naradrith: Nat and Ili actually have a lot more in common than they realize. On the subject of Nackor, I'll give you a hint. (More of a rhetorical question actually but, oh well.) Haven't you ever wondered how it was that a dwarven slave was able to kill an experienced barbarian?

Chapter Six

Nathyrra and the five other students stood in a room. The instructors had told them nothing of the test and all were somewhat anxious with anticipation.

Malice entered the room, accompanied by the other six instructors. She gazed imperiously at the students. "Your test will begin soon. Inside the door in front of you lies an obstacle course. You are to complete the course to the best of your ability. If you do not do your best, you will regret it. The first go through the final door will be the winner." She beckoned Briza to come forward. Malice pointed at the objects in Briza's hands. "You are not to use your personal armor or weapons. You will be allowed a set of clothes and a small dagger. Nothing else. Take five minutes to equip yourself and then station yourself in front of the door until further instructions."

Briza passed out the items. The students began to strip off their original armor and change into the required garments. Nathyrra looked at the clothes. It consisted of a pair of calf-high black leather boots, dark red leather pants, a sleeveless black leather shirt, dark red bracers, and a brown leather belt with a pouch attached for the dagger.

She began to pull on the garments. She frowned when she saw that all of the clothes were skintight. Her scowl deepened when she saw that the shirt only stretched to her navel. Great. Now I have to worry about being killed by something stabbing me in the guts. Nathyrra twisted her sliver hair into a low bun and tied the belt to her waist before walking towards the door.

When all of the students had finished, Malice commanded them to open the door. In the next room were six doors. The students each stationed themselves in front of a separate door.

"BEGIN!" Malice shouted.

They all opened their doors and ran in.

Nathyrra's door led to a hallway. The place was so dark that even Nathyrra's darkness accustomed eyes had trouble seeing. She quickly cast a spell of improved infravision—which helped slightly—and began running down the hall. This isn't so bad, the drow thought as she ran.

The hallway started becoming narrower. Soon, Nathyrra was walking sideways to get through the hall. It widened awhile later and Nathyrra was able to resume her run. A section of floor suddenly started break apart. She immediately jumped back.

Nathyrra whispered a detection spell. Sure enough, the floor was rigged to break every time she stepped on it. The drow frowned. Wonderful. Just wonderful. Thinking quickly, Nathyrra cast haste on herself and took a step back. She ran forward, building up speed until she moved towards the wall and ran across it.

Nathyrra breathed a sigh of relief as she reached a sturdy floor. Grinning, she pulled open another door and entered it.

The next room was brighter, and far clearer to Nathyrra's eyes. She surveyed the room. Nothing but two narrow walls with a bar placed at the top made up the room. Nathyrra blinked. How will I get up there?

An idea formed in her mind. She stepped between the walls. Whispering another haste spell, Nathyrra ran forward and up the wall. She jumped backwards onto the next wall and then bounced back again. Nathyrra continued doing this until she reached the abr. She sprung off the wall and grasped the bar, holding on for dear life. Don't look down, Nathyrra ordered herself, trying not to think about how a distance of at least eighty meters lay below her.

Nathyrra swung on the bar and jumped. She grabbed onto the ledge of one of the walls and pulled herself up. The wall began crumbling. "Shit." Nathyrra cursed and sped across the wall towards another platform.

By the time she reached a safe hallway, Nathyrra was panting with breathlessness. She wiped her sweaty brow and turned around. A hostile minotaur stood in her path.

Nathyrra's eyes widened. "Damn."

The monster roared and ran towards Nathyrra, brandishing its axe. Nathyrra ducked and rolled through the opening between the creature's legs to escape. She instantly turned around and shouted a magic missile spell. The minotaur merely shook his head when the projectiles hit him and growled, now even angrier.

Nathyrra did a back handspring to avoid the creature's next blow. She saw that she was running out of options. Nathyrra stole a quick glance behind her. In the next room, a single rope hung in the center of the place, above a pit of metal spikes.

Nathyrra turned around and ran towards the room. She jumped off the edge and grasped the rope. When the minotaur followed her, she swung on the rope and delivered a solid kick to the creature's ribs.

The monster was thrown back several feet. Snarling, it ran towards Nathyrra. She swung backwards to escape it. The minotaur lost control of his footing and fell of the ledge, becoming embedded on the spikes.

XXXXX

A few minutes later, Nathyrra stood in another room. A long, slanted pole was stationed in front of her. It stopped at a hole in the wall, which led to the next part of the course.

