Eight

Morrigan and Amira get through a few more ‘warm up rounds’ before Nicholas calls everyone's attention again. Amira is experiencing aches in places she has never ached before from falling on her behind so many times while Morrigan hasn’t broken a sweat. 

“As this is our first day together, we’d like to do a little tournament to see how each of you rank, so that on our last day, we can see how far you’ve come. Face your partner again, and whichever one of you is on the ground first will go take a seat at the edge of the clearing. Whoever wins will be paired with another winner, until there is only one,” he explains.

Morrigan turns to her cousin, giving an apologetic look.

“Don’t be sorry,” Amira says. “I’m perfectly content with sitting out and not being beaten around anymore.”

And that is exactly what happens, as Morrigan takes Amira down yet again with ease. She feels a twinge of guilt. Amira is by no means a bad warrior–she’s one of the top female warriors in the pack. She could have beaten at the very least half of the Summit Keepers in the clearing.

Still, Morrigan presses on. Takota and another man from the Guard are assigned with pairing up the next matches, and Morrigan quickly notices that they’re keeping females and males apart. In the Summit Keepers, women are highly respected and sex makes no difference when being a warrior, but she knows that doesn’t hold true everywhere. She can only be grateful that this means she won’t be partnered up with her brother.

In the finals, it’s Morrigan against Kaya, the highest ranking warrior in their age group. She’s seven years older than Morrigan with a height advantage as well, but Morrigan isn’t surprised about the final match up. First, they sit and watch the male finals.

Again, it’s no surprise to Morrigan that the two men left standing are Innik, the soon-to-be Alpha, and Ander. Morrigan supposes that she’s lucky the Alpha and Luna never had any daughters, or else she may have some real competition in the pack. Innik is twenty-four years old, giving him an age and experience advantage over Ander, not to mention that he has Alpha blood. 

The two are good friends–they almost have to be, as one day Innik will rule the pack as Alpha with Ander at his side as Beta–but both have a deadly serious look in their eyes as they prepare to fight. What makes them good leaders is their determination and will to prove themselves.

Ander makes the first move, likely knowing that he’ll have to do something different in order to get the upper hand over Innik. Unfortunately, yet predictably, it doesn’t pay off. The two have gone for hours in training before, but trying something new leads to an easy victory for Innik, with Ander on the ground in less than thirty seconds.

Innik is proudly hailed the best male warrior in today’s tournament, and he helps Ander to his feet, patting his back. It’s clear in Ander’s posture that he’s upset with himself for his error, and if anyone were to follow his eyes, they’d see Oskar standing in the edge of the clearing, staring disapproving daggers at his nephew. Morrigan’s heart begins to race as she stands for her own fight, noticing Oskar’s presence.

Standing in the center of the clearing facing Kaya, she forces her breathing to slow. Kaya is older, taller, and has more experience. Otherwise, they’re around the same build. It’s almost impossible to predict how a fight is going to go beforehand, but Morrigan tries to picture it.

Kaya will likely make the first move, aiming to end the match quickly, and Morrigan will let her. Like any new opponents, they’ll likely circle a throw test jabs for a little bit after the initial attack fails, testing each other's reflexes and weaknesses. Here’s where Morrigan has an advantage. During group training, she doesn’t show her full potential, not like she does when she trains with Idris and Jasira. Kaya is likely to underestimate her, which will only work to her advantage, while she has seen Kaya give her all before. A week ago, during group training, another warrior had gotten too rough and broke Kaya’s ankle. Being a werewolf, it’s almost completely healed by now, but it’s a weakness nonetheless.

Morrigan puts her hands up, and Kaya does the same. They make eye contact with each other, both determined to win and prove themselves. With a single word from Nicholas, Kaya advances on Morrigan at an inhuman speed. Boldly, she uses a tactic that was taught only a few days ago, the same one Idris had worked on with Morrigan in private. Using her hours of training and subsequent muscle memory, Morrigan easily dodges the attack and then gathers herself, landing a hard jab to Kaya’s ribcage.

The audience goes silent at the ease Morrigan showed in the new move, but Morrigan doesn’t notice. She notices Kaya’s wide eyes as they begin circling each other. Just like she had thought, the older warrior had underestimated her and thought that the match would end quickly. 

After completing a full circle, Kaya makes a move, but Morrigan recognizes it as a feint and takes the opening she’s given, grabbing Kaya’s arm. Kaya is caught off guard, and Morrigan uses that surprise to pull Kaya forward, putting her off balance, before kicking her previously injured foot out from under her.