I was completely cold. Numb. Once again wrapped up in the red-accented black leather with my hair braided back. Odette in a white bodysuit that looked exactly like her dress in the Ceremony and Arnav in blue.

I was trying to run through the events, the competition events. But unsurprisingly, my mind had gone completely blank. So, I instead chose to focus on the area in front of me. A completely blank grassed field, with once again, a small box behind us where I could see Alexander, Harmony, Vance and then the two monarchs, along with who I supposed was the leader of the individual choir or court that Odette and Arnav came from.

However, far at the other end of the field, was a small, hovering table, surrounded by a dimming, dark green light. At the table sat three witches, I had never seen them before, yet they were instantly recognisable. While they were far away, so I couldn't make out any of the fine details of their faces, I could feel the power radiating off them from here.

I'd never had much to do with witches. In fact, they almost never fell victim to the Nightstalker. Quite frankly, I think the organisation was too scared to go up against them. To stay satisfied with the few witches that had decided to side with them and leave the rest to their own.

I had heard of them, seen then perhaps from a distance, but never like this, never been able to feel their power as if it were a bucket of ice-cold water, rushing over me. Something inside of me tingled, like a hand in my chest reaching out, desperately trying to grab onto that tether of magic that flowed towards me so temptingly.

As I watched them, holding my body deathly still, one of the witches turned to me. The centre one with thick, green hair matted into long, dirty dreads with eyes that seemed to move like lava on burning rocks.

A gnarled, bony hand moved forward, a yellow fingernail raising just slightly towards me.

I felt my blood chill.

"Welcome!" The booming voice of Alpha Montgomery snapped me out of what felt like a lucid dream. "To this year's Games! Our representatives Arnav Dhar, Odette Fedorov and Cassandra Verano will battle against each other in a series of events to decide the truly superior!"

Cheers and screams surrounding me, camera's whizzing. Every single one of these smaller events felt the same. Loud noises, camera's, all the rest. I could feel the deja vu, constantly at the back of my mind.

The ground began to rumble, and all of a sudden, three pillars raised from the ground directly in front of where we were standing.

"The first event... Archery! But not as we know it." Alpha Montgomery began. "It's simple, each Representative with take the bow and within one minute, aim to shoot as many targets as possible. However, the targets will not only be in difficult, unreachable places but also moving. Our judges, Madela Digby, Euphemia Snow and Salina Grim will decide on the most effective run. Throughout the competition order will run normally as usual, which is as follows: Siren, Wolf, Fae. Arnav, please take your bow and prepare to begin."

Without a moment of hesitation, Arnav leaned over and grabbed the bow. As his hand wrapped around the translucent, blue bow, moving it to his lips, quickly murmuring a few, illegible words that I couldn't make out. As he did so, the whole bow seemed to be covered in shimmering, pearlescent light.

He grabbed the quiver of arrows that lay on the floor beside the pedestal and in one easy moment, slung it over his shoulder, face hard in preparation for the first event.

A countdown, filled with the voices of every audience member that lay in the stadium. And then, a loud, ringing sound. And so Arnav began.

From the exact point of where he was standing, I watched as the arrow went flying. The first target popped up only a few metres away, the other turned up in a tree that could barely even be seen. Yes as I heard the distant thud of wood on wood, I knew he had made it.

They came up quicker now, barely a millisecond between each as his fingers moved lightning fast over the taught string of the bow.

The bright green countdown that hovered above Arnavs head turned to red, the entire crowd chanting to the lowering numbers as his moves suddenly became frantic and uncontrolled, missing more now than he had in his entire turn. I watched as while a few arrows still made their targets, most ended up lodges in the trees and even the strong foundation of the seating area that laid around us. I bit my tongue to prevent a single sound to move from my mouth. And just like that, his time was up.

The same countdown suddenly flickered back to green and moved above my head, just as all the targets across the field moved back into the ground, disappearing from view. I had tried my best to retain a mental image of where they had popped up. I suppose another advantage for Odette, a moment longer to memorise positions.

