Lonnie's Warrior Sword

by Jessica Brody

  “Look, would I have offered to train you if I didn’t think you could win? I’m not one to associate with losers. The guy is old. He’s tired. It’s time for a new champion.”

  “How old is he?” Lonnie asked.

  Jay shrugged. “Twenty-five.”

  Lonnie had never felt younger and less confident in her life.

  Just then, Chen seemed to take notice of Lonnie and Jay standing near the entrance. He started to walk over to them, flashing a smile as he approached. But it wasn’t a kind smile. It was a snakelike smile that made Lonnie squirm.

  “Well, well, what do we have here?” asked Chen, giving Lonnie a once-over. “Fresh meat?”

  Lonnie was speechless. Even though she’d battled nasty pirates on the Isle of the Lost, she’d never felt more intimidated than she did right at this moment.

  Jay stepped in front of her. “Better than old soggy meat that’s way past its expiration date.”

  Chen’s smile fell from his face, and he shot a glare at Jay. “I don’t like your tone.”

  Jay stood up straighter. “I don’t like your face.”

  “Okay, okay! Enough.” Lonnie stepped between them before things got out of hand. “Let’s try to be civil.”

  Chen tore his eyes from Jay and focused back on Lonnie. “You know, we have a tradition here in the Training Center. All newbies must battle the Mountain of Doom against the reigning champ.” Chen gestured toward a giant structure behind him. It was a huge climbing wall fashioned to look like the side of a rugged mountain. It was at least thirty feet tall.

  Lonnie smiled, feeling slightly more confident. Jay had trained her for this. How many times had he made her climb that cliff near the Enchanted Lake…and with weights on? He’d said it would make her feel lighter on the day of the competition. And now, she was feeling lighter than ever.

  “So what do you say?” Chen asked. “Are you up for the challenge? Or are you too scared?”

  “You don’t have to do this,” Jay whispered in her ear. “This is just an intimidation tactic. He’s trying to poke holes in your confidence so you’ll mess up later. Save your energy for the elimination round.”

  A small crowd was starting to gather around them. Lonnie could feel countless eyes on her. Judging her. Waiting for her to back down.

  Lonnie smiled at Jay. “Don’t worry. I got this.” Then she turned to Chen. “You’re on.”

  Chen grinned, like he had a secret he was keeping. He clapped his hands together, his massive muscles flexing with each slap. “Let’s do this! First one to the top wins.”

  “Hmmm,” Lonnie said, staring up at the towering wall. “Seems a little too easy.”

  Chen appeared to choke on something. “Excuse me?”

  Lonnie shrugged. “I just think we should make things more interesting.”

  Chen glanced around at the growing crowd of spectators. They were starting to whisper things. Lonnie got the feeling that no one had challenged Chen before. He cleared his throat. “What did you have in mind?”

  “First one to the top wins,” Lonnie repeated. Her lips split into a wide grin. She had a secret, too. A secret weapon. “Except we do it with twenty-pound weights on.”

  Weighted climbing? I got this. Chen has no idea what he’s in for!

  Lonnie and Chen took their positions at the base of the climbing wall, with giant weighted disks strapped around their waists. A fellow competitor stood nearby with a whistle, waiting to signal them.

  “On your marks,” he said.

  Lonnie and Chen both grabbed on to the side of the wall.

  “Get set.”

  Lonnie lifted her foot, poised and ready.

  The whistle blew and they were off. Chen shot up like a rocket, finding his footing easily and quickly. Lonnie moved more slowly. She could hear Jay’s voice in her head.

  Lesson number two: sometimes speed is your enemy. Know when to take it slow.

  While Chen scrambled up the first half of the wall, Lonnie took her time, securing her grip, digging her feet in. She knew from training with this same amount of weight that you had to conserve your energy. Twenty extra pounds was a lot to carry. It was easy to let adrenaline take over and push you to move faster. But she’d learned firsthand that it was the quickest way to burn out.

  “How does it feel to look up to me?” Chen called down.

