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  “Yeah, I agree, but it has its time and place,” I muse, not wanting to ruin our dynamics after just becoming a team. “Let’s just win.”

  “Glad you see it that way,” she huffs with her trademark brooding sarcasm.

  “You know, your parents hit the nail on the head when they named you,” Erik chimes in as he walks towards us while simultaneously loosening up his rotator cuffs with some light stretches. “It matches your upbeat personality. It’s crazy how they got it right.”

  “I personally feel like they were in on the cosmic joke that we’re all participating in.” Summer shrugs. I keep my distance from the conversation, not entirely sure how it’ll play out. Summer’s kind of a pessimist and a rage-a-holic, and Erik is more laid back. This can go anywhere.

  “You mean, like existing? Isn’t your family like, super rich?” Erik asks.

  “Money can’t buy happiness, but it can buy pain.”

  “I’m not going to ask.”

  “Don’t. I can tell by the look in your eyes that you aren’t ready.”

  What. The. Hell. This is my team?

  I press my palm to my forehead and run it over my hair. I guess I have to take charge if we’re going to get anything done.

  “Guys, can we focus? Tristen’s going to kill us if we don’t pull it together.”

  “Fuck him,” Summer protests. I look over my shoulder to see if one of the teachers overheard us, but luckily, they’re occupied giving instructions to some of the other students. “He’s an entitled brat who needs to get his ass kicked. Everyone knows it, but no one wants to do anything about it.” My gaze shifts over to Tristen’s team just as they walk out of their exit and onto the battlefield. He was talking to Kaci, but I can’t get a read on her reaction. “Kaci, too.”

  “Kaci’s not an asshole,” Erik says, skepticism lining his words. “...She’s actually a really nice person.”

  “Still needs her ass kicked.” Summer shrugs. “On principle. No one’s that nice unless they’re hiding something. She’s probably a klepto that only steals from the elderly.”

  “What?” I run my hand through my hair. “That doesn’t even make...ugh. Guys,” I stress for a second time, “we need a game plan. I don’t have my powers so—”

  “I already know,” Summer says, her eyes just coming off the door that Tristen’s team walked through, “and I’ve already accounted for it. I have a plan, and I’ll share it once we’re outside and out of earshot.” The air around me grows thick with tension as Summer looks into my eyes. Her whole personality just changed in the blink of an eye. Summer is talented, just like every other student in our class, but I’ve never gotten the chance to talk to her much, let alone work with her on anything. The way she spoke to me just now; you’d think that she hates Tristen more than me. “You look like you just saw a ghost, Aiden... Don’t you want to win? I know he treats you like shit.” Summer’s question snaps me out of my daze, and I nod in agreement.

  “I...do...”

  “Well, act like it. You heard our teachers, powers are on the table, so they’re going to be used. It’s okay to be angry. Hell, I’ll be sure to hold him down for you to get a few licks in.” A smile creeps up on me, and Summer smiles back. “That’s more I like it. Fuck him up and consider it payback.”

  Chapter 3

  “Tristen’s going to be the main one to look out for, today. He can use fire at will, and because of that, he can also withstand extreme temperatures to an extent. We’re going to be surrounded by trees, so there’s a possibility that he’ll cause a forest fire.” I look around at the surrounding foliage of the battle ground, speculating the potential damage that Tristen can cause if he goes unchecked. Causing a forest fire is within his skill level, but it would be detrimental for everyone but him.

  “You think he’d do that?” Erik asks.

  “If he had to, yeah, I don’t see why not.”

  “It’d have to be something he did out of desperation. The fire would work in his favor, but Kaci and Wayne would have trouble dealing with the heat and the smoke just like us. A better strategy would be him using it to isolate us or to trap someone.”

