Thirty seconds later, Lieutenant Zale’s words were still burning in my ears—but the minutes were rapidly melting away, so I distracted myself by keeping busy. I fortified the barricades in the front of the hole, where the attack was most likely to happen, and then got busy putting people into place. My parents and Min-Ha had agreed to hold the front line, and when Zale insisted on taking the lead on holding, I didn’t argue. He could rot at the bottom of the Tower for all I really cared. I knew my mother would make sure the wall was defended.

Dylan bucked at Kellan’s request that she fill the void underneath the bridge, but his teammates were on board with holding the line. Frederick readily agreed to scouting, much to my surprise, but I didn’t argue with him. Having some forewarning would help us prepare for the battle ahead, and it would give us a clue as to what strategy they were using.

The final few minutes were filled with small conversations about contingency plans should any defensive position get overwhelmed—namely to fall back to the position that Maddox, Leo, Dylan, and I were holding behind Maddox’s barricade, acting as the rally point for a final stand, should our front lines be overwhelmed.

When the clock hit thirty seconds, sweat began to form on the back of my neck and forehead as my stress levels rose. I quickly looked around, my eyes sliding across the bridge, to confirm that everyone was in place, and spotted my mother and her team standing with their backs to the wall they had built, batons already in hand. None of them looked particularly worried—they were experienced at these sorts of things by now—and I couldn’t help but feel a mild stab of jealousy at the confidence on their faces. I was a nervous wreck.

I shook it off and shifted my eyes down, looking to where I could make out the bottoms of Kellen’s shoes just below the lip of the hole, where he was dangling under the bridge. Sella and Norman were on either side of him, but I couldn’t see them due to the bridge between us. I knew they were there, though, having done a final check just moments ago. Their position was the weakest of all, as they only had three men to our eight, but I had assigned myself, Leo, Min-Ha, and my father to act as temporary re-enforcement should our opponents attempt to bring the bulk of their forces up from underneath us.

I didn’t think they would, but one could never be certain. If they did, however, all we had to do was get under the bridge to help, or even better, pull Kellan and his team back and then take the opposing team out as they came up.

I caught sight of Frederick making his way farther down the bridge, his legs and arms pumping as he raced up the curved surface, heading for the pinnacle of the arch so that he could see all the way to the other side.

The clock hit five seconds. I sucked in a deep, calming breath and began shaking out my arms, trying to burn off the excess energy the premature adrenaline surge had created. Beside me, Dylan shifted, and I could hear the creak of her uniform as she crossed her arms. I could tell she was still unhappy with how things had played out, and was itching for a chance to re-exert control during the actual battle.

She’d already tried once—when I’d asked her to back up Kellan and she’d refused, citing a dozen reasons why I needed her up here. I hadn’t argued with her then, and I wasn’t about to start now. I needed to demonstrate that I was calm and in control, so that if—or when—she tried to pry control from me, the Knights watching would call her motive into question. So I had merely heard her out, nodded, and said, “That works too,” before moving on to other things.

Now that time was slipping away, I used the remaining five seconds to deliver a last-minute (and what I hoped would be moderately reassuring) speech that would boost our morale, while keeping anyone from catching a case of the nerves. We were in the entrenched position, and even though the fight was about to start, we were forced to stay in place by the nature of the challenge. And sometimes the waiting was the worst part. Teams would get agitated and impatient, and often abandon their posts to try to figure out where the enemy team was coming from—ultimately costing their team the challenge as a result of their impatience. I needed everyone to do the opposite of that.

“Don’t panic when the clock hits zero,” I called out loudly, hoping Kellan and his team under the bridge could hear me. “It’s going to take them time to cross the bridge, and they’ll likely be trying to sneak past us somehow. Stay alert, keep a wary eye out, and don’t rush out to meet anyone. Just stay calm, and remember your training. No need for nobility, either. Knock them into the water as early and often as possible. And remember, if all else fails, just argue with them for as long as possible, and we’ll take care of the rest.”

I heard the bark of a laugh from under the bridge, and from the other side of the hole, I caught Min-Ha hiding a smile behind her hand. My mother didn’t bother to show Zale the same courtesy, and even added a rich chuckle that carried back over. I caught Dylan’s jaw tightening from the corner of my eye, but she remained silent, and I could feel her waiting, aching for a moment to prove me incompetent.