  Lonnie glanced up to see that he was more than halfway to the top, at least five feet above her. She felt the urge to move faster, push herself harder, but she could hear Jay’s voice in her head again.

  Lesson number one: never act out of emotion. Act out of confidence. It’s much more reliable.

  Below her, Lonnie could hear the crowd cheering. Most of them were calling out Chen’s name. She attempted to drown out the sound.

  “Focus,” she told herself quietly. “Do the best you can.”

  Lonnie took a deep breath and continued her slow yet steady pace up the wall, eventually finding a rhythm. Grip, step, pull. Grip, step, pull.

  She kept her gaze trained on the wall and her thoughts trained on her task.

  In fact, she was so focused and intent, she didn’t even notice when she’d reached the top. That is, until she extended her arm up for her next grip and felt nothing but air. She blinked out of the trance she had sunk into and looked down.

  The ground seemed so far below her now. But she could see everyone jumping up and down and clapping—Jay more so than anyone. She glanced around for Chen, certain he must have reached the top a while ago. And that’s when her eyes landed on something blue a few feet below her. It was Chen’s armor.

  He peered up at the top of the wall, and Lonnie could see how red his face was, how ragged his breathing was. He’d gone too fast. He wasn’t used to the extra weight, and he’d burned out.

  Chen sneered up at her, and Lonnie repeated his earlier words with a bright smile. “How does it feel to look up to me?” she asked.

  Chen let out a grunt and started to climb down. Once he was close enough to the ground, he jumped, landing in a crouch. The crowd was still cheering, except now they were chanting, “Li! Li! Li!” Chen pushed his way through them and stormed off.

  Lonnie made her way back to the ground, where she was met by more raucous applause and a congratulatory pat on the back by Jay. “Well done, Captain.”

  Lonnie beamed. “I couldn’t have done it without you.”

  Jay playfully bumped her shoulder. “Yeah, yeah, we make a good team. But let’s not forget where the real challenge is. You may have knocked Chen off his game, but you still have to beat him out there.” Jay pointed toward the colossal red dome that loomed just outside of the Training Center. “Don’t get too full of yourself.”

  Lonnie guffawed. “Look who’s talking!”

  Jay rolled his eyes. “You know what I mean. Just because you outsmarted him here with the whole extra weight thing doesn’t mean—”

  “Wow!” one of the female competitors said, patting Lonnie on the back. “That was amazing! No one has ever beaten Chen on the Mountain of Doom. You might actually have a chance at winning this whole thing!”

  Lonnie’s grin grew wider. “You were saying?” she asked Jay.

  Jay shook his head. “I’m just trying to tell you, Chen is a strong competitor. Don’t underestimate him. Plus, he’s desperate to prove something. No one has ever won five years in a row. He’d be the first, and he’s not going to easily give up the chance to make history.”

  Lonnie reached out and ruffled Jay’s hair. “You worry too much, you know? That sword is as good as mine.”

  My mom always told me to believe in myself. I’m definitely going to need to channel her courage today!

  As soon as Lonnie entered the Auradon Warrior Challenge arena, she felt almost all her former confidence disappear. There were so many people. Thousands and thousands of spectators were packed into the stands. And that wasn’t even counting all the TV crew and producers. Lonnie felt as though her stomach had dropped to her knees
.

  Was she really ready for all of this?

  Climbing a wall in the small Training Center was one thing. But performing in front of all these people, not to mention all the people watching on TV across the entire kingdom? That was something else entirely. She suddenly wasn’t sure she was ready.

  “You’re ready,” Jay said, walking beside her and giving her shoulder a reassuring pat. It was as though he could read her mind. Or more likely, he could just read the terror in her eyes as she gazed up at the stands. She tried to wipe the fear from her face. She didn’t want anyone to see how nervous she was.

  Lonnie reached up and checked the position of her wig, making sure it was on straight. She couldn’t very well risk all of Auradon finding out her true identity as the daughter of the legendary warrior Mulan.

