladale.” He turns to face them. “Listen closely, they will try to separate us. Always remain with at least one person. And don’t kill anyone that doesn’t have an armband.”

“There would be others?” Phoenix asks.

“It is a city,” Icarus says. “I doubt that they emptied it for our trial.” He looks up at the moon before looking back. “I want you to know that I am on your side, even if it doesn’t look that way after the trial.”

“What do you mean?” Tilray asks.

“Begin!” Morning shouts.

Icarus doesn’t answer. They begin running, following Icarus through the forest. Zanna sees when they are arriving towards a huge stone wall. Icarus stops and lifts a hand, signaling them to stop.

“Sentries,” he whispers. “Zanna, East, and Beta take them out. Do not kill them.”

Zanna nods as she pulls her sniper out. She sees Beta climb a tree to get a better view with her bow and arrow. East lays on the floor next to Zanna, also with his rifle. Zanna looks through her scope. On the wall, there are guards walking around. She counts them. There are five sentry guards on range.

She focuses on one of the guards. Icarus wants them to take them out but not kill. That means that no headshots or shots to the neck and chest. She won’t shoot on the arms because they would be able to move, and she cannot see their legs. She focuses on the side, near their waists and ribs. She fires.She quickly switches targets as she hears East fire too. She fires at the other guard closest to him.

“Shit,” East swears. That’s enough for Zanna to know that he missed a shot. She moves her rifle towards the guard that East was shooting. The guard is standing. Before the guard could move, Zanna fires and sees the guard fall.

East looks at her. He opens her mouth, but she only nods. She’s got his back.

***

“Agrion, Vil, come,” Icarus says.

“Me?” Vil asks. She didn’t expect to be chosen for any specific part in this trial.

“Yes,” he says. “Moneo, Kobo, and Fey, be ready with the ropes.” Icarus begins to run. Agrion follows him, and it takes a second for Vil to know that she must follow him also. “Scout the area. Knock anyone out.”

Then, he begins to climb the wall. Vil and Agrion follows. Vil doesn’t know why he chose her for this. Beta, Moneo, Fey, and Kobo are the climbers of the group. They should be doing this instead of her. When she reaches the top and lands smoothly is when she realizes why he chose her. She is a ghost. No one pays attention to her, and she doesn’t make any sound. She is invisible.

“Vil,” Yenta shouts. He has been with her ever since they bonded. No one can see nor hear him but her, and she usually ignores him. “There!”

Vil looks to where Yenta is pointing at. Someone is standing meters away. She is pulling a gun from her side, but Vil quickly throws a knife at her. It lands on her arm. She lets go of the gun as Vil runs towards her. She throws another knife, hoping to distract her. She moves away to evade it. Vil then jumps and knees her in the jaw. The woman falls backwards. She then pins her arms with her knees and covers her mouth and nose. The woman struggles but eventually blacks out.

Agrion whistles. Vil sees that Kobo, Fey, and Moneo start running to the wall. They begin to climb it. Once they are up, they tied the rope at one of the pikes on the wall and throws the other to the floor. The rest of their team start climbing through the ropes.

A loud horn makes Vil turn around. “Saints,” Icarus says, “they’ve already spotted some team.”

Vil walks to the other side of the wall to see the city. Her breath catches when she sees the city’s citizen running, and far away, a huge group of soldiers is forming.

***

Rin doesn’t know what happens next. She is in one second on top of the wall, and on the other, a group of soldiers are running towards them. Icarus tells them to run, and they do as they evade the bullets coming from them. They reach one of the towers that are between walls, and Rin begins to descend the wooden ladder.

“There’s no time,” Icarus says. “Five of you use this one. We’ll find another one.” He leaves with most of the team. She descends fast the wooden ladder without looking who stayed behind with her. When she reaches down, she notices the Slier is climbing down with her. After her come Hakea, Ilya, and Killam.

They run out of the tower without waiting for any of the guards to follow them. Rin finds the city in a state of chaos. Everyone is running. Gunshots are being heard. Screams are being yelled. Children are crying. What is this trial? Why is the battlefield of this trial in an innocent city?

“Meld with the crowd!” Slier yells over the commotion.

