Chapter Twelve

One afternoon as Morn was coming home from school, a flier dropped from the sky onto The Lord God's Palace. Morn was walking along a balcony when the craft hit. An alert guard shoved him through a door moments before the balcony collapsed, and sent the guard to his death. Morn escaped with only a broken arm and sprained shoulder, but the injuries did not heal soon enough for him to be in The games. The following year he was back though, fighting North for first place, and having to settle for a tie.
2 The following year went well for North and Morn, the only bad luck North had, was that The Old Hashon he had rescued in the mine showed up as a waiter at one of Blue Stone's supper parties and recognized the cut on North's hand. It was not long before Hashons were an important part of North's plans.
3 He couldn't understand, however, why they kept calling him The Promised One's Shadow. When he asked, they would only shake their heads and smile. "It is The Prophecy," they would say, "young Lord, Someday you will understand."
4 So North was kept puzzled as the years went by, and how swiftly they seemed to pass for young men planning to stake their lives on a rebellion. North's plan was to get as many of his people as he could into colony positions. Eventually he hoped to have his people be governors and military commanders, but they would all have to face Academy, and win their place in The Fleet, before that could even be thought of. They wouldn't even enter Academy until they were twenty, and done with The Games.
5 When it came time for their ninth year in The Games, Morn decided he wasn't going to let North have any glory. He took every event, and his friend had to settle for second place.
6 Then came the hardest year of their lives. They would face their final year in The Games, and, their last school Tests that would determine what positions they would be able

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