THE day had finally arrived. Tomorrow was her twentieth.

Asmeen reached the field early with Wylla, feeling so sick that she thought she might just faint. Wouldn't that be something? She knew what she had to do, but this would be, probably, the hardest day of her life.

"Good luck," Wylla whispered. Even her tanned skin looked pale for once. She looked like she was about to be sick, too. Elyn had stayed behind at the house, saying that she had some work to do and would arrive a bit later.

As the other trainees filed in, including Elyn, for once, the field was completely silent. No conversations, no whispers, no laughing—nothing more than an occasional, 'Good luck.' There were already cauldrons spread out, so she sat down in front of one.

Asmeen hated it. When Aven came and sat beside her, he didn't look at her even once. Her stomach twisted, but they'd both see what would happen by the end of the day.

The leaders walked in, both smiling. Asmeen wished they wouldn't look so happy, even though they were clearly trying to cheer the trainees up.

"The day is finally here," Osoric said.

When they got no response, Dara said, "What a change today. You look so dull. All of you, don't worry at all. Whatever happens today, you are some of the most accomplished young adults we have ever known. Be proud of yourself, for making it this far I incredibly difficult."

Osoric nodded beside her, still smiling. "But do try your best. I don't want to see any of you injure yourselves."

"Should we start?" Dara asked.

They stood up, Aven still not looking at her. Asmeen could barely breathe. There wasn't really anything running through her mind, except that she had to do this. She had to get through this day.

They'd have to make two potions, the instructions given in difficult runes. While it was bad, it definitely wouldn't be the worst thing of the day. The potions were difficult, and the runes were nearly unreadable, but she and Aven managed it. He was terribly cold with her, but they weren't fighting. It was like an unspoken agreement. There was to be no fighting today.

They were expected to finish their potions by their afternoon break. Asmeen and Aven finished right before time. As soon as break was announced, Aven walked away from her, and Asmeen joined her sisters to eat quickly.

"Everything going alright?" Elyn asked quietly, between bites.

Asmeen nodded. So did Wylla.

"Good. Now all you have to do is try your best," Elyn said firmly. "Good luck."

"Good luck," Asmeen murmured back. They remained silent for the rest of the meal. She only ate lightly, because they'd have a strength challenge next, most likely. Really, she mostly ate fruits and some rice.

She rejoined Aven, who was still ignoring her. Well, hopefully that wouldn't continue for too long.

The next task was a surprise. An essay, instead of the strength challenge they'd all be expecting, completely in runes. It was individual, so she couldn't rely on Aven for handwriting anymore.

It had become dark by the time they were ordered to stop. Asmeen sighed and put hers down. She'd written as much as she knew. When would the leaders have time to grade it, though?

The answer came moments later when the parchments were collected and handed to the leaders. They'd read it, and test the potions, while the trainees did the strength task. And depending on that, presumably, they would make the final decision on whether the successful partner would be allowed to get in.

They'd go in a large circle around the field. Asmeen didn't know how much running would be involved, but she knew that it would be a lot. There would be all sorts of stations—she could feel it, in her gut, that the one she despised, the obstacle course, would be there. Archery? Well, they'd see.

They all departed one after the other, the youngest pairs going first.

When it was finally their turn, Asmeen and Aven took off into the forest, both going as fast as they could, a distinct contrast to their first strength challenge, when they'd gone in together.

Neither of them was particularly faster than the other, or stronger, so despite all the trying, they remained at about the same distance as they went through the stations. Sometimes Ameen pulled ahead, and sometimes Aven did.

The first problem came when they reached—as Asmeen had predicted—the obstacle course. This time it looked even harder, with long branches crisscrossing between the trees, a tricky maze. Aven didn't look at her, but Asmeen could see that his face was triumphant.

He made it through—she was going slowly, but carefully. When he'd finished, she was about halfway through. Asmeen continued to crawl through on her hands and knees, dirt staining her clothes and palms.

She made it through and began running as fast as she could. She couldn't see Aven, so she ran even faster, not even stopping to get some water from one of the helpers standing nearby. She made it through the next stations and finally spotted him ahead.

He was stuck at a station probably no one had anticipated. The forest was filled with Flower Children and Children of the Night, and each trainee had to, from what she could see, defeat them in a hand-to-hand duel.

Aven was busy fighting an extremely tall woman, who wasn't giving him an inch. He'd been thrown to the floor twice since she'd arrived. He got up again, his face curling in irritation, and Asmeen could tell that he knew she was there.

"Hey there."

She turned to see a man grinning at her. A Flower Child? Or Child of the Night? Before she could even begin to assess him, he attacked.

Asmeen ducked, fists coming up to block her face instinctively as he swung. She jumped back as his leg came out to sweep her own.

The man grinned, stepping back himself.

Asmeen grinned back, now that she'd had time to recollect herself. And this time she made the first move.

After that, it was a flurry of fists and kicks. The man wasn't holding back, and neither was she. Asmeen had had the wind knocked out of her when he'd thrown her onto her back, and she was sure bruises were already forming from his strikes. Still, she couldn't expect him to go easy. A real enemy wouldn't. Even though they hadn't been attacked for decades on end.

Finally, Asmeen swung out her leg, copying his first move. She caught his feet, and the man landed on his back. He shook his head and grinned up at her. "You're free to go."

Asmeen didn't waste a moment before turning and running, her bruises aching with every step. She'd seen Aven get out only minutes before. It wouldn't be hard to catch up with him.

Sure enough, she did catch up with him. She found him an archery range and smiled. The fight, though it had hurt her, had somehow made her confident.

"Fancy seeing you here," she called as she ran up. She grabbed a bow, still grinning and Aven.

He was pointedly ignoring her, but a vein in his neck was pulsing.

He had an arrow on the target. The Flower Child standing nearby told her that they were supposed to get three.

Asmeen nocked the first one and let it fly. It hit the target. Moments later, Aven's second one did.

Asmeen shot one more. Aven's missed.

They hit their third arrow at nearly the same time. They scurried to put the bows back and began running in unison. The sky was so dark by now that the trees ahead of them were blending into shadows. Cool wind made their sweat icy, but still they ran, feet pounding on the soft forest floor.

The next station was unexpected as well.

There were cauldrons all lined out, and Asmeen could see Wylla at one, mixing something frantically. Her partner was nowhere in sight.

Putting Wylla out of her mind, Asmeen skidded to a stop in front of a cauldron just as Aven did the same. The woman, a Flower Child who she recognized vaguely from the ball, came up to her and told her that they had to make a simple, five-minute potion, one that would remove stains from clothes.

Asmeen lit the fire and ran to pull out water from the well right before Aven. She ran back to her cauldron and poured the water in. She let it boil while she ran to get the ingredients she needed.

She threw in the ingredients carelessly, jumping back when the lemon rind touched the now-white potion and threw up droplets of scalding potion. Finally, she finished, and quickly ladled out some potion into a vial. She handed it to the nearby Flower Child, noticing Aven do the same a bit away. The Flower Child nodded at her, and Asmeen took off running once more.

She could hear Aven right behind her as they rounded the curve, the potions station disappearing behind them. She could hear his footsteps thumping in time with her heart. She could see the end of the line now—the same place they'd started, the same people who'd been there at the beginning gathered there now. The end was right before them.

It was her, or Aven. Aven, who wanted to be a Child of the Night more than anything.

Asmeen tripped.

Dun dun dun! What's gonna happen?

See you next chapter!