Nyx slept for eighteen hours straight. Her body simply shut down. When she woke up, she saw Raziel sitting by the fire, studying maps and documents scattered on the floor.
"You're awake." He immediately said without looking up. "How's the pain?"
"Better." She lied. "What are you doing?"
"Finding loopholes." He looked at her, and she saw exhaustion on his face too. "I'm looking for anything we can exploit."
"Such as?"
"Such as…" He picked up a scroll. "…the trial must be a combat, but the rules don't specify what kind of combat. Weapons and armor is allowed."
"Great. I can't hold weapons, can barely walk, and will collapse if someone hits me too hard." Nyx tried to sit up. "What good are weapons if I can't even use them?"
"You won't be using traditional weapons." Raziel put down the scroll, and walked towards her. "We've still time. During this time, I'm going to teach you how to fight without hands."
"That's impossible."
"So was surviving the hunt. But you did it anyway. Now, rest. Tomorrow we will start training."
"Raziel."
"Yes?"
"Don't worry. I'll try my best to not die in Korran's trial."
"Good." He turned around, walking towards the exit. "Because I'm not done with you yet."
Their training began at dawn the next day.
"Stand up." Raziel said.
Nyx tried but her ankle gave out immediately, dropping her back on the furs.
"I can't…"
"You can. You're just afraid of the pain." He crouched in front of her. "Accept the pain and move past it."
"Easy for you to say. You're not the one with broken bones."
"But I've fought with broken bones, cracked ribs and shattered arms. Every warrior has. The difference between a fighter and a corpse is whether you can push through pain."
Nyx gritted her teeth and tried again. This time, she made it, though her whole weight was on her other leg.
"Good. Now walk."
"My ankle..."
"Use it for balance, not weight." Raziel said as he shifted his weight to show her how to move with an injured leg. "Take small steps. Slide more than walk."
It took Nyx twenty minutes to cross the room without falling.
"Better." Raziel picked up two wooden practice poles. "You can't grip weapons with your hands but you can use your forearms, elbows, and legs."
He demonstrated her as he tucked a pole on his forearm, using it as an extra limb.
"The weapon becomes a part of your body. You don't grip it instead you integrate it."
"How am I supposed to keep it from falling?"
"With straps and bindings. We'll attach weapons directly to your arms." He handed her a pole. "Try it."
Nyx awkwardly positioned the pole against her bandaged forearm.
"Strike." Raziel ordered.
She swung. The pole flew off her arm and rattled on the floor.
"Again."
They spent the next few hours on basic strikes. By the end, Nyx could keep the pole attached for only three moves before it fell, and that wasn't enough.
"I can't do this." She said as she collapsed on the furs. "Three days isn't enough time to learn an entirely new fighting style."
"No. It's not." Raziel sat beside her. "Which is why we're not trying to make you a master. We're just trying to make you survive."
"How can I survive the fight against bears without being a master?"
"Masters win fights. Survivors find ways not to lose." He pulled out a document. It had rules for Korran's trial. "There will be three rounds with three opponents. You don't have to defeat all three. You just have to survive all three."
"Survive how? They're going to be bigger, stronger, faster…"
"But not smarter." Raziel pointed at the rules. "Each round has a time limit of fifteen minutes. If neither fighter is down by the end, it's a draw. And a draw counts as survival."
"So I don't have to win. I just have to not lose for fifteen minutes."
"Exactly for three times." He smiled. "Think you can run for fifteen minutes?"
"With this ankle? No."
"Then we can find another way." Raziel started sketching on the floor. "Dodge, use obstacles, make them come at you in ways that suit your injuries, not theirs."
They spent the rest of the day planning. Most of it was about how to use the arena, and how to frustrate the opponents.
It was a coward's strategy but Nyx had never been more grateful for it.
DAY THREE (FINAL PREPARATION)
"One more time. From the beginning." Raziel said.
Nyx went through the moves they'd practiced. She sidestepped to make space, used the pole on her forearm to block instead of hit, moved around the obstacles, and had to made them chase her for fifteen minutes.
She lasted for only eight minutes before her ankle gave out completely.
"Not good enough." Raziel said, helping her up. "The opponents won't be patient."
"Then I'll have to be faster."
"You can't be faster with those injuries." He helped her to sit and checked her bandages. "We need a backup plan."
"I'm open to suggestions."
"Forfeit the first round. Save your energy for rounds two and three."
"No." Nyx replied immediately. "I forfeit anything and they'll say I'm weak. I survive all three or I die trying."
"That's your pride talking."
