As soon as the words fell, students cheered, everything Zeke said was right, and they realised that, the academy was behind all of this, there's no point fighting amongst themselves as students, morale was high as the army split off into smaller groups and began spreading out through the forest,
Hours flew by, Hours of finding more students, capturing more executioners and killing the hollowed. It wasn't until midday, when the golden sunlight pierced through the canopy, that Zeke's group stopped moving.
"Wait... what's that?" Rian's voice could be heard as he pointed towards the trunk of a nearby tree.
Zeke doubled back, eyes narrowing. Carved into the rough surface, partially obscured by moss and bark, was the unmistakable outline of a bird. One they found all too familiar.
"That symbol..." Kaito stepped closer, brushing his fingers over the carving, his eyes reddened. "It's Tala's. she's alive."
For a moment, they were all still.
Zeke exhaled slowly. "She left it for us to find."
Hope surged through the three of them, the group following behind them weren't sure who Tala was, but clearly she was someone important to their leader and his friends.
"She's alive," Kaito said, fists clenched. "She must be nearby."
Rian's jaw tightened. "It's a little old but if we hurry we can still pick up a trail, and find her."
As they advanced, they began spotting more birds, one etched into a fallen log, another scratched faintly into a stone. A trail. Tala's trail.
But the closer they drew, the more uneasy Zeke became. At some point unknowingly a silence fell onto the group, everyone tensed as they continued deeper into the forest, this familiar feeling of being watched from the shadows was felt by all of them.
And then, after walking into a clearing, they saw something.
A small camp with rough tents was set up, fire's still burning throughout the camp, and weapons glinting. Several people were facing towards them, tied up and bloodied, knelt in the dirt. Among them, Tala.
She was bruised, one eye swollen shut, arms bound behind her back. Her once-clean robes were ripped and stained with dried blood. Despite everything, she sat upright, breathing, her chin raised defiantly.
Zeke felt the breath leave him. A slow, terrible fury bloomed in his chest.
Kaito's voice was a snarl. "Tala..."
"She's alive," Rian murmured. "But whats happening."
Zeke's eyes scanned the camp. There were more of them than before, executioners, watching from the shadows, weapons at the ready. At the center of it all stood a figure cloaked in dark grey, a hood thrown back to reveal a young woman with coal-black hair and striking eyes, by all the standards of neauty in the world Zeke knew, she was beautiful. She looked calmly towards the incoming group an amused smile plastered on her face, then her bright eye's settled on Zeke.
The moment the Zeke's group made saw this scene they sent a message to the surrounding groups to come to them immediately, even so it would take a while as they were spread out all through the forest.
Tala saw them and her head shook violently. She mouthed something. Leave.
The black-haired woman raised her hand. "You must be the ones from the northern sector of the forest" she said, voice smooth like flowing ink. "The one's who fought sam and his crew right? ."
Zeke didn't speak yet. He stared.
"You've caused quite a stir," the woman continued, taking a step forward. The other executioners didn't move, but their eyes tracked every breath. "I heard about what happened. Zeke, was it? according to my infromants I hid among your group, you are a pretty good fighter." She raised a blade towards her mouth before running her tongue along the tip of the blade seductively, paired with her looks this act sent shivers down the spines of the group behind Zeke, although a few were unmoved, Her voice continued "How about we go a few rounds."
"Let her go," Kaito said, voice trembling with rage, barely containing his rage as he looked towards his sister who was tied up. "Now."
"Or we WILL kill you," Rian added, calmly drawing his blade he clearly had enough of this crazy womans act.
The woman tilted her head. "You could try. But you'd lose. And more students would die. Including your friend here." She tipped her blade towards Tala, who was still staring at the group with wide eyes.
Zeke's hand tightened around his sword hilt.
Then the woman lifted her hand again, a signal to not attack.
"Okay calm down guys, you're mistaken if you think we're your enemy," she said softly. "We're not here to fight you, otherwise you would have died, we were clearly waiting for you idiot's."
Zeke thought it over and realised it was true, they were all here, had the hostages kneeling in the direction they came in, she also said there were informants in his army, so it was true, they could've been killed at any given moment. With a shaky breath Zeke replied "What do you want?"
The woman's eyes glittered as she looked a Zeke, giving him a once over again clearly sending signals that werent being recieved. "We want a truce."
Kaito's expression twisted. "A truce? After what you did to her? Your dreaming."
The woman tilted her had with a wry smile. "When we woke up in the trial, they told us we had to kill ten students each to pass. No choice. No context. Just kill or be killed. We... we panicked. But in the end..."
She looked back at her camp. A grizzled older man was sharpening a blade, his eyes empty.
"This man came here to get stronger to make more money for his family, there is no other academy in our country where he can learn, which means he has to get into this one. Are you telling him to give up his chance at providing a better life for his family?"
