Society

Chapter 13

After a while of pointless chatter and people filling into the small area behind the railing, a bell rang out, not as loud as the meal bell but still loud enough to make me flinch.

"Aima Dolofonos, please step up to the edge of the matted area." I bid farewell to Neco, Tanya and Shara and gave Dan a curt nod to acknowledge his presence, then made my way down the steps until I reached the mats. I stood facing the man who had a microphone, he walked up to me, and I recognized him as the bear who interrogated me during my trial.

"Well, hello again." I whispered under my breath loud enough so that only he could hear. He shot me a sideways glance as he turned to address the four people who sat lined along the wall underneath the railing. I recognized two of them immediately, my 'jury' is present once again, and it's like my trial all over again, the bear next to me, the old pair in front of me and Dan calmly sitting behind them, or above them in this case.

The bear, as I decided to dub him, continued his conversation with what I assumed was supposed to be the audience but no one listened.

"Aima Dolofonos will now be judged upon her physical ability by an unbiased panel consisting of two society members and two governmental figures, to assure that she meets the standards set by both parties. We will now begin." With that the bear retreated to sit on a spare seat next to my 'panel'. He now addressed me directly.

"Aima Dolofonos, please walk to the white 'x' marked on the mat"

I located the mark and stood, squaring my shoulders and straightening my spine. I looked ahead of me and saw two types of dummies, a flat wooden board with a drawing of a body in different colours. Practice for knife throwing. Next to it was a sand bag again with a body drawn on, but I didn't know how it was to be used in this situation.

"You will be given four tasks, you must fully complete all four of these task to receive even the minimum score. Your first task is to accurately hit the left target with three throwing knives, you may use three that we provide or your own, if you use your own you are free to use as many as you have at your disposal until you hit the board three times. Start"

I lifted my shirt and pulled out five of my ten throwing knives, wary of using them all at once in case it backfires later. I place four in my left hand, passing one to my right hand. I studied the model; it had three red sections, one in the abdomen, one in the centre of the chest and one on the neck. Vital area, to get the maximum amount of marks I must hit each one and I can only use one knife per area. They need me to be perfect and deadly. I stood, squaring myself up against the target. I raised my hand flexing my muscles as I moved my arm back and forth, getting the movement right. I aimed for the abdomen first, the biggest red section. I pulled my arm back holding the knife by my ear for a second then sent it flying, it hit the wood with a thump. It was buried almost to the hilt in the model. It was inside the red area but only just.

I breathed in through my teeth as I realigned myself with the board. I aimed at the chest next, I felt more confident this time. I pulled back, breathing in time with my movements, I let it fly. It landed dead centre of the chest but was very loose, I hadn't thrown with enough power.

I once again lined myself up with the target, holding my third knife in my hand I kept my breathing steady, flexing my muscles. I pulled back, and felt the energy rushing through my arm, and then it flew. The knife sliced through the air with such force that it landed and broke through the model, there was an eruption of cheering from the crowd and I jumped in shock, I had forgotten that they were there. The bear stood from his seat and walked towards me.

"Well done, you successfully completed the task, the thrown knives and ones you did not throw will be taken, and you make reclaim them at the end of the test."