The Leo's Ruby

Chapter 6

          We were the third pair.

           "Do they usually make the partners fight?" I asked.

             "Only if you aren't blood related."

          Wow, they should've just brought Leo and his older brother. They would make a killer team since Leo's brother was an up and coming boxer.

            "Why do we have to fight?"

           "To get the strongest one to deal with the crisis of that time. Since this time it is assassins the less people you have the better. And the quicker and quiet they are, the more chances we have at winning." He explained.

           I really didn't want to fight Leo but it seemed like if we ran away Mr.Thomas would do anything to bring us back.

            "But don't forget a tie will free you both." His face was unreadable. I couldn't tell if he was sad or happy about this. And that scared me the most. "Rest up. We will have the fight first thing after breakfast.

            Leo nodded to me.

         "Right." Leo said and we both walked away.

            I hoped Mr. Thomas won't get too suspicious that we were walking past the sleeping bags.

              "He has his back turned." Leo whispered. "Let's run to that bush. He pointed to a big bush several yards away. We dashed and hid behind. I could barely see since the sun had dipped into the horizon a half an hour ago.

            "Don't be so careless." I warned because his eyes were giving off too much emotions. I probably was as well but not to the same degree.

            "I've been working on it." He said as I could barely see the sad smile on his lips.

           "Do you have a plan?" I asked. He always had something even if he was a bit impatient.

           "Well, not really but I was thinking that we could give each other 9 to ten blows and then as each goes in for the last hit we collapse. I have something for it..." He trailed iff as he pulled out sleeping pills. "We take these an hour before and they should work."

         "Why do you have sleeping pills?"

        "It's for when I can't sleep." He simply said, instantly becoming quiet. I dropped the subject since I knew he no longer had to tell me. We weren't each other's keeper.

          "So, we wake up one hour before usual, take the pills, give each other blows and pass out. Will this really work?"

          "It has to work. It's the only thing I could come up with." He insisted as he left from behind the bush and went over to chat with Mr. Thomas as  I went to lay in the sleeping bag,near the fire. I turned on my phone to see it's only at 30 percent. Enough to last until morning. I set the alarm to five am. And put it at 10 percent volume. I placed it near my head and rolled over.

        What would happen if we failed? Would either of us be stuck here, away from our families forever? Would we have to be non magic users stuck in a magical world? Be hunted or killed? It was all too uncertain and frankly dangerous.

                         ***
       Adele was rolling in my ear as I woke up to the dark sky. I turned off the alarm and checked the time as well as battery. It was 5 am on the dot and my phone was at 5 percent. Wonderful since you can never trust those Iphone batteries. I looked over to Mr. Thomas whose snoring was a good sign. We had forty five minutes until he woke up. Leo was staring up at the sky, his face was blank. I couldn't tell if he slept last night.

        I sat up and popped the pill into my mouth. I found a small amount of water in my bottle from the day before. It was enough to push the pill down my throat. I waited a few minutes before going back to sleep.

                          ****

     I woke up to fresh eggs and pancakes.

       "Eat your breakfast and get some energy for the fight. You'll need it." Mr. Thomas said as he chewed his last piece of toast. I scarfed down the food in minutes.

          Leo had bloodshot eyes and his hair was a mess. Somehow, he still looked good to me. But his appearance was concerning. Could he really sell our act in that condition?

           We grabbed our weapons and stood five feet from the stick Mr. Thomas stuck in the ground.

          Despite Leo's rough appearance, he was still quick enough to get the first hit on me. Right in my shoulder. I screamed in pain while I jabbed him in his arm. It made a long slash on his toned arm. Not bad enough to be concerning.

       He twisted around and had me pinned.  Mr. Thomas started counting. He had no faith in my abilities, clearly. I smirked to myself and flipped Leo to the ground. I turned my back on Leo like we discussed. He tackled me and then I headbutted him. We fell "unconscious." My world turned hazy and finally to black.

        When I came to Leo also started to stir. Mr.Thomas was swearing but stopped when we woke up. The sky was a brilliant blue and the sun was visible in the cloudless sky.

           "Good to see you two are well enough." He smiled but something was off. I couldn't tell what it was yet. "Since it ended in a tie. You both deserve to be chosen so there are some people I'd like for you to meet.