  In the center of the arena, the famous AWC obstacle course had been set up, but it was currently covered by a giant white sheet that shielded the various elements from view. In a few minutes, the course would be unveiled to the competitors…and all the viewers at home. Lonnie itched to peer under that sheet and see what she was up against.

  Ari, the well-known host of the show, was standing in the center of the arena next to the concealed course, speaking to the giant crowd with a microphone that made his voice echo across the whole arena.

  “Welcome to the annual Auradon Warrior Challenge! Our elimination round is about to begin! Only ten of our competitors will move on to the final competition tomorrow morning. Those who complete today’s course with the fastest times will qualify for the finals. The rest of them will be going home tonight.”

  The crowd cheered loudly, loving the drama and suspense.

  Lonnie felt a lump form in her stomach. She glanced anxiously around at her fellow competitors, trying to size them up with just a look. Her gaze landed on Chen, and he glared back at her. He was clearly not happy about being humiliated in front of everyone back in the Training Center, and he’d been shooting Lonnie dirty looks ever since.

  Lonnie searched the crowd, trying to find Jordan in the stands. She was easy to spot with that fuchsia-streaked hair and gold jacket. Plus, she was sitting in the front row, cheering loudly. She caught Jordan’s eye, and Jordan gave her an encouraging smile that immediately made Lonnie feel better.

  But it didn’t last long. Because as soon as she glanced back at the covered obstacle course, another bolt of panic shot through her.

  What if they reveal something I can’t do? Something I haven’t prepared for? What if I fail miserably in front of all of these people? Not to mention everyone watching on TV?

  Her heart hammered in her chest at the thought.

  “Don’t worry,” Jay whispered. “You got this.”

  She tried to muster a smile for him, but it was hard with all these nerves.

  “Are you ready to see what our brave warriors will be battling today?” Ari yelled to the crowd.

  The stands erupted in boisterous applause and shouts. Fists were pumped in the air and whoops of excitement echoed throughout the massive red dome. Lonnie took a deep breath, trying to psych herself up. She was ready. She could do this.

  “Unveil the course!” the host commanded, and a second later, the giant white sheet floated gracefully up into the air, revealing the three obstacles underneath.

  Lonnie inhaled sharply as her eyes scanned the course.

  “The first challenge,” Ari announced dramatically, “is called the Monkey’s Dare.”

  Lonnie turned her gaze on the element closest to her. There was a giant river dug into the ground, and hanging high above it were eight dangling ropes.

  “The warrior must make it across the water using only the ropes.”

  While some of her fellow competitors gasped at the difficulty of the task, Lonnie breathed a sigh of relief. She could do that! It was just like when Jay had made her swing from tree branches for hours on end, timing how long she could go without falling or letting go. He’d said it was designed to strengthen her grip and her ability to propel herself using only her body weight. She’d hated that exercise, and she’d always wanted to skip it.

  Jay smirked next to her. “Aren’t you glad I made you swing from all those branches?”

  Lonnie let out a nervous laugh. “I never thought I’d say this, but yeah!”

  “The second challenge,” the host proclaimed, “is called the Great Wall of Fire!”

  Lonnie turned her attention to the middle of the arena, where two giant brick walls had been constructed over another body of water. The distance between the walls appeared to be about the length of a person.

  “Each warrior must shimmy between the two walls with their feet on one wall and their hands on the other.”

  “Ooh!” chorused the crowd with excitement.

  Meanwhile, more shocked gasps permeated the group of competitors, but Lonnie was growing more confident by the second. Jay had prepared her for this, too! She’d been practicing this very thing between Auradon Prep buildings for the past week!

  “Oh, and one more thing,” Ari added with a dark laugh. “The walls are scalding hot. So don’t forget your gloves! And don’t linger!”

  Lonnie gulped. Okay, Jay hadn’t exactly prepared her for that part.

  “Don’t worry about it,” Jay said coolly. “You’ll just have to shimmy a little faster. No sweat.”

  “Actually,” Lonnie said, “I think sweat is exactly what I’ll be doing between those scalding hot walls.”

  “And finally!” the host bellowed into the microphone. “The last challenge is called the Bridge of Despair.”