"That's my strategy talking." She looked at him. "If I show weakness now, the other trials will get even more harder. Sylthis and Zephyr will exploit it. I have to prove I can survive Korran's trial or things will get even worse."
"You're right, but…"
"What's the backup plan?" Nyx cut him off.
"You fight dirty. Dirtier than you ever have. Korran values honor, but the rules don't. If you need to blind them, do it. If you need to hit their groin, do it. If you need to bite or scratch; anything that isn't banned, just do it."
"I can do that."
He stood up and offered her his hand.
"Tomorrow, you're going to need every dirty trick you know."
Nyx took his hand and stood up.
"Get some rest now. Tomorrow is going to be brutal." He then left.
Nyx looked at her bandaged hands, and her braced ankle.
It looks impossible but I've survived impossible before. I'd do it again or die trying.
Dawn came too fast. Nyx stood in the arena; a circular pit about 50 feet wide with 20 feet stone walls on all sides. Obstacles were scattered all around: big rocks, wooden posts, few small structures that gave a little cover.
From above, hundreds of beasts watched. All five kings were sitting on their respective thrones.
Nyx was wearing a leather vest and reinforced bracers that held the poles on her forearms. Her ankle brace was hidden under a wrapped cloth, and her hands were still bandaged.
She looked up at Raziel. He was sitting on his seat with a neutral expression on his face. Korran Ironpelt stood up from his throne.
"Human. You survived the hunt through cleverness and endurance which is admirable." He gestured to the arena. "But bears value strength and power. Today, you'll face three of my warriors. Survive fifteen minutes against each, and you pass."
"And if I don't?" Nyx asked even though she knew the answer.
"Then you die, and we'll have our answer about human capability." Korran sat back down. "Bring out the first opponent."
A gate opened on the far side of the arena. The bear warrior who emerged made Nyx froze.
He was seven feet tall and was covered in brown fur. He was holding a wooden club which was big enough to break bones.
The horn blew and the bear lunged towards her.
Nyx sidestepped, using the technique Raziel had taught her. The bear's club smashed into the ground where she'd been standing.
She ran and stood behind a big rock. The bear was patient, he didn't rush. He waited. But Nyx couldn't wait. She needed to frustrate him, make him do some mistake.
The Bear swung. Nyx ducked and the club missed her head by inches. She used this opening and hit his knee with her forearm weapon. But the bear didn't even flinch.
Shit. He's too tough.
She created distance between them again. Only two minutes had passed but she was breathing hard already.
Just survive. Don't think about winning. Just survive.
The bear kept coming at her. Nyx dodged, used obstacles and stayed out of his reach.
The bear faked left but swung right. He hit Nyx on the shoulder, the impact wasn't huge, but it was enough to knock her down.
Pain shot through in her injured ribs. She rolled, and got up, gasping, barely avoiding the next strike that would have crushed her skull.
The bear was frustrated now. His swings were getting wilder and less controlled. He was tired of chasing a prey that wouldn't fight properly, he wanted to finish this quickly.
Nyx used his frustration. She led him towards a wooden post and waited for him to do a overhead strike.
She dodged, and the club smashed into the post. The club got stuck in the post for a second. Nyx immediately struck his face with her forearm weapon, hitting him on the eyes.
The bear roared as he staggered back. He was temporarily blinded by sand and wood fragments.
Nyx went far away from him. She was breathing like she'd run a marathon. Her vision was starting to blur but she'd survived ten minutes.
Just five more.
The bear wiped his eyes and saw her standing far away. He was angry now. He lunged towards her with pure aggression.
Nyx couldn't dodge fast enough. The club hit her on the side and she flew into the arena wall. She hit the wall hard enough to see the stars. She slid down, couldn't breathe, and her vision began to darken.
No. Not yet. Get up.
The bear walked towards her to kill her now. Nyx grabbed sand from the ground and when he came close, she threw it on his face.
The bear flinched. Nyx lunged forward, and slammed her elbow onto his neck.
The Bear staggered back. She immediately kicked his knee and started targeting his eyes, neck , groin.
The bear fell down. Nyx stood over him and raised her forearm weapon for another strike.
The horn blew. Fifteen minutes had passed. Round one was complete. The crowd erupted in confusion, disbelief, and respect.
Nyx had survived. She'd played dirty but she'd survived. Korran stood up slowly.
"Round one: Draw. The human survives." He announced. "Take her for medical. Round two will begin in an hour."
Healers rushed in. Raziel immediately ran towards her.
"You survived." He said.
"Two more… rounds." She whispered.
He held her up as healers checked her injuries.
"And they're going to be harder."
"Looking…forward… to it."
And then she passed out before they could even get her out of the arena.