They follow Slier through the crowd. Rin spots a child running in tears. She wants to help. She has to help. “Slier! A child–”

“Ignore the child!” Slier says.

Rin can’t ignore a crying boy. She diverts from the path and towards the child. As she reaches him, the temperature becomes cold. The child’s skin begins to sparkle as if his skin was being covered by a thin layer of ice. Is that magic? Before she can reach him, someone strikes their sword in his chest.

Rin wants to scream. He was just a kid! The person pulls the sword out, and Rin sees that it has a pink armband. He is an enemy. She pulls her handgun and shots at him, once, twice, thrice. They all land on its chest and the person falls.

“Rin!” Slier yells, grabbing her by the waist and pulling her to continue running. “Don’t get away!”

She spots a woman creating what looks like blue illusions near her. A man turns himself into a gorilla. Another woman creates a living body made of earth. Each one of them are struck down by people with armbands.

“Slier!” Rin yells. “They are using abilities!”

Icarus said that magic was dangerous, but she had never seen it. Maybe that was the plan of the Times all along. The Times wanted the students to kill the people with magic.

***

East is running behind Icarus, Phoenix, Tilray, and Agrion. He is shooting whoever has an armband of another color. Icarus then takes a turn into an alley. Everyone pulls their weapons when they see that Kemba and a few people from her team are there.

“East, cover the entrance,” Icarus says.

“But the enemy–”

“They are not the enemy,” Icarus says. East wouldn’t lower his weapons if it were another person ordering him. He trusts Icarus. He moves to the back of the team where he can face the entrance of the alley.

“Two hours, Icarus,” Kemba says.

“Two hours,” Icarus repeats. “That’s enough.”

“It isn’t,” she answers. “There are still around thirty students out there! There’s no way that we can do it.”

“I can,” Icarus says. “Go to the ship. Take everyone here with you. If in two hours I am not there, leave.”

“Ship?” Tilray asks. “Are we deserting the trial?” East turns when he hears that.

“Trust me,” Icarus tells Tilray. “Follow Kemba and trust her. I’ll explain everything later.”

“Icarus, what are you doing?” Phoenix asks.

Icarus places a hand on her cheek, and it takes East aback. No wonder why they stopped arguing after the first days. There is something going on between them. “Trust me,” he says. “I am ending this. In case that I don’t make it in time–”

“You’ll make it,” Phoenix says.

Icarus nods. “I will, but if I don’t, trust Kemba. Do as she say. I trust her with my own life.” Phoenix nods. Then Icarus pulls something from inside his cloak and places against Phoenix’s side. She convulses for a second.

“What the hell was that?” Phoenix asks, stepping away from him.

“An electric shock,” he says. “You all have chips on your spine that allows Morning to track you and know if you are alive. I disabled it. You are officially dead to him.” East then realizes that that’s how no one could escape Morningstar. He could track them.

“Woah,” East says. “You are disabling them? If you disable them, there’s no way that we can pass the trial. We will be count as dead.”

“East, you’ve been all your life indecisive,” Icarus says. “You’ve been all of your life arguing between what’s good and what’s bad. This is the time that you must choose, and I prefer that you choose to trust me.”

East doesn’t answer fast. Tilray steps in front of Icarus. “You’ve been an ass to me,” she says, “but you’ve taken us alive this far. And I hate the Times with all of my heart. Shock me.” Icarus does. She shakes for a second.

Agrion steps then. “You are my mentor. I’ll follow you anywhere.” Icarus shocks him too.

East stares at Icarus. He knows that they do not have time, but is this what he really wants? Does he really want to quit the trial? And for what? He mentioned a ship. Are they escaping Morningstar? He closes his eyes. When has Icarus let him down? All that he has done is risk his life to help them through the trials.

He sighs. “Fine.” Icarus shocks him. It sends a shiver down his body and it hurts for a second. “But you said that you need to search for thirty students. I am guessing that in those students are the people from our team. Let me help you.”

“No,” Icarus says. “I need you to help Kemba and the others to get out of the city.”

“You cannot go alone!” East says. “You won’t find the thirty students in less than two hours!”

“Then I’ll go,” Agrion says. “I’ll help him.”

Icarus takes a second. “All right.” Then he spots at the other end of the alley. “That way, there is an opened gate. If you continue heading north past the gate, you’ll reach the sea. Take anyone from Draconic that you find through there.”