  Lonnie swallowed and cast her eyes to the right, where she saw another deep ravine cut into the floor of the arena. The only thing bridging the water was an impossibly narrow metal pole.

  “To complete this challenge, warriors must cross the ravine using the bridge.”

  “Oh, you so got this!” Jay whispered excitedly beside her.

  Lonnie exhaled a huge breath. He was right. She did have this. This was going to be a breeze! Jay had made her practice this very skill with logs at the Enchanted Lake. Except in Jay’s version, it was even harder, because the logs were spinning.

  “Oh, I nearly forgot,” the host said with a practiced smirk. He signaled a technician sitting at a control booth, and suddenly the competitors let out more shocked gasps. Lonnie glanced back at the metal pole to see that it was now spinning.

  “Who’s the man?” Jay asked, patting his chest.

  Lonnie rolled her eyes. “You’re so conceited.”

  “Say it,” Jay coaxed.

  Lonnie crossed her arms. “I will not.”

  “Say it!” Jay nudged her with his elbow.

  Lonnie sighed. “Fine. You are. You’re the man. Happy?”

  He flashed a wicked smile. “Yes, and I’ll be even more happy after you rock this elimination round!”

  Lonnie couldn’t help sharing Jay’s conviction. All those years watching the Auradon Warrior Challenge had clearly paid off. He’d trained her well.

  “Okay!” Ari announced, gathering the crowd’s attention. “We will go in order of your competitor number. Starting with number one.”

  Lonnie remembered the number she had been assigned by the lady at the registration table—178—and sighed. This would take a while.

  Lonnie and Jay took seats on a long bench that had been set up for the competitors as the first person took his mark on the course. For the next few hours, they watched competitor after competitor tackle the challenges. Most people were eliminated after the first obstacle, failing to grab on to one of the ropes and plunging into the water below. Some were knocked out by the Great Wall of Fire, the heat burning through their gloves and forcing them to drop. And only a few were able to conquer the Bridge of Despair. As more and more competitors were eliminated, Lonnie started to like her odds of making it to the final round the next day. And by the time her turn eventually arrived, she was feeling readier than ever.

  “Okay,” Jay said, tu
rning to her to give her a quick pep talk. “You got this. I’ve done the math. You just have to finish the course in less than four minutes twenty-two seconds and you’ll be guaranteed a spot in the finals tomorrow. Easy peasy.”

  “‘Easy peasy’?” Lonnie joked, jabbing him with a finger. “You’ve been spending too much time around AKs.”

  “I only surround myself with the very best AKs,” he said with a grin.

  Lonnie smiled. She was genuinely touched. Jay had spent so much of his free time helping her get here. She was feeling extremely grateful. “Thanks, Jay.”

  He playfully slapped her arm. “Enough sappiness! Now get out there and show them what you got!”

  After the show broke for a commercial, a nearby producer motioned to Lonnie. “Competitor One Seventy-Eight. You’re up. Please take your position at the start of the course.”

  Lonnie steeled herself and stood up, smoothing out her black warrior uniform. She knew she was supposed to get to the first obstacle and be ready to go by the time they came back from the commercial break. She took a deep breath and made her way toward the Monkey’s Dare. She was just about to climb the steps to the platform when that same producer’s voice called out to her across the arena, startling her. “Competitor One Seventy-Eight, where is your helmet?”

  Lonnie touched her head and suddenly remembered she’d forgotten to put it on. She must have left it back on the bench.

  She felt so foolish! How could she forget something as important as that? The registration lady had already sternly warned her that she wouldn’t be allowed on the course without it.

  “Sorry!” Lonnie shouted and quickly ran back to her seat.

  She expected Jay to be holding it up for her, but he was just looking at her with a blank expression.

  “Where’s my helmet?” she asked him.

  He shook his head. “I don’t know. I thought you had it.”

  “No!”

  Together, they searched under the bench and all around it. Panic started to bloom in Lonnie’s stomach. Where could her helmet have gone? She tried to think back to when she’d last seen it. She had definitely had it when she was entering the dome.