We are in the Academy's decently-sized arena. My css is divided into two groups. A phoenix banner is pced at the end of a long pole positioned vertically onto the back of the battle familiar we face: a creature with rhino-shaped body and thick, armor-like, charcoal-bck skin. The pole is greased and the warbeast is always moving, always restless.

  On the other side of the oval-shaped arena, I can see the huge boy Peter, Lana, the graceful Ariana, Michael, Katerina and Melina, all standing in good order with a few others from our css.

  Gabriel, Zuri, Hebe, Janna, Tomoe, Cassius, and the rest of the students are in my group.

  They told us whichever group gets the banner first will be rewarded with a whole wheel of cheese. And a good-sized chunk of cured bacon too, for each member of the winning group.

  When I was little, and before the Academy, my mother would make me breakfast with bacon, once a week. Forced me to eat it. She'd say how most people would kill to be as fortunate as me. Initially it was something overwhelmingly salty. A too vile thing for my tongue. But over time it became less and less salty. It's delicious now. As a welcome escape from meals of rice, once every ten days they serve thinly sliced bacon with sweet apples in the Hall for breakfast. Just like home.

  The Academy has allowed for the arena to be partly filled with some city folk who came to watch the students compete. There are a few hundred spectators I'd say. Plebeians mostly. But there are others. Soldiers, Breakers—some without limb or scarred badly.

  At the given signal, pandemonium ensues. Students and the arena crowd yelling, the warbeast roaring, the two groups rushing toward one another, soon cshing with practice spears. This continues for a while, students from neither side nowhere close to getting on top of that crystalborn.

  The fighting spreads into multiple clusters, few of my cssmates on the ground.

  The big crystalborn moves through the arena unpredictably; its movements are controlled by a nearby Breaker.

  Peter pushes the much smaller Cassius into Zuri. They both colpse. Branches under a tempest.

  ''Gabriel!'' I yell. ''Take Peter.''

  He raises his eyebrows and smiles quick. In no time he moves to csh with the biggest student in our css.

  My body jerks to the side when Lana sms the blunt top of her spear against my shoulder.

  For a few moments I pretend the impact is worse than it actually is.

  I straighten my back. ''You want him, don't you?'' I nod toward Gabriel's disappearing form. ''A shame. He is mine. I ride him every night,'' an obvious lie, but I doubt she cares.

  ''Whore,'' Lana says, her pale brown eyes fury.

  I smile.

  She soon retreats from my onsught of jabs and sshes, parrying most.

  A faraway animalistic scream reaches me, gets under my skin. A woman wailing, I think. It came from beyond the arena.

  I scream when Lana sms her spear against my knee. The top part breaks. Lana stares at the stump stupidly.

  Too te does she register my fist smming into her stomach. The punch powerful, but controlled.

  She drops to the ground, won't be getting up any soon. Her move would've probably crippled any of the other students.

  She is all sand and no wheat. Some devious sellers at the markets put sand in sacks of wheat so that they would measure heavier on a scale. It's a saying that is used when something appears strong, rich, or nice but really is a scam.

  I look to the side.

  I smile upon seeing Peter retreating from Gabriel's relentless attacks. There is no smugness on Gabriel's face. Only cold, calm calcution. A tinge of fierceness to his eyes. His long spear hard at work.

  I move at a run to get that banner, ignoring everything else.

  The rge crystalborn veers, avoids a group of students running toward it, loses bance, about to crush Janna against the wall of the arena. I drop my spear, move next to her, arms front.

  The spectators shout at our supposed fttening.

  My back and the back of my head sm into the wall behind me, dazing me a bit. I hear shouting from the distant crowd.

  My long arms and body dulled the rge beast's impact just enough to spare Janna any major injury. She fused herself to the wall of white limestone, terrified, looking at my hands with confusion, her eyes wide. She is somehow even more pale than usual.

  ''Ann!'' I hear Gabriel roaring.

  Michael and Hebe shouting my name as well, sounds joined by simir shouts made by Janna's friends.

  ''Are you unhurt?'' I ask.

  She nods many times.

  After confirming Janna is unharmed, I climb onto the already moving rge beast, holding to it easily. The back of my head is a throbbing sensation.

  Relief on Gabriel's face when he sees I'm well.

  Peter uses Gabriel's distraction, smming savagely the butt of the practice spear into Gabriel's stomach. ''Your woman is granite, brother,'' Peter growls as Gabriel drops to the ground.

  ''You have...no idea...'' Gabriel murmurs.

  I give up my pursuit of the banner, jumping long toward Peter, my body no longer my own.

  As I run toward him, he jabs his spear at my chest, I sway to the side, dodging easily.

  I'm far faster and stronger than the giant, far more agile, I'm behind him and on his back, my arms soon choking the life out of him.

  ''Smile now,'' I whisper.

  His elbows wildly pummel into my rib cage. Unpleasant, very unpleasant, but manageable.

  He drops to his knees, face flushed, veins bulging. My css and the hundreds of people watching, all are quiet, me and Peter the focus of their world.

  A distant wail reaches my ears, coming from beyond the arena. It's almost inhuman in its grief. Lightning passes through my chest. A tiny piece of my soul is torn from me. Fear. I let go of Peter who drops on all fours, coughing. The red mist over my mind dispersing.

  I stumble, making it seem as though his powerful punches did real damage, made me let him go.

  Someone runs into the arena. One of the Academy caretakers.

  ''Cdes!'' he screams.