I wasn’t about to give it to her.

Then the clock hit zero, and my heartbeat increased slightly, becoming hard enough to feel it deep in my stomach. It was difficult to keep still—and more difficult not to expound upon my advice. Doing so would only make everyone more apprehensive, and if I gave license to my mouth, chances were I could dash the morale I had been trying to keep up.

My eyes were glued to Frederick’s form, which had stopped at the highest point. He was still for a long time—long enough for me to check my indicator twice to see how much time had passed. The first time revealed only fifteen seconds. The second showed forty-five. But there was still no signal from him.

“Kellan, do you see anything?” I shouted down the hole, leaning over the little wall.

“Nothing yet. No sign of them topside?” his voice called back, slightly diminished by distance.

“Not yet, but keep an eye out. They’re out there somewhere.” I spoke with more confidence than I felt, my mind already beginning to search for any other way they could approach us. “Scan the sides of the arenas. Maybe they’re trying to come in from the sides, bypassing the bridge completely.”

I took a few steps back as I spoke, my eyes already searching the curved walls of the arena. The lights from above made it difficult to see, though, and I had to use my hand to shadow my eyes.

“You know, they might not be coming at us just yet,” Dylan said casually. “For all you know, they’re still trying to plan out their attack. We could use this time to keep fortifying our defenses.”

I kept scanning the walls, ignoring her. I wasn’t about to get defensive with the drones on us, especially when there was a possibility I had missed an angle of attack while I was planning our defensive positions. If I had, I was about to be utterly humiliated, and getting defensive about it would only make me more of a joke. Instead, I turned my mind to what I could’ve possibly overlooked.

I had assumed the other team would come directly for us, but if they were clever, they might’ve come up with another way to get around and flank us. They couldn’t leave the arena, but anywhere inside of it was fair game—which meant lashing over using the outer walls was a possibility.

But there was no sign of movement on the left side. I even squinted up at the lights for a few minutes, wondering if they were on the ceiling, trying to get a drop on us from above. But there were no shadows cutting across it that I could make out.

Not to mention, climbing up the side, then across the top, and then back down the other side would be physically taxing. By the time they reached us, they would be tired, and that wouldn’t be to their advantage.

No, whatever they were planning had to be something they could execute quickly—and something that would leave them fresh for a fight. At least, that was the sort of plan I would’ve suggested if I were on their side. I had to assume that someone over there would’ve thought the same thing.

“I still don’t see anyone down here, Liana!” Kellan shouted, his voice barely reaching me.

“And Frederick still hasn’t signaled,” Leo reported.

“I’ve got nothing on this side,” Maddox added, lowering the hand she was using to shield her eyes. “But I have a big blind spot thanks to the statues.”

I froze as her words hit me, and then cursed myself for being an idiot and not thinking of it in the first place. It was right in front of my face! In front of all our faces.

“The statues!” I shouted, racing toward the closest one. I whirled my lash into my hand and cast it up high, aiming for the shoulder of Lionel Scipio. Once it hit, I pressed the controls in my hand, and the gyro began to pull the line in, yanking me off my feet. I leaned my weight into the line, throwing it off balance so that it swung wide around his side to his back, and then planted my second line on the back of the Founder’s head and yanked, landing lightly with my legs spread wide, braced on his granite shoulder blades.

I stared down the rows of statues, following the line of their backs, and sure enough, I saw crimson-clad figures swooping toward us using their lashes, already halfway across the bridge and drawing rapidly closer. My mind raced, and I retracted the line even farther, climbing up onto his shoulders so I could look down at our defense. The hole that we had created was presided over by two statues on either side, for a total of four. The remaining bridge length that we had left in order to support the massive weight of the statues ranged between five to eight feet by the hole, and the gap between the statues was at least the same, if not more—plenty of room for them to land and create a foothold that would neatly cut our forces in half. The statues would give them reliable cover, and they could quickly become entrenched, which would be bad for us. If they became entrenched right there, then we’d have to attack them, which gave them an advantage and ruined our defense.

We needed to get the statues out of there. Now.

“We need cutters on the statues, there and there!” I bellowed, pointing out the statues. “Cut them down, now! Give me two from the forward team, and two from the rear!”

