The Necklace: The Trial Realm

Chapter Ten: Some Twisted MoFos

"Thought you were going to kick my ass?"

I cough into the mat, pushing back up on my elbows. "I don't recall saying anything about your ass." I point out, rolling onto my back and staring up at the gymnasium ceiling, not sure if the black spots in front of my eyes are from staring into the big hanging light or from how hard Reda flipped me onto the mat.

"Up and again!" Serge barks at me from the other side of the gym, closely watching a match between Oliver and Maxum.

I sigh as I get back to my feet, watching the fight too. I'm not usually one to place my bet on size alone because I know that speed can beat strength any day, but even I was pretty certain Oliver had no chance. He was tall and thin, though muscled, he didn't look menacing enough to take on the burly muscle of the man that was Maxum. The guy was like a boulder, completely immoveable and the smile on his wide face meant he knew it. I recognized that look. It was the look of the fighter who knows they're about to win.

Oliver and Maxum shuffle in a circle around the mat, both leaned into a crouch, arms slightly out at their sides. I'm too busy watching them, especially when Oliver sneaks a peek my way and grins before he launches his full body weight right at Maxum.

Instead of seeing what happens next though, I'm eating another mouth full of mat as my feet are expertly swept right out from beneath me and I go down with a thud.

"Focus." Reda rolls her vibrant green eyes at me.

I glare up at her but she only shrugs, looking bored.

My first night of training with Serge's special teams isn't going so well, a sentiment Serge agrees with as he yells, "Do I need to send you back to regular training, Newb? Or can you pull your head out of your-."

"I've got her, Serge." Reda yanks me up by the elbow.

He looks ill convinced at first, but she gives him a wave of her middle finger on her right hand and he cracks and grin and goes back to coaching Oliver and Maxum. Just a tiny glance more shows me that Maxum is face down in the mat with both his tree trunk arms wrenched behind his back, a grinning Oliver panting above him.

I wish I'd seen that.

"Don't make a liar out of me." Reda says, spinning me by the arm to face her. "What's gotten into you?"

"What do you mean?" I ask, jerking my arm back and rubbing the sore elbow.

She runs her hands through her waist length jet black hair and rolls those eyes again. "I mean I watched you the whole time you were training with the other Newbs and you were turning them out one by one, but now you're distracted."

I knew she was right.

I hadn't pinned her yet, and we were supposed to be pretty evenly matched. I liked Reda. She was a demon like my roommate, Noah, but she was a little more personable, if you can call beating me black and blue for an hour personable. She didn't sugar coat anything though. She was blunt and to the point and if I was performing poorly she was going to be the first to tell me. I wanted to make her proud, even if that sounded stupid.

"I'm sorry." I tilt my chin up, something I'd picked up from watching some of the others. They carried themselves with an air of importance, and I want to fit in. "I'm focusing." I promise, trying to mean it.

I push out thoughts of drinkers and casters and demons and try to zero in my thoughts on this fight.

Reda ties her silky locks up into long ponytail and narrows her eyes at me. I roll my shoulders in response, planning my attack. She's too well grounded, perfect footing and she isn't too much taller than me, so throwing her off balance is a no go. She's also extremely fast, so I'm not likely to take her by surprise. However, she has a temper. If I can get her angry, staying just out of her reach and frustrating her need to attack, then I can goad her into coming to me and when she strikes, I'll send an elbow right into her smug smile and the a knee to the gut to make her buckle, following through with a kick to the shin to get her on the mat on her side and then I can grab an arm and a leg and pin her finally.