  “Yeah.” Summer furrows her brow. “Yeah, that makes sense.” We’d made it to the rendezvous and had been planning our strategy for the past ten or so minutes, not counting the walk to get there. Their team composition is straight forward. Tristen will most likely be on offense, Kaci will be on defense, and Wayne will be the objective to protect. It’s the most logical scenario. Kaci’s abilities alongside either Wayne’s or Tristen’s make a brutal combination, and Tristen, with the forest at his disposal, almost has a fourth person on the team. “I can handle Tristen. Leave him to me. I think that’s what the teachers were counting on. We counter each other, but the stronger one edges the other out. If he goes apocalyptic on us and starts to burn everything to the ground, I can help with that, too. I think our best move is to take out Kaci, first. Her barriers are mainly for defense, but they can be used offensively as well. Erik and I can break them, I’m sure, but Aiden, I don’t think you’ll be able to do it quick enough unless we tire her out beforehand. I’ve seen her work, and I can tell that putting up barriers takes a toll on her. You can brute force your way through them if you’re strong enough to beat her will. It’s her brain that reinforces them. If we drain her or incapacitate her, it’ll leave Wayne open for the taking, and Tristen won’t have any backup. He’s pretty much just a normal guy who can manipulate flame, so either one of us can take him down, provided we get the opportunity.”

  “We haven’t chosen our leader yet,” Erik muses. “I’m assuming it’s me? I can take the most punishment, and I can defend myself well enough if you hold off Tristen.”

  “No, I don’t think that’s the right call,” Summer says without wavering. “It should be Aiden.”

  “Me? Why?”

  “Didn’t one of the teachers say you excel at strategic thinking? You should tell me why.”

  “You’ve been on point so far, Summer, but I’m not following you on this one. Aiden? He’s...well...” Summer says nothing in response but instead looks at me with a coy smile, as if egging me on for an explanation with only her eyes.

  “No, I think she’s right. I should be the leader. Even though we have offensive options, our team is safer if we have a more conservative approach. Summer alluded to it earlier, but their team has some pretty strong isolation techniques, more than ours. Kaci can protect her own teammates, but she can also use that same ability to form a barrier around an enemy, trapping them or forcing them to stay still. It’d be an easy setup for Tristen to blast them if they can’t move. If we go primarily on the defensive and only choose fights when we know we’re at the advantage, we can wear them down without putting ourselves at too much of a risk. If we stay together and use the forest to our advantage, we can essentially pick them off. The sonars will give out a proximity of where we are, but if we stay hidden, we only need a few good shots to bring down Tristen.”

  “Tristen? I thought Kaci was going to be our main focus?”

  “She will be... She’s dangerous if she goes unchecked, but I don’t think it’s Wayne that’s going to be their leader. I’m almost one hundred percent sure that it’s going to be Tristen. Just think about the type of person that he is—if they win, it’s because of him, and if they lose it’s someone else’s fault.”

  “All of the glory without any of the risk,” Summer adds.

  “Exactly. He’s going to take it upon himself to take up the mantle, and he’s going to go on the offensive. He thinks they have the stronger composition, so he’s going to try to overwhelm us with brute force to pressure us into an easy win. If I’m the leader, he’ll double down on that strategy because of the personal vendetta he has against me. He already hates me, so if he can torch me without getting in trouble, he’ll gladly take the opportunity... He thinks he’s the strongest on the field by a long shot, but that’s not the case. He has the most destructive force, sure, b
ut raw firepower isn’t the only thing that can win a battle. We’ll have the terrain to use as well as each other. We have a bit more flexibility when it comes to strategy due to your abilities, Summer. You can’t set a forest ablaze, but you can use your ice to debilitate them. Our suits have body temperature regulators, but they can only work so well. If Tristen’s being selfish, you can freeze-out the opposition enough to render them useless.”

  “Yeah, I get what you’re saying.”

  “Erik can handle them from there. If we slow Kaci down by freezing her to an object or depleting her stamina, we can force her to resign if Erik can close the distance. Kaci’s smart, so I know she’s already thought about our composition and what we can do, but it doesn’t matter if they can’t stop it.”

