Chapter Four: The Vanguard Tournament


    Yue entered the ring with Kol. She went to the left side, while Kol went to the right. She took a couple deep breaths. She looked more confident now. From outside the ring, Neena waved at her, and Alyx nodded respectfully.


    She positioned her wooden sword and got ready for the Wolf to start the match.


    “Are you ready?” The Wolf asked them. Both of them nodded. “Alright, when you hear the bell, you may start.”


    She waited.


    One.


    Two.


    DING.


    The match started.


    Immediately, Yue and Kol both took a stance. Kol took a defensive stance, clearly letting her strike first. Yue knew she should attack first, because tiring him out probably wouldn’t work, so she slowly walked over to him, with more of an offensive stance.


    She feinted to the left to get a feel for his defense, and he subtly looked down and noticed how her foot changed. Then he moved to the side quickly to dodge her swing from the right. Yue smiled. Kol was smart.


    She swung a little too high, and then turned her sword to strike his side. He easily blocked it, and swung straight at her neck. Instincts took over. She ducked, and thrust at his side. But he wasn’t there anymore. She saw something from the corner of her eye, and swung her sword just in time to block the sword that was right next to her eye. She started to sweat. He knew what he was doing.


    Yue backed off to regain her composure. He was toying with her. Then he switched his stance. He wanted to finish the match now, and he advanced on her, moving lightly.


    He swung hard, and she barely blocked. He smiled, and attacked with a series of thrusts and lunges that left Yue barely standing. She was clearly losing. She needed to change something.


    She lost her footing. She fell hard on the ground, and Kol immediately struck at her to end it. She smiled, and a moment’s hesitation came into his eyes. Then she swept her feet under him. He tumbled to the ground, shocked as she regained her footing. She swung at him, but he crawled out of the way, and stood up.


    He was pissed now. He glared at her, and the meaning was clear. Now it gets serious.


    This time both of them attacked. She swung, and dodged his blow, trying to get an advantage. She noticed how his left foot was slightly off. Huh.


    It’s the fall. It must have hurt him.


    She swung at his left leg, and connected, but he didn’t fall. She realized what was going on seconds before the sword connected with her arm. Only by sheer luck she didn’t drop her sword.


    Kol had tricked her. She couldn’t believe she fell for it.


    Yue was getting tired. Clearly, this match was taking too long. Both were breathing heavily. So she took one last gamble. Either she would win here or lose here. She attacked ferociously, giving everything she had for one last attack.


    He didn’t expect that. He dodged slowly, and she kept lunging. She threw her foot forwards, and swung with her sword. He blocked her sword, but didn’t notice her foot as he moved to the side. He tripped on it, and as he tried to keep standing, she swung her sword, and stopped it half an inch from his neck.


    Yue couldn’t believe it.


    I won.


    Cheers came from her friends. Everyone’s jaw was on the floor.


    “Congratulations to Yue Zhang, the winner of this match,” The Wolf shouted. “Good luck to both of you in the next round.”


    As she left the ring, catching her breath, Kol extended his hand towards her. Yue shook it. Mutual respect was the best thing one soldier in the Vanguard could give another. She was proud of what she had done.


    I can’t believe it. I’ve won. I WON.


    — — —


    “I can’t believe you did that, Yue. That was insane!” Neena was very excited. Yue was smiling widely.


    “I’m just better than Kol. He thinks that the sword is everything. He shouldn’t have forgotten his footing.”


    Alyx snorted. “You beat Kol, and now you’re an expert in sparring. You’re letting it get to your head already, Yue.”


    “You’re just jealous,” Yue told Alyx, teasing her lightly.


    “Hey, guys, Poli is in the ring now. Wanna check on her? Diamond is there too.”


    They walked over to the ring in time to see Poli disarm her opponent, and touch her sword to his heart.


    As she got out of the ring, Neena called her.


    “POLI!”


    Poli saw her come over, and, obviously, Artemis came with.


    “Where’s Diamond, Poli? She was with you.”


    Poli frowned. “I don’t know. Artemis?”


    Artemis shrugged. “She left right after the match started. She didn’t look happy.”


    “She does that all the time when she’s mad,” Alyx sounded annoyed. “She’ll come to.”


