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The crowds were already working themselves into a frenzy while waiting for the competition to begin. They cheered and clamored in their seats, the anticipation was thick in the air..

‘Six tracks for six teams, and five people to a team. The team farthest from us is nothin’ but speed-based Tanks.. I’ll have to hope that Shasta or Zas thin them out. Tidas should be able to handle the rest, but only if some of ’em get taken out first..’

Skye surveyed the teams as they passed them. The farthest team to the right were the Speed Tanks. They were the A Team.

A group of Power-based Tanks with one Speed Tank were next. They were referred to as the B Team. The final group on the right was a mix of two Tamers, two Hybrid Tanks, and a Manic; the C Team.

The three teams on Skye’s side were her own(E), and two she wasn’t particularly happy to see. The members mostly consisted of the nobles that Shasta had boasted to.

One team had three Manics and two Hybrid Tanks, and were the D Team. The final F Team had one Manic, two Hybrids, another Tamer, and one Power Tank.

All the Tamers had multiple animals with them. The species ranged from dogs and wolves, to small deer and elk, to various birds. Ronnie was the only Tamer that had a single bird on his shoulder..

Size restrictions forbade any large animals like horses, bears, or Monty. The other Tamers talked smack about Ronnie as they passed, but he paid them no mind. Thanks to Nicolas, he had his trump card, so he didn’t care what they thought...

.....

Kari looked over at Klaus, who looked at her with a soft smile in response. They’d grown pretty close since Tidas’ birthday, which made Skye chuckle to herself. She’d seen the attraction on Kari’s end right away, but Klaus was taking his time..

Both Klaus and Ronnie were serious when they had devoted themselves to Skye’s service. Klaus was leery about getting into a relationship with Kari because he was honestly ready to give up his life for Skye at any moment.

He didn’t think it was fair to put her through that kind of stress. Soldiers knew that they could be faced with death at any time, but Klaus’ willingness to die for her was unnatural, and he knew it.

When Skye had saved his life, Klaus had actually died for a moment. He’d seen his pathetic life flash in front of his eyes, and felt nothing but regret. Skye had done everything she could without a selfish thought for herself, for anyone that asked.

Klaus admired her to the point of loving her, but it wasn’t a romantic kind affection. He’d thought it was at first, but it was more complicated than that. It was like an instinct he couldn’t fight, and Ronnie felt the same way he did.

Only Zas knew how the two truly felt. They had to explain it to him when he was trying to convince them to get Skye to drop out of the trials. He didn’t understand it, but he respected their dedication.

They had tried to convince Zas to give up on his attempts to stop Skye for completing the trials, but he was as adamant as they were. Tidas was his best friend, and one of the best men he’d ever met. There were many more reasons that Zas didn’t tell them, but they had left assured that his intent wasn’t to actually hurt Skye.

However, it wasn’t going to stop them from trying to protect her...

Skye had already explained most of her plan to her team, even though Franky had taken issue with parts of it. He didn’t like the part about how they were going to deal with either the Vice Commander, or the General. It basically required blind faith to follow, and Franky didn’t know her well enough for that.

While he did like Skye for the amazing person that she was, he was still similar to everyone else. He assumed that she was a mostly non-combatant. Even after seeing her Tank trait, he was still arguing with himself about bolting when the time came...

Skye didn’t blame Franky for his doubt. There were pieces that she had only told to Ronnie, and she was honest about that. It was because he was most likely going to be the one to cross the finish line...

Shasta’s little rant and Zas’ threats had forced Skye to alter her plans. She wanted to be the one to cross the finish line, but not if attempting it affected their chances of passing. With the target on her back, Skye would have to play the decoy now..

When she’d explained it then, Franky had agreed to give her the benefit of the doubt. ‘Good thing Ronnie explained his trump card to me. That will Definitely make it possible to win, so long as he saves it for the right moment...’

Skye looked around at the competition as they walked. Many glared or sneered at them as they passed..

***

Skye stopped and smirked in their general direction. Those sneering switched to contemptuous glares as she continued walking while saying; “See ye whenever ye Finally reach the finish line, ladies!”

Ronnie jogged up to her side with a worried look and asked in a nervous tone; “Was that really the wisest thing to say?”

Skye continued to smirk; “Only the man who can peer through his own fog will see the cliff’s edge of his own making, before he walks off it.”

“Who said that?” Klaus asked, liking the metaphor.

Skye’s smile softened; “Me Da! Ima gonna lead them right over the edge..”

Each team lined up a bit differently. The A Team all stood shoulder to shoulder, evenly. The B Team had their one Speed member at the start while the others readied to attack the other two teams right off the get-go.