  “Students, one minute before the exercise starts. Please remember to put on your cowls. Your leader will be indicated and displayed as a target to the opposing team once the countdown reaches zero. Good luck.” After hearing Mr. Hoover over the intercom, I flick through my HUD and select myself as the leader. Summer and Erik do the same, so the selection goes through and locks me in. I look around at our immediate surroundings in hopes of finding something I can use to make a trap or possibly as a weapon, but nothing quite fits the bill from what I can see.

  “If he’d given us resources, I would have made some booby traps or something to throw them off their game.”

  “You are the booby trap, Aiden,” Summer reminds me.

  “Yeah, you’re right.”

  “Thirty seconds.”

  “But it’d be better if I had something to fight with besides my hands.”

  “You have us. We got this.”

  “Yeah.”

  “Fifteen seconds.” I activate my cowl and so do Summer and Erik, fully suiting us up for battle as Mr. Hoover counts down from ten. Once he reaches zero, he gives us a final prompt, telling us that the exercise is on and wishes us the best of luck. Tristen’s information pops up on our HUDs, marking him as our objective, just as I predicted. Hopefully the rest of my predictions are just as accurate.

  “We have some ground to travel before we meet any of them. Take it slow and move carefully. Erik, you’re leading the charge, I’ll trail behind you, so we sandwich Aiden.” Summer’s hands emit a cool blue mist; her frost chilling the immediate area around her hands. Good. Erik still hasn’t done anything, but that’s for the better. Summer’s abilities don’t seem to be as taxing as Erik’s. I know that the stress builds up quickly for him the more he uses them. However long he holds his form also takes its toll. They could be looking to tire him out in an extended exchange. I know Tristen wouldn’t think of something like that, but maybe Kaci or Wayne might have.

  “Roger that.”

  “Got it. Keep your eyes peeled. They can be anywhere.”

  Together, we pace our way through the forested terrain, taking every precaution that we can.

  And then, when we least expect it, everything changes.

  Chapter 4

  “Aiden, look out!” Summer calls out to me and I look up, just noticing the raging ball of heat. An aerial attack—they decided to strike from above. I brace myself by shielding my body with my arms, but a beam of ice meets the fireball. How did he get up there? “Get out of the way, dumbass!” Summer’s frost slows down the rain of fire just enough for me to move out of the way by diving to the side. “Erik, he’s above us!”

  “On it!” Erik bulks up by manipulating his mass while Tristen jumps from the branch of a tree and hurls a fireball in his descent. Summer attempts to intercept it, but her ice comes up short due to an invisible barrier—Kaci. She must be nearby.

  Erik jumps into the sky, but his momentum is stopped as if he hit a wall, a fireball from Tristen catches him during the delay and sends him back to the earth, crashing into the ground.

  “Erik!”

  So that’s how they did it.

  Another fireball comes my way so I press myself against a neighboring tree to avoid the howling flames. I peek out from cover to confirm my suspicion—Tristen still hasn’t touched the ground yet. Summer’s battling against him from the ground, but she’s barely doing enough to keep him at bay. Erik’s on the ground, but he’s moving. The flame that was once on his chest is now covered with a thin blanket of ice. “Erik, you okay?” I say from behind cover.

  “Yeah.” He rises to his feet, but hesitates, unsure of what to do. I didn’t expect this. None of us did. I’m going to need some time to think. They want us to get frazzled, to panic, but we can’t do that. “I don’t see the others.”

  “I know. Same here,” I say as I scan the area. Kaci’s using her abilities offensively by making panels for him to step on with her mind. Giving Tristen the high ground made it possible for him to spot us. The trees offer good protection horizontally, but if he’s attacking from above, it eliminates most of our cover. A bird’s eye view makes all of that irrelevant. So, where’s Kaci? She can’t be too far from him.

  “What do we do, Aiden?” Erik asks while pressed against a tree. Kaci and Wayne aren’t making any moves on their own it seems, so Kaci’s supporting Tristen and Wayne’s most likely acting as her personal guard. That means that Tristen’s confident that he can take out Summer with Kaci’s support. And if he’s right, Erik and I won’t have a shot. We need range, so keeping Summer in the fight is a top priority.