I curled my fingers around the arch of the bow, feeling the solid steel cold against my skin. Elegant, curled details were engraved into the metal, painted in with thin red paint, looking like veins under translucent skin. In a quick moment, I plucked the string, feeling just how much stronger mine was in comparison to how Arnav's looked.

It seemed that what he had done was spoken to the bow, talked it into his bidding in some weird, power transfer. Odette could enchant and Arnav could will it into being.

Most would immediately put me at a disadvantage.

Thankfully, I knew better.

What they did through their blood, through their power, I could easily do through my strength.

As I slung the quiver around my shoulders and drew my first arrow, the five-second countdown to start begun again. I aligned the arrow against the string, holding my breath as I desperately waiting for my minute to begin.

I let the arrow fly the moment the first target popped up. Bullseye. Another bullseye. Arrow after Arrow I sent flying into the direction of each, random target. It was easy to quickly figure out that the placement of my targets was completely different from Arnavs. The entire world seemed to blur, the volume of the audience fading into a blur as I moved quicker and quicker, trying to pull as much of my energy into this as possible.

I felt a nagging feeling at the bottom of my chest. Telling me that there was more. That this was too easy.

And so I turned around, and sure enough, bright red targets were beginning to pop up behind me. As if I were magic, I continued sending the arrows flying, this time in a million directions, turning from one angle to the other as I tried to do so as flawlessly as possible.

I tuned back into reality, still unchanging in my technique as the loud chants of numbers filled my ears. I tried to keep myself calm, staying focused on the task at hand rather than its imminent ending.

As the siren rang again, I let out a breath of relief, my arms immediately dropping out of the position they were in. I placed the bow breathlessly back onto the pillar as the quiver practically fell off my shoulder.

Her eyes a blazing fury, Odette swept her bow into her arms, just as I had expected, almost immediately did a fuzzy film cover the bow and in extension, the arrows waiting patiently in the quiver. her eyes were closed as her brow quivered, completely focused as she ran enchantments over her materials. The quiver was pulled over her shoulder, and she began.

Arrow after arrow, not even being tricked by the red-painted underside of the mechanical device that flew over her head halfway through.

Though his body was stoic, face unmoving, I could see the flare of Arnavs nostrils. It wasn't ideal being showed up in any regular situation, but in a public series of games that out you as the representation of your entire species? It seemed to times the embarrassment via a tenfold.

As her time came to a slow end, I spared a moment to glance at the witches. Still seated diligently at their table, furiously scribbling notes down on their paper. Except for the middle, who seemed intent on watching everything in as much detail as she could, specifically me.

I chose to look away, stare at the celebrating crowds instead, a welcomed sight.

We were entitled to a quick break, as suddenly, the scream that showed off us during our events switched into a large, zoomed-in interview discussing the results as loudly as possible, each word the interviews had to say taking over my mind as I tried to pour as much water down my throat as possible.

This time, there was three interviewers, journalists. Of course. Like John and Matilda would have continued with their all-wolf duo. No, now a completely different accompaniment replaced John, Matilda seated next to a fae male and a siren, animatedly making conversation as they discussed results, throwing numbers up onto the screen with descriptions and opinions to match.

"Next! Another simple task, so please, try not to get too bored." Alpha Montgomery joked. "We want Arnav Dhar to step forward, but our other, representatives, please stay back, private time will be allocated to all of you. In this challenge, we compel you to use your own magical or supernatural abilities to kill a group of wild animals. This can be done in any way you see fit. However, there are only three minutes allocated. The animal we have chosen will remain a mystery until they are moved into the cage. Trition Dhar, you have a minute to prepare."

Odette and I stayed firmly underneath the small shade that had been set up at the very entrance of the field where all our belongings, drinks and small, sugar-filled snacks. A medic too, waiting at our side for when they needed to be called.

