My body rushed forward, feet stomping the shallow dark pools, running at a dead sprint. I moved quicker than I realized. My body, though in pain, was drawing closer to Theo faster than he was gaining on Tala. Thank you windbreaker!

  Theo came to a halt a few feet in front of Tala, black water rushed around him as he stopped, he arced his arms back, bat in full swing. Theo’s aggression caught Tala off guard and she looked like a deer in headlights, unable to move. Unable to react to his sudden attack. I could see the determination in Theo’s eyes targeting Tala directly in the head.

  I had no time to make a better decision. I laid my shoulder down and tackled Theo the same way he did to me. We tumbled to the ground, rolling over one another till we finally broke apart. I landed awkwardly on my shoulder feeling a rush of pain shoot down my side. It was followed by another shock of pain as one of my blades cut across my stomach. By the time I stopped rolling I was face down in the bleak waters. A notification glowed in red lines within my blurry vision. My condition had updated to [Injured].

  I slowly push myself back onto my knees and took a moment to feel the water drip down my face and hair. My arms shook and my skin felt flush and red. I was tired. Tired physically but main tired of the horrors changing us. Not more than a week ago I would never have thought about hurting someone else from the Quarters but here I was. Even though I hated Theo back then, and I’m still not thrilled with the guy, I don’t think I could kill him. Looking over at Theo, he definitely wanted to kill me.

  Theo had dropped his baseball bat and sent it flying a good fifteen feet. He was frantically crawling on all fours after it. He looked insane as if he was no longer a human trying to survive but a wild beast seeking for its next kill. Watching him scramble for his weapon sent a wind of pity flow through me. It was awful watching how far he had fallen all to get to the tower first and for what, a special reward? We didn’t even know what it would be. It was most likely not worth killing your people over. Hell, Theo is the son of the [Midnight Ranger] the greatest Outrider in our colony. The strongest survivor anyone had ever seen. I think the pressure was getting to him.

  “Tala, are you okay?” I turned to see how she was doing and caught a lump in my throat. She had her spellbook open and there was energy burning around her hands. She had tears brimming her eyes.

  “I’m sorry Ward. Please forgive me.” She curled her hand back, summoned a swirling ball of fire, and launched it right at me. I held my two knives out and caught the fireball on the edge of their blades. The power broke apart and flared up around my knuckles. The flames licked my skin and burnt my hands as it crawled up my arms and eventually faded into the darkness. My condition updated again going from [Injured] to [Burned]. It was a special condition. Different from the normal damage conditions I could get. My burnt flesh wouldn’t heal so easily.

  “Tala, what are you doing? Why did you attack me?” I yelled.

  “It has to be this way. We have to make our decision here and now. Don’t you get it. This is our Trial. To see if we are willing to do what it takes. I have to do what it takes.” Tala put her hand back into the air and summoned another swirling ball of flame. I leapt to my feet and began to run. I didn’t know where I was going to go. The entire world was empty except for the shimmering silver light catching on the edges of the black pool that spread out in all directions.

  I felt heat soar through the air as Tala threw another fireball. The brilliant light of her attack had shot behind my back and impacted a few feet behind me. It seared the water and created a flow of steam that began to rise into the sky. Tala lifted her hand again but this time there was no energy. I took the moment to pick up my speed and rush around to flank her. She had a weary look on her face and was blinking her eyes fast.

  I managed to move out of her eye-line as she was preoccupied with trying to conjure another ball of fire. I cut my stride at an angle, kept myself low, and rushed up to her side. My blades were held out wide with their edges ready to cut. Tala managed to pull her attention away from her failed magic and realized I was behind her. She twirled on her heel and her eyes shot open in fear. I had her dead to rights and she knew it. She had no way of blocking my attack and running was clearly not an option. I was fast. Faster than both her and Theo. If I wanted to outrun them I could. No one would get away from me.

  I brought my kitchen knife up and slashed across her arm. I kept the cut shallow and narrow. I didn’t want to hurt her too much. I hoped that I could shock her into dropping the spellbook. If she had no weapon to use then perhaps she would surrender. It would be the best outcome. No-It had to be the only outcome. I couldn’t kill her. Tala let out a cry and stumbled away from me.

  Tala closed her book and held it close to her chest. She had her hand clasped tight against her arm. There was blood dripping from between her fingers. Her gaze turned to me and I could see that she was crying. Her lips were quivering as if she was trying to say something. She started walking away from me, lips still shaking. “Ward… What are we doing? I’m sorry. It’s as though I’m not myself. I shouldn’t even be here. I should have been at my Trials. Not forced to wait for this one. If I had taken my Trial when I was supposed to then maybe none of this would be happening.”

  The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

  I quickly used my [Codex] to examine her status. Her condition was marked as [Bleeding]. How was her status Bleeding? Sure, I cut her but not bad enough to inflict a condition like Bleeding. I looked at the knife I used and realized it’s special ability was triggered. A five percent chance to cause bleeding and it had to happen too Tala. I made Tala bleed.

