The Order of Jade

Chapter 17 - Surviving the Battle

The competitors were taken to the barracks to heal from the swamp challenge, their skin was peeling and prone to infection after those cruel long hours in the water. Valor was beaten, and in desperate need of rest, but he wasn't going to give up here. It wasn't skill or experience that drove Valor.....it was determination. The remaining contestants, which was now 12, were also severely deprived of all essentials, and needed to rest. About 5 hours in, the competitors and Valor barely had enough time to recover, before the instructor marched into the room and shouted at the top of his voice.

"EVERYBODY UP!!" The instructor ordered, and everyone dragged their weary body's out of their beds and stood in line, most struggling to maintain their balance.

"Here's what gonna happen, you will meet me outside in 10 minutes with nothing but a rope for each of you, you will then await further orders, IS THAT UNDERSTOOD!!" The instructor questioned the recruits.

"Yes sir." The competitors answered with their trembling weak voices, as they dragged themselves outside with their ropes. Some of the contestants began to make plans of an escape, knowing that they wouldn't be able to pass, but not Valor. Valor wasn't going to leave here as he came, he would either die or join the army, simple as that. The recruits, now slightly more woken up than they were before lined up outside and awaited orders. One of the recruits was struggling to stand, he fell on the floor, whimpering, infuriating both Valor and the instructor.

"HEY YOU!!" The instructor shouted as he walked up to the struggling recruit and looked down on his barely stable body. "IF YOU DONT STAND UP ON YOUR TWO FEET RIGHT NOW YOUR DEAD, YOUVE GOT THREE SECONDS......3" the instructor shouted as the recruit tried to lift himself off of the ground. "2" he then said, the recruit still unable to stand, the other recruits hearts then started rushing, except from Valors. "1, KILL HIM!!!" The instructor ordered.

A very tall muscular man then came along, with an axe in his hand, and the weary competitors fate was now sealed. The man drove his axe right through the contestant neck, decapitating him.

Valor then said to himself in his head.
"Why join this course if your not gonna give it your all, pathetic." He said in his head, disgusted that the recruit couldn't even stand.

"Anyway, where were we?" The instructor said in a disturbingly joking manner. "Here's the challenge, this is the last of the insurance stage so make sure you've all grown a pair because your gonna need them for this, your gonna climb up that ladder, once you reach the top you will each select a jammer, you will all jam your ropes into them and then proceed to hang down from them, when 3 of you give up, the challenge is over." The instructor ordered, making the recruits question whether they were in hell.

Valor climbed up the ladder and the other weary competitors followed him. His hands shaking as if he were living in sub-zero temperatures. They each stood behind a jammer.

"This is gonna suck." Valor said to himself, as he heard the recruits start to cry in fear. Valor tied the tightest knot he had ever tied in his life, making sure there was not chance of it falling apart.

Valor then stood there waiting for the platform to fall, holding on to his rope as tight as he could. Then out of know where.....

"AH SHIT!!" Valor screamed as the platform fell, the other recruits also shrieking in fear.

The platform fell and Valor and the recruits with it. Valors slid down the rope slightly, burning the hands, causing them to bleed. One recruit on the way down let go of his rope, falling to his death. 2 more recruits had to go if the challenge was to end.

"I can't let go, I can't." Valor said to himself in his head, motivating himself to keep going, while the other recruits struggled.

"This is hell!!" The tall recruit shouted as he hung there, by the tip of the rope.

"This will not end until 2 more of you fail, do you understand?" The instructor said, taunting the contestants, infuriating Valor.

30 minutes passed, Valors hands were bleeding and dripping in puss, he was in sever pain from the hanging. His arms felt like they were going to break off he was hanging so long.

Then it happened........

"NO NO NO, AAAAHHHHHH." One of the recruits screamed as his hands dipped off of the rope, his screams fading away as he fell down the pit.

"There's another weak one, one more kids, which one of you will it be?" The instructor laughed, teasing the recruits by drinking water and eating food right there on the spot. However that didn't really work, it made Valor more keen to pass, since he knew he would get food and water is he made it, that was a flaw in the instructors methods.

Valor hung there for another 15 minutes. He couldn't take it anymore. His hands looked like mangled strawberry's, and there was so much sweat running down his face that he could hardly see. He made another plan.

The ground where the instructor was standing. He knew it was foolish, but he couldn't hold the hang any longer. His plan was to swing across and fight his way out with the sword that the instructor was standing next to. This was Valors last chance, he changed his kind about dying here if he didn't make it. Instead he would fight until his very last breath, at least to make an impression.

"Alright, let's do this, 3, 2, 1." Valor said in his head as he started to swing back and forth on the rope. The instructor saw what he was trying and ran as fast as he could to the recruits.

"HEY, STOP THAT RIGHT NOW!!!" The instructor ordered, but to no avail. Valor swung once more and let go, flying forward and landing on the instructor.

He gave the instructor a punch in the face and ran towards the sword that he sighted, he got it. There were 5 guards chasing him, all wearing full kingdom issued military armour, that was designed to take a beating. Valor held the sword high in defence as the instructor stood up and ordered him to stand down.

"Listen to me now, lower your weapon, and surrender yourself to the knights, this doesn't have to end with violence." The instructor told Valor, sounding more sympathetic and caring this time. But Valor wasn't having it.

"You want me? Come and get me bitch!!" Valor shouted as he attacked the first knight, tossing him over his shoulder onto the ground. He grabbed the next guard that tried to attack him,  he used him as a human shield, as the next guard accidentally stabbed him. The last 2 guards stood there holding their guard surrounding Valor, threatening him.

"DROP YOU WEAPON, NO MORE SOLDIERS HAVE TO DIE BECAUSE OF YOU!!!" The guard shouted in his deep scratchy voice. The instructor then spoke up.

"That's enough, stand down!!" The instructor told the guards, they were confused but obeyed the order and moved away. Valor, also confused stood there.

"Valor is it?" The instructor asked.

"Yes, yes I'm....I'm Valor." Valor answered stuttering a little bit, maintaining his guard.

"Come with me." The instructor said, confusing Valor, this made him lower his guard. He followed the instructor, now scared of what was going to happen next. He took him back to the barracks, where there were 2 other competitors standing there.

"Gentlemen, we'll done today, I have something to tell you." The instructor said.
"You are the last surviving recruits, you have been allocated spots in the military scholarship. The men then cheered, knowing the struggle was over for now. The instructor left the room and the men introduced themselves.

"Hey guys, I'm Valor." Valor said to the men. As he shook their hands.

"I'm Kirin."
"Curtis..........."