Regan scuffed her boot against the ground and looked at the sky with a bored expression. A dry wind gusted past her, pulling at her hair and whipping up small tendrils of dust. 

The training grounds were an expanse of hard packed clay behind the Silverwater barracks that had been carefully swept and rolled flat. Canvas screens surrounded the area to provide some protection from the wind that rushed across the treeless fields and dragged at the colourful flags and banners decorating the otherwise barren waste. At the centre of the training ground, a circular arena had been marked out with white paint. 

Sarafina stood by Regan's shoulder. 'There are more here than I expected.' 

Regan followed her gaze. There were small groups of other candidates standing awkwardly around the area. Most of them had congregated in front of a set of bleachers that was slowly filling up with Silverwater personnel who had come to watch the trials. A few of them were self-consciously doing stretches and exercises to limber up. As Regan watched, a boy with long hair dropped his wooden sword. 

Sarafina laughed. 'If you gave them feather dusters, they might make halfway decent cleaners. You might want to consider holding back a little.' 

'There's no point in prolonging a fight. An idiot's blade makes you just as dead as an expert's.' 

Regan turned as she heard a call, and saw Forrester walking towards them. His eyes were bright, and he gave an excited wave as he approached. He was holding something in his hand wrapped in red cloth. 

'I love the trials,' he said as he got closer. 'There's something about the atmosphere that's electric.' 

'Did you find it?' said Sarafina. 

Forester held out the object in his hand and pulled back the cloth. Inside was a battle scarred wooden sword. He held it out to Regan. 

'It's a short sword, like you asked for.' 

Regan pulled the wooden sword out of the cloth and examined it. 'It's heavy.' 

'It's made of hardwood. It's old but it's tough.' 

Regan shrugged. 'It'll do.' 

'It was surprisingly hard to find. Do you want to know where I found it in the end?' 

Regan ignored him and shifted her attention back to the other candidates. 

Sarafina gave Forester a gentle pat on the shoulder. 'I'm sure it was a fascinating story.' 

'You know Bennet's mind,' said Regan. 'What's her next move going to be?' 

Sarafina looked at the ground for a moment before she answered. 'It won't be private. She'll want to humiliate you in front of everyone.' 

'I know some of the people organising the trials,' said Forester. 'I can ask around and find out if anyone's heard of any last minute changes.' 

'I can save you the time,' said a low voice behind them. 

Sarafina and Forester looked back in surprise. 

'Kai?' said Forester. 

Kai ignored Forester and Sarafina. He brushed past them as he walked towards Regan. His eyes were intently focused on her back. 

Regan didn't turn around. 

'You're bold to keep your back to me.' 

Kai waited for a response, but Regan didn't seem to have heard him. 

'Regan,' said Sarafina. 'This is Kai. He's a protector, like Forester.' 

Kai walked forward until he was level with Regan and examined her profile. He waved a hand towards the other candidates. 'They want to be fighters, but not one among them is worthy of the title. They don't understand what it means to fight. They have no fighter's presence.' 

Kai waited expectantly again. For a few seconds, no one moved. Forester coughed and looked at his feet, and Sarafina glanced from Kai to Regan. 

Kai folded his arms. The muscles in his forearms stood out like an anatomical chart. He nodded as if he'd reached a conclusion on some kind of internal assessment. 'You have a killer's eyes. Bennet told me she'd found a strong opponent. I've waited a long time to find someone worthy of fighting.' 

Regan turned slowly as if she was powered by hydraulics. She looked Kai up and down with her penetrating gaze. 'Do you listen to yourself when you talk?' 

Kai unfolded his arms and stepped back. A look of irritation crossed his face. 'I thought I was talking to someone who understood what it means to be a fighter.' 

'Fighter's presence. Worthiness. Don't try to feed me that melodramatic trash.' 

'A true fighter pays respect to their adversary. We honour our opponents because they are the only ones who truly understand us.' 

Regan laughed. 'Real fighting is brutal and ugly. It's not some sort of mutated offspring of good manners and bad romantic poetry.' 

