Gold

Test

    I was dressed in the official Utopian Guard uniform. It consisted of black leather pants with a black tank top and a black leather jacket. I was wearing my boots which laced up to my knees and my hair was in its usual high ponytail. I left my room and started the short walk to the arena. My room was only a minute walk away because all the officials saw how often I was there and decided to keep me close to it. I walked into the arena and saw the four Leaders, dressed in the same garb that I had on, sitting on the side of the arena. They were muttering amongst themselves and I felt a little twinge of nervousness, at least that's what I think it was; I had never experienced nerves before.

    “Good morning,” I greeted them. Arie smiled and the rest only nodded in my direction. Arie’s brown eyes were sparkling. He seemed genuinely nice. It was weird. He didn't seem like he had any motives or anything.

    “You nervous?” Arie asked, trying to make conversation. I shook my head, although I did not yet know what the test consisted of, I wasn’t that nervous. Just a little, but they didn’t need to know that.

    “When will I find out the rules of the test?” I asked and Zayn stepped in.

    “I will explain it now,” he offered. “The test consists of four parts: First, the fighting part which I lead; Second, the bravery part which Josef leads; Third, the strategic part which Arie conducts and Fourth, the health part which Alec will do.”

    “Okay then… I’m ready,” I stated. Zayn walked into the middle of the arena and motioned for me to follow. Follow I did. I always prided myself in being brave, I didn’t really have anything to fear due to the fact that I’m pretty much superhuman, but my heart raced as I stood in the middle of the arena. 

    “This is only a duel, no mortal injuries allowed. Begin,” Arie said and stepped out of the way to let the duel begin. His blonde hair glistened in the fluorescent lights as he took a step back to allow the duel to begin.

    I made the first move. I lunged toward him and then twisted to the side and dropped to the floor. He was disoriented by the weird way I had moved so I was able to get his feet out from under him and he fell to the floor but he managed to not bang his head. That was bad for me because if he had hit his head it would have impaired his fighting skills. 

    I slipped over him and straddled him with my thighs. He bucked but I used my strength and barely moved. I wrapped my hands around his throat and squeezed until he passed out. Once he passed out I jumped off him and turned towards the other three Leaders. They were gaping. I had used my ability which made it impossible for anyone to beat me. The serum I was injected with was strong and effective. There really hadn't been a chance for Zayn to win at all. 

    “You passed. Your time was fifty-six seconds,” Arie said with wide eyes. I smirked and waited for Josef to bring me to the next part of the test. 

    “Kira, come with me,” Josef left the arena through a small door on the side of the huge room. I ran to catch up to him but the door slammed behind him. I felt Arie’s eyes on my back as I grabbed the door’s handle and shoved it open. It was completely pitch black on the other side. I stepped into the dark room and let the door shut behind me. I closed my eyes and then opened them slowly to let them adjust. After a couple of seconds, I could see everything and I was surprised to find I was in an empty room. I looked around when all of a sudden Josef’s voice rang out. “You’re in a dark room. There are traps all around the room. You need to follow my instructions and you will get to safety. But if you do not listen to exactly what I say then you might get quite injured.” 

    I glanced around the room and had to hold in a laugh. There were no traps anywhere, but they didn't know I knew that so I answered, “Okay.” 

    “There is a door on the other side of the room. You need to make it to that door…” Right when Josef said that I took off running and reached the door within seconds. I threw it open and was surprised to find a black gaping hole, but without any hesitation, I jumped. I had no clue what was at the bottom but I knew that either way it didn’t matter. If I didn’t jump I wouldn’t pass the test, so pushing aside all misgivings I jumped into my possible death.

    I landed in warm water. It was a high fall and I hit the water hard and the slap of the water stung but the pain would recede shortly. I lay on my back and floated on the water for a second to look around and get an idea of what I had to do. I was in a little pool of water. It sort of looked like a well. There was nowhere for me to swim to on the surface so I assumed I had to go under. I took a deep breath and dove into the warm water. The further I swam the colder it got. A light shone out in the water and I saw there was an underwater tunnel with a light emanating from it. I started swimming towards it but then I saw that it was a dead-end and would have just made me waste air and would have caused me to resurface and waste time. I ignored the tunnel and swam as fast as I could to the bottom of the well. There was a glass floor on the bottom. I saw the four leaders looking in. I waved at them and then turned to the right and saw a small tunnel that led to a cavernous room. 

    I stepped onto the artificial beach and glanced around. All of a sudden a squadron of guardians rushed out of a small doorway. “Guard Kira, there has been a k********g and there is now a hostage situation. What is your command?” a short Guard asked me in a panicked voice. I squeezed some water out of my long ponytail and took a deep breath. 

    “Who has been kidn*pped? What are the kidnappers asking for ransom? Where has the hostage been taken?” I barked out these questions and paced, excepting to be answered immediately.

    “The son of the Mayor, Leo Crowne. The kidnappers are asking for the Mayor to resign and to have a rebel be put in place. Crowne has been brought to the Boundary and is being kept in an old outpost.” The short Guard responded, matching my brisk tone. I spun towards the squadron and noticed how they were all watching me very carefully.

    “We need a professional negotiator to be called in. As he is speaking to the rebels I want this squadron to scout the outpost that the victim is being held in.” I turned towards the water and glanced over the peaceful calm water which only rippled slightly from when I had exited it. “I want you all to be ready to defend me. I will be going in myself once we fully scout the area.” Without looking at the squadron I started towards the door from which they entered. I opened it and stepped through, knowing my men were in formation behind me.

    The room I walked into was large and filled with weapons and maps and old clunky computers. Those were all that was left after the Great War. I stepped towards the weapons and made sure everyone had at least one rifle and a couple of daggers stuffed into their belts and boots. I found some kevlar vests and slipped into one and then went to the map table. 

    The maps were old but all the new things I needed to know were sketched on. I looked at the map and followed the Boundary with my eyes. Our land, called Utopia was large and took up a place that had once been the east coast. The rebel camps stretched over our western border. The outpost that Leo was being kept at was circled. “Guard? I want to see a negotiator right now and I want a small team of two people sent out just to get the general idea of this outpost.” I directed these instructions to the short Guard, the only Guard who has talked to me actually. 

    The team of two was sent out and the negotiator was brought in. He was an elderly man, with curling white hair and a happy, you could even say jolly, face. His appearance was grandfatherly and calming, no doubt he was a professional. “Guard Kira, how nice to make your acquaintance. I’ve heard many great things about you, my child, I am Nick, and I will help you get Leo back, don’t worry.”

    “Couldn’t have been that great, but thank you for the reassurance,” I forced a grin. I didn’t grow up with parents or grandparents and for some reason, there was a dull pain in my chest when the old man acted so kind towards me. “I want you to call the Rebels right now, I will leave half the Squadron with you, the rest will be leaving with me right now.” 

    “Are you sure that you want to leave before you hear what the captors have to say?” There was a warning in Nick’s voice. I looked at his watery grey eyes. My ponytail swung as I nodded my head.

    “I’m sure. The Rebels are not trustworthy and if they try to do something I’d rather be in the crosshairs than in this room, unable to help anyone.” I looked at the men around me. “I want six of you to come with me. Let’s go.”