    “Hey, guys,” Neena said cautiously, “is that Xander?”


    Yue looked back. It was Xander, he was running towards them, and his face looked horrified. When Xander caught up to them, Alyx, Poli, and Neena started asking him what was wrong.


    “Let him catch his breath,” Artemis told them.


    Xander nodded in thanks and took a minute to breath. Then he looked at them, terrified.


    “You have to see it. It’s Diamond.”


    Yue and Alyx looked at each other. Something was wrong.


    — — —


    Yue and Alyx arrived first at the Second Female Barracks, which was where Diamond stayed. They waited for the rest to arrive, all panting. They’d gotten permission from the Wolf to delay their games until they came back.


    When the others arrived, Alyx opened the door and immediately walked in. The others were about to follow suit until Poli spoke.


    “Wait, Artemis, Xander, you can’t go in. Y’all are both guys. It’s not allowed.”


    Xander’s gaze was like steel. “I don’t care. Diamond asked me to call you. I’m not getting left behind.”


    Poli frowned but let them pass. Alyx was reading something, hand on her mouth. Diamond was on her bed, speechless.


    “Who did this, Diamond?” Alyx asked angrily.


    “I don’t know. It was just here. On my bed. I…What do I do?”


    “What is it, Alyx?” Yue was desperate to know what was going on, and by everyone else’s faces, they were the same.


    Alyx gave Yue the paper, and she read it, jaw dropping, Neena and Xander reading it with her. On one side of the paper there was an unmistakable drawing of Diamond on the floor, blood pooling on the ground. The drawing was clearly made by a professional artist. Either that or a mage. Only someone who practiced for years could draw something so realistic. But the truly horrifying part was the note on the back:


    You have only a couple hours to live. Recant of your sins or be punished. Your time of judgment is here. Tonight you die.


    — — —


    “Captain, Captain!”


    The Wolf was focusing on one of the sparring matches, and Diamond had to shake him to get him to turn around. The whole group was with her, acting as her bodyguards, much against Diamond’s wishes. The Wolf looked at them.


    “What do you want?”


    Diamond gave him the note. He read it slowly, looked at the back, and read it a second time.


    “This was sent to you?” The Wolf asked calmly.


    “Yes, sir.”


    “Do you know who sent it?”


    “I don’t know who sent it! What do we do, Captain Wolf?”


    “We can’t do anything.” To the protests of the group, he continued. “It’s probably a prank. Even so, I will find a way to protect her. I can’t guarantee anything, but you need to stay by her unless she or you are sparring. I will keep some bodyguards around her. Is that satisfactory?”


    “Can’t we hide her or something?” Alyx asked.


    “No. The tournament must continue. We will catch who sent this, don’t worry. For now, just enjoy the tournament.


    Diamond nodded reluctantly and walked off, the others following her.


    — — —


    The rest of the afternoon passed without problems. Each had several matchups in the tournament to mixed results.


    Alyx crushed it. She’d played twelve games, and only lost once, to Kol of all people. Of course, Kol had won every single game since Yue’s. And of course, Yue teased Alyx mercilessly about it. Alyx was definitely in the top fifty, so she was moving on for sure.


    Poli was another story. Of the ten games she’s played, she’d only won three. She was struggling, and she’d blamed it on the stress from the note. Alyx said it was just an excuse, but Yue saw the haunted look in Poli’s eyes. Yue asked her about it, and Poli said she thought that the cult had written that note. She said it was all because they had talked at lunch. Yue thought it was far-fetched, but the other girl was dead set. And scared. Poli was very scared.


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    Artemis had done better. He had won six of his ten. He was about average, which he was fine with. He didn’t like sparring. He was very aggressive normally when he fought, but with sparring, he took it carefully. That caused him to lose some of his matchups. But, since he was in the Vanguard, he was still better at sword-fighting than most soldiers in any other army.


    Xander did really well. He had only played nine so far, but he had won seven. He was waiting to play his tenth game for a while, and he was practicing his stances over and over again for almost half an hour now. He was always stressed when it came to something competitive, and he always let it show, purposefully or not.


    Aster had disappointed herself a little, winning only seven of her eleven games so far. That was good, but she had lost to Alyx, which frustrated her. So much so that she hadn’t won a game since. She had won her first seven in a row. It was sad to see Aster so demoralized, but she would bounce back up. She always did.


