Page 30 of Shattered Darkness
Cain smiles, “I had a feeling that you were going to ask me that. The first thing I need to point out, even though I’m fairly sure that you have already guessed, is that despite the name, the Warrior Games are definitely not Games. They aren’t made to entertain; no one can observe them apart from the Gods, and even then, they have no say about what happens to contestants while in them. They do grant the winners or those that deserve it with extra gifts in order to help them protect the Realm. It is controlled by the Fae Realm herself, and she is ancient, far older than any God. She follows no rules and has her own agenda. She sees everything and strategically constructs things in order to keep the Fae world alive and thriving. She focuses on the bigger picture rather than things that she considers small, like kingdom disputes. Her sole purpose is to ensure that the Fae World doesn’t go the same way as so many Realms before it and just disappear.”
“Whoa, hold up a fucking minute,” Asher says, interrupting Cain, “you’re speaking about her like she is an actual being like you could talk to her if you wanted to?”
“Like she’s a Goddess herself but above the Gods almost?” Sage asks, curiosity shining bright in her eyes and making her look even more stunning than usual.
This conversation has already brought back some of that spark that we’ve all noticed has been missing since we got here. She’s not herself, and she’s not happy; we all know it, and we all wish that we could do something about it. The only thing is that other than just leaving here, we don’t know how to help. We can’t just leave here because we have nowhere to go and nowhere that we can stay. It’s not like we have contacts in the Fae Realm that will help us out.
Since we realised that the teachers are being controlled and it’s given us a purpose again and more danger, she has started to perk up and get that spark back, but I have a strong feeling that when we’ve fixed it and the teachers are back to normal, she’s going to become unhappy again and lose that spark, she wasn’t made for this, in fact, none of us are doing very well here. I want to ensure that it doesn’t happen, but I have no idea how to go about it, and it's something that is constantly in the back of my mind.
“Yes, she is; in a way, she is so ancient that no one knows her origin anymore, and she doesn’t communicate in the ways that Nyx, for example, communicates with you,” Cain replies to Sage, pulling me out of thoughts.
“How do you know how Nyx communicates with me?” Sage asks and then immediately shakes her head, “You know what, never mind.”
“The games are brutal and deadly tests of strength, intelligence, and strategy, all things that determine the ultimate Warrior.” Cain starts to explain again, “The Warrior Games are a centuries-long tradition that the Fae Realm herself used to determine the warriors that were capable of protecting our Realm from outside forces and the best warriors to ensure that the Realm continued to thrive.”
“That’s pretty amazing, actually, but it hasn’t happened for a while?” Erin questions.
“No. The last games were over one hundred years ago, and the Realm hasn’t started another one since, despite the need to with the rise of the Order.”
“So around the time that the Order waged the war on the Centres and their Bonded?” Jax questions, noticing something that I hadn’t.
Cain nods, “Yes, somehow, the Order managed to block the Fae Realm and stopped it from being able to pull warriors into the games.”
Asher tilts his head, “I’ve come across the Warrior games in my books, and the information wasn’t nearly as detailed as what you’re telling us.”
Cain raises his eyebrow and smirks, “That’s because the books weren’t given all of the knowledge, only a brief overview. I know more.”
“Is there any point in us asking you why you know more than the books that are supposed to teach us?” Sage asks.
“You can ask, but I won’t tell you,” Cain replies, making my lips twitch. At least he’s amusing with his mystery. He continues his explanation, “The Fae Realm pulls in the Warrior teams that are to participate, and they are always pulled from Black Onyx Academy. Every team there will be pulled in and expected to compete whether they want to or not. However, they don’t all get pulled in at the same time it's staggered. Each round was different for each team and was specifically designed to play on their weaknesses and strengths. It wasn’t rigged, so winning wasn’t impossible, although, at times, I’m sure it could feel that way. The length of the rounds all depends on the environment they were transported to and their swiftness in identifying the objective and completing it. Sometimes, the objective was clear, and sometimes, the participants had no idea what it was. No round was ever longer than twenty-four hours though. If the objective wasn’t completed in time, then the Realm deemed you unworthy.”
“What happens if the Realm deems you unworthy?” Cole asks.
“The Warriors that failed were brought back to the Black Onyx temple, where the Gods and Goddesses decided their fate, usually death.” Cain replies, no sign of joking in his features anymore.
This is a serious fucking thing to be facing. One that the Black Onyx Academy students don’t actually get a choice to participate in. Looking around at the faces of my family and friends, I get the feeling that none of us would actually mind, and if the opportunity were presented to us, we’d all choose to participate.
“There were worse things that they would face than their lives being forfeited for the Realm. The Realm, at least, would take them within seconds, and they’d feel nothing. But the terrains and situations that the warriors were up against were very real. Some of them are not even in this Realm. After all, how can the Realm herself be sure that the warriors were up to the duty of protecting it if they were only tested against things that they were familiar with?” Cain asks.
“Wow, which makes a lot of sense, but holy shit, that’s intense,” Sage replies.
Cain nods, “Anything in these rounds could and would take great pleasure in killing the participants. Some of the beings that they were put up against would simply take them prisoner instead. Since the failed participants wouldn’t be able to be brought back here when their time was up and held in the temple for the Gods and Goddesses to deliver their punishments, they were simply abandoned to whatever Realm and creature they couldn’t defeat.”
“That’s pretty harsh,” Jett points out with a frown.
Cain simply nods, “Yes, there’s no denying it, and there’s no sugar coating it. As I said before, it’s brutal, and there’s a high chance that you won’t survive.”
“Hang on, so there’s only one team that wins? That means that all of those hundreds of other students at the academy get killed?” Sage asks, sounding horrified.
Cain shakes his head, “No, several teams pass the trials, and how well they do or how difficult the level is depends on where they’re sent to protect. Despite it being a Fae Realm thing, the Warriors aren’t always sent to protect the vast Fae world.”
“That’s not mentioned in the books anywhere either. It’s always one team, and the rest either don’t survive the games or die in the temple,” Asher replies.
“That was done strategically, one to ensure that they train properly but also because the teams that were actually protecting dangerous or volatile places once they’d passed the games, they needed anonymity, so the winner so to speak was always a team that tended to come last and only just passed the tests and then was given the job of protecting one of the royal courts, and dealing with the people that way,” Cain explains.
“Okay, that makes sense, I guess. I mean, you can’t protect somewhere properly if everyone recognizes you and wants to talk to you because you’ve won the fae games,” Ty replies.
“Exactly. Obviously, there’s a lot more facets to it, and even those at Black Onyx Academy don’t have as much knowledge as you do.” Cain adds. “Those that make it through the games are deemed heroes, warriors that are worthy to serve this Realm and protect it.”