She met Zeke's gaze evenly.
"Everyone has a reason to get into the academy, we aren't heroes, everone in my family was wiped out by a politician when I was thirteen, the only reason he is in power is because his son is a powerful person in the awakened world. I'm not here to play hero. I'm here to grow strong enough to kill the monster who hurt me. And the academy promised power even if its through blood."
Zeke's eyes narrowed as he heard her words, she wasn't saying anything wrong, atleast nothing that went against his moral compass. "So you killed other students."
"I didn't want to," she snapped, anger flickering. "None of us did. But after the first few... ."
She didn't continue that line of thought as she looked to Tala.
"She's stronger than us in that sense, she didn't kill anyone, atleast no one innocent, she fought us. Hard. We didn't want to kill her. We couldn't... literally, executioners can't kill executioners, so we decided to use her as a bargaining chip"
Zeke turned back to his group behind him, all of them deep in thought after hearing her words, the annoying thing was that it all made sense, they are all here for power, to get stronger, there's not much they wouldn't do for a chance to get into the academy.
Rian sighed, as he muttered, "They're not lying... the reasoning makes sense, I don't know what I would've done in their position."
Zeke's jaw worked, conflicted. He knew that no one was right in this scenario and that also meant nobody was wrong either.
Kaito stepped forward and spoke up, his voice a little hesitant. "She's my sister. I want to kill every last one of them. But... she's alive, that gives them a few extra points in my book."
Rian nodded. "They could've slaughtered those tied-up students. But they didn't. To them those students are bonus points so by not killing them I guess they are showing some sincerity."
Zeke closed his eyes briefly, thinking about what kind of role he wanted to play, not just here in this trial but also in life.
"I'm not a hero" his voice was heard, it was something deeper speaking through him. "I only fight for my family, for them I'd let the world burn."
He turned back to the leader of the executioners, their gazes locked.
"No more killing. Not students. Then maybe this can work."
She raised a brow, a mischevious smile tugging at her lips. "And if we refuse?"
"Then we end this now."
A long silence followed.
Then the woman laughed softly. "You've got guts. Good. That'll make this more interesting."
She stepped forward and cut the bindings on Tala's wrists herself.
Tala fell slowly, but Zeke and Kaito were already there to catch her.
The leader turned back. "We agree. No more killing. For now. But this ends the way we want. The academy turned us into killers. Now they have to reap the consequences."
Zeke helped Tala up, her weight slumping into his arms. Kaito looked like he was barely holding himself together, his sister is all beat up, and he can't even fight the culprits.
Zeke met the woman's eyes. "My group has already established that the enemy is the academy, This barrier... I think it's because of this." Zeke looked around at the students following him, at this point the whole army had gathered nearby watching. "Because I started forming a group."
That drew murmurs from the shadows. Even the leader raised an eyebrow.
"Interesting," she said. "It makes sense, you guys are a bit crazy for building a group this big, we all started with what? maybe 4 people when we dropped in."
"We're going to destroy this trial." He turned back to the woman. "Without the death of more students"
The woman laughed again, longer this time. "Very good, Zeke. That's not really plan but it will do. Though, if it fails, if your pretty little rebellion crumbles, I'll kill all your friends myself."
Zeke stared at her, silently before turning around to walk away, his group followed him, leaving behind an echo of his voice.
"You're welcome to try."
...
The Headmaster stood, arms crossed, eyes narrowing as he watched the footage of Zeke and the executioners talking.
"The executioners were meant to eliminate the weak. Not barter truces, haha these kids, why are they so opinionated can't they just play by the rules i've set."
Professor Lira glanced sideways at him, her expression calm, a hint of annoyance flashed across her face briefly.
"Maybe they hesitated because they still have a conscience. They're students, not soldiers."
The headmaster looked at her and chuckled.
"That's precisely the point. We need soldiers. The military wanted recruits, and this was the most efficient way to find them, those who act without hesitation. Those who kill when ordered. That's what the executioner part of the trial is made for."
Lira's eyes narrowed, realization dawning behind the stormy gray of her irises.
"So that's what this all was. For the executioners this is not a trial... but a filter."
Whispers passed through the gathered professors, some shaking their heads in quiet dismay.
"This is a bit much. You're forcing children to become psychopaths."
"Turning students into murderers to appease the military… truly how far we have fallen?"
Before the discussion could continue the headmasters voice cut through the room.
"We are at war. Humanity is hanging by a thread. If we don't produce warriors capable of surviving what's coming, then we're already dead. You want to coddle them? Then watch them burn when the enemy comes."
An oppressive silence fell over the professors.
Lira didn't argue. Her teeth were clenched tightly, her brows furrowed, a sign that her silence was not an agreement but patience.