    Diamond had been very careful of the outside of the ring while sparring, and, because of that, had lost four of her seven games.


    Neena was doing pretty good, winning five of her eight. She was getting really tired, though, and was constantly clumsy with her lunges. If she didn’t recover from her exhaustion, she wouldn’t win any of her other matchups.


    And Yue, she was on top of the world. She was the only one who had not lost a match yet, and she had done ten. She didn’t even feel a little tired, and she was excited for her next match. She was sure she would win, as she would the next one, and the next. She was feeling a little arrogant. And she loved it.


    The Wolf had recently announced that those that lost more than half of their games would be eliminated today, and would not move on to tomorrow’s phase, which got a lot of soldiers fighting desperately, some successfully, others a lot less so.


    The Wolf had not ignored Diamond. He had given her two bodyguards, also from the Vanguard, albeit veterans, and he had constantly been asking her if anything had happened. It seemed like the note might have been a prank, but everyone was still cautious about it.


    Now dinner was being served before the last matchups happened. Yue wasn’t too hungry, adrenaline running through her, but her friends were famished, especially Neena. They were devouring their food, while Yue nibbled it slowly.


    “Well, this has been fun, ladies and gentlemen,” Alyx said. “But I have come out on top.”


    “Excuse me?” Yue said, cocking her eyebrow. “What about me?”


    “You don’t count,” complained Alyx. “I haven’t sparred with you yet. I would win the match, obviously..”


    “You really think so?”


    “I know so.”


    “I clearly remember you getting whooped by Kol.”


    Alyx glared at Yue, “He got lucky. It happens. Not everyone wins every single game, except you apparently.” Yue chuckled.


    Aster looked at Alyx. “You’re speaking of luck. How about the fact that there was a rock right behind me and that’s how you beat me?”


    “It was skill.”


    “You beating me because I slipped on a rock was skill?”


    “You wouldn’t understand.” Alyx said. Yue snorted.


    “Only you do, for some reason.”


    “Exactly. Isn’t that strange?” Alyx said, laughing. Yue rolled her eyes.


    “You ever heard of humility?” She asked.


    “That’s my middle name.”


    “Wait, really?”


    “Yeah, it is.”


    “Damn, that’s a little ironic.”


    “What’s that supposed to mean?”


    Yue snorted. “Nothin, nothing. Hey, Aster!” Aster looked over at her. “Did you hear that Alyx’s middle name is Humility?”


    Aster laughed loudly. “That’s hilarious. What a misnomer!” Alyx shook her head.


    “You girls are insufferable, you know that?”


    Yue acted hurt. “What? That’s so mean, Humility.”


    Alyx glared at her. “Don’t call me that.” Neena giggled.


    “Oh, guys, my match is here,” Neena told them. “Are y''all going to watch?”


    Yue nodded. “Sure. Who are you up against?”


    “Celena.”


    “Nice. Good luck. You got this.”


    “I hope so.”


    She walked over to the ring, where Celena was waiting for her. Soon they walked into the ring and the match started.


    Neena was a very cautious fighter, only attacking when there was a good chance she would get a strike. She was wary of Celena, who was immediately on the offensive. She attacked Neena, and Neena was forced back. While the fight went on, Yue started to think. She had a lot on her mind now.


    First was the tournament. She was loving it so far, and she was sure she''d be going to the real tournament, but the whole idea for the tournament was a little sketchy. It really didn’t feel like a good way to warn other countries. She didn’t really have any other ideas on how to do that, but creating a tournament designed to scare the other nations seemed wrong, somehow. What was the parliament really doing? Was this something the cult designed?


    The cult was the second thing on her mind. She regretted the decision to let Xander go a little. She still had time to recant her vote, but she probably shouldn’t. She didn’t know much about the cult. It all came out of the blue for her, and she had acted only in the moment. She trusted her friends, but she’d only heard about the cult from Xander and Poli. Was it even really real? Was it as bad as they said?


