Trial by Fire

Chapter 16: Trial by Fire

The day of the competition arrived faster than I expected. The air in the facility was thick with tension, every breath weighed down by the anticipation of what was to come. The staff gathered us early, ushering us into a massive room I had never seen before. It was stark and cold like the rest of the facility, but there was something unsettling about the walls—something that made the space feel like it was closing in on us.

I stood with the others, listening to the low hum of whispers as everyone around me sized up their competition. This wasn't just a test—it was something far more dangerous.

The staff had split us into groups, scattering children from different classes together. I ended up with two familiar faces from my group, but the rest were strangers—kids from other parts of the facility I'd never even known existed.

One of them, a boy taller and older than me, had a sharpness in his gaze that made me uneasy. His eyes darted around the room, calculating, taking in everything. I could feel the raw power radiating off of him, power I had only seen in glimpses in my time here. He was dangerous.

The staff didn't waste time. "The competition begins now," one of them announced, their voice echoing across the room. "Your first challenge is simple. Survive."

Before I had time to fully process those words, the floor beneath us began to shift. The walls around us groaned and moved, rising from the ground to form towering barriers of concrete and steel. They created narrow corridors, a sprawling labyrinth that stretched far beyond what I could see. A maze. We were being thrown into a living, breathing trap.

I barely had time to react before the others scattered, each racing in different directions as the pathways twisted and sealed off behind us. My heartbeat quickened. There was no time to think.

I took off running.

The sound of grinding metal echoed through the air as I sprinted through the narrow passageways. The maze was shifting around me, the walls moving like living things, constantly cutting off escape routes. Every step I took felt like it led me deeper into a trap.

Ahead, I could hear something—a soft, mechanical whirring noise. I skidded to a stop just in time to see blades emerging from the walls, spinning in tight circles, slicing through the air with deadly precision. I had to move quickly.

I threw myself to the side, ducking beneath the spinning blades and tumbling forward into the next section of the maze. The adrenaline pumping through my veins kept me moving, but I knew I couldn't keep this up forever.

Behind me, the walls groaned again, and I heard the sound of heavy footsteps approaching. I wasn't alone. One of the other competitors had found me.

It was the tall boy from earlier, the one who exuded power. His gaze locked onto mine, and I could see the flicker of a challenge in his eyes.

Without warning, he raised his hand, and the air around me shifted. I felt it before I saw it—a wave of pure energy barreling toward me.

I dove to the ground, barely avoiding the blast as it slammed into the wall beside me with a deafening crack. Shards of concrete sprayed into the air, and I felt the heat of his power searing past me.

This wasn't just a game. This was survival.

I scrambled to my feet, panting, my heart pounding in my chest. The boy was already moving again, his steps light, graceful, like he was born for this. He moved through the maze with a confidence I couldn't match, and I knew I couldn't outrun him for long.

I darted down a side corridor, my legs burning as I pushed myself to move faster. The walls shifted again, closing in behind me, sealing off the path I had just taken. I was being herded, trapped.

My mind raced. I couldn't keep running. I had to fight back.

I skidded to a stop in front of another dead end. Panic surged through me, but I forced myself to breathe. I wasn't out of options yet. The power inside me stirred, but I hadn't fully controlled it. Still, I didn't have a choice. I had to try.

I closed my eyes, focusing on the pulse of energy within me. It was faint, but I could feel it, swirling just beneath the surface. I had been training for this, preparing for the moment when I would need to use it. But now that the moment was here, fear crept in. What if I couldn't do it?

The ground shook again, and I felt the walls around me shift. I didn't have time to hesitate. I thrust my hand forward, willing the power to surface.

The energy flared, wild and unstable, but it was enough. The wall in front of me cracked, a jagged tear spreading across the concrete as my power surged through it. I stumbled backward, surprised by the force of it.

The boy was closing in, his footsteps growing louder. I could feel the air ripple with his energy as he approached. I had to keep moving.

I slipped through the cracked wall, barely squeezing through the gap before the entire structure collapsed behind me. Dust and debris filled the air, and I coughed, wiping the grit from my eyes as I emerged into a new section of the maze.

The noise behind me faded. I had lost him, for now.

I kept moving through the maze, but it was getting harder to navigate. The corridors twisted and shifted with every step, creating new obstacles and challenges. More traps appeared—spikes shooting from the floor, flames erupting from hidden vents, walls narrowing to the point where I could barely squeeze through.

I wasn't alone in facing these dangers. As I pressed forward, I caught glimpses of other competitors battling their way through the maze. Some were faster, more agile, darting through the obstacles with ease. Others were struggling, their powers flickering and fading as they fought to stay alive.

I rounded another corner and found myself face to face with a girl from one of the other groups. Her eyes were wide with fear, her hands trembling as she manipulated a stream of water, using it to push back the flames that were licking at the walls around her.

We locked eyes for a moment, both of us frozen. Neither of us spoke, but the unspoken understanding was clear: we weren't enemies. Not yet.

Without a word, she nodded, then turned and disappeared down a side passage, leaving me alone once more.

The maze shifted again, and I knew my time was running out. The walls were closing in faster now, the traps more deadly. The staff had designed this challenge to push us to our limits, and it was working.

I pushed forward, my body aching with exhaustion, my mind racing with a thousand thoughts. I had made it this far, but I knew I couldn't survive this on my own. I needed to think smarter, act faster.

And then I heard it—a soft hum, barely audible over the noise of the shifting walls. It was coming from up ahead, deeper into the maze. I couldn't explain why, but something about it felt… different.

I followed the sound, my footsteps light as I crept through the twisting corridors. The hum grew louder as I approached, and soon I found myself standing at the entrance to a large, circular chamber, unlike anything I had seen before.

In the center of the room, hovering above the ground, was a fragment. One of the glowing, pulsing fragments I had heard whispers about for so long. It shimmered with raw power, casting an eerie light across the walls.

I stepped forward, drawn to it. This was it. This was the key.

But as I reached out to touch it, the air around me shifted. I wasn't alone.

A figure emerged from the shadows—a boy, his eyes gleaming with intensity. I recognized him immediately. #0611.

His face was hard, determined, and I knew then that this wasn't just about survival anymore. This was about power. The fragment was the prize, and neither of us was willing to let it go.

We stood there, staring each other down, the tension crackling between us like static. The fragment pulsed between us, a reminder of what was at stake.

I had come this far. I wasn't going to back down now.