The first trial started in an hour. The past few hours were spent figuring out just how the fuck we were going to go through this trial without killing my childhood best friend.

"I can't believe this." I slammed my head against the door repeatedly to emphasize the words. "If I kill Beau..."

"Then Ragnarok will not be fulfilled." Anubis shrugged. "Problem solved. You and the Mother can resolve your skins of killing my charge."

I flinched at his tone. Clearly there was something more going on with Anubis and Lila that wasn't aired out. I had cost him that happiness. Cost her that happiness too. If we hadn't hunted them down, gone against Odin's orders, then maybe she would've been alive and safe. Anubis was right about Rosemarie being a beacon for Loki to track her-

I stopped slamming. Stopped breathing. 

"Rosemarie can be tracked. She's the Mother." I said, pacing back and forth. "The rules of the Trials that the moss nymph went over-"

"Daphne?" Jasper frowned.

"Yeah, that one, what's her deal anyways- wait a goddamn minute. Did you just say Daphne?"

Draver rolled his eyes. "Lover, what's going on?" 

"Daphne is a nymph that Apollo pursued until she turned into a laurel tree."

"Yeah?" the black haired Lycan urged for me to continue.

"She's Greek. And dead." They looked lost still. "Hello? Someone getting an Orpheus vibe?"

"Except Daphne has been nothing but polite." Jasper crossed his arms. "If she wanted to harm you, she would've already. Hades didn't send her to capture you."

A knock on the door revealed to be Daphne herself. Despite the Lycans belief that Daphne was innocent, they both still managed to serve as a border between me and Daphne.

"Uh, hi there. I just overhead your conversation while I came to tell you supper was over. Hades didn't send me, nor did any of the Furies. I'm a gift from a friend, to keep you company throughout the Trials. Oh, and I brought a platter tray of what food I could find so you wouldn't go to the Trials hungry."

She handed over the platter of small meats and cubed cheeses. I shouldered past the boys- noting the Jasper took a wide step away first- and took the tray from Daphne. When her eyes met mine, I saw a flicker of silver duochrome.

I smiled. "Tell him I said thank you."

She grinned widely back. "Yes, milady."

"Before you go, can you go over the rules of the Trials once more? I'm afraid Draver and I weren't paying attention when you explained on the way to our room."

"Of course," She cleared her throat. "Rule number one; you may not have outside help from any Sponsors or outside party members that are not Champions themselves unless approved by the Elder Gods. Rule number two; you may not enter with specialty powers that are not your own. Rule number three; Champions and Sponsors may not leave the Trials at anytime-"

"Yes!" Draver grinned. "That means if Loki is here, Kendra can meet Rosemarie to transport the other Valkyries to us. Rosemarie won't have to worry about her beacon like nature calling Loki to her as well."

Jasper gave a half-smile which dropped once he saw me staring. "I'll notify the Pack and Alpha Xerxes immediately."'

Anubis pulled Daphne aside. "An elaboration on rule two, if you will..."

Draver swooped me into his arms for a quick spin. "You're a genius, love."

I held back a smile.  As happy as I was being able to contribute after Lila's loss and now Beau's appearance, it still felt wrong to be happy in front of Jasper. It wasn't the same. And it wasn't right for me to drive a wedge between the two twins. If I stuck to being their lover, maybe this divide wouldn't have occurred. 

"Now for the matter of Beau." Anubis addressed, stepping forward. Daphne seemed to have vanished. "The laurel nymph spoke of no specialty powers. Which begs the question of why Beau was entered if Loki isn't able to give him powers. If he is the human that you claim, then simply knocking him unconscious won't be an issue."

"Beau was entered on purpose- to hinder Faye from winning the competition. What I don't understand is that if Beau and Faye fight, neither will win because neither would kill each other." Draver scratched his jaw in contemplation. "What's Loki's angle with Beau? Why not get someone as vile as him that Faye would struggle to defeat?"

Jasper paced near the balcony doors. "This situation is all too familiar. It's Luna Katya and Mikhail all over again."

"Except Mikhail was possessed by Luna Katya's Lycan kidnapper and the Vampire King. Totally different." Draver scoffed.

Jasper pointed at me. "That's it. Luna Katya did what she had to do to save Lycans- and that meant killing her half-brother in the process. Faye has no obligation to kill Beau since he poses no real threat."

"Maybe it will be alright if they are the last two standing." Draver's worried tone didn't help convince anyone in this room to believe that.

"To be honest, I was hoping I could sit in the sidelines until everyone kind of pummels themselves out and only face a few people." I huffed. "Now I have to babysit Beau."

Anubis frown deepened. "Then you are playing into Loki's hands. Getting you involved in the fight is the true goal."

All three of us raised a brow to that. 

Anubis laughed then- a cold and empty sound. "Oh child. Don't you see? You care for this friend of yours. Enough that Loki knows that you will fight every person till your last breath just to keep him safe. Loki is gambling on your connection with Beau to force you on the frontlines. You'll become the number one target."

At the same time, a chime rang out, along with an amplified voice. "THE FIRST TRIAL WILL COMMENCE SHORTLY."

We all looked at each other with wide eyes."Shit." 