  Come on, Aiden, you need to think. Think!

  My gaze drifts down to my hand, devoid of the dark power I desperately need, but Summer’s grunts redirect my attention.

  We need to do something to limit Tristen’s mobility, and the only way we can do that is by taking out Kaci.

  “Guys, a little help would be nice!” Summer calls out in the distance as she continues to battle Tristen. I scan the canopy in search of Kaci, but quickly change my mind after the initial sweep. It wouldn’t make sense for her to be at the same elevation as Tristen. It’d tire her out quicker and she wouldn’t be able to accurately gauge his altitude when he jumps if she were above him somehow. She has to be on the ground, but where?

  I rack my brain as I comb through the possibilities, until a plan of action that might actually work comes to mind. I signal for Erik to come towards me, and he runs across the battlefield. Screaming would have been safer for him, but I couldn’t risk them realizing we have a plan before we put it into action. “Erik, I got an idea, but it’s going to require both of us, and it could go horribly wrong.”

  “I’m listening.”

  “Break this branch over here for me so I can have a weapon,” I say as I reach down towards the ground to grab a stone near my foot. Erik does what I tell him to do and manipulates his mass to sever the limb off the tree. “Perfect. Now, let’s trade.” I place the rock in his hand and take the branch... It has a nice weight to it. A well-placed strike could do some damage.

  “A rock?”

  “Yeah, think you can hit Tristen from there? Kaci’s on the ground, just like us, but the question is where? We can figure out where she is in two ways: the first is finding out where her blind spot is by using the rock to hit Tristen, and the second is drawing Tristen away in order to get Kaci out of position.”

  “Okay, so which one are we doing first?”

  “Both of them. Summer’s already starting to tire and we haven’t been carrying our weight at all so far. You throw a rock at Tristen, but stay hidden, keep throwing them until you find an angle where you can connect. You’re strong as hell, so make it hurt. If we’re lucky, we can knock him out in one blow. After he’s hit, I’m going to draw his attention so he thinks it’s me. Summer won’t know what’s going on, don’t worry about that. I’ll handle it. I’m going to get Tristen to follow me, which will cause him to break formation. We’ll be out of formation, too. Then I’m going to act like we’re on the ropes and order us to fall back, but ignore me. Ignore everything I say unless we’re pinned and we have no other options. Once we get Tristen to focus on me, I need you to rush the backline and take out
Kaci and Wayne. I can’t coach you on where Kaci may be hiding, but if you can get a clear shot from here, that means she’s on the opposite side because she didn’t see it coming. The fire and the ice that’s being thrown around also plays a factor. Be on the lookout for any projectiles that get mystically deflected.”

  “Got it.”

  “Okay, you ready?”

  “Yeah,” Erik tenses his muscles and raises the stone, eye-level.

  “Cool. Let’s rage.” At my command, Erik throws the stone and it connects with Tristen’s temple. He stumbles, but he keeps his consciousness, landing on one knee. He grabs his head with one hand and steadies his balance with the other. On instinct, Summer tries to finish him off, but Kaci forms another barrier, nullifying her attack.

  And that’s when I see my opening.

  I immediately rush out from cover and put myself in Tristen’s field of view, throwing myself in the line of fire.

  “Aiden, what are you doing?” Summer yells. “Get back!”

  “Nah, I think we got this in the bag. Isn’t that right, Tristen? That didn’t feel too good, huh? Well, there’s more where that came from.” I snicker. A blast of ice travels over my shoulder and towards Tristen, but it’s rendered useless by Kaci’s shield.

  “Aiden, don’t be an idiot. We can’t get to him with Kaci protecting him. You’re going to make us lose. Go hide!”

  “Nah, I think I’ll stay... Turns out that I don’t need powers to deal with him at all.” I reach down and grab another rock from the ground while Tristen shakes off the blow that Erik delivered.

  “Lucky shot. You’re dead, asshole.” Tristen shoots a fireball from his hand and I run to avoid it. Summer takes care of it before it can even get close to me, but I continue on, baiting him to chase me.