I leapt off the statue, using the still-connected line to slow my fall enough to keep me from breaking my ankle. I landed hard, the shock radiating up my legs, and nodded to Maddox as she raced toward the statue I had just been on, cutter in hand. I continued to scan the activity on the bridge as she passed me to make sure that my orders were being followed, noting that Leo, my mother, and Min-Ha were in fact rushing to the other statues.

“Cut at a downward angle!” my mother shouted, the cutter erupting into a five-foot-long length in her hand. “Start high on the inside, midway down from the knee, and cut at a downward angle, so that you end approximately three inches lower on the other end. That will tip them over the edge rather than to the inside!”

She started to cut below Rachel Pine’s knees, just as she had described, the sickly orange color of the cutter glaring white as it bit into the metal, and within seconds it was a quarter of the way through, my mother’s arms flexing as she pushed the cutter along. I watched for a second and then moved over to the edge of the hole, where I could now see Kellan hanging at the edge, looking around for me.

He spotted me, and his mouth opened in question, but I cut him off. “They’re coming in from the back side of the statues. I need you and your team to go past the barricades, about a quarter of the way toward their side, wait for them to pass, and then follow a little bit behind them.”

Kellan hesitated, and then nodded. “You’re right—that’s the only way to get any sort of advantage over them. Catch them between us in a classic pincer move.”

He started to lash off, but paused when I said, “Watch out for anyone on lookout underneath. If they manage to sound the alarm, they can swing around on you and take you out. Don’t get me wrong—it would buy us time to fix this statue problem—but you’re more valuable the longer you stay in this fight.”

Kellan gave a surprised laugh and flashed me a thumbs-up before moving away. I heard him barking orders to his team, and then turned away, confident that he would do the best he could. I looked around and saw that my mother was now two thirds of the way through her statue, but everyone else was moving more slowly.

“Maddox, get over there and help Min-Ha!” I called. I hated pulling Maddox off the statue she was currently working on, but Min-Ha’s was the second one in, which meant it was the lynchpin statue for the other team’s strategy. Without it, there would be a wide gap between the first and third statue that would leave them exposed and vulnerable, while giving us line of sight on them. We needed to remove it first to create a break in that cover, and then we could worry about the other one. “Dylan, Zale! Get up on the third statue in and report how close they are! They’ve got to be getting near.”

Dylan, in an extremely gutsy move, immediately cast her lash onto the first statue—the one that Leo was currently cutting through. The statue creaked as she swung in a wide circle around it, causing Leo to retract the blade and stagger back, concern and fear that he had done something wrong crossing his face. I gritted my teeth together, angry that she would do something so dangerous, and motioned for Leo to keep going as Dylan tossed a lash toward the statue my mother was almost finished cutting through. The statue began to slide just before Dylan’s weight hit it—and then sped up right after, beginning to tilt backward.

Leo watched for a second, and then turned back to cutting. I saw a grim yet satisfied look on Leo’s face as he continued to slice through the statue, and the sight made me pause, until I realized which statue he was taking down: Ezekial Pine, the man who had murdered Leo’s creator. No wonder he looked satisfied—he was exacting his metaphorical revenge on him. I absorbed that for a moment while I continued to track Dylan’s movement.

Dylan threw another lash as she swung up and around Rachel Pine’s falling form, connecting with the third statue and disconnecting her line just as the statue completely detached from the solid anchor its legs had provided. It landed headfirst in the water below with a splash. The legs, still visible over the banister, continued to swing over, until they landed with a second splash.

Dylan finished her belay-like climb up the statue’s arm, and turned so that her back was facing us, leaning forward slightly so she could peek out past the statue for signs of our attackers. It was a good position, as it required very little movement on her part, while keeping her almost invisible to them.

And it would have to do. I needed to make sure that everyone else was in place and that the statues were well on their way down, because we didn’t have a moment to waste. I leaned forward to check on the progress of Min-Ha’s statue, and to see where Zale was.

Zale hadn’t pulled off Dylan’s theatrical stunt, and was now lashing his way up the front of a statue opposite Dylan. Frankly, I was little surprised to see him there—I hadn’t expected him to follow my orders—and watched for a second as he climbed. Then a sharp grating sound caught my attention, and I turned in time to see the statue Min-Ha and Maddox had been working on break free. Only it didn’t fall forward, so much as it slid. I watched, a knot forming in my stomach as the slanted edge of the statue’s shins crashed into the handrails. They snapped free from where they were mounted, and the entire bridge shuddered as the statue scraped along the edge on its way down, kicking up sparks under the friction of the massive slab of metal sliding off the edge of the bridge. Min-Ha and Maddox danced back a few steps, their arms coming up to shield their eyes.

