Marrela clicked her fingers, making a ball of fire appear on her hand to give them light. Wylie snorted, and instantly a ball of light appeared in front of them all. Sophie silently glared at them, hissing at them to put the lights out. Marella (Did I get it right this time?!?!?!) looked sheepish as she extinguished her flames, but Wylie rolled his eyes, dimming the light to a faint glow. Sophie sighed, wishing she could shout at him, but unable to due to ogres' impeccable hearing. They were also incredible warriors, so they only advantage they really had was the element of surprise.

Not that they'd even have that if Wylie kept on shining that light like a beacon.

Sophie curled her fingers, encasing the orb in darkness so it let out only the faintest of light. Wylie muttered something about shades that neither Sophie or Tam particularly wanted to hear, but Sophie triumphantly whispered to him,

"Darkness always beats light." Only after she'd said this, did Sophie realise what a metaphor it was for the Neverseen, but it was too late to take it back.

"I can hear you you know." Sophie froze, unwilling to turn around to see the sight she knew would await her. Keefe was a little less shocked though, and turned around cockily.

"Told ya I always wanted to fight an ogre."

"You don't want to do that," Ro warned, tossing a dagger in between her hands playfully. "But it'd be hilarious to see you try." Sophie rolled her eyes.

"I could drop you with my infecting right now if I wanted to,"

"And I could drop you and your friends with the gruesome-daj so stop trying to be grown up right now, and let the proper warriors do the fighting, girly. Not that I want to mess up my hair," Ro countered, flicking her hot-pink ponytails over her shoulder. Sophie glanced at her friends nervously, clearly echoing their own thoughts.

"What's the gruesome-daj?" Sophie asked, her voice shaking as she tried to conceal her nerves. They'd not made such a bold move before this, and she was at a loss for what to do.

"It's an ogre move," Biana piped up. "It's like a, sort of loud tuning fork being rammed into your brain. Similar to inflicting." The answer didn't make Sophie feel any better, as she turned to face the female warrior.

"Doesn't sound that bad," Tam said quietly, but everyone could hear it. He was trying to convince himself more than anyone.

"It is," Ro assured them. Tam began shaking his head, but Biana interrupted.

"She's telling the truth. It's... Really painful. You don't want to be on the wrong end of it." There was a nervous look on Biana's face of recalling something unpleasant.

"You've experienced it before, haven't you," Tam murmured, just out of the ogre's earshot. Biana nodded. 

"The Neverseen make all career districts go through with it when they turn 12 and are eligible for the games. It's a way of testing us."

"That's sick!" Sophie cried out, not caring if she was eavesdropping. "That's absolutely horrible!" Keefe looked physical ill at hearing this, and Sophie couldn't bear to look at anyone else's reactions, though  she was sure they all wore similar expressions.

"I know," muttered the ogre, who Sophie had completely forgotten about with this revelation, though she didn't look as disgusted as Sophie would've expected. She looked more angry really, which was to be expected of an ogre.

"Doesn't mean she can't still use it," pointed out Dex, and Wylie took a step towards her. 

"Wylie, don't," warned Sophie, stepping out to try and stop him. Wylie turned around and glared, missing the usual ferocity, but still hard enough to knock Sophie back for a second.

"The girly's right," warned Ro, getting into a battle stance, making Sophie nervous. It was something about her posture that made Sophie truly believe that she could kill them, and could've from the start, only she hadn't. Why hadn't she killed them?

Thinking about it, she had ample opportunity while she was distracted by Wylie's light shenanigans, and yet again all that time they'd been chatting idly. So why? 

Sophie glanced nervously at the ogre, vividly recalling something her foxfire mentor had taught her a few years back. He'd shown her a clip of an ogre attack on a human as part of the Neverseen's curriculum. The council would never have allowed it to be shown, and Sophie had been wishing to unseeded it all her life. But comparing it against Ro's position, it was drastically different.

Wylie launched himself against her, performing a complicated sequence of moves that confused Sophie, but she ignored that. She instead focused on the ogre's moves, watching the fluent procession and trying to make sense of it all. She'd never seen the moves she used before, and despite their ragged and fierce appearance, they weren't all that hard.

Wylie was deflecting Ro's hits best he could, but the blade of a knife skimmed his cheek, red blood trickling. Wylie was now covered in sweat from the effort, and slowly a circle seemed to be forming around her, only Sophie standing still. She was certain that she wasn't trying to kill them on purpose.

Sophie rolled her hands into fists, forming a sort of tangible shadow around Ro's wrists. Sophie felt strained as she pushed against it, relieved when Tam took over. Wylie scrambled away, discretely holding his hand to his stomach so that no-one noticed. Sophie looked at Keefe briefly before returning her gaze to the ogre. Then a red stain blossomed on the black tracksuit, as a boy emerged from behind the dying ogre, holding a blood-stained  knife.

Ro lunged at him, this time aiming for a deadly strike. However, before she even touched a hair on his body, he threw the knife at her, killing the ogre instantly. Sophie curled her hands into fists, and punched him. Right in the jaw. The crack it made was satisfying, but it didn't make Sophie hate him any less.

"What were you doing!!" Sophie shouted at Fitz over his crumpled body.

"Saving your life!" He spat back. "Thought you'd be a little more grateful." Sophie snorted, and ran off, as far away as she could from him, as the others followed afterwards.

AN

So, this is a chapter. Lol. The ending's a bit lame though, I was stuck for ideas. I had this chapter 80% done on Wednesday, but I had school, so I couldn't finish it. Sorry. I'm going to try and stick to the schedule, but I might have to consider changing it to once a week on Sunday. Sorry about that.

Anyway, this chapter is dedicated to @tbaumgarten for being really supportive and commenting, voting, and making me feel like people are enjoying this, and I'm not writing a story that barely anyone reads like most of my other stories. Yeah, thanks for that.

I did mention that I would start discussing the sequel here, and so I am. The sequel will be called Catching Everblaze, and will be similar to Catching Fire in many ways. You know - the usual crossover. It'll be roughly 27 chapters like this one, but that might vary. For instance, I know the 3rd book will likely be longer due to the amount of events. I already know how it'll end, but I'm not telling you. I don't even know I'll still be writing it. Depends on whether people carry on reading. I'm still going to finish this book at least, and try to do the sequel, but the readers motivate me through the comments, and that's the only reason I'm really still writing. Anyway, I'll be giving you cover options in the next chapter, giving you 2 chapters to vote on the cover. Anyway... That's all for now.

4 chapters left!!!!!!!! 2.3K reads!!!!!!!!!! OMG OMG OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Also it's my birthday soon!!!!!!!!!! YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!! HAPPY TIMES!!!!!!!!!!! LOCKDOWN'S NEARLY OVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Lol.

*Late addition*

I accidentally published this with the title I use to remind me what happens. *Facepalm* I've changed it now, and I'm really embarrassed. Also, don't forget to click that little grey star in the corner of your screen!!!