Recruits started falling asleep running. They would trip and wind up on their faces. Their squad’s healer would have to fix whatever they broke and then it was back to running. Even without the exhaustion, it would’ve been difficult. Even though the path was well-maintained, they were still running it in the middle of the night. There were some lanterns here and there, but when they left the light, the darkness was complete.

  Gray kept close to Tomi. She was in a cage of misery, and he had to find the key.

  Midj had latched onto Ames, and even running, she wanted to hold hands, which wasn’t possible. Rynn managed to keep chatting with the goblin girl—her key was easy. Midj needed two things—food and friendship. It only made sense, since she’d grown up in a big family that ran a restaurant. That had been her entire life.

  If Crewel decided to grab her for some reason and separate them, like he’d done with Mean Marla, it might just put an end to Squad 23 forever.

  Gray tried history, and that worked for a while during the run, but they had to save their breath.

  Six miles later—two full hours—one of the Fieldkeepers marched them into the water of the Ashblood, in the same section where they were before.

  Gray laughed. “I was wondering when we’d get a bath.”

  Tomi didn’t say a word.

  Gray then tried something new. “It’s only going to get worse. This is the easy part, standing in this water. It’s only a matter of time before they bury us up to our necks and release the scorpions.”

  Tomi snorted. “Or we get a scorpion bath…since you want a bath so much.”

  Gray smiled. “I would imagine scorpions aren’t that dirty. If you stay still, you probably wouldn’t get stung.”

  Another snort. “Sure, but are you really going to be able to keep still with all those bugs on you? Millions of them? And I bet they would sting each other, over and over, and you’d get caught up in all the fun.”

  Gray winced. The water was frigid, and their clothes were already caked with mud and sweat and grime, and his eyes kept closing on their own. If he fells asleep, the current would wash him away. He couldn’t have that, especially now that Tomi was talking.

  Rynn and Ames were supporting Midj, who clung to them as the water swept over them.

  There was no telling how long they would be in the river. Maybe all night…not that that was all that long of a time to wait.

  Midj finally said something. “Mother’s oven, it’s bad enough we’re back in this dang river, but do you have to talk about scorpion baths?”

  “It soothes me,” Tomi said with a bitter laugh.

  And it did. Tomi didn’t want any kind of happy talk. For some reason, she liked focusing on the negative and not just that—she wanted to imagine how it could be even worse.

  Gray knew what Blind John would say—that some people chose to disappoint themselves before the world could do it to them. He’d call it living in a mental sewer.

  Long-term, it wasn’t a good solution, but right then, they were just trying to get through the latest challenge.

  “Just wish I could sleep,” Tomi muttered. Then, she sighed. “Sorry, Gray. Sorry for nearly losing us the match. It’s just…I’d rather take a scorpion bath everyday than go back into that hole. They’re going to put us back there, I know it. We’ll probably sleep there tonight.”

  “We don’t know,” Gray said simply. “Right now, we’re in very cold water, we’re very tired, but at least we’re not there now. And no scorpions. And we’re together. If you need to sleep, we can work out something. We could always drown you. Then you’d sleep.”

  Midj gasped in shock. “Can’t talk like that, Grayson Fade.”

  Tomi laughed. “I don’t like the idea of taking a nap in that mud but yeah, drowning is always an option. Always has been for me but I keep going. Not sure why. Maybe because of that…that moment when I get comfortable in myself, that moment right before I sleep. There’s a story about Zaccai, about his death. He drove the Troublemaker back to hell, and lived in a monastery high up in the mountains, run by the Children of Order. He chose when he was going to die—he had perfected his meridians so much that he lived to be really old. Really, really old, like several hundred years. But he knew his death was coming. He could see it. He said goodbye to all of his friends, he went alone to a river, high in the mountains, and he sat down. His life was finished. All he had to do was relax, relax every part of him, and his mana slowly drained from his meridians, and he sat there, with his core filled, and so happy. So very happy. Without the magic flowing, his body shut down, and he died, still sitting in his meditation pose, as the river continued to flow. Because even without him…without the First Avatar, the world continued, babies were born, people fell in love, old people failed and died. And the river continued to flow.”

  Gray listened to her words, and he could picture it, and he couldn’t but think at that moment, Zaccai of the Fire looked a lot like Blind John.

  “Ugh,” Midj complained. “Talking about rivers when we’re in a river? And talking about death like that. This ain’t helping.”

  “It’s helping,” Gray insisted. “It’s helping Tomi. It’s what she needs right now.”

  “I guess it is,” the cat girl said.

  “That’s it!” One of the Fieldkeepers screamed. “Get out of the river. You’re done. For now. Sleep while you fucking can.”

  Gray found himself on the edge of tears but he didn’t show a lick of emotion. He only grinned. “Let’s get back to our rooms. We have to sleep while we can. At this point, sleep is a weapon, probably the best one we have.”