The sparks continued, an acrid smell of smoke filled the air, and then the statue finally hit the water with a splash, leaving only the face of Otto Klein—the first representative from the Mechanics Department and one of the Founders—resting against the outer edge of the bridge. For a second, his head teetered against the side, and then something gave and it dragged off to the left, disappearing with a shredding, metallic sound interrupted by the snap snap snap of the banister breaking.

For a second, I worried that the impact of the statue on the bridge might have tossed a few of our competitors free—but then realized that as long as no one got trapped underneath it, they’d be fine. If they did, they’d be dead.

I hoped for the former over the latter, but didn’t dwell on it. There just wasn’t any time.

Maddox and Min-Ha were racing toward the other statue, cutters in hand, when Zale whistled, and I looked up to see him making a hand signal at me—two open palms followed by two fingers. They were twelve statues away. I looked at Dylan, and she flashed eleven fingers.

“Zale! Min-Ha! Fill the void where the statue used to be. Dylan, you’re with Holly, there, opposite of them!” I ordered, pointing at my mother. “Maddox, get that other statue down. Grey, how’s it coming?”

“Almost got it!” he shouted back, and sure enough, seconds later, his statue came crashing down. Relief poured through me; we had limited their ability to enter on that side, somewhat. Now we just needed to make sure that Maddox got finished on the other side as well, and we could gain at least a level playing field.

“Great! Back up, Holly and Dylan. Maddox?”

“Give me a second,” she grunted, and I glanced over to see her already about halfway through the statue.

Meanwhile, Zale and Dylan had clambered down their own statues to get into position, and I pulled my baton out, prepared to back up Min-Ha’s side, while my father rushed over from his position in front of the hall, helping to fill the hole.

With him in place, and Leo backing up my mother and Dylan on the other side, I forced myself to stand still, needing to keep a clear picture of the battlefield as it unfurled. I saw Frederick racing back, almost to the forwardmost barricade, and realized that he had figured out that something was up. I was surprisingly glad to see him, his nebulous legacy status notwithstanding. We were going to need all the help we could get.

Seconds later, the first crimson-clad figure swung around the third statue on Min-Ha’s side, and suddenly, both sides of the bridge were embroiled in battle. I checked on Maddox and saw that she was almost finished cutting through her statue, and then checked on the side of the battle that Zale was now leading. The first person through was already flying past him in an uncontrolled tumble that told me she’d been caught and thrown by the team there, but three more were swinging in behind her. Min-Ha got hit in the chest with a brutal, two-legged kick, and went flying in the direction of the hole.

I snapped into action, throwing my lash end a few feet in front of her, anticipating her trajectory. It landed with a blue flash, and I immediately braced a leg against the barricade. She wasn’t heavy, but she was falling, and the weight of her body hitting the end of the line was enough to make my bones rattle in my joints. As soon as she stopped bouncing, I began to reel in the line using my gyros. Then her weight suddenly disappeared, and seconds later, I saw her climbing over the edge of the hole under the power of her own lashes, and moving to rejoin the fight.

The bridge shuddered as the last statue dropped, and then Maddox was suddenly in the fray as well, her baton flying to push back three attackers. I watched them for a second, and then turned my attention to my mother’s side of the bridge, checking to see how the battle was going.

The first thing I noticed was that Dylan was missing—and then I saw her clinging to the side of the third statue, lying in wait. Sure enough, a second person swung past her, and to my utmost surprise, she flexed her thighs and leapt off the side of the statue, aiming a kick for the attacker.

She caught him in the side, knocking him off course, and then swung back, narrowly avoiding a kick to her head as a third attacker swung by. My mother was in the process of electrocuting their first attacker when the guy who got past Dylan planted a foot into her shoulder, slamming her back several staggering steps, and right into Leo.

Leo caught her with a steadying grip, but then the man was on them, his baton whirling and swinging for my mom. I grabbed the edge of the barricade, preparing to vault over and intercede, but Leo, with one steadying arm still around my mother’s shoulder, neatly deflected the blow with his own baton.