    Sure, the thought of the cult brought chills, and Poli really was scared, which meant she did believe it, but, at the same time, as long as Yue had been born, the cult had never done anything. Why now? Poli said they were growing in numbers. Was that the reason? If they were growing in numbers, didn’t that mean that anyone could be part of the cult. If the cult was real, shouldn’t she distrust everyone? Her head was hurting now. This type of thought always bugged her. She never did trust anyone immediately, but knowing that she couldn’t trust anyone could be scary. Half of her hoped the cult wasn’t real.


    She still had another thing on her mind. The note Diamond got. Why had she gotten it? Who sent it? Would it really happen? What should she recant? There were so many questions she had about it, and it was stressing her out. It did seem like a prank now, but maybe that’s what the person wanted them to think. Who could it even be? Could it be anyone Yue knew? She didn’t think so, because most of her friends had been with her during that time, but not all of them. Could it be Xander? He was gone for a while. She shook her head roughly. Accusing her friends wouldn’t do any good.


    But a small voice in her head was accusing them. Especially Diamond. She was mad at them for the whole conversation. Maybe she was pulling this prank to get back at them. But what would that do? Would she really have done that? Yue thought she knew Diamond, but people acted unexpectedly sometimes.


    Or maybe, the person who sent the note wasn’t anyone she knew. That was scary. It could be a mage! She doubted it, only soldiers were allowed in the barracks, but magic could get anyone through undetected.


    If anyone asked her, she would deny it, but she was a little scared. She was hoping the rest of the night went well. If it did, she would try to forget today. Speaking of Diamond, where was she? She looked around urgently. There she was. She was fine, laughing with Aster.


    You’re acting paranoid, Yue! She knew she was, but she couldn’t stop. Being paranoid never hurt anyone, right? It was better to be extra cautious than not cautious at all. You’re going crazy over this. She wasn’t going crazy, right? Right?


    She shook herself out of her thoughts, and looked at the match, just in time to see Celena force Neena down, and put her sword on Neena''s throat. Neena looked heartbroken. That was sad, but she would move on to tomorrow’s tournament, so it didn’t matter too much.


    Yue went over to console a crushed Neena, and Neena smiled in gratitude. Soon enough, she was laughing with her friends again. She was a very innocent girl, and Yue would do anything to protect her. Not that Neena couldn’t protect herself, but Yue still protected her. Neena was like the little sister she never had. Yue loved her deeply.


    Yue suddenly felt a wave of exhaustion come over her. She was tired. Her adrenaline had just stopped it. Kol''s fight had given her the confidence boost to overcome any stress and fatigue that came her way. She hadn’t had a match in a while, so she was getting really tired. She wanted to sleep. But it looked like it would be another long night.


    The next hour for her passed strangely, like she was in a daze, drifting in and out of consciousness. She tried hard to concentrate on her friends’ games, but it grew hard. She had one match, and that was the only time she didn’t feel as tired, but that was now twenty minutes ago, and she now had one game left.


    And it was against Diamond.


    Yue had sparred with Diamond only once. The day she had joined the Vanguard, Diamond had challenged her. They’d never talked about it afterward. Yue had gotten humbled. She’d never forgotten that moment, holding it in like a grudge. She wasn’t as nervous as she was for Kol’s fight, but she was still a little anxious.


    Plus, Diamond had only won four of her nine games. If she won this one, she would pass to the second day. But if she lost, she wouldn’t. This meant Diamond would be trying harder than normal. Of course, Yue wasn’t going to go easy on her, but she felt a little bad for having to whoop her.


    That’s if you do beat her. She shook her head. I will win.


    How do you know?


    I’ve won every game until now?


    There’s a first time for everything.


    Shut up. I will win.


    No–


    Shut up.


    How do you…


    SHUT UP!!!


    Her internal doubts faded. She had to believe she was going to win. If you thought you would lose, you would lose. That was just the way of the world.


    She usually struggled with her internal thoughts. It’d been a problem for a long time. She had always thought it was normal, until her friends told her they didn’t argue with their doubts. Her parents just called it an active imagination. It was just normal to Yue. It was also on and off. Her thoughts hadn’t talked before she had fought Kol, but they were talking now.


    She shook herself out of her head as she saw Diamond walking towards her.


    “You ready?” Diamond asked.


    “Oh, yeah. I’m gonna win, too.”


    “I won last time.”


    “That was three years ago,” Yue told her indignantly.