Arnav walked forward, head high and strong. Through the thick blades of grass, I could barely see a thing, opting instead to take a seat in the plastic camping chair that waited. Quite frankly, I wasn't that interested in watching, especially since watching it on the enlarged screen that hovered at each angle like a God could offer me a much better view.

As the minute of preparation ended, I could hear the loud rattling of the retreat of a metal door, rolling itself up and allowing whatever beast that had been trapped behind it free to Arnavs torture. I could hear the slow snarl and roar of whatever animal was before him as I watched Arnavs face curl up in fear. The camera shifted, showing off the proud cluster of Lions that stood before him. At least five.

Without wasting time, words began to leave his mouth as the animals began to circle him. He created an armour out of nothing, out of the pure magic of his voice.

And then he attacked. Weapons in hand that certainly weren't there before as he jumped into action. The animals, it seemed, was expecting, not wasting time either as every single one pounced, covered Arnav in the cream fur that lay on their backs. All you could hear was a strange mixture of human grunts and squeaks and snarls. One by one, the animals went flying back, some with massive red slashes across their chests.

Arnav finished them off, death in his hands and murder in his face as he ferociously tore into each and every one of those lions until their entire bodies lay flat, dead against the blood-soaked floor.

With his blood-covered hands, he ran them over his chest in two, sweeping motions, almost in an act of triumph, of pride.

As he made his way back and people came running onto the field to move the lions from view, I knew it was my time.

And so, with my shoulders pushed back and not in an inch of fear in my system, I walked out into the open.

The moment I got into the designated spot, as of the approval of many officials that lay off in the distance, I shifted, shaking away my human form for the savage beast inside that I knew would have no problem in getting the job done.

Once again, the sound of roller doors caused my ears to prick up wary of what might come out.

It didn't take long for me to notice, bears.

Four of them.

I was able to recognise them immediately, all of the different species as a Grizzly, an American Black, A Eurasian brown and a Polar Bear.

I bit back a yelp. Was this even legal?

I pushed my paws into the ground, extending my claws to keep my smaller body stable in my position. Once they saw me, all snarling teeth and anger, the bears began to move towards me quicker, their eyes turning red.

I jumped, latching my mouth around the smallest that was coming at me the quicker, biting down as hard as I could before spinning the body out of my way. I used their size to my advantage, the bears barely able to figure where I was as I darted in between them and around a few surrounding trees.

It was only once they were completely confused did I strike the other three, chomping down on the underbelly of one, snipping at the ears, backs, tail anything of the other. I wasn't an idiot, there was a major size difference and if I didn't play my cards right, I would end up the one dead, not the bears.

I used them against each other, desperately throwing the already dead bear in the way of the others, causing them to fall over and lay wounded on the floor. I took it as my opportunity, snapping my jaws around their neck and making the killing blow quick.

As I finally managed to kill the last one, I stood up and shifted back, walking as I did. I turned my head and spat a massive wad of blood into the grass as I did, leaving the dead bears behind me like a distant memory.

I passed Odette on my way in, already making her way out into the field. The moment I got back into the shed, I collapsed back onto the chair, holding my head up as I watched the TV.

The roller doors opened once more, revealing snakes. All different colours, shapes and sizes. In fact, there was not one the same. I tried to count, ten, twenty, thirty. It didn't stop, slithering from the hidden room across the grass, baring their fangs.

Waves of magic, one causing every snake in the close vicinity to go flying to the air, the impact of falling back against the ground killing them immediately.

I watched as Odette moved her hands, sweeping up hundreds of snakes in a wave of air, twisting them into an endless, circling ball as she moved them high and higher up into the air, closing the circle around them closer. Suffocation.

She then moved the bubble down closer, right in front of the witches so they could watch, in detail as her magic made the killing blow. In a second, It was almost like the snakes popped, as if they were small balloons being handed out by a carnival clown. She then brought the bubble down to an inch above the floor before pulling her magic away, sending the dead bodies flying across the area.

She moved back towards where we were standing as Alpha Montgomery moved forward and took her place in the centre stage.

"Now, how about we get into the entertaining challenges?"

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