“All right,” Agrion says. East sees a smile forming in his face. This is the time that Agrion will show Icarus what he has learnt.

“Let’s go,” Kemba says as she begins to run to the other end of the hallway.

East looks at Icarus. He extends his hand towards him. “It was an honor,” East says. Icarus takes his hand.

“Do me proud, kid,” Icarus says, and they both head opposite ways.

***

Wither is in the crowd, fighting with his long sword. He slashes at whoever comes near him and evades every guard that are not supposed to be on the trial. He sees people using magic, defending themselves against the students of Morningstar. Then, he feels something warn him.

“Zanna!” he yells. Zanna jumps from the ground as someone was about to strike her with a spear. She shoots at the person.

“Thanks,” Zanna says as she moves closer to him. She fires the rifle without using the scope as if it was a gun. “We need to get out of here! Where’s Fey and Xeon?”

“There!” Wither points at Fey. She is running away, hitting multiple targets with her staff. She is meters away. There’s no way that they can reach her.

“No, no, no, no,” Zanna says. “We weren’t supposed to separate!” She yells when someone tries to slash her with a sword, but Xeon appears and blocks the attack.

“Don’t touch her!’ Xeon yells and slashes the scythe at the person. More people start closing in. “Wither, take her away.”

“Xeon, but you–”

“Protect her!” Xeon yells. “I’ll cover you. Go!”

Wither takes Zanna’s hand and runs away. He can feel tears forming in his eyes, but he shakes his head. After all of this time, how can’t they all make it out alive from the trial? His eyebrows furrow. Xeon wanted Wither to protect Zanna. He will protect her. He swings his sword at whoever is coming at them.

Then, a figure with a red cape comes running towards them. Wither recognizes him as Signe, one of the mentors. He has two sais in his hands and is looking at them directly. He is going to kill them, but he isn’t allowed to. They aren’t supposed to kill members from the same academy.

A smoke bomb explodes in front of Signe. Then, Wither sees a cloaked figure grab him by the wrist and pull him away. The figure pulls them into an alley. It stops and removes its cloak to reveal that the person is Icarus.

“He-They-He…” Wither cannot speak. He takes a deep breath. “Signe isn’t supposed to kill us!”

“They aren’t supposed to attack members of the same academy, but it is not forbidden,” Icarus says. “Some people just prefer to attack people from their same academy to diminish their numbers and make sure that their team is among the sixty-three people that survives.”

“Icarus,” Zanna says, “Fey and Xeon! We left them behind. You need to save them.”

“I’ll do it,” he says. “You two, make your way to the north gate and keep running. You will get to a beach and a ship where Kemba is. You will be safe there.”

Wither doesn’t argue. “All right.” Then Icarus runs away and rejoins the fight. Wither looks at Zanna. “Whatever happens, Zanna, I-I-I love you.”

Zanna grabs his face and kisses him. “I love you too.” She takes his hand, and this time, she takes the lead.

***

Agrion is jumping from ceiling to ceiling. He looks down at the riot. A lighting passes near him, probably created by someone with magic, and he has to duck to evade it. He jumps to the next ceiling, searching for anyone from his team.

Then, he finds his targets. There are three people down on the street, fighting a bunch of incoming people. They all have their backs against each other. One has a huge sword that seems bigger than him. The other has a spear. The last one has knives between her fingers. He has found Norm, Lexan, and Vil.

This is the time to show Icarus that he has made an assassin out of Agrion.

Agrion climbs down the building fast. He lands and heads towards the trio. He slashes with his long daggers at anyone approaching them. He remembers Icarus’s training. One cut on their necks or one jab on their sides will kill them. A stab on the chest will take too much time. One hit is what assassin’s usually have before they are caught.

“Agrion!” Norm shouts. He can hear the hint of happiness in his voice.

“Lexan, Yenta wants to possess someone,” Vil yells.

“Let him!” Lexan shouts as he stabs someone with his spear. He pulls the spear out.

“How? I don’t know how!” Vil yells.

“Just let him!”

