DAMIEN

I officially despise the Ravens.

I hated them before too, especially after what happened with my mother, but now they were getting annoying in every way possible. I mean, a Blood Battle? Seriously? They have to be joking.

I stared up at the black tower, set to mimic the real opening game of the Blood Battle championship.

How the hell did they hide this entire tower in between the floors? Why didn't the investigators notice a giant gap in the floor plan? Why didn't I notice it?

"We can climb out," Arielle offered. I couldn't see her as she was directly opposite of me, but I could hear her perfectly fine. "The grooves of the lights run all the way up to the ceiling and they're the right size. We can all fit."

"Wait," Xavier said to my left. He took out a knife and threw it at the wall. Before it could even reach its intended target, it sizzled midair, a flash of light glinting off of it as it fell to the ground.

"There's an electric barrier," I concluded. "We can't get to the wall."

"No shit," Phoenix hissed to my right. She was glaring. I threw up my middle finger.

There was a hiss and I looked down at the veiled, endless pit below us. Water spilled in from the walls, gallons flowing down in a never waterfall. Steam rose up from the bubbling water.

Well isn't that wonderful.

"It's boiling water," I shouted to make sure Arielle got the message. Before she could respond, the voice from the speakers returned.

"The Blood Battle will commence in five. Four."

"Wait," Arielle shouted.

"Three."

"What if we don't participate?"

"Two."

"We'll get boiled alive!" I shouted.

"One."

"Run," I shouted. I charged forward, unsure of what else to do. Fortunately, I chose right. I looked over my shoulder to find the tiles falling, one by one, straight into the boiling water. I could hear Arielle cursing from across the room. Xavier and Phoenix were running straight to the black tower at full speed, following my lead.

I launched myself onto the tower, holding onto the uneven ridges in its sides for dear life. Xavier and Phoenix had already done the same. All of a sudden, Arielle appeared above me, swinging around the base of the tower. Of course she managed to get ahead of me despite nearly falling to her death moments earlier.

"Do any of you have ideas for a way out?" she asked. "Or to buy us some time?"

No one answered.

"Then I guess we participate," she said and grumbled under her breath, "I'm going to kill every single Raven I lay my eyes on when we get out of here."

She propelled herself up the tower, reaching another ledge when a portion of the tower pushed out, shoving her off. She shouted and slid down the tower towards the water. At last, she found a ledge to hold onto far below me, only a few feet above the quickly rising boiling water.

"They're keeping the tower accurate to the actual Blood Battles," I announced.

"Except for the part where we actually die," Phoenix hissed.

This is going to be so much fun.

Taking a deep breath, I started my climb up the tower. I searched for footholds and incisions in the side of the uneven tower, climbing further and further up. The boiling water seared below me, fumes drifting through the air, the water rising in waves.

A loud whirring hummed from inside the tower, vibrating through me, as the gears in the tower shifted. I looked up to find a black contraption emerging from within the tower at the very top of the tower. I thought it looked like a water faucet.

I was right. It was faucet. Except it didn't carry water.

As I watched, the faucet turned on and a liquid spilled down the sides of the tower, heading straight towards me. The liquid hissed as it touched the metal surface.

Acid.

Heart racing, I swerved to the right, almost losing my grip, narrowly missing the stream of acid. Acid was often used in the Blood Battles as an obstacle for the tower, but they were often diluted to ensure it wouldn't actually kill any of the contestants. I doubt the Ravens took the same precautions.

But, I couldn't help but wonder how the Ravens managed to contain the acid in the metal faucet anyways. The tower and the faucet appeared to be made of the same metal but, while the acid seared the tower's surface, it didn't appear to be doing the same for the faucet. How?

I looked up only to realize that everyone else had avoided the acid stream and were continuing far above, leaving me in the dust. I cursed.

Pay attention.