  I wanted to apologize to her and maybe offer my remaining [Bandage] to help remove the status but before I could say anything Theo wracked her across the back of her legs with his baseball bat. There was a loud cracking sound follow by Tala’s scream. She dropped her book and crumpled to the floor.

  “Tala!” I cried. Theo raised his baseball bat and swung it hard into her stomach. She let out a strange gasp as blood converged with her bodies yells. Her condition updated again as a worse stats took over. Tala was now marked as being [Maimed]. “Theo stop!” I dropped my knives and let them fade back into my inventory. I then summoned my Colt. I held it straight at Theo and shouted again for him to stop. I don’t think he heard me or he didn’t care. He lifted the baseball bat and this time struck her in the shoulder. Tala let out another wild cry as blood splattered the shallow waters.

  Tala’s status was now [Crippled]. He was inflicting serious damage and one more hit like that only meant one thing, death. I cranked back the firing pin and took a step forward. “Theo, you try to hit her one more time and I’ll shoot you right between the eyes.”

  “Will you?” Theo asked. “Are you willing to kill me in order to save her?” Was I? Could I really kill another person even if that meant saving someone else?

  “Yes,” I said.

  “Good,” Theo lifted the bat high above his head and I pulled the trigger. There was a high pitched ringing sound ricocheting inside my skull. The flash of the gun sent rings of light all around me. I was blind and deaf. It took me a good thirty-seconds before my sense came back to me. The first thing I saw were two blinking lines of red text. They were status indicators for both Theo and Tala. They were both marked [Dead].

  Theo’s body was draped over Tala’s. His head was cranked to the side and there was a dark ring of black blood dripping down his nose and falling in large droplets that faded into the black water. Tala was staring blankly into the bleak sky, unblinking. Her face was pale, lips unmoving, but there were still tears rolling down her round cheekbones.

  I lost strength in my legs and collapsed. I let the gun drop from my grasp and let my head sink to my chest. What had I done? I killed him. I killed both of them. I couldn’t hold the tears back and let them flow freely. Their heat traced down my face and eventually fell into my lap. I lifted my hands before me and watched the tears land in my palms. My hands trembled against their warmth. They’re dead. Theo and Tala are dead.

  “Does their death trouble you?” I deep voice wrapped around my chest, curled up my chin and eventually kissed me at the nape of my neck. My entire self quaked as if the very earth shook beneath me. A black mist began to rise from the dark waters. It swirled and twisted around me, crawling like a spider across my body. It had no weight to it but despite that I felt heaviness like a shadow of despair that gripped me tight and tried to pull me deep into the earth. “Do you regret the choice you’ve made?”

  “Yes,” I whispered.

  “Would you take it back if you could?” The voice asked. The dark mist fell upon my shoulders and held me in a strange embrace. It’s voice licked my ears.

  “Ye… Yes… I would do anything.” I answered.

  The darkness disappeared from around my neck and materialized in front of me. It was the strange being I had seen before. A head like a dying sun and a body clothed in obsidian robes. “To choose is power. Fate is not decided but chosen. My power is given to those who are willing. You must be willing to give everything in order to take all things.”

  What was it saying? I am so sick of this things riddles. “What do you want?” I yelled the question at the top of my lungs. Letting my voice echo all around me. Tears splattered the air and spit fired from my lips.

  “Warden Pierce, your true choice can never be taken back. The pathway you take must be traveled. Forever onward to never return. Those who accept my power must understand what that means. Do you understand?” The figure said, its voice like silver and blood. Rich and deadly.

  I couldn’t answer anymore. My throat was coarse, my eyes burned and my chest ached with regret. All I could do was shake my head. Consequence. It was talking about consequence.

  The world crashed in on me. The darkness plummeted like a cresting waterfall, and the shallow waters rose like velvet curtains to block out what little like I could see. I was blinded not only in sight but in hearing and feeling. I was floating in a void of nothingness. In a world where only I existed. I let that thought take me. It was better to be alone forever than to live in a world where I had killed my fellow colonists. No, where I killed my friends.

  My eyes awoke to a circular room of gray and red lights. I was standing in the center of the room but I wasn’t alone. There were seven figures standing around me. They each wore different outfits, holding various weapons, and glowing with strange colors. I walked over to the person standing directly in front of me. It was a man, my height and my build. He was wearing a dark hood with strange symbols sewn into the fabric and glowing red. His hands were covered in gloves of a deep crimson color. Upon closer inspection, he wasn’t wearing gloves, his hands were covered in a thick layer of moving blood. The blood swirled and crawled across his fingers like living worms.

  The hooded man had a black staff strapped to his back with more weird carvings cut into the wood. The entire thing was also glowing with a crimson light. I opened my [Codex] and focused on the man. The only information that appeared was what appeared to be a title. [Cultist]. Who was this man? I reached up and lifted the hood. I was greeted with familiar eyes. My eyes!