Shevchenko roused from slumber at the sound of laughter. An uncontrollable sense of hellish rage engulfed her as she watched Savoi gayly conversing with Roudan and Yoshida. It was almost as if the three of them were merely on a fun camping trip, rather than in the throes of battle against their opponents. No matter the case of their ease amongst each other, there was no question they had earned the right to be so informal together. They had masterfully outwitted and beaten the other cadets to a bloody pulp not even a full day ago.

A gust of wind swept through the campsite, which signaled it was time to prepare for the next portion of the exit exam. Though Farouk did not stir, Shevchenko rubbed her eyes, hopped to her feet, and began erratically breaking down their tents. The trio did not notice right away, so she sighed and grunted loud enough for them to hear. With little further ado, they joined her.

Savoi attempted to help Shevchenko fold a sleeping bag, but Shevchenko gruffly snatched the sack and walked away. Savoi looked puzzled at Yoshida, who then nonchalantly shrugged his shoulders. Roudan starred intently at Shevchenko, as if to penetrate her thoughts. She could feel his heavy gaze, but busied herself so that she would not have to respond to his obvious disapproval.

Farouk howled when Shevchenko rocked his tent.

“Wake up, Mousey!” she yelled.

He peeked his head outside to see what the commotion was about.

“Hey, no one has called me that since our 1

^st year,” he whimpered, as he flopped out of his sleeping bag.

“No one may call him that, but me,” Yoshida interjected.

Shevchenko winced at his rebuke.

“Then I shall call him scaredy cat, instead,” she replied.

Farouk was still drowsy, but did not miss the jab thrown at him. He postured himself, standing perfectly erect. Before he could get a word in, Yoshida beat him to the punch.

“If memory serves me correctly, you’re in no position to talk. You sat idly while Emmett and I saved your ass. Let’s not forget Thomasa came to your rescue after hauling Maaz all the way up the shaft to capture our flag. If anything, he kept you company on the sidelines.”

His condemnation completely unnerved Shevchenko.

“Oh, get off my case. I helped too, long before you showed up!” she stammered.

Savoi swiftly leapt over to Yoshida and covered his mouth with her hand. He did not protest.

“We all have contributed to our team’s success,” she said.

Shevchenko murmured under her breath, then turned to walk away. Roudan stood behind her with his arms folded, causing her to crash abruptly into him. Her eyes averted his glare. He grabbed her by the shoulders so she would not stumble backwards. Savoi spoke up to break their silent tension.

“We need to paddle over to the southern harbor, near the lighthouse. I have a feeling we’ll find more flags in that area than any other.”

Shevchenko scoffed. “It will take us half the day to get there. We shouldn’t dally or waste time when it would be faster for us to comb the area here.”

Farouk crinkled his nose and added,

“Oh, but the lighthouse was an essential aspect of the entrance exam. I’m almost certain we’ll benefit from going there first.”

Shevchenko’s seething glower made him hide behind Savoi and Yoshida.

“Like I said, searching here is faster,” she answered.

“Direction is more important than speed,” Savoi blurted out. “In this instance, we need to focus on where we can find the most flags. Other teams may not think the lighthouse is important anymore, so it might not get searched. Besides, we’ve been on this side of the harbor for hours with no flags recovered.”

Shevchenko sighed and looked to Roudan to take her side, but his distant eyes gave away that he had grown weary of her. Without warning, he gently pressed his forehead with her hand and said,

“We’ve come such a long way together. The enemy is on the other side of the beach. Let’s exchange anger with passion and sadness with compassion for one another.”

Sluggishly, she shuffled off to sit by a log while the team prepared for departure. They issued each cadet from Calvary Academy a special utility belt to wear around their

wetsuits. The spheres holstered four small metal spheres designed to retract specific weapons. Just before sunrise, they embarked on their boards and paddled towards the lighthouse. Roudan led the team, with Yoshida on the right flank, Shevchenko center, Farouk on the left flank, and Savoi in the rear.

A fierce storm had been brewing before they began the trek. Turbulent choppy waters brought on an added challenge to paddle to the southern harbor. Roudan encouraged his mates to dig deep and stay the course. There were no shortcuts from where they came from. By the time they reached the middle of the ocean, everyone was suffering from fatigue and muscle failure. Going back was not an option, so they soldier on through thick beads of rain that nearly blinded their vision.

The team fought hard as their arms and legs feverishly burned from strenuously paddling. The freezing water penetrated through the high-grade material of their wetsuits. A distant shriek carried over the waves. Suddenly, the Alpha squad had to dodge and weave through a spray of arrows from every direction.

Roudan used this as an advantage to hasten their advance closer to the lighthouse. He gave the command to stand upright and surf the rest of the way. A large tidal wave brought them to shore. They nearly crashed into a stone wall which wrapped around a muddy pathway leading to the lighthouse.

Each member plopped onto their stomachs or on their side in the sand. Farouk doubled over in pain as a stray arrow had grazed him on the shoulder. Groggy and exhausted, he breathed laboriously as sea salt coated his throat. Desperate to redeem himself, he refused help from Savoi and Roudan to stand.

 Once the team had fully recovered, they moved in formation. They used the utmost caution in anticipation of another ambush or traps. They seized nine flags during the sixty-foot climb up. Upon arrival at the entryway, they found two doors made of petrified wood bolted shut. Savoi removed a sphere from her belt and extracted a python from the sphere. The large snake morphed into a heavy, knotted rope. She tied an anchor at the tail end, then lassoed the rope inside a window midway up the lighthouse.

Yoshida and Roudan stood guard, as Shevchenko and Farouk watched her climb the rope into the window.

~The Waring Robins~