Shaking my head, I kept climbing up, avoiding more acid streams which turned on and off by random. Parts of the tower would slide away, revealing a gaping pit within, before sliding back into place. The boiling water kept rising, not showing any signs of slowing down any time soon.

Phoenix was far above me, just a little to my right, swerving the obstacles right as they were about to appear, right before they could knock her down and throw her into the boiling pit. She was quick, agile, but yet so different from the trained, precise movements of a Fortier. Arielle was graceful and elegant. Phoenix carried none of those features. She spent too much time on the streets.

A panicked shout echoed through the room. I looked up to where Arielle, who was in the lead, skidded down the side of the tower a few feet, struggling as she regained her grip. Just above her head, spires emerged from within the tower and spun in a circle, like a fan. The sides of the spires gleamed in the light, like the sharpened point of a knife.

"Are those...?" Phoenix started.

"...swords," Xavier confirmed from just below her.

"Very sharp swords the length of a living room," I clarified.

"I can see that," Phoenix snapped.

"You asked."

Arielle leaned a bit closer, tilting her head. "They're not too sharp. Maybe even a bit blunt."

"Apologies," I corrected as I catched up to them, "mildly sharp swords the length of a living room."

"Do you think they could cut off my hand at these speeds?" Arielle asked.

Xavier and I shared a look before I answered. "Hard to tell, but probably not."

Arielle nodded. "Okay."

And then she grabbed the spinning swords.

"Ari!" I exclaimed as she spun around the tower, hanging from the spires, hissing in pain. Blood spilled from her hands. Xavier didn't say anything, though he tensed beside me. Phoenix watched in curiosity.

"I got it," she shouted down. "I'm fine."

Arielle pulled herself up and swung her feet onto the spires, crouching on it as it spun, cutting into her shoes. She waited only a moment before jumping up and gripping the side of the tower with her bloody hands. She passed the spires. Xavier relaxed.

"Come on," she called down.

I looked at Phoenix. "Ladies first."

She glared before following Arielle's actions almost exactly, though her movements were sharper and more tense than Arielle's relaxed fluidity. Xavier went next without a word, barely even wincing as he gripped the spires. The asshole was too good to show any form of pain. Would it kill him to slip up every once in a while?

He jumped up and grabbed the tower. It was my turn. He looked down and raised an eyebrow. A challenge.

Son of a bitch.

Of course my older brother was the only one in the world who would still care about sibling rivalry in a situation like this. For the second time in the past ten minutes, I tuck out my middle finger.

The edges of his lips quirked up, but he didn't move, even as Arielle and Phoenix continued on. I bit back a retort and dug my hand into my pocket, hoping to find some sort of solution. All it did was strain my other hand as I tried to continue hanging on the tower. None of my gadgets or fidgets seemed perfectly equipped for the issue that lay ahead, but I refused to simply do what the others had done. Not when Xavier was watching.

This was a test. He was making sure I would find a solution, would use my intelligence, that my head was still in the game even though we were in the headquarters of the people who killed our mother. I wasn't going to fail.

I dug deeper into my pockets and my finger grazed a small plastic bag. I blinked and pulled out the pack of spare pens I always kept just in case. I looked back up at the whirling blades above me. There was no way this would work. It was too simple. But sometimes some of the best solutions were the simplest.

Worth a shot.

Tearing it open with my thumb and forefinger, I grabbed a few of the pens, taking the biggest ones, and looked back up. I winced as the sound of scraping metal seared through the cavern. Phoenix almost lost her grip as Arielle paused, looking down at the slowing machine with startled eyes.

The spinning spires slowed to a stop, leaving the cavern with the sounds of rising water and searing acid. I grinned and easily climbed between two of the blades, reaching Xavier. I raised an eyebrow back. He studied me for a moment, his lips twitching upward, before he continued on. I followed.

"You couldn't do what everyone else was?" Phoenix muttered under her breath as she regained her balance. "Dramatic asses."