~

Anubis teleported us to Arena Grounds. Champions were marked in a separate section.

I hugged Draver tightly and felt the start of tears prick at my eyes. I blinked back rapidly and refused to give in. 

"We'll be there." Jasper whispered when Draver pulled away.  He pointed to the left section with a shit ton of beer and broken glass. "Good luck, Faye."

I wanted more. I wanted a hug, a kiss, anything. But the moment I stepped forward to initiate some kind of contact, his kind gaze turned into pure disgust and- did he just dry heave a little?

My heart was about to lurch out of my chest and either flop to the floor to die to slap Jasper right in his pretty blond boy face.

Anubis gave a sharp jerk of his head- I'm assuming that was a really angry looking nod- before shifting his head into a Jackal to blend into the traditional clothing expected for each mythology.

I kept a close watch of everyone, noting as their bodies morphed and blurred into their traditional forms.

I caught the sight of Beau entering into the lowered section of the arena labeled Champions. The letters were Norse but after blinking it switched to English. Something about that bothered me yet I couldn't exactly place the reason.

"-champions, make sure your armor is set. Additional armor is provided the Baldr Armory. You'll find a three digit marking on your inner wrist, use that to log your kills. The Bloodbath Challenge will begin soon."

Shit.

I had missed very important information. I glanced down at my wrist to see my number. 379.

Beau's mop of brown hair moved towards the armory. I kept my distance, going towards the opposite section where a line-up of swords, javelin, and daggers were mounted on the mirror walls.

Beau reached for the clunkiest armor possible, slipping it over his head like a nervous virgin trying to put a condom on. He leaned over to the Egyptian man beside him. "Pretty crazy this challenge huh? I mean, bloodbath? What kind of name is that?"

The man snarled back, revealing yellowed teeth sharpened to needles. Beau, to his credit, just swallowed and scanned the mark onto the wrist cuff which checked out the armor in his name.

"Why do we even need to check out this armor in the first place?"

A passing female whose mythology I couldn't place snorted and called over her shoulder, "It's so they can find out who's body used to wear it at the end of the game."

My blood went cold at that.

I couldn't risk Beau dying. How would I explain that to Molly? To Beau's adoptive parents? 

I slipped past the second aisle over to Beau. The opposite section was double breasted armor and a javelin- but that was fine, I wouldn't need it. My Valkyrie form came with my own armor. 

He struggled to adjust the breast plate and I couldn't stand by any longer.

"Hey Beau." 

He jerked his head up and then around before his eyes landing on me. "My God, Faye!  What are you doing here?"

I grabbed his hand to pull him towards a bench. He sat down slowly, still looking at me like I was the lost city of Atlantis. 

"I haven't heard from you in weeks! Molly said that you went to rehab but I didn't think it was true."

"It's not," I said shakily, trying to control the nervous viper twisting in my belly. "Beau, I need you to listen to me."

The countdown went off for Champions to get to the arena. 

"Wait, we're about to start!" Beau leaned tot he side to look past the arched entry ways into the hazy white light of the mystery arena.

I leaned down and cupped his cheeks. "Beauregard you listen to me right now. This is not what you think it is. It is not a convention, it's a competition called the Trials. It's a death match and the last one standing gets to win the allegiance of a lot of mythological armies."

He chortled. "Yeah, sure Faye. It's just a really good prosthetics convention too. Are we going to recreate top 10 anime death scenes-"

I jerked back and yanked him to his feet, walking him to the entrance. "This isn't a joke. All these people here represent a mythology that want's the support of other armies to back up whatever their cause is. If I win, I get the armies of everyone here. If you win, Loki gets his own legion to start Ragnarok. We have no Valkyries left, I'm one of the last few left. So I need you to stay low and away from everyone else while I handle this. Do I make myself clear?"

"The First Trial will now commence."

I didn't get an answer as I pulled us both into the white void.

Sunlight scorched my face as I entered the arena. Beau's hand was wrapped tightly around mine. 

"Holy shit." he whispered behind me.

Holy shit was right. We were in a giant desert, with floating rocks that were already dripping blood of fallen champions.

It was very clear that the ground floor was the death box. It became even more apparently clear when a ripped Asian man landed on the ground from the rock above us.

"Cease, mortal." he said quietly. "Today I will end your suffering."

Strapped to his back was a bronze gong that, when it caught the light, looked to be shimmering full of souls.

"Beau, step back. I've got this." I made sure to shove Beau back just in case he decided to be a smart ass and stand his ground.

The man lifted a sword pried from the cold fingers of a nearby corpse. "Come child. Let me be done with you."

"I don't think so," I snapped, calling forth my Valkyrie form.

"Faye? FAYE!" Beau yelled. 

I lifted my arms to block the land of the sword with my armor only to realized that none had materialized. I froze in shock as the arc of the swing descending downwards.

Beau's body slammed into me like a freight train, reminding me of his linebacker days in high school.

I hit the ground hard with the wind knocked out of me.

"Are you crazy?" he looked wild. "You almost DIED!"

I glanced down at my hands only to realize they were shaking violently.

My Valkyrie form was gone, I didn't have any protection, and I was about to be beheaded my an Asian gong man with a sword right in front of my best friend.