Unbeknownst to the students huddled around their flickering campfires, many forces were at play in this trial. The academy was not the only hand moving the pieces across the board. Shadows lingered in higher halls, and their games stretched far beyond the forested battlefield the students struggled through.
The night air was cool. The sky above was painted with stars, and the wounded rested in clusters, quietly tended to by the uninjured. Within the heart of the camp, where the firelight danced brightest, Zeke, Rian, and Kaito sat in a loose circle, waiting.
Tala emerged from one of the tents. Her steps were slow, but her wounds had been tended to. Fresh bandages wrapped her arms and ribs, and though her face bore a dark bruise under one eye, her spirit hadn't dimmed. She stepped into the glow of the firelight.
Kaito looked up.
The moment their eyes met, he was on his feet, running.
"Tala!"
She opened her arms just in time to catch him. Kaito crashed into her chest with a choked sob, burying his face in her shoulder. His body shook.
"I thought-" he tried to say, but the words broke apart.
She stroked the back of his head gently. "Shh... I'm here. I'm here, little brother. I'm sorry I left."
Rian stepped up beside them, quieter, his expression strained with held-back emotion. Tala reached out and wrapped her free arm around him, pulling him into the embrace.
Zeke stood back, watching. When Tala looked to him and stepped forward, he instinctively flinched but didn't move away.
She pulled him into a hug.
"Thank you for keeping them safe," she whispered. "Really."
Zeke nodded once. "You don't need to thank me. We're all together now. That's what matters."
Once they sat again around the fire, the mood shifted from tears to reflection.
Tala glanced around at the group, then began. "You guys seem to have it pretty good, must be easy to kill the stalkers with this many people."
Rian leaned forward. "Stalkers? do you mean the hollows?"
"That's not their name," Tala said. "Well, not exactly. They're called the Hollowed as a collective species. And they come in different forms. The one I killed... was a Stalker."
Kaito blinked. "Wait. You killed one? Alone?"
She gave a grim smile. "Barely. It had cornered me after I separated. I was bleeding, panicked. I didn't know what it was at first. But I remembered something my teacher taught me years ago-never run in a straight line from a predator. I set a trap... baited it. Got lucky."
Zeke narrowed his eyes. "What else do you know about them?"
Tala looked into the flames. "There are at least four known classes of Hollowed. The Thralls, those are the weakest. Pack hunters, not too smart, but dangerous in swarms. Then there are the Stalkers, they are stealthy, patient, fast. Deadly one-on-one. Wraiths are rarer. Pure speed and precision, almost ghost-like..."
Zeke was silent, absorbing it all. After a pause, he turned to Kaito. "Did you know any of this?"
Kaito, eyes still a little red from crying, blinked. "Know what? What are we talking about again?"
Zeke rolled his eyes, and Rian let out a tired laugh.
Tala chuckled too. "That's Kaito. Nothing's changed."
"Actually," Rian said, shifting gears, "You missed a lot on our side too. Like Zeke and Kaito fighting. They really went at it."
Kaito sat up a little straighter, clearly hoping that his sister would get angry at Zeke.
Tala raised an eyebrow and smacked him lightly on the back of the head.
"Ow- hey!"
"Dummy," she said, but she smiled. The campfire circle burst into laughter, the tension finally cracking.
Hours went by, most of the students began leave, Tala lingered by the fire. Before she turned in, her eyes caught a figure standing just beyond the circle of light.
The executioner woman leader.
Zeke recalled her name "Hmm...Do you need anything Ella." He looked up at her.
Her arms were crossed, expression unreadable.
Tala's brows furrowed, but before she could say anything, Ella stepped forward.
"Since I'm already caught, might as well say what I'm here for."
Everyone turned.
Ella's eyes locked onto Zeke. "Let's go, Mr. Leader. We need to get this plan down to the last detail."
Everyone relaxed, expecting something way worse to come out of the executioners mouth.
Zeke sighed and stood. "Alright."
He followed Ella a short distance away from the fire, where the shadows of trees curled like smoke around the flickering torchlight. She walked ahead of him, her gait steady but unhurried, as if she wasn't someone who'd threatened to kill them all just hours earlier.
When they reached the edge of the clearing, Ella turned, arms folded, her pale eyes sharp even in the dark.
"You're not what I expected," she said simply.
Zeke raised an eyebrow. "That a compliment or an insult?"
"Neither. Just an observation." She tilted her head slightly, studying him. "You don't speak like someone who's used to leading. But they follow you anyway."
Zeke crossed his arms. "Maybe that's why they trust me."
Ella gave a faint smile. "Maybe. Or maybe they see themselves in you. A bunch of kids, cornered by something bigger than them. Desperate for a reason to keep going."
There was silence for a moment, broken only by the soft crackle of fire behind them.
Then Zeke asked, "So what is this to you, Ella? An alliance of convenience? A temporary truce until you've had enough of playing nice?"
Her smile faded. "You think I want to keep killing?"
Zeke didn't answer.
She looked away for a moment, voice lower now. "When we woke up in this hell, we were given one rule. Kill ten, or fail. We didn't even know each other. We were scattered, confused. Some of us gave in to fear. Others…" Her jaw tightened. "Others took to it too easily."
Zeke replied "And you?"
"I tried to avoid it. At first. But the moment I hesitated- one of mine died. Because I told him not to kill the student, I made him hesitate." She met Zeke's eyes again, this time without the edge. "So I adapted. Made a code. No cruelty, just clean kills. But I'd be lying if I said we didn't spill blood. A lot of it."
Zeke exhaled. "So now what? You want redemption?"
Ella shook her head. "Redemption's a pretty word. But I don't think we're owed it. What I want is impact. I want the people who made this system to feel what we felt."
Zeke was quiet for a long moment, then nodded slowly. "That's what I want too. Not revenge. But change."
Ella's gaze sharpened. "Then we need to shake this place to its roots. No more factions. No more lone wolves. We pool our strength, gather every student still alive, and hit the trial where it hurts."
"You think they'll follow us?" Zeke asked. "The ones still out there?"
"They'll follow you," Ella said, stepping closer. "Not because of your strength, but because you're willing to carry their hopes. That's the kind of leader people rally behind."
Zeke looked down, a strange weight settling in his chest. "Funny. I never asked for this."
Ella smirked faintly. "None of us did."
They stood in silence for a moment more before she asked, "What's your plan exactly? Speak it plainly."
Zeke nodded. "First, we find every student still alive. Bring them in. Offer protection, structure. Show them this isn't about survival anymore- it's about ending the game. Then, we identify the weaknesses in the trial system. There's a pattern to the Hollowed appearances. Someone's controlling them. If we can find the source…"
Ella's eyes narrowed. "...we break the trial."
"Exactly," Zeke said. "Break the structure. Make the entire setup collapse in on itself. We ruin their data, I think we get marked on how many hollowed we kill. What would happen if we even out the number of kills between all of us?"
Ella let out a low whistle. "Risky."
"I know."
She gave a slow nod, thoughtful. "We'll need scouts. Runners. Mapmakers. If we're forming a full resistance, it needs to be organized. And if there's another wave of Hollowed…"
Zeke finished for her. "Then we're ready."
Ella held his gaze for a moment longer, then reached out her hand. "A truce, for real this time. You bring the heart. I'll bring the edge."
Zeke stared at her hand, then slowly reached out and shook it.
"No more killing students," he said firmly.
She nodded. "No more lines crossed. Not unless they come at us first."
As they walked back toward the fire, Zeke could feel it, the shift in the air, the way the trial was no longer just something to survive.
It was something to fight.
To end.