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irritated look. “But today will be the only
exception,” he said as he led the way to the arena entrance.
“—because I need to teach you a lesson.”
    I
didn’t pay attention to the threat in his words, but I should
have. He stopped me just before we exited the training grounds and
pointed to the wall. “For the rest of the day, we’re
going to run laps around the arena.”
    I
balked in disbelief. “Run for four hours?”
    “ Not really. It’s only
three and a half because you were in the challenge for thirty
minutes. Plus, we need to work on your endurance,” he said.
    I
narrowed my eyes, perhaps a little too cocky from my recent victory.
“No,” I said, surprising myself. “That's crazy. I
can't do that.”
    Kurt
grabbed something from his back pocket. A whip.
    I
stared at it, and then back at him. “You wouldn’t,”
I stated, although a little perturbed.
    “ Oh,
I would,” he said, a smile still spread across his face. “Now
go.”
    I
knew he was telling the truth. Halfheartedly, I started to jog along
the wall. “Faster,” Kurt said, the whip licking at my
heels. My heart jumped, and I sprinted, trying to get away from him.
    Even
so, no matter how quickly I ran, Kurt was always behind me, pushing
me to go faster. Pushing me beyond what I thought I could do.
    By
the end of the day, I'd ran ten laps around the entire arena and
thrown up twice, after which, Kurt allowed me to take a short break.
I spent the first ten minutes of my free-time trying to catch my
breath and massaging my aching legs.
    Then,
Roselle came into the dorm. I stared at her. I could tell that much
had happened since we were last in the dining hall. Her eye was
swollen and starting to bruise, her lip was busted, and her hands
were cracked at the knuckles.
    “ Roselle!”
I exclaimed. “What happened?”
    She
shook her head. “I trained with Niko.”
    Now
it made sense. That was why she had felt so nervous and seemingly
frightened when he confronted her this morning.
    “ Does
he train with everybody?” I asked in horror.
    She
nodded. “Just about. This is my second time, though, so I knew
what to expect.”
    My
stomach churned. Training with Niko seemed like it would be torture.
I already despised him for many reasons.
    “ So
that means that I’ll have to train with him at
some point,” I said.
    Roselle
nodded.
    I
sighed, going back to massaging my calves. “I suppose I’ll
cross that bridge when I come to it.”
    “ You’ll
have no choice,” she replied.

CHAPTER
SEVEN

    Our
next survival test was in tent number forty-three. Liana, Natalia,
Roselle, and I all shuffled with the crowd of people until our number
glowed in front of us. A man gave us each of us one of the black
necklaces, and one by one, we all passed through the tent entrance.
    I
went inside last, and was blinded when I reached the other side.
Wherever we were, the sun was very bright. I shielded my eyes and
tried to take in our surroundings. We were on top of a rocky
mountain.
    Although
the sun was bright, cool air brushed my cheeks, bringing with it the
scent of honeysuckle. Wherever we were, it was spring, meaning that
this might be an easy test.
    Natalia
acted as the leader, as always. “We need to get further down
the mountain. There's likely to be more food down there.”
    “ Should
we split up again, like last time?” I asked.
    She
nodded. “I think it would be best.”
    Knowing
we had a time limit, we all went in separate directions. Liana
shifted into her centaur form. Her body resembled that of a paint
horse, and her shirt had changed into leather armor. A beautifully
carved bow was stung across her back.
    Seeing
her in her second form helped me know what I had to do. I went closer
to the edge of the mountain and peered over the cliff. The height
made my head feel dizzy, and I swallowed hard. Perhaps when I was
better trained, I'd be able to dive off the mountain with ease, but
right now, the thought made me feel sick.
    I
backed away from