As Agrion keeps fighting, he sees a person fall on his back as soon as the smell of lavender hits him. Then, the person stands up again. To Agrion’s surprise, the person starts slashing anyone near them with daggers also. That’s when Agrion understands. The ghost that saved him and Wither on the third trial, Yenta, is possessing someone. Vil’s magic is a twisted thing.

“An opening!” Norm yells.

“Follow it!” Lexan says.

Norm leads the way through the crowd. Vil, Lexan, and Agrion follow. Agrion then takes the lead. “I know a way out,” he yells.

They continue fighting through the crowd until they reach the front gate. Once outside, they continue running away from the city. Agrion doesn’t dare to let his guard down. He will lead Norm, Lexan, and Vil to the ship. He will keep them safe. He will make Icarus proud.

***

Moneo fights with a bunch of students from the academies. He catches glimpses of Beta, who is struggling. Kobo and Shin are too far away to help her. He needs to help her. He needs to help his true love.

Icarus appears next to him. Moneo doesn’t know where he came from. He begins fighting back. “Help Beta!” Moneo says. “I can handle it! Go!”

Icarus doesn’t argue. He disappears, heading towards Beta. Moneo lets his breath go when he sees that Icarus reached her. Icarus moves with Beta, and now they have reached Kobo. Moneo returns his focus on his fight. He hits everyone his staff, aiming mostly to their heads and necks.

He doesn’t know how much time passes when Shin joins him. “Where is Beta?”

“Left with Icarus and Kobo,” Shin says. He slashes his axes at someone that was about to hit Moneo. “He said that he will come back for us.”

“Why didn’t you leave with them?”

“We don’t leave our men behind,” Shin answers. “If we go down, we go down as a team.”

Moneo smiles. He didn’t know that Shin was a team player. Now that Beta is safe, he can focus on the fight. He and Shin can survive this just long enough for Icarus to come back. “Right,” he says. “Let’s pass this trial.”

***

“Two hours,” Kemba says. They are on a ship at a beach.

“Wait, we have to wait for Icarus,” Phoenix says. “More than half our team is still out there!”

Tilray looks at the ship. There are a bunch of people that she doesn’t know, but they have yellow armbands. They must be from Kemba’s team. The only people from their team that have made it are her, Phoenix, East, Wither, and Zanna.

“Those were Icarus’s orders,” Kemba says. “We cannot stay here, or they’ll find us and track us. Harvey, begin sail.” A yellow flare illuminates the sky. That’s the signal that the students of Morningstar have finished the trial. “Quickly, Harvey!”

The ship begins to move. “Wait!’ Phoenix yells. “There!”

Tilray and Kemba look at the edge of the ship. There are people running towards the beach. Tilray recognizes the people. In the lead are Lexan, Vil, Norm, and Agrion. Behind them are Beta and Kobo.

“Tilray, rise a ramp,” Kemba says.

“What?” Tilray asks.

“Icarus told me that you could,” she says. “Concentrate on the earth. Create a ramp that connects to this ship. Do it!”

Tilray closes her eyes. She doesn’t know what she is referring to. Then, she remembers when she was practicing throwing a spear with Icarus. He watched her stance and told her that she pulls the force from the ground. Did he really mean that?

She opens her eyes as she stands the same way that she did when throwing a spear. She imagines the ground under the water. She imagines it all under her possession. She imagines drawing the force from it and rising it. She rises her arms slowly as if she were rising a boulder. She feels a strong force pushing down her hands, but she continues. When she pushes her hands up completely, a ramp made of sand and rock rises from the sea that is taller than the ship.

She did that. She really did that. She has magic.

Then, she watches from the ramp as Agrion jumps into the ship. Then follows Norm, Lexan, Vil, and seconds later, Beta and Kobo.

“Good job, Tilray,” Kemba says. “Harvey, full speed ahead!”

“But… Icarus…” Phoenix whispers as she looks at the leaving land.

Tilray approaches her. She places a hand on her shoulder as she watches the land too. “Don’t worry,” she says. “You know Icarus. He is stubborn and he is strong. He’ll make it. He’ll find us.”

Still, Tilray cannot hide the feeling that rises inside of her. They left behind members of their team. They left behind Icarus, Ilya, Killam, Shin, Slier, Rin, Hakea, Xeon, Fey, and Moneo.

“Please, be alive,” she whispers.