Nyx didn't sleep. She spent the dawn testing her ankle, working through combat scenarios in her mind.
The sky was golden when Razeil returned, carrying supplies wrapped in a cloth.
"You didn't sleep?" He asked.
"Couldn't."
"Your body needs rest…"
"My body can rest when I'm dead." She turned to face him. "Which will probably be soon, so why does it matter?"
He didn't argue. He put down more food, fresh water, and clean clothes; he'd brought for her.
Nyx looked at the food. She was hungry. She sat on the fur and started eating.
"Darius has already sent scouts ahead. Korran will arrive by midday, Sylthis and Zephyr by afternoon."
"All at once?" Nyx swallowed a piece of bread. "I thought I'd have time between…"
"Darius wants this resolved quickly. They'll judge you as a group rather than individually."
"That's worse."
"Yes. Four Kings with four different agendas, all of them looking for reasons to kill you."
Nyx put down the food, her appetite completely gone.
"Tell me about them so that I can prepare myself."
"You want the truth?"
"I'm going to die today. I'd like to know who's killing me."
"Fine." He sat opposite her.
"Darius Bloodmaw." He began. "He is the Wolf King, 80 years old, which makes him relatively young for a King. He's brilliant, ruthless, and has personally killed more enemies than the rest of us combined. He watched humans bond his grandfather during the Culling, forcing him to slaughter his own mate and cubs, watched them command him to rip out his own throat."
"How old was Darius?" Nyx was shook.
"Twelve. Old enough to remember every detail and young enough for it to scar him permanently."
"So, he hates me because of what humans did to his family."
"He hates you because you are everything he's spent his life destroying. Every human he meets, he sees his grandfather's killer." Raziel leaned forward. "He'll test you, push you, try to break you. If you show fear, he'll kill you himself."
"And if I don't show fear?"
"Then he'll respect you enough to let the trial decide." He paused. "Which isn't much better, but it's still something."
"Next. The Bear King."
"Korran Ironpelt." Raziel smiled. "He is 120 years old. He is massive, brutal, and straightforward. He values strength above everything else. He doesn't care about politics or philosophy. He cares only about power."
"So, I need to prove I'm strong."
"You need to prove you're not weak. There's a difference." Raziel stood up, walked towards the weapons rack, selected a blade and tossed it to her. She caught it with one hand. "Korran respects fighters. Not necessarily winners, just people who won't quit. If you can take a beating and keep standing, he'll vote to let you live."
"How much of a beating are we talking?"
"A lot. His trial will probably be combat. Three rounds, three opponents. You don't have to win. Just survive."
"Just survive." Nyx repeated. "Everyone keeps saying that like it's simple."
"It's not simple but it's possible which is why we're using the next few hours to prepare you."
"I can barely stand." Nyx protested. "My ankle is sprained, my ribs are cracked, my hands are…"
"Excuses. In eight hours, you'll face Kings who don't care about your injuries. Either you learn to fight through pain now, or die later. Choose."
Nyx gritted her teeth, and adjusted her grip on the blade.
"Fine. Teach me."
They walked to the open space near the fire. Raziel started with basics. He taught her how to stand when your body is damaged, how to protect injured areas while still maintaining offense, how to use pain as fuel rather than distraction.
"Pain is information." He said, circling her slowly. "It tells you what's wrong, where you're vulnerable. Acknowledge it, then ignore it."
"That's not how pain works…"
He struck, his blade stopping just in front of her injured shoulder. Nyx flinched.
"You died." Raziel said. "Again."
They reset. He attacked from a different angle. This time she tried to dodge but her ankle gave out and she stumbled.
"Dead."
He attacked again. She blocked him but her ribs ached, making her drop her guard.
"Dead."
"This is pointless." Nyx threw the blade in frustration. "I'm too injured, too slow, too…"
"Too defeated." Raziel picked up the blade and held it out to her. "You keep dying not because of your injuries but because you've already accepted failure."
"I'm being realistic!"
"You're being a coward."
Nyx stared at him with anger in her eyes.
"What did you just call me?"
"A coward. You survived here through pure determination, killed one of my warriors, climbed down a cliff. But now, when it actually matters, you're giving up before you've even tried."
