The Ritual of Blood and Bone

Chapter Sixty

They are given special swords. The weapons can cut through clothing in the same way normal swords can. They can't cut or pierce the skin, however. What they also do, is leave behind bright yellow paint whenever they are brought in contact with another object. To measure how "deep" the wound would have been, the darker the colour is. So, if it is pale yellow, it was a shallow wound. If it is very dark and vibrant, then the cut is deep. There is also some sort of chemical in the paint so that when it hits the skin, it stings just like a real wound would.

Seraphina paces nervously as they sit in the waiting area. Her heart races and her stomach flutters. She can hear the fight and crowd beyond, loud and booming.

"Calm down," Ajax huffs. Seraphina sighs and sits down.

They aren't allowed to watch the other teams and that makes it all that much worse. Seraphina has no idea how they're doing or what's going on. She taps her foot and tries to take deep breaths.

"Do we know who we're going up against?" Levanna asks.

"Not until we walk out into that arena," Tommen says, his lips pulled into a tight line.

"Whoever it is, we're going to beat them," Slade says. Seraphina smiles and nods her head.

"Exactly," she says, "we've had the Second Lord of the Order training us. We've got the advantage here."

They nod their heads in agreement.

For the next hour, they sit on the benches in silence, watching as the other fire teams are called upon. Eventually, one of their other instructors calls upon them to go to the warmup area. Seraphina's heart skips a beat as she stands. They get to the designated warmup area. They stretch their muscles and do a few practice drills with each other.

Soon, they are lining up in the corridor ready to enter the fighting hall. Seraphina's hands are clammy with nervous sweat and nausea swells in her belly. They are each handed their swords. Seraphina tries not to show her shaking hand as she takes the weapon. 

"This is it," Tommen mutters. Seraphina nods her head and makes her way to the front of her little team.

She lets out her trembling breath and squares her shoulders.

"We've got this," she says, "we went up against riders and  Radomir himself. This is a piece of piss compared to that."

"Exactly," Tommen replies. Levanna lets out a small chuckle.

"You know what, I bet everyone is hoping we aren't the team they go up against," she says. Seraphina smiles. 

"They're terrified of us," she says jokingly.

A door opens before them. Seraphina takes in a sharp breath and squares her shoulders. She looks at her team and smiles reassuringly. Determination lines their faces.

"You may enter the arena," one of the staff members says, their voice monotone. 

Seraphina steps forward confidently and leads her small team through the doors. Her boots press into the sand as a loud ringing fills her ears. She gulps, looking around at all the other students as they sit in stalls that surrounds the fighting area.

Slowly, she begins to hear again. The sound of cheering is almost deafening. She looks up, trying to see if she can see Ari in the crowd, but they all seem too far away.

Seraphina shakes her head, trying to focus. It's a simple spar. Powers aren't allowed. If they can go up against Rider students and Radomir himself and hold their own, then they can beat other students. Thinking of Radomir has her looking up to the main watching platform.