Lok is pitted against Drake again. Garrett and Brink are also selected, but not to battle each other. I don’t recognize the other names, and none of them are from Looper. Their chairs descend while the rest of us stay put. When the first battle begins an hour later, Addie seat-hops over to an empty chair next to me. I have a hard time looking at her because of the cotton candy-colored hair loaded with glitter, her turquoise sweater, and blue hip-hugger pants.
“So, Frey told me he’s going to take you into Tarsus,” she says, before completely sitting down.
“There’s no way I’m leaving the tower.”
“Come on, Max, it’ll be fun. Rumor going around is that the break will be for a couple of days, and the Keepers may be letting us venture out. Aren’t you curious about what Tarsus looks like? It has to be better than the Outer Limits.”
I’ve never really wanted to see Tarsus, let alone leave the Outer Limits, so having the break sounds unnecessary to me. I’m more interested in what changes they’re going to be making to the battle floor, as well as to the point system.
“I suppose,” I say, lying. We both stare at the monitors secured in the headrests of the seats in front of us as the first duo take the floor. My mind suddenly clicks with the question I wanted to ask her. “Addie, how are the contestants chosen? I don’t mean for the battles, but to be participants in The Litarian Battles.”
She’s silent for a few minutes. “Well for those of us from Tarsus, we enter a draft when we’re twenty. It’s optional, but everyone here wants to prove themselves better than everyone else, so a majority of the young adults in Tarsus enter. We can get selected immediately, or a year or two later. It depends upon the leader.”
“He makes the decisions, not the Keepers?”
“Yes.”
So if their leader makes the choices, perhaps Head Master Edom did the same. Would that mean that what Frey was saying is true? Were we sent here to manipulate the outcome of the event?
The battles last two hours each, with no one dying. Drake manages to only lose one hundred points, but I think he won’t last much longer. I’m completely bored sitting and doing nothing. We’re brought lunch about halfway through the day and allowed bathroom breaks, but I’d rather be on the battle floor than the selection floor. Garrett and Brink are both victorious, adding four hundred and five hundred points, respectively. The rest of us head back to the lift. By the time we’re back in the unit, everyone is exhausted. We eat a quiet dinner and I go to bed before anyone else.
The next morning arrives quickly. I chose the same outfit when it comes time and I’m selected to battle third. My chair descends and I follow the same routine I did the previous time. Matron Kaniz is in the common room, but is too busy in conversation with the Matron from Dead Mark to notice me. I step into the changing room, put on my battle outfit, and sit on one of the couches facing the doorways to the floor. My opponent is a girl from the Nius unit. She has the same number of points that I do, but since this is only my second time in The Litarian Battles, I’m still outmatched.
Frey sits down next to me. He’s supposed to battle a young man from Dead Mark before me. He seems perfectly relaxed, almost a little too at ease in this surrounding.
“So,” he begins, placing his arm across the back of the couch behind my head, “I’ve arranged our little excursion with Matron Kaniz.”
“You did what?!” I practically shout.
“The Keepers are letting us leave the tower for a couple of days while they get things ready. There are a handful of us going home, so I’ve fixed it that you’ll be staying with me.”
“I told you, Frey, I’m not interested.”
“Matron Kaniz has already made the necessary arrangements, so you really don’t have an option.”
I roll my eyes, irritated at the fact that I don’t have any say in the matter. I’m sick and tired of decisions being made for me. What good could come of me going into Tarsus? So I can see how better off they are than those in the Outer Limits? So they can rub their wealth and abundance in my face? I wonder if I can find a way to get out of going.
Frey’s name is called. He pats my thigh before standing, then goes through the door on the right. I spend the next several minutes trying to figure out what I can do to get out of this. Frey’s battle sequence begins and is over in a matter of moments. His sword practically cuts his opponent in half. The man from Dead Mark never had a chance to put up any defenses. Frey is automatically awarded ten thousand points, putting him in the lead in the Looper unit.
The door on the far left lights up and my name appears above the frame. The girl from Nius almost trips me as we pass each other. She glares at me. I enter into the hallway, strap my weapon around my waist, and proceed onto the battle floor. The first thing I do is loop to the far side of the room, over where the exit doors should be. I can’t see my opponent, so I’m hoping I can wait out the two hours just by looping around the floor. I hide behind some boulders, waiting for time to pass.
A high-pitched screech pierces the silence. I poke my head out just as
