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Kelvin and Aeron split up, attempting to cattle us to the edge of the plateau, but I dug my feet into the ground, keeping a hawk-like focus on Aeron as he circled in front of me. “Keep your back to mine, Calandra.” I faced off with him—my pulse pounding in my ears as Kelvin disappeared from my peripheral vision.
“How adorable,” Aeron mocked, his expression bordering on feral.
This was a game to them. One death would give them the win. Two would mean an advantage in the next trial. A sick, deranged game they’d stop at nothing to win.
“You think you’re going to save her? I hate to break it to you, but both your bodies will be at the bottom of the ravine when we’re finished here. Sorry, you won’t be able to save your mommy.”
I bared my teeth at him. “Keep underestimating me, Aeron.”
“Did you hear that, Kelvin?” He yelled behind me, “She thinks we’re underestimating her.”
Kelvin howled in amusement. “You were right, Aeron, she is delusional.”
A faint buzzing sound hummed in the distance, growing closer and louder with each passing second until a large black cloud came into view. My eyes strained to see what it was—stretching and yawning as it moved closer.
The sound oddly familiar.
I peered over Aeron’s shoulder. “What’s that?”
He rolled his eyes. “Honestly, sweetheart? You’re going to need to be a little more creative than that. That’s the oldest?—”
“No, I’m serious.” My eyes grew wide.
Wings.
Hundreds and thousands of sprites barreled toward us, their razor-sharp teeth jutting out of their mouths, itching for a taste of flesh.
“Duck!” I yelled as I dropped to the ground, dodging the fleet of sprites as they swarmed above, blocking out the sun.
Calandra fell to the ground with me, attempting to cover her head and neck as they nipped at the skin on her hands.
I crawled over to her, batting away the sprites that flew overhead, and somehow my hands escaped injury. I’d lost sight of Aeron and Kelvin, although their deep screams exploded from somewhere behind me.
“Hail King Gareth,” one chanted as it buzzed past my ear.
“Reach within, Elowyn,” another sang.
I curled into a ball, stopping short of making it to Calandra, who cried in agony. One after another, the sprites flew over my head, evading me, chirping words of encouragement, and whistling their praises.
My brows knitted together so tightly that my forehead ached. I didn’t know why they spoke to me, let alone what any of it meant. Why weren’t they attacking me? Was this part of the trial? Retaliation toward King Harkin? Surely, he’d put a stop to it if it were?—
Before I could analyze it any further, the arena went silent, and the sun returned overhead, warming my back.
The sprites were gone as quickly as they had arrived, the only proof of their appearance being the tiny chunks of skin missing from the other competitor’s limbs.
I shuffled to my feet with my sword in tow.
Aeron’s back was to me as he examined his injuries—clueless of his surroundings or where his sword lay on the ground. I looked at him and back to the sword that was only a few feet away and made a run for it, grabbing it before he realized it was missing.
“Calandra!” I shouted, tossing it over to her. She staggered to her feet, attempting to catch it, but Kelvin intercepted it.
Yanking Calandra up by her hair, he held her hostage with the sword to her throat.
His eyes glazed over, bloodshot—his pupils dilated so wide the whites were practically nonexistent. Surrounding them, tiny claw marks and chunks of skin were torn and bleeding. “Come any closer and I’ll slit her throat, then gut you next.”
Calandra cackled—her eyes glazing over until they, too, were void of any life. “Let me go. I want to kill her myself,” she snapped. “She’s not shit, anyway.”
I stepped back. Part of me wanted to run from whatever the hell was happening, but I hadn’t come this far to flee.