We continued our climb, darting the acid streams, avoiding the sliding metal panes. We reached the final quarter stretch. The obstacles were larger, more frequent. We couldn't go a few steps without having to jump out of the way to avoid plummeting to our deaths.

Not far above us, a red metal ladder spun around the top of the tower. Just above it, a tiered ceiling exposed a single door leading to some room or hallway above the cavern. Arielle neared the ladder and slowed, probably trying to figure out if it was a trap or where the ladder would lead to.

The speakers crackled to life once again.

"One player must climb onto the ladder and pass through the door in order to end the Royal Blood Battle. There may be no more than one person on the ladder. Once the player has touched the ladder, they must pass through the door in ten seconds. Only one winner will pass the Royal Blood Battles."

I could hear Arielle suck in a breath, even at this distance.

Only one winner.

So what happens to those left behind?

"We don't know what'll happen to the losers," Arielle said. "But at least someone needs to win. Someone needs to get out of here so they can help the others."

Phoenix reached Arielle.

"What will they do if we break the rules? What will they do if more than one person gets on the ladder?"

Arielle shrugged. "I don't know."

"No," Xavier said, but they weren't listening.

"How about we test it?"

Before I could even voice a warning, the two nodded at each other and launched themselves at the spinning ladder.

I held my breath. For a long moment, all was silent as they spun out of view, hanging onto the ladder, still and waiting. When they reappeared on our side, they were cursing as another faucet poked out above them.

Acid.

They let go just as a stream flowed down, ready to boil their skin alive. They plummeted through the air, headed straight for the boiling water. My eyes widened as I shot my hand out on instinct, reaching for them.

Phoenix grabbed on just in time, holding Arielle's arm in the other. I nearly lost my grip on the tower, straining under the weight of the two of them being placed on my right arm. Arielle hung on the bottom, cursing as she looked down. The water was mere inches away from her feet and rising.

I almost didn't notice it, but, by some miracle I saw it. The way the water frothed in waves, the way the steam rose up, it was strange. Unnatural. And where did the acid from the red ladder go? If the ladder was spinning and the ladder with it, shouldn't we have all been sprayed, or at least seen where it landed. My eyes flicked to the walls where the white lights piled above each other in continuous rows. They were bright, bright enough to leave no shadow in the room darker than a light grey. And yet, glittering white lights dotted the ceiling above us. The pieces finally started clicking into place.

I looked up at Xavier who was watching, expressionless, his stance relaxed. He met my eyes. He nodded.

I winced as Arielle swung herself closer to the tower, her feet finding a foothold. She let go and started her climb back up, racing against the rising water. Phoenix, who now had a free hand, did the same, letting go of my arm. I wasn't paying attention, at least not as much as I should've. My mind was whirling, the possibilities endless, a plan forming in my head, though all my thoughts kept leading to one question.

Why?

The four of us reached the red ladder, hovering just below it. Once again, Arielle hesitated.

"Arielle," Xavier said. "Go."

Arielle blinked. "Wait, but you guys—"

"Trust us," I said. "Go. We need someone to get through the door and continue through with the plan. We've already wasted so much time. We'll be fine. Just stick to the plan."

"I hope you have a plan," Phoenix said.

"Of course."

"I wasn't talking to you."

I glared.

"Fine," Arielle said. "See you soon."

She jumped up and clutched the red ladder. The voice on the speakers began to countdown from ten as the ladder spun around the tower. Once the ladder and the doorway above aligned, the door opened revealing a dark hallway. Without looking back, Arielle jumped off the ladder, landing perfectly in the hall, disappearing from view. The door slid shut behind her.

"Let go," I said.

"What?" Phoenix shouted.

"Let go."

And then Xavier and I let go of the tower, crashing straight into the steaming water.

