Prologue

"As time nears the end the tension in the arena has begun to sizzle! At present, out of the eight participants, three had exhibited extraordinary skills willing them to remain in the game." The Moderator narrated events with eagerness. "However we wouldn't call this a surprise. First of all the contestants are bound by blood and the children of the late Captain. It is no wonder they have proved themselves this far."

"As I've mentioned before, to succeed firstly all the participants must find their way through the dark, unlit maze. This challenge would test their ability to navigate against the darkness. As a required skill to Captain the ships in sea.

They then must proceed to balance themselves on a thin plank to cross the turbulent waters. This is to test their rationality and composure under a certain amount of pressure. Once crossed they must translate the ancient scriptures and find the noted items in the ancient ruins. This would evaluate their capability of survival in a foreign land. Thereafter they should be able to shoot three precise arrows at the target. Not a single arrow could miss the target not even by a centimeter or else it would be a cause for elimination as this is to analyse their combat expertise along with the rate of their speed. And if by chance there happens to be more than one remaining contestant they must battle each other one to one to determine the winner." The Moderator summarised the tournament into a paragraph not mentioning the trivial details.

"Leading the tournament we have the eldest Coleman coming through the ruins.  Followed by Sylvia the youngest translating the scriptures and then Hamm the second eldest still stabilising himself on the plank. Unfortunately their fourth sibling Hemlock could not make it as he was swept away by the turbulent water. As you've may heard the water under the planks have been especially designed to represent the ones at sea." As the moderator finished speaking a red flare lit in the sky. 

"It seems unluckily Hamm was defeated by the ancient language." The Moderator announced the removal of another contestant. His tone of speech was filled with regret and masked his ecstatic mood. "With only two prevailing, the intensity has risen." The loud howls and screams of the audience showered all over in response. Their blood boiled in exhilaration.

"It has now become Oldest VS Youngest. Only time could predict the outcome. "

Sylvia steadied her arms and closed her eyes. She pictured the target in mind and with her eyes closed shot the arrows one after another. Reacting to her swiftness and reflex the audience barked in joy. 

Completing her task, Sylvia walked to the centre of the arena. She knew her eldest kin was there waiting for her. She equipped herself with weapons and rushed in. Immediately as she stepped in, she was ambushed from her right. Sylvia blocked it with a dagger and dragged back leaving enough space between them.

"What? Have no confidence to defeat me so you turn to underhanded methods. How noble." She taunted. 

"There are no rules stating I could not do that and as for confidence I'll show you." Coleman lunged with his twin sword. Sylvia long switched her weapons immediately and threw her dagger to the floor. With her silver sword she sliced through the air and defended herself against Colemans twin swords.

"Give up Sylvia!" Coleman said through gritted teeths. He cornered Sylvia until she was trapped between him and a wall.

"Never." Sylvia retaliated back. All this time she had been playing defensive. Now it was her time. She twisted her body and sword and kicked his sword out of his hand and into hers. She threw his sword against the arena wall and it shattered into pieces.

Coleman gritted and used his other sword in hand to slash her face but somehow while he was focused to land an injury to her he didn't notice her picking up a shard of his tattered sword. It stabbed into his foot. Coleman screamed and lost his grip as his second weapon flew out of his hand. Using the momentary distraction Sylvia lowered herself. She punched him in his stomach with great strength and sent him flying to the other side.

Sylvia wiped the blood from her cheek that had gotten scratched earlier while Coleman coughed up blood. He spit it on the ground and quickly recovered. In rage he sprinted towards Sylvia and tackled her down to the ground and they both rolled on the floor before Coleman formed his hands into fist and punched Sylvia's face, bruising her lips. He picked up the dagger she threw away earlier in the fight and aimed it at her eyes. 

Lingering above her dominant iris was the sharp tip of the dagger. Sylvia held him back by using her force to keep him from moving any further. She grunted and used her strength but it was slowly decreasing. 

Coleman was twice her size with immense strength. It was difficult to stop him. He laughed maniacally as he saw the conflict dancing in her eyes. "C'mon Sylvie darling, if you give up now your precious little eye can be saved. All you have to do is give up."

Sylvia scoffed. "An eye to keep you off the throne. I'm willing!" Just as she shouted, Coleman pushed the tip of the dagger into her eye. Even though it was a little graze it was enough to make a blood curdling cry leave Sylvia. It suffocated the arena into silence. The people who were bent on Sylvia winning moments ago stilled as they saw the distinctive colour of scarlett seap out of her eye. But what happened next shocked them all. In the few seconds of silence Sylvia tightened her legs around Coleman's body and flipped their position 

Nobody expected such an outcome. Perhaps it was the strength from her pain that allowed her to seek vengeance.

With her right eye closed and bleeding, Sylvia endured the pain. The thick warm blood that flowed down her right cheek matched her left iris. With pain etching it way into her body, Sylvia wanted to end this battle quickly. She hesitated no more and took out her two knives that she had hidden in her boots and stabbed each into his palm pinning them to the floor. She gave him no chance to counterattack and attacked his vital points to make him fall unconscious. 

Immediately, a horn blew indicating the winner. Then the center of the arena rose to level with the audience. Sylvia lifted her arm in the air and smiled with her broken and bloodied lips. Once the audience had recovered from their stun, the chanting of her name filled the air.