"I'm not giving up…"
"Yes, you are." He threw the blade at her feet. "You're letting your injuries, your fear, your failure control you. That's surrender and cowardice."
"Fuck you." Nyx picked up the blade, gripped it so hard that her knuckles turned white.
"Better. Use that anger. Channel it."
They reset again. This time when he attacked, Nyx didn't think about her injuries. She just ducked under his swing, ignored the pain from her ribs, came up inside his guard with her blade aimed at his throat.
He blocked her easily, but he was smiling now.
"Good. Again."
They practiced for an hour. Raziel was relentless, pushing her past the point where pain became background noise.
"You're fast." He said after she managed to touch his arm with her blade. "Faster than you should be with those injuries."
"Adrenaline." Nyx was breathing hard.
"More than that." He came at her from the side, she turned, used his momentum against him, and nearly threw him off balance. "You're adapting."
"I've spent ten years learning how predators move." She blocked his next strike. "You're just bigger prey."
Raziel laughed.
"Most people would be terrified to think of Kings as prey."
"Most people haven't hunted Siberian tigers." She lunged, but he ducked. "Compared to that, you're just a really big cat."
"You did not just call me a big cat."
"What are you going to do about it, kitten?"
He attacked. Nyx barely managed to deflect. She rolled but her blade slipped from her hand. Raziel's blade was at her throat.
"Dead." He said, but he was grinning. "But that was better. You lasted almost a minute."
"Is that good?"
"Against me? Yes." He lowered his blade, and offered her his hand. She took it and let him pull her up. "Against Korran's warriors? Maybe. Against Korran himself?" He shook his head. "You'll lose."
Nyx rubbed her shoulder where she'd hit the ground.
"I really hate this dimension."
"The feeling is mutual." Raziel walked to grab water, and offered it to her. She drank it immediately. "We should discuss the other Kings."
"Right." Nyx sat on the furs again. "The Serpent King?"
"Sylthis Coldscale. They are 70 years old, but acts like they've been alive for centuries. They are gender fluid. Sylthis is the most dangerous King politically. They're manipulative, poisonous in every sense, always three moves ahead of everyone else."
"What will their trial be?"
"Mind games and political intrigue. They'll test your ability to navigate court politics, identify threats, survive assassination attempts." Raziel's jaw tightened. "Sylthis doesn't value strength or courage. They value ruthlessness."
"I can do that." Nyx had spent years manipulating targets, staying one step ahead of law enforcement. "That's survival skills 101 for a poacher."
"Sylthis is different. They don't just read people; they dissect them. Find their weakness, their fear, and exploit it without mercy."
"What's my weakness?" Nyx asked.
"You need to be in control." He replied. "You can handle pain, fear, even death. But helplessness breaks you. That's why you keep trying to escape even when it's suicidal."
"That's not…"
"It is. And Sylthis will see it within minutes. They'll use it against you. Put you in situations where you have no control, no options, no power. If you panic, if you break, you fail."
"So, what do I do?"
"Accept that control is an illusion." Raziel leaned forward. "In Sylthis's domain, nothing is what it seems. Every ally could be an enemy. Every truth could be a lie. The only way to win is to stop trying to control the situation and just adapt."
"That's asking me to go against every instinct I have."
"I know. But if you can't, you'll die. Sylthis has no patience for people who can't adapt."
"And the last one?" She asked. "The Hawk King?"
"Zephyr Stormbeak. He is 90 years old; sharp, calculating, values knowledge above everything else. For him everything is data and patterns."
"So, he'll study me like a specimen."
"Yes but not cruelly. Zephyr is probably your best chance at survival. He's genuinely curious about humans. He wants to understand what you are, how you think, why you survived when you shouldn't have."
"What will his trial be?"
"Intelligence tests. He'll want to see how your mind works under pressure. You'll probably fail some of them. That's fine. Zephyr doesn't expect perfection, just interesting results."
"That's almost reassuring."
"Don't get comfortable. Zephyr may not want you dead, but he also won't protect you if the other Kings vote for execution. If your death provides valuable data, he'll accept it immediately."
Nyx stood up.
"This all is messed up. But I won't die without giving them a fight."