MELISSA’S POV

Trial week: the week when every recruit’s worth was decided, not just by their muscles, but by their minds.

Joem’s words still echoed in my mind. “You don’t have to prove everything alone, Melissa.”

However, proving myself was the only thing I had ever known how to do, and that won't be changing any time soon.

By sunrise, I was already dressed in my academy uniform, and my books were carefully arranged in the backpack I was given when I first arrived at the academy. My ribs still ached from the last round of training, but pain no longer slowed me. It reminded me that I was alive....