    “True, you’ve improved since then. But so have I.”


    Yue nodded thoughtfully.


    “Hey, let''s do bets. We should get the rest of the group to bet on us.”


    Diamond smiled. “That’s a good idea. I’ll call them.”


    Soon enough, she had gathered the entire group, and had explained the bets to them. Each was betting a silver sphere.


    Alyx, obviously betted on Diamond. Alyx never betted on Yue, and Yue never betted on her. That was just how their competitiveness worked.


    For once, Poli and Artemis disagreed, Poli betting for Diamond, and Artemis for Yue. Neena, as always, was very supportive of Yue. Aster also betted for Yue.


    Xander betted on Diamond, for some reason. Yue was beginning to think Xander had a crush on her.


    Diamond and Yue heard the Wolf calling them, so they went forward. He gave them the swords and spoke to them:


    “Y''all are good friends, so I shouldn’t have to tell you the rules. Just don’t hurt each other. And watch her back, Yue. That is all. Get ready.” Diamond and Yue nodded at him, and left to breathe and prepare themselves.


    Five minutes later, they were in the ring. Yue glared at Diamond. Diamond smiled back. The Wolf looked at both of them


    “Yue, are you ready?”


    “Yes.”


    “Diamond, are you ready?


    “I am:”


    “All right, you may start at the ring of the bell.”


    Time slowed down for Yue. She looked around at everyone. It was time to beat Diamond. She readied herself in an offensive stance.


    DING-DING!


    Immediately, Yue attacked Diamond, lunging with her sword at Diamond’s left side. Diamond easily blocked it and stepped back, putting her sword in the way of Yue’s lunge. Then, Diamond stabbed at Yue''s midriff. Yue dodged it, and stepped out of the way.


    She feinted to the left. Diamond fell for it, and when Yue brought her sword in from the left, Diamond wasn’t ready. She put her hand in the way, which caused the sword to hit her hand. She reeled back, and shook her hand, clearly bruised. Yue felt bad, but she had done that to not finish the match, so Yue attacked again, not allowing Diamond to catch her breath.


    Diamond was caught off guard, expecting Yue to wait for her, and barely got her sword in the way. Then Yue stepped back. Diamond glared at her.


    “You’re asking for trouble, Yue!” Diamond growled semi-angrily. Yue laughed.


    “Bring it on.”


    What followed next could only be called desperation. Diamond clearly knew she was outmatched, so she played to her strength, being unexpected. She swung wildly, hoping Yue would try to block her stabs and not attack her.


    Yue anticipated the wild swing, and didn’t even block it. Instead she moved left, out of reach of Diamond’s sword, and thrust her sword, hitting Diamond’s thigh. Diamond stumbled back. The match was basically done. Diamond was limping. Clearly, she wouldn’t last long. Yue moved in for the kill.


    Diamond moved back, and stumbled, dropping her sword. She fell hard on her back, and looked at Yue. Yue stabbed down, but Diamond struggled out of the way. She grabbed her sword from where she dropped it, and got up quickly, still limping.


    Yue attacked again, and this time, Diamond couldn’t block it. She took several hits to her arms and legs, just barely protecting her critical spots. She was breathing hard. Yue let her adrenaline fuel her, not letting herself think of Diamond as a friend. For now she was an opponent.


    She swung hard, knocking Diamond’s sword out of her hands.


    It was time. The match was done. She just had to swing once. She stabbed at Diamond’s neck, preparing to stop right beside her neck.


    Before she could stab, Diamond’s eyes widened, and she gurgled. Then she started to fall.


    Yue caught her right before she fell. What the hell was going on?


    Diamond was clearly choking now, spittle running down her mouth. Yue turned her over. She gasped, then retched. There was a knife stuck in Diamond’s back, blood pooling from the wound it created. The crowd collectively gasped. Alyx screamed. She ran into the ring, and grabbed Diamond, tearing her out of Yue’s grasp.


    “Speak to me, Diamond, Are you ok? Diamond? DIAMOND!” Alyx was crying visibly now. Yue was trying not to vomit. Diamond looked slowly at both of them, barely breathing.


    She only said one word before she died, and Yue knew that word would haunt her forever.


    “Help.”


    Help.