Chapter 43: The First Move

Astrid

The entire academy gathered at the main training grounds that morning, the atmosphere entirely different from a normal school day. Teams lined up across the field, instructors and senior staff positioned along the perimeter, and a massive scoreboard displayed every participating team alongside their current standing.

I noticed people watching us before the event had even started, partly because of Reed and Xander’s reputation, partly because of how far I’d climbed in recent weeks.

Ivy found us just before the whistle. "Please don’t die."

"I’ll try," I said, laughing.

She looked at the twins. "And you two better make sure she doesn’t."

Xander pressed a hand to his chest, solemn. "I’d never let anything happen to her."

"We won’t," Reed said simply.

Something about the certainty in his voice settled tight in my chest.

Headmaster Aldric explained the structure once the whole academy had assembled. The competition would run across several stages throughout the day, testing strategy, leadership, combat, cooperation, and adaptability. Teams would accumulate points as they went, the highest cumulative score earning a major ranking boost.

One rule stood out immediately. Every team member had to contribute. No single student could carry the entire team.

I liked that. It meant the twins couldn’t simply overpower every challenge on their own. We actually had to function as a unit.

The instructors announced team leaders shortly after. Reed and Xander were obvious choices for most groups. Then my own name appeared as one of the designated secondary leaders.

A few students reacted with visible surprise.

"Her?" someone whispered nearby.

I heard it clearly and let it slide off without comment.

Xander leaned toward me. "Ignore them."

"I am," I said.

"Then lead," Reed said simply.

That single word settled something steady in me.

The first stage began with maps handed to each team, deliberately incomplete, requiring us to locate three hidden checkpoints scattered across the grounds using scattered clues rather than a straightforward route.

I studied ours while Reed immediately began calculating potential paths. Xander suggested the fastest route without much hesitation, straight through the central training field.

I noticed a problem. That field would be crawling with other teams, and we’d lose more time fighting through the crowd than we’d save by cutting the distance.

"There’s a longer route," I said, pointing to an alternate path skirting the edge of the grounds.

Reed studied it. "It takes seven minutes longer."

"But we won’t have to fight anyone to get there."

Xander considered it for a moment. "She’s got a point."

Reed nodded. "We take her route."

I was mildly surprised neither of them pushed back further.

Halfway to the first checkpoint, we spotted another team already there, though they were now heading toward what I recognized as the second checkpoint location. Something about their trajectory looked wrong.

"They’ve misread the clue," I said, showing Reed the discrepancy.

He examined it. "You’re right."

"That’s becoming a habit," Xander said, grinning.

I ignored him, and we adjusted our course accordingly, the small correction giving us an unexpected head start.

We hit a physical obstacle not long after, a steep climb blocking the direct path forward. Xander immediately started scaling it.

"Wait," I said. "There’s probably another way around."

"Probably?"

"Yes."

"I prefer definitely."

He kept climbing anyway.

"Xander!" I called.

He looked down. "What?"

"Come back."

To my surprise, he actually did, dropping back down and rejoining us without further argument.

Reed watched with quiet amusement. "He’s listening to you."

"I’m choosing to listen," Xander said, defensive.

"Whatever helps you sleep," I said, smiling.

At the next checkpoint, Reed turned to me with a question. "If you were leading alone, what would you do next?"

I looked at the map and offered my answer. He didn’t immediately agree.

"What if you’re wrong?" he asked.

I thought about it. "Then we’ll adapt."

He studied me for a long moment. "Good."

I frowned. "That was a test?"

"Yes."

"You could have warned me."

"Then it wouldn’t have been a test."

I shook my head, though something in me understood exactly what he was doing. He wasn’t trying to undermine my decisions. He was teaching me to trust them.

Another team caught up with us shortly after, clearly intent on stopping us from reaching the final checkpoint. A short confrontation broke out, Reed handling the defensive positioning while Xander took the aggressive front line. I watched the opposing team’s movements carefully, noticing a pattern in how they kept trying to pull Xander away from us specifically.

It was a trap.

"Xander, don’t chase them!" I shouted.

He stopped mid-motion, the split-second decision keeping us together when we would have otherwise been split apart and picked off one by one.

Reed looked at me. "Good call."

Xander glanced back at me, breathing hard. "You just saved me."

"You’re welcome," I said, shrugging.

"I owe you," he said, grinning despite the tension still hanging in the air.

We reached the final checkpoint soon after, only to discover the challenge required all three of us to activate it simultaneously, standing on three separate markers spaced far apart across the field. The opposing team was closing in fast behind us.

Reed took one marker. Xander took another. I took the third.

"Three!" the instructor called out.

We braced ourselves.

"Two!"

I looked toward Reed, then Xander, my heart hammering.

"One!"

We activated the checkpoint together, the mechanism lighting up all at once, and the points registered instantly to our team.

Xander laughed, breathless. "That was fun."

"You’re insane," I said.

"He’s not wrong," Reed added.

The scoreboard updated moments later, our team pulling into a strong early position. I stared at the numbers, genuinely stunned. We weren’t winning outright, not yet, but we were closer to the top than I’d ever imagined being possible when I first arrived at this academy with nothing but a stolen name and a scholarship letter.

Students around us started looking at our small group differently, whispers shifting from disbelief into something closer to respect.

Xander bumped my shoulder. "Not bad, leader."

"Not bad yourself," I said, smiling.

Reed looked at me. "You did well."

"We did well," I corrected.

He didn’t argue this time, and something about that small concession felt like its own kind of victory.

Just as we started to relax, thinking the first stage had wrapped up entirely, the Headmaster’s voice carried across the field once more.

"Stage Two begins in thirty minutes."

A collective groan rose from the crowd of exhausted students.

Then came the catch.

Stage Two would be conducted in pairs. Each team had to select two members to represent them for the next round, leaving one behind.

I looked at Reed. Then Xander. Neither of them said anything at first, the silence stretching just a beat too long.

Xander slowly began to smile. "Well..."

Reed studied the announcement scrolling across the display, his expression unreadable.

I already knew exactly where this was headed.

"Don’t," I said.

Xander looked between the two of us, clearly delighted by whatever thought had just crossed his mind. "Someone’s going to have to choose."