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im gonna b shooting these ut a little faster since cuzin Katana threw me into NaNoWriMo. so my ultimate goal is to be done with at last the story by the end of teh month! Cross ur fingers and pray!

Chapter 15: Chosen

Once Nathan had caught up, he and Curstan hugged. “Dude! I didn’t think you’d make it!” he panted. “Lucky he tripped,” he added quietly.

“Yeah, lucky! It could’ve been me tripping,” Curstan concurred.

“You’re pretty fast! You on the track team at your school?” I asked.

“I am, though I’m more of a distance runner,” she explained taking sips of water.

“See, I’m just the opposite. So this is really helping with my distance running!” I admitted. I truly was a sprinter because I’d never run anything more than 400 meters in an actual meet! Just then, Lamis came and retrieved their flag. “Good job guys!” I said trying to be nice.

“Yeah, thanks!” Melissa replied with a sincere smile. Tyler only grunted and glared at all of us, including his own partner. I guess an unspoken scolding.

Ashley then offered, “How’s your arm? I can fix it a little if you want!”

I stopped her right there. “Now Ashley, they know first-aid. They can take care of it!” I said grabbing her shoulder. I had to set this straight right now. I guided her not far off and whispered, “What possessed you to get so nice to them?”

“At home you wanted to be all nice and fake! What do you want?!” she hissed. She crossed her arms, awaiting my response.

“Well, Lamians are sometimes too proud to ask for help, so leave them be,” I answered. “Plus, Tyler’s a d**k! Melissa probably only acts the way she does so she doesn’t look like a traitor and he doesn’t turn on her!”

“What about Nathan and Curstan? You know that if it were one of them, you’d let me heal them right there if I had to and you know it! They’re good friends but they’re still competition!” she reminded me.

“Of course I know that. They know that and they know they’d do the same for us, Ashley. The four of us know that even when we do clash, we’ll still be the best of friends!” I assured her.

Ashley sighed and nodded, and with that confirmation, we walked back. They’d turned on huge spotlights lighting up the beach around us. It seemed as if the sun had returned but they would only be on for a short while. I looked over to see that Melissa had already begun to patch up Tyler’s arm as he held a flashlight (which he then turned off) over the wound. That when I saw it for myself.

His shoulder was blotted dark red with blood where the skin had been peeled away from the heavy friction of skin to hard earth. There was obvious disappointment on Tyler’s face, as well as the occasional cringe of pain as he felt the sting of the alcohol pad that Melissa was wiping his shoulder with.

“Now then,” Tom began, “now that everyone’s arrived we can announce our sparring match for tomorrow morning.” And with that, he stepped aside as a young woman appeared. She couldn’t have been more than 25, with long, sandy blonde hair streaked with brown highlights. Her eyes were an emerald green that shimmered in the artificial light. She then closed those eyes and spoke.

“Good evening everyone!” she greeted us with a bow. We all bowed and greeted her as well. “My name is Sarah! I am Tom’s assistant, Sarah. For the same reasons as Tom, my true identity cannot be revealed at the time.” Sarah reminded me of a flight attendant or something. She ten told us, “One of my many jobs is to choose and announce our sparring contestants.”

Tyler had just finished putting the gauze on his shoulder and spoke. “And how do you do that? Pulling straws? Names from a hat?” he mocked.

“Let her speak!” Ashley raising her voice over his so the he wouldn’t keep going. Melissa looked down, embarrassed, and quietly told him to calm down.

“Whatever,” he grumbled.

So now with everything calm, Sarah continued. “The names are randomly chosen by computer. The names are set so that no one on the same team will end up fighting each other! That wouldn’t be fair since that would guarantee that team the hour head start!” she explained with a giggle regarding the last statement. “Our results are in! The first match will be between…” She stopped for a minute to let the suspense build until, “Curstan and Melissa! See you all in the morning!” And with that, Sarah and Tom disappeared into the seaside inn we’d all be staying in for the night.

Curstan and Melissa turned and stared at each other for a moment. “May the best woman win,” Melissa finally said, then entered the building with Tyler.

“Damn this sucks!” I said in the sanctity of Team Neravien’s room within the tiny, yet cozy inn. Were the only team guaranteed the hour delay.

“Right. But let’s just pray that Curstan wins. I’d obviously rather her win than the Lamian,” Ashley sighed. Only the morning would tell.