Fɪɢʜᴛ Fᴏʀ Aʟʟ || Tʜᴇ Cʜᴏsᴇɴ Eɪɢʜᴛ Bᴏᴏᴋ Oɴᴇ

ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ғɪғᴛᴇᴇɴ || ᴛʜᴇ ᴄᴏᴘᴘᴇʀ ғᴀʟᴄᴏɴ

Tazi

My body always springs me awake at the slightest sound, because there's always something going on in Greenhaven. So this morning, when Ryan woke us, I was surprised that I had slept the entire night. I say surprised, but pleasantly so. I felt rested and ready for what was ahead.

Or at least I think so.

"Let's go!" Hoya called as soon as we'd packed up. She lead the way out of camp. We left behind our horses, except Lucia of course.

We crested a small hill on foot, pausing just before the top. Tyler motioned for us all to hunker down as Hoya pointed out our target.

I held my breath as I followed her finger with my gaze.

Five animals were gathered at the bottom of the hill. A hawk, a mountain lion, a stag, a bobcat and a bear. All of them were larger than usual, but smaller than Great Beasts. The hawk wore a chain that gleamed in the early morning sun.

The sight of them alone made my hands clammy. We'd trained for this, sure, but that wasn't the real thing. What if we screwed it all up?

"How do we get the talisman?" Lucia asked in a hushed voice.

"We don't necessarily need to kill the animals, because they are just protecting the talisman. I'd guess that they are being controlled by it..." Tyler responded.

I frowned. What kind of non-answer was that?

"What's the plan?" Sasha broke in. He sounded excited. How could he be?

"Hoya, your lynx and you should take on the mountain lion. Sasha, you help her." Tyler instructed, his eyes roving our opponents. "Ryan, Zay and Lucia will take on the stag," he continued, "Sabien and Navia will deal with the bobcat. Last, Tazi and Niko, you're on talisman duty. I will help whoever needs it."

Niko looked over at me, his throat bobbing as he swallowed.

"We got this." I managed to whisper to him, though the lack of confidence did little to reassure him. And myself. The handle of my battle-axe suddenly felt heavy in my palms.

"We're not the only ones." Lucia said darkly, pointing to the other side of the clearing.

Squinting, I spotted darkly clad soldiers. They stole closer to the battlefield-to-be and golden C's shimmered in their armour. Conquerors.

"Well, it's now or never." Hoya muttered grimly. "Charge!"

Lizzie

The Greencloaks charged into the clearing, following a pink-haired woman with a lynx.

I frowned. I didn't like being beaten to things, especially not the punch. "Now!" I shouted, and my troops ran into the clearing too, releasing their animals. I followed, Widow flashing from passive with a fearsome hiss. I drew my sword, rushing past my troops. "Focus on the talisman!" I ordered, heading in that direction. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the Greencloaks separate and attack the other animals.

I grinned to myself. Perfect. We can concentrate on the talisman, then.

Two boys had already reached the hawk which carried the Copper Falcon. It shrieked and lashed out at them.

"I'll take the back!" The smaller one called. He had no visible animal.

Ah, stingray kid, then. I deduced, briefly pausing to duck under a sword swing.

"Got it!" The other, who had an ostrich, called back.

I sent a quick, cursory glance over the clearing. Yep, all eight of us were here. Welcome to the team, I guess. I smirked.