It'll take too long to scale if I go hand-in-front-of-hand, she noted. If I had a rope or something of that sort, I could most likely use it as a grappling hook…or something like that.

She looked at her belt. No, the pouch will unbalance the weight and the leather won't glide fast enough. Another idea struck her. She grimaced. Well, Ili said that an assassin must be resourceful. I'm just glad no one's here to see this.

Nathyrra reached under her shirt and deftly removed her breast band. Sighing, she placed it on the pole and grabbed onto the ends of the garment. Nathyrra slid across the pole, turning it into a virtual hang-wire.

When she reached the end of the pole, Nathyrra put her breast band back on and continued her course. A memory of her encounter with Seelamin in the stables entered her mind. She smiled. Barbarian bastard, she thought affectionately.

XXXXX

Nathyrra finally came towards the final room. It consisted of many bars, ledges, switches, and so on, all leading to the final door, which was located on the tallest ledge.

Something suddenly pushed past Nathyrra and jumped onto the bar. It was the student, Ghefna Unboi. Nathyrra growled and jumped as well. Ghefna jumped to the next bar, determined to stay ahead of Nathyrra. Ghefna was naturally faster than Nathyrra, but Nathyrra had something that her rival lacked; magic.

Nathyrra used a haste spell and easily caught up to Ghefna. Realizing that she had no choice but to fight, Ghefna used one hand to pull out her knife and the other to hang onto the bar. Nathyrra pulled out her own dagger and feigned a strike. When Ghefna brought up her blade to block, Nathyrra cast a flame arrow spell and shot it at her rival's fingers.

Ghefna involuntarily let go but Nathyrra grabbed her with her legs. Ghefna didn't dare struggle, knowing that Nathyrra was the only thing keeping her from falling.

"Mercy." She pleaded.

Nathyrra smiled and put her dagger back in her pouch before taking Ghefna's knife away from her. Still smiling, Nathyrra said, "All mercy perished with my beloved." She let go.

Ghefna let out an ear-piercing shriek as she fell. Nathyrra smiled grimly as she was embedded on the spikes below. Nathyrra put her newly acquired dagger between her teeth and jumped onto the teen-foot platform in front of her. Just a few more bars and ropes and I'll win.

The sound of hands applauding was heard behind her. Nathyrra spun around. Velkyn Velde stood on the other side of the platform, clapping her hands. "Well done, Alurl Faen. You have bested Ghefna Unboi."

Nathyrra arched an eyebrow, waiting for her to continue.

"I saw your little 'activity' with your breast band. Very clever."

Nathyrra gave her the dirtiest look she could muster.

"However, your cunning will not be enough against me." Velkyn pulled out her dagger and ran towards Nathyrra.

The fight lasted for awhile, neither opponent gaining an advantage. Velkyn suddenly saw an opening and delivered a kick to Nathyrra's exposed stomach. Nathyrra grunted and fell backwards. Velkyn ran ahead, grabbed the rope, swung to the next bar, and used her knife to cut the rope. She laughed at Nathyrra's furious expression. "Try and use your magic to get yourself out of this!" she taunted and continued the course, going through the final door.

Nathyrra let out a stream of curses and tried to think of an idea. She sighed. Why does this keep happening to me? First the stables, then the pole incident, now this! Nathyrra pulled off her shirt and began tearing it into thin—but sturdy—strips.

She then pulled off one of her boots and tied it to the end of the rope. Nathyrra swung the rope towards the bar, making sure it had tied itself into a good knot around her boot. She swung forward.

XXXXX

Ilivarra walked into the center room. Nathyrra sat in the middle of the room, her arms hugging her knees as she brooded. "I should have won." she declared.

"Yes, you should have but you didn't, did you?" Ili scowled. "And for the hate of the gods! Put some clothes on! You haven't changed since you stepped out of that obstacle course."

"I'm wearing a breast band."

"Do as I say."

Nathyrra got up and pulled on a white, short-sleeved shirt. "What should I do?"

Ili was about to answer when Nathyrra suddenly grinned. "I know! I'll exploit her weaknesses and use them against her! I'll get started right away."

"Your enthusiasm is inspiring, Alurl Faen, but you should rest. There is such thing as working to much. It's not good for you."

"I know, but this is important." Nathyrra slipped into the training room.

Ilivarra mentally sighed. Her lust for vengeance is not healthy. I would know. In ways, she's like the daughter that I was deprived of…I don't want her to be consumed completely by hate…