Broken

Chapter 22

Curses and Death Traps- 2:15 pm

"Today I am going to prepare you for the Trial By Tale." You could see everyone sit up a little straighter. I just stayed as I was; legs up on the desk arms folded. "The rules are simple: the top ten ranked Never boys and Never girls will be entered into the blue forest the lowest first and then every 5 minutes until the final- topped ranked pair goes in. You will compete against the Ever team who will be entering to forest in the same way. You are to try and survive until sunup the next day. The first pairs will enter at dawn the day before. To prevent you from getting killed each of you will have a white handkerchief, which when in mortal danger you may drop and when it hits the ground you will be transported to the gates. You will not be able to re-enter. The winner will be the last Ever or Never alive." The Dean concluded.

The rest of the class was boring, something about a sleep curse. I'd done it before. I came first. Again.

Layla asked me how I did it, she had found the curse very hard to perform, but in the end she had came 4th. Alec was second and Sebastian was 3rd.

Finally we had Surviving Fairytales. I was in the same forest group, just on a different side. Layla and Alec were in my group, but not Sebastian. On the opposing side was Liz, Em and Lil. We were the only people on the team, as this year there was less students than before.

"Today we will be doing a game of strategic 'hide and seek'. Evers will be hiders and Nevers seekers." The other groups had already been set off doing some other challenge, so we had the entire blue forest to ourselves. "Think of it as a practise for the Trial By Tale." Yuba chucked a pile of weapons on the ground. He looked pointedly at me. "Remove all real weapons, put them in a pile over there. I stepped aside, removing my sword, two daggers from their sheaths on my butt, four butterfly knives from the holsters on my wrists and finally two regular knives from the straps on the side of my thighs. I walked back over. Yuba looked at my boots. I removed two spiked metal rods from the outside of my boots. The others gaped in awe and disbelief. "These weapons are enchanted so that when you are 'killed' you will return here completely healed. Evers pick yours." Liz grabbed a broadsword, Em a rapier and Lil an Epeé (No, I don't know how to spell Epeé, even though I do take fencing lessons. No, I can't be bothered.) "You have five minutes before the Nevers enter the forest. Go." They ran off into the depths of the blue forest. "Nevers, arm yourselves." We grabbed every spare weapon. Which was a lot. Even Yuba was shocked. I supposed there were always a few left over. "Go!" We all sauntered into the woods.

"Ok, so, Ash you know more about them than we do. Where will they hide?" Asked Alec.

"We had a sort of formation. Stay in pairs. Or if I'm a three one person is on their own. Yuba said no magic, so they won't be mogrifs. My guess is that Lil and Em are in the Cyan Caves and Liz in the Pine Glen. Far enough so they won't be discovered at the same time, but close enough so that if one is in trouble the others can come and help them."

"I see. Who do we take first?"

"Liz. She's not as strong and hopefully we'll be able to lure the other two out. You don't want to wonder around in a dark cave."

"Let's go!" Cried Layla and we sprinted further into the woods.

Arriving at the Pine Glen we formed a sort of triangle. We had our backs to each other so we could see from all angles.

"Look up" I whispered to my team mates. They looked up and in the tallest tree was Liz- about half way up facing the caves, wind in her hair. Never taking our eyes off of her I whispered "Alec, shoot an arrow- but just miss her. I want her attention. With that sword she'll have to come down to use. We need to make a big show of it and lots of noise lure the other two out. Ready? Go!"

Alec's arrow fired. He hit her ear leaving a small cut. She whipped around and faced us.

"Too bad you missed me." She smirked.

"I was aiming for your ear. Wanted your attention- a fair fight."

"Since when have Nevers cared about a fair fight?" She said still smirking.

"Liz! Smirking doesn't suit you. Come down and fight." I shouted. How can I kill these people? They're my friends. "Alec keep her distracted, Layla, I need to talk to you. I pulled her behind a tree.

"Are you ok?" Layla immediately sensed something wasn't right.

"How can I kill them Layla? They're my friends."

"It's not real. They'll be fine. Just, close your eyes and pretend they betrayed you. Pretend that they hate you."

"I can't Layla. I can't." I was desperate.

"Look, I'll help you. We can do it together. That's what best friends are for, right?"

"Okay..."

"Let's do this!" We ran back into the glen. Liz was climbing down. Slowly. Very slowly. Alec was poised ready to fire. I unsheathed the Saber from my side. Layla took out her cutlas. I looked at her. She nodded. I can do this. Liz jumped the last few feet and almost immediately charged. Everything happened so slowly. We parted and Liz ran right past us, banging into a tree. I couldn't help but laugh. Layla laughed too. She looked very grumpy. It just made the situation even more funny. She charged again, but this time I held my sword out making a deep cut in her side. She slowed, clutching her side. Alec fired an arrow. It slammed into her back and she collapsed, her body exploding into thousands of sparkles.

I clapped my hands over my mouth and fell into my knees. "What have I done?" I whisper. I was shaking. Layla dropped down beside me.

"Oh, Ash... it's okay. She's not dead. Not really. Shhhhh. We have to win, hun. Come on, let's go get 'em"

I nodded slowly. "Okay... I'm okay." Suddenly Em and Lil burst into the clearing. I reached for the butterfly knives. Lil went for Layla and Alec- thank goodness I didn't have to kill her. With Em it would be a little easier, we had been through a few major fights during these short weeks. I was poised ready to throw. Em coming at me fast. Wait for it.

"Ashley!" Layla called. I ignored her. Now! I threw one knife. It went through her forehead, she stumbled backwards and the knife pinned her to a tree. I threw again this one went through her heart. She exploded and I retrieved the weapons. Looking over at Layla and Alec they were doing alright then Lil exploded. Layla ran over to me and hugged me.

"We did it!" Layla beamed happily.

"But at what cost?" I murmured. "At what cost..." We returned to the gates and blazing ones popped up over our heads and Liz, Em and Lil smoking 10's. They were not very happy.

We met Sebastian and we all headed to my room. Once we got there me and Layla squealed and hugged each other Sebastian picked me up and twirled me around and Alec kissed Layla full on the lips. I rolled my eyes but laughed all the same. I collapsed on the bed still laughing.