Something grabbed my wrist, and I looked down in time to see a baton aimed for my arm. I jerked my hand back, breaking the grip of the candidate who had somehow found a way to sneak up under the bridge, and stumbled back, still fumbling to understand how they could’ve gotten up here me without me noticing. Before I could figure it out, he swung up and charged.

I ducked down, avoiding the blow from the baton, but his knee caught me in the stomach, hard enough to knock the breath out of me and drop me to the ground. I curled up around myself as a deep, throbbing pain radiated from the impact site. I drew in a ragged, difficult breath, and then forced my body to roll, anticipating the next attack.

Sharp bursts of heat hit the back of my head as his baton came down in the place where it had just been, and panic suddenly gripped me. He had been aiming for my head! It could’ve been an accident, but my gut told me it wasn’t. He was trying to kill me.

I scrambled to my hands and feet, a surge of adrenaline helping to neutralize the pain. Getting my feet under me, I tried to move away, but a hand grabbed my hair, yanking me back.

I slammed my foot back on instinct, and was rewarded with a deep crack and a sharp cry. I then twisted around and lashed out with an elbow, but my timing was off and I missed him as he fell to the ground. He retaliated by shoving a hand into my back, strongly enough that I fell forward onto my stomach.

My chin slammed into the metal ground, and then I felt a hand grabbing a fistful of my uniform on the back of my thigh, and an intense weight coming over my legs, and realized that he was climbing up the back of my body.

I heard the hum of the baton and began to struggle, but my legs were weighed down by his torso. The hair on the back of my neck stood on end in anticipation of the blow he was about to plant there with his baton—but then there was a wet smacking sound, and suddenly his weight was gone.

I twisted around to see my mother standing over me, shaking out her fist, and my attacker on the ground, his right eye already beginning to swell. He groaned and started to push up off the ground, but my mother’s foot snapped out and hit him square in the face, knocking him out.

“You okay?” she asked, offering me a hand up, her features lined with concern and fear. “Did he hurt you?”

“I’m fine, Mom,” I said, suddenly self-conscious. I didn’t want her or the rest of the Knights thinking I needed my mother to save me, but at the same time… I wanted to give her a hug for intervening. The guy had caught me off guard.

Instead, I settled for taking her hand, letting her help me up, and looking around. “Why are you here? What’s going on?”

Frederick was down on the ground unconscious, but Zale, Norman, and Min-Ha were in the process of eliminating the last attacker on their side. Dylan was losing ground on hers, but she and Leo were being joined by Kellan and Sella, who were rushing in behind the two remaining attackers on that side, their batons already out.

“We took out three; Maddox’s side took out four. Kellan’s team got two on the statues, and with this guy here—”

My mother’s voice was cut off as the final guy was pitched over the side by Leo and Kellan, and then a booming chime sounded. I looked around, stunned by how suddenly everything just stopped, and then the walls of the arena filled with Scipio’s face.

“Congratulations, candidates,” he announced in a booming voice that was encased in ice. I suddenly thought of Rose, and found myself wondering if she was the reason he sounded that way. Or rather… the lack of her. I made a mental note to ask Leo, and focused on what Scipio was saying, rather than how he was saying it. Now that the fight was over, all I wanted to do was go home and take a nap.

“—Under Liana Castell’s leadership, you were able to repel the invaders. Now, normally, you would be given the rest of the day to rest and prepare for the next challenge, but due to heightened security concerns, we will be concluding the Tourney this evening. You are expected to report tonight at eight o’clock, and will be accompanied by officials for the remainder of the day. This change is top secret; only you, the council members, and the test designers are aware of this change, until it is announced to the rest of the Tower just before the challenge begins.” I looked around and quickly saw that all the drones had left, leaving us alone in the still of the arena. It was disquieting. I knew they would be back—the Knights of the Tower would not uphold any Champion that won without being able to view their actions during the final challenge—but still it was eerie to realize that no one was watching this. “This secrecy is for your protection, so act accordingly. Please return to your starting elevators and proceed to the preparation rooms to have your equipment checked and exchanged for your own, as well as to meet your escorts. I will see you soon, candidates. Until then, rest, and prepare, for before the day is over, one of you will be named Champion.”

The screen went dark, and I found the elation that had barely begun to form suddenly dashed under the realization that the Tourney would be finished. Tonight.