I crashed through the surface and I tensed, a flash of panic searing through my body, as I wondered if both Xavier and I were wrong. And then the cool water brushed against my skin and I had to resist the urge to sigh in relief. A flurry of bubbles erupted beside me as Phoenix joined us in the water. And then I kicked, pushing up, breaking through the surface.

I took a large gasp, looking around the room as Xavier and Phoenix appeared beside me. The overhead lights, which were creating a projection on the water's surface to create the illusion of boiling water and acid, were turned off.

"The first Royal Blood Battles have concluded," the voice said. "Winner is Daria Fortier. The losers will now face their consequences."

The lights dimmed, leaving us in near darkness. Nothing happened.

Phoenix was getting restless. "What—"

Then we were pulled under the water.

The darkness filled up around me, cold water freezing my arms. I was being spun around, sucked into a whirlpool. They must've opened a drain at the bottom of the pit, forcing the water down it.

Xavier grasped my arm as we were sucked into the whirlpool. Phoenix was nowhere to be seen, already separated from us. In a glimpse of light, I spotted a whirlwind of bubbles a few feet away, before I was pulled back inside my own whirlpool. Phoenix must've been sucked through the other drain.

They're trying to separate us.

I felt Xavier's grip slip, but I grabbed him before I lost him. We felt ourselves getting dragged deeper and deeper into the water, twisting and spinning and contorting through the frothing waves. I didn't get the chance to even attempt to swim. The water already dug its claws deep into us. We were trapped.

I strained, my lungs shouting in protest, trying to hold onto my brother as we were dragged through the chaos. We pulled to the right and then the left almost immediately, and, in the fray, my grip slipped. I didn't even have the chance to strengthen my grip. He was already gone.

At once, the water swerved up before dispersing, slowly resetting itself, no longer a whirlpool. The drain had closed. Xavier went through.

I floated alone in the calm water, slowly being pushed upward by the gentle current. And then the drain opened again and I was pulled straight back into the whirlpool. I didn't even try resisting. I flowed with the spinning, bubbling water, its movements nauseating.

No wonder Indigo hated water.

I was thrown off by the sudden thought, before the sting of betrayal and murder, on both sides, set in. I pushed it away. I would think about her when we captured her from the Raven cells. Now I had to worry about not drowning.

It wasn't long before I was sucked down the drain and thrown straight into a tunnel. The passage was sealed off behind me, closing off the flow of more water. I slid down the winding tunnel, unsure of where I was headed or when the tunnel would end. I cursed as I hit a sharp right turn and scrambled, trying to keep myself from turning upside from the impact. Thankfully, I managed to remain feet-first.

At last, the tunnel ended and I fell straight down onto the floor. The tunnel closed above me and I gasped for air, finally free of the cold waters. I looked around. A long metal hallway extended before me. The occasional light appeared in the ceiling at long intervals.

I pulled myself to my feet, wincing as I placed pressure on my hands. The floor was grated to allow the water to pass through into dark, endless depths below me, but the sharp edges cut my already strained hands. They glistened red, threatening to bleed.

I took a deep breath as I stepped onto the solid floor of the hallway. Xavier and Phoenix were nowhere to be found. They must've had their own hallways to traverse, and Arielle must've been a good ten floors above me.

I was all alone.

I know its been a while, but I wanted to get the video finished before I published a chapter and announced this.

So, this has been a long time coming, but huge news...

WE GOT WATTYS SHORTLISTED!!!

That's right! "School of the Crown Assassins" got Shortlisted for the Wattys 2021!!!

Crossing my fingers to be a final winner for Wattys 2021, but even if I don't win, this is a huge honor for me. Thank you guys for always showing your love and support and keeping me motivated enough to compete in the Wattys in the first place.

Again, thank you!

To celebrate, I made a very short book trailer for "School of the Crown Assassins"! I'm not exactly a professional editor, but I tried. That being said, if any of you would like to make a trailer, feel free to reach out!

https://youtu.be/EPH2BeEWqdA

Once again, thank you and love you guys. See you next week!