A muscle at the side of Kai's forehead tensed, and his cheeks began to redden. 'It would be a huge mistake to mock me.' 

'If you don't want to be mocked, stop saying things worthy of mockery.' 

Kai flexed his fingers as if he wanted to grip Regan by the throat. He leant in until his mouth was inches from Regan's ear. 'When I come at you, I'll come with full force and there will be nothing restrained or polite about it. The only thing left of you will be a red smear in the dust.'

***

Bennet leant against a supporting strut at the side of the bleachers with her arms folded. She tilted her head back and closed her eyes. 

'Is it ready?' she said. 

The dark haired boy crouched in front of her connected a cable from a small video camera to a laptop placed on a crate front of him. His adam's apple bobbed nervously as he pressed a button on the camera. A moment later, an image of the training grounds appeared on the screen. After a few adjustments, he centred it on the arena. 

'It should be working now.' 

Bennet looked down at the image on the laptop. 'Good work.' 

'Are you sure--' 

'Ashcroft said it was fine. Just shut up and do the recording.' Bennet looked up from the screen and hid a smile behind her hand. 'Ah, our indomitable warrior returns, and doesn't he look upset?' 

Kai's fists were balled as he walked towards Bennet with fast, heavy strides. She could see the muscles clenching and unclenching around his jaw, and his breathing sounded like a pressure valve being released. 

'Oh dear, something seems to have ruffled your feathers.' 

Kai's fist hit a metal cross beam next to Bennet's head. She didn't flinch. At their feet, the boy working the video camera tried to surreptitiously retreat behind his equipment. 

'I'm going to destroy her,' Kai said through clenched teeth. 'She has no respect.' 

'And her strength?' 

'She's strong. Her presence was like iron, but I'm going to break her.' 

'I'm happy we're on the same page.' 

'I want to crush her. I want to see her kneel in front of me and admit defeat.' 

'Patience. Your chance is coming.' 

Bennet motioned to a small stage on the other side of the bleachers where two Silverwater porters were placing a large board covered by a sheet. A rotund man with a grey beard and a Silverwater uniform stepped onto the stage after them and surveyed the assembled candidates with an expression like a boxer sizing up his opponent. Behind him, one of the porters threw Bennet a questioning look. She nodded. 

On the stage, the bearded man lifted his hands. 

'Candidates!' his voice resonated, even in the open space. People on the other side of the training ground stopped their preparations and turned their heads to look at him. 'We will now begin the selection trials in earnest. I am examiner Pohlman. I will have the first, last and only say in whether you pass through to the next stage.' 

Pohlman gestured towards the arena at the centre of the training grounds with one meaty hand. 

'This trial will test your combat ability in a series of one on one fights. You will fight until I'm satisfied that I know what you can do. If I give you an instruction, you will follow it immediately and without question. Any breach of this will result in immediate disqualification!' 

Pohlman glared at the candidates around the training ground as if they had already disobeyed him. When he was satisfied, he nodded at the porters, and they pulled the sheet off the board. The names of all the candidates had been paired together on the board in a grid. A quiet murmur went through the candidates and spectators. 

'Make your final preparations,' said Pohlman. 'The first fight will be in ten minutes!' 

Kai's brow furrowed as he read the names on the board. His name and Regan's were already paired. He glared at Bennet. 'You already planned for me to accept?' 

'Don't look like that,' Bennet sighed. 'A successful outcome rests on preparation.' 

Kai stepped forward and pointed a finger under Bennet's nose. 'Don't try to manipulate me. You could easily become my enemy too.' 

Bennet gently touched the tip of Kai's finger and lowered his arm. 'Save your anger. You're finally getting what you wished for.' 

Kai spat on the ground and walked away. Bennet watched him go with a small smile. 

'He seems very confident,' said the boy with the video camera. 

'He doesn't know how not to be,' said Bennet. 'Kai's thoughts all originate in his fists. He's going to give me what I want, and he'll never even realise it.'