  Tomi nearly cackled. “That makes me the most powerful bitch on the block because sleep is my thing. It’s not going to be long, right, but at least I get to lay down.”

  Gray helped with Midj as they trudged out of the river. “We have to wash our feet. Sleep and foot care care our best friends. You’re going to be worried about being woken up, but you can’t go there. We have to remember Zaccai by the river.”

  “The Flovios,” Tomi said. “That’s what the artists call it, when they paint it or sculpt it or whatever. It’s the ancient Alastrian word for ‘river.’”

  Gray led them in a job back toward the barracks. They had already done so much running why not run some more?

  They stopped at the bathhouse to rinse off and then they were in their barracks. That allowed Freek and his orcs to go into the barracks first. They weren’t going to be washing their feet, which was a mistake. Get a fungus or get an injury and you couldn’t fight. Master Kreef took foot care very seriously, not that he had healing, but healing infections wasn’t like healing physical injury.

  Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

  Gray finished first and waited for the rest of his squad out in front of the bathouse. Tomi emerged first.

  Tomi was looking better, though there was still that haunted look in her eyes.

  “Thank you, Gray. I know I’m a problem—”

  He cut her off. “You’re not. We can’t do this without you. I know this bitterness helps you, but in the end, it’s not going to work. Were any of the avatars known for being sarcastic doomsayers?”

  Tomi laughed. “No. You’re right. They were all…well, they were all like you. Ever hopeful. I just don’t…I’m just not…”

  She couldn’t finish her thought and Gray knew why. “You can be, though. Every minute of every day, remind yourself of your worth. To yourself and to us.”

  For a second, he saw the disdain on her face but then she simply shrugged. “It’s not going to work.”

  “Ever hopeful, Tomi. Ever. Hopeful.” He then knew he had to pull back. “Look on the bright side. There’s a good chance you’ll wake up with scorpions crawling all over you.”

  “I can only be so lucky.”

  The rest of the team joined them, but the surprises didn’t end there. Rynn took out a piece of parchment from her uniform. She gave it to Midj.

  Unwrapping the parchment, the goblin girl squealed with glee. “Yes! Rynn, are you sure?”

  Rynn was all smiles. “I’m sure, Midj.”

  The goblin girl showed us what she’d been given. “It’s food! Wonderful, glorious food!” In the parchment was a bit of ironbite. Tears gleamed in her eyes.

  It made Gray’s own belly rumble. He’d known hunger, desperate hunger before, and it was best just not to think about food. He had other things to consider, and he wasn’t kidding about sleep and feet being the two most important things in his life.

  He got his squad moving because they were coming awake again, and he couldn’t have that. He needed them all asleep.

  Back in the barracks, they were moving quickly down the empty hall, chattering about their beds, when Settie came out of her room. She was fully dressed, holding her hat, mask, and cane. “Good. You’re here. There’s food water, and manafied wine in your room. There’s no telling how much sleep you’ll get but I would sleep as much as you can.” She paused and put on her mask and hat. “Miss Tomika Ka, do you remember that book you read in Lust City? About the serving girl?”

  Tomi nodded even as she rolled her eyes. “Yes. I’ve been trying to forget it. Little Dani Witherhand. I don’t believe a word.”

  “On that fateful day, do you remember what time Little Dani Witherhand supposedly woke up? Don’t say it. Just nod.”

  Tomi nodded.

  “That should give you all piece of mind.”

  Settie moved on down the hall.

  Gray was too tired to stop himself from asking, “Where are you going?”

  She turned. “You have your work, and I have mine. I’m reminding the power-that-be at this fine institution that I am not just your sponsor, I am your advocate. Eat, sleep, and be quick about it.”

  She then marched down the hall.

  “Always so fucking mysterious,” he growled under his breath.

  Suddenly, Gray was in the clutches of Tomi’s claws. She leaned in close and whispered into his ear. “It’s eight o’clock. Little Dani blamed herself for waking up late that day. It’s why Alastria fell, or so that dumb book said.”

  It was a little after four in the morning. A solid four hours would work be heaven.

  Gray gave the cat girl’s arm a squeeze. “Thanks. Settie gave us a gift, and so did you. See?”

  She snorted. “Ever hopeful. It’s not going to happen.”

  “Not with that attitude, missy.”

  Tomi gave him a shy smile. She was obviously feeling better—and he had hopes that after some sleep, her favorite thing in the world, she would be even better. He didn’t want to think how she would react when they were sent back into to the basement, and he didn’t have to. He was going to get to eat, drink, and sleep. Life was perfect.

  Being back with just Rynn and Ames felt like the most natural thing in the world.

  Gray took a page from Rynn and only ate of his ironbite, which was the lemon poppyside variety, but old, hard, and on the verge of going bad. Still, it was food, and drinking it with the wine made it bearable if hard on his stomach. He drank more water than anything.