Klaus and Franky stepped up to the line, Skye stood between them, but set back about four feet or so. Kari and Ronnie were an equal distance behind her. They had another formation planned out, but would start with this one.

As their hearts started to race, Magnus fired the shot to start the Mage Trials...

Skye’s (E)team took off as soon as the shot rang out, along with the A, D, and F Teams. One member from the B Team ran off while the others stayed to duke it out with the C Team.

The first section of the course was mostly water and mud. The first part was shallow, followed by a muddy section, then deep water. It was very similar to last year’s trial’s course, but with more obstacles..

Skye pushed her Earth magic through her feet as she ran, targeting the ground in the shallow water and the section of mud. She focused on hardening it as her teammates defended her from all sides.

They kept a brisk pace as Tamers and Manics with guns and blunted knives attempted to take them out early. Everyone was focusing on Skye instead of her guardian teammates..

As the deep waters neared, Skye shouted; “B-Switch! B-Switch”

Franky and Klaus parted and dropped to the sides as Skye shifted to the front. Kari was now in the middle, while Ronnie covered their backs with his falcons. Apparently, he’d kept them circling high in the sky so the competitors wouldn’t notice his numbers.

Skye focused on her Water and Earth traits at the same time right as they were coming close to the deep water. The two Hybrid Tanks from the D Team were closing in on them. Franky took out one, but the other one reached out for Skye..

Kari reached into a large pouch strapped to her side, and pulled out a large coin-sized rock. The man flashed an amused smile, thinking that there was no way a tiny rock was going to hurt him...Until it hit him in the face like a brick.

Since Kari’s Earth magic let her augment the density and weight of most materials, Skye had suggested that she carry the rocks in a bag around with her.. It was a brilliant idea.

When they reached the deep water’s edge, the crowds gasped as they watched...

Skye had parted the waters,and raised the ground up. She made it just wide enough for them to run across single-file, saving them a fair amount of time and effort swimming. She smiled as she touched the parting waters with her fingertips as she ran past...

The resulting waves from the water being parted tossed about the other competitiors, and even knocked out two from separate teams. As she reached the other side, an idea popped into Skye’s head..

Clearing the Water Trial in an unbelievable time, Skye’s team continued on. But she stopped for a moment to flip off the competitors that were still conscious and looking her way. She then backed up, and created a stone wall using her Earth trait that stretched the length of their designated side.

It wouldn’t completely stop the other teams, but it would buy them the time they needed. After erecting the wall, Skye ran as fast as she could without activating her Tank trait. The others had slowed their pace for her, so she had caught up relatively quick.

“A-Switch!” she screamed as she reached them.

The team took off again as the crowds screamed and cheered. They’d been astonished to see the water shoot up into the sky, then crash back down onto the other competitors. And most had laughed when the princess had flipped them off before putting up the wall.

The ginormous screens hanging above the arena allowed those up in the nosebleed sections the chance to see the action for once. While the screens focused on all of the action, the spectators cheered just a bit louder whenever Skye popped up on it.

As they continued to the quarter marker of the track, the next set of obstacles became apparent. Just like last year’s, jagged rocks jutted out, making it hard to run through. Skye could also sense the RMC members hiding within the rocks.

After a couple seconds of thought, Skye called out; “HOLD!”

Once everyone came to a stop, Skye stepped out in front of them. Bending down; she placed her hands on the ground, and funneled massive amounts of her magic into it.

After about twenty long seconds, the entire arena began to shake. The cameras refocused on Skye, allowing all the spectators to see what was happening. Once Skye stopped making the stands rattle, the spectators started to.

They cried out in astonishment as the jagged rocks and peaks seemingly shrank and disappeared. The boundary separating the two groups of teams bowed and cracked as it shifted. Opening up E Team’s track, and making A, B, and C’s track incredibly narrow.

After a macking her hands together to clear the dust off of her gloves, Skye called out; “A-Shift!”

Most didn’t catch the difference in her words, but Skye’s teammates did. When she said “Shift”, instead of “Switch”, it meant that there were people obstacles up ahead.

They stayed closer together as they ran. Skye had made it a point to keep a small, but noticeably protruding rock near wherever an assumed RMC member was. They served as visual markers for her teammates.

It wasn’t against the rules to ‘alter the course’ how she had, but it was a bit over the top. Skye didn’t care.. ‘Whatever I can do to thin out the numbers before we reach Tidas..’

All Skye’s plans came down to numbers. She knew that she could distract Tidas long enough to get Ronnie past him, or so she hoped. But the other competitors were the real issue. If she couldn’t eliminate the majority of them from the final stretch, then her plan wouldn’t work...