Lady in the Iron Mask

II: Chapter 6

Five years ago...

"I must now commence that the battle for the heir has begun!" One of the women called.

Around Evie, tattooed women like her jostled and gathered in the massive sacred fighting arena of their tribe. They were all between around her age, and older. She knew she was the youngest here, but couldn't miss out on this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

The trees around her were caked with resin, which had been swirled into mysterious patterns by the younger tribe members; only children, at that. But now, there were no children around save herself, as she was only sixteen years of age. Raucous screaming and shouting erupted as the rest of her kin began banging weapons against raised shields, signalling that the first fight was soon to begin. Today, around fifty women had entered the contest to become heir to the tribe, and rule as a prestigious leader.

It was so important to Evie, because once they were given the title, they could be awarded with the Life Water, which made them age twice as slowly and kept their body without ailment for their life. The very shallow pool of water only refilled after every leader had died, and came from their most sacred tree, which was up the hill from this clearing in the jungle. Evie could see it now, as it towered over the crowd as though spectating itself. The branches were thick, sturdy, but no leaves grew. It was originally supposed to be an apple tree, she was told, but after it was hit by lightning, it had become a way for those people in the sky to communicate with them. Even now, its skeletal arms stood against the wind, fingers beckoning a victor.

"Round one!" A woman cried, and Evie was shoved away with the crowd, closer to their first round of testing: a maze of logs, trees and other apparatus which was supposed to prove your physical capability.

There was a swing-bar, which had spikes just below it and would impale anyone who fell. Next, there was a wall filled with little crevices and holes you had to use to get to the top and finally, a rope attached to a tree on ground level, which you had to navigate down without falling and breaking a leg(or neck).

Evie passed this easily, and so did most of the other women. They were trained warriors from birth, so this had to be expected. Those who did not make it were either breeders - ones who were chosen to mate with the human males - and the younger, weaker women. At the end, a good thirty women were still left, however.

"Hey, Evie!" Her aunt, Grace, called out to her. "How is it?" She had finished a little after Evie, and was covered in a sheen of sweat already.

Her blue eyes and blonde hair sparkled, as she stretched her arms out.

"It's fine!" Evie announced confidently.

"I'm sure it is; your mother would be so proud to know that you are risking everything to cure her disease with the Water," Grace smiled. "I'm rooting for you!"

"Thank you, Aunty," Evie blushed, a little naïve in her reaction, but Grace knew that what she had said had pleased the young woman.

The crowd applauded and shrieked as the women carried on to the next activity, meant to test their mental endurance and problem-solving.

Evie was faced with two puzzles, as were the other women: a six-by-six matching game, in which you had to beat one other woman to proceed(so each were sat either side of that table) and then you were given hallucinatory drugs which were supposed to last for ten to fifteen minutes, and showed you a problem. If you didn't solve this, your body would break down from the foreign acid, and die. The drug was derived from the sacred tree, and used to test its' master for generations.