  Being in clean clothes was also such a blessing.

  Gray couldn’t help but think that Crewel had made a mistake. Giving them their old beds, clean clothes, food, and water would make the next day far easier. He should’ve shoved them back into the hole and made them fight each other over scraps.

  Then again, Settie had made that blessing possible. If he hadn’t known he had until eight, he’d have been worried about Crewel waking him up again.

  Before he fell asleep, Rynn reached up and offered him her hand.

  He took it and kissed it.

  “I couldn’t do this without you, Mr. No. I saw how sweet you were being with Tomi. Is she going to make it?”

  “Yes,” he said, embracing some of that ever-hopeful magic that the avatars had.

  *

  At eight o’clock they were woken up and a half an hour later they were being run into the stadium to another full crowd of people.

  Crewel laughed at them as he floated above the field. “Last game on day one, and first game on day two. Let’s see how well you do, Squad 23 with your team of only five recruits.”

  They went up against the Savage Seven and started losing in the first quarter.

  And the losing didn’t stop. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday—they lost every Chaotica match.

  Time seemed to stop, and like Gray thought, it was all about getting through to the next moment. Even he thought about giving up, but then he remembered what his days as an arena slave, with a failing heart, and no magic.

  The reality was that time wasn’t stopping. The sun rose in the east and set in the west, and while he spent all the minutes of those long days and nights exhausted and hungry, time was passing, and it would all be over.

  What life looked like after the Soulshred, he didn’t know because with every loss, their chances of winning were dwindling away to nothing. The semi-finals were on Saturday, where the top four teams would compete for the final game on Sunday. The team that won the Sunday game would win Soulshred Week.

  So far, the top four teams were the Winners, the Wrath City Raiders, the Fire Flyers, and the Savage Seven. It made losing to the Savage Seven sting a little less.

  Gray’s squad lost Chaotica matches just as they lost the Downtime challenges—they had to move the square water containers across the campus from the Pink Palace to First Barracks at the far end. One challenge was to carry a weighted frame, with at least two people riding on top, up to the top the empty stadium. For that one, they put Ames and Gray on the frame, while Rynn, Tomi, and Midj carried them. Gray kept their cores filled, but by the time they reached the top, they were exhausted.

  Another challenge was to stand on the bridge in silence, without moving, for hours on end. That motionless, that silence, was terrible because Gray could see Tomi cracking right before his eyes. Midj held one of her hand, and he held the other, and it was only that closeness that helped.

  They weren’t alone. Even if they lost, as long as they didn’t give up, they would get through the hardship.

  Every bit of extra food went to Midj…only, there wasn’t any extra.

  At one point, they were let into the canteen, where they could eat cold oatmeal with their fingers. It was slimy and flavorless, but it was food, and Midj wolfed down as much as she could as fast as she could.

  Mostly they were given the stale if not downright rotten ironbites. When Settie did show up, looking exhausted, she mostly brought them food and news she probably shouldn’t be sharing, but she did. She and Tomi talked in a secret language of code words, taking from history, mainly the Fall of Alastria and the fictional story of Little Dani Witherhand.

  They’d talk with Settie, who would offer a few pieces of advice, and they were off running, standing in the river, or playing Chaotica.

  Gray began to loathe the feeling of the ball in his hands.

  They never did get another night in the barracks. The fae did because they only lost one game, and that was to Freek’s orcs. The slept in the forest, they slept in the demon pits in the stadium, which was bad, but it wasn’t as bad as the basement hole underneath the barracks.

  One night, they had to have a person in the river while the rest of the squad slept on the banks, taking turns battling the current and cold. Ames volunteered to spend most of that time in the river but Gray and Rynn took turns, so she could sleep. That was probably the worst night because they had just lost to the fae, and Gray spent the night going over their many mistakes.

  It had been a brutal match—the fae had pulled ahead, which meant the demons were released into Squad 23’s end zone. With the fae’s speed and their ability to pitch the ball to one another as they were running across Squad 23’s base field, they easily won, which made Gray wonder about their strategy and if winning was possible.

  By Friday, Gray would fall asleep at odd times. One second he’d be walking to the stadium, and the next he’d be there, standing with the other recruits on the side of the field, in his filthy uniform. He’d slept through the entry.

  All Friday, they waited to play their match—the game they couldn’t lose and the waiting was crushing. It was only after all the other teams had played at noon, at 6 pm. At 9 pm, that it was clear who they were playing—Blythe’s Fire Flyers, the third best team.

  If the Fire Flyers lost, it would disrupt the standings, and Squad 23 would be the fourth and final seed. To make matters worse, The losing four teams would end up in the river and would sleep in the hole without a single morsel of food.

  Given Tomi’s and Midj’s nature, Gray couldn’t let that happen.

  The Chaotica match started at 1:00 a.m.

  Just two more days.

  But those two days would end up being the deadliest two days in the Soulshred’s history.