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There’s always a choice, isn’t there? To not be vile? What are we giving up if we concede to the dark? Perhaps this is what the exam was made to do: break our spirits. Loosen our hold on our humanity.
Two crowns glisten within the opposing group. The sun rises behind them, casting their faces in shadows. That shift in reality settles upon me.
I’ll do it here. I will save Raine.
Silence ensues as I watch Finn’s phoenix tear through the sky and rain down on them with flames too bright to look at. Kai and Corvus slice students across the chests with their Shadows extended on their arms like blades. And as the blood starts to tickle my nose, I shut my eyes slowly.
My Shadow shifts outside my body once more and attacks other Shadows approaching us. They bleed black liquid as the different creatures bite, stab, and tear at one another. It’s all so volatile and raw. The heat of the massacre rolls into the dawn and I spot a male student reaching up and aiming an enormous ebony bow at Finn.
He will do.
I charge at him and place both hands on the male’s back, forcing all my focus into drawing the blight from Raine and funneling it into this vessel. I don’t think of anything but the future I crave with Raine by my side. Amser thrums in my bones and a surge of energy passes through me and into the man’s back.
The male cries out and falls to his knees, writhing and pulling himself into a ball as the blight takes hold of him. I stare at the man’s face and horror falls over me as I realize what I’ve done. Who I’ve placed this curse upon.
Aervin.
Raine gasps behind me as he throws a lifeless body to his side. He looks from me to Aervin and back. His eyes are so much clearer than they’ve been and I think he might smile at me, but a forlorn frown pulls at his lips.
“Terra, what have you done?” he says in a low, disappointed voice.
My hands tremble and I look back down at Aervin. He was aiming right at Finn, wasn’t he? His eyes are wide and he cries out in agony, clutching at his chest.
“I—I can’t let you go, Raine,” I cry and look up at him with desperation. He only gives me a sad, distant look before he lowers his head.
“I’ll take care of the rest,” Raine murmurs as he presses a weary kiss to the top of my head. I open my eyes and look at him, my lower lip quivering. He brushes his thumb over it, looking at me with great sorrow burning behind his eyes. “Don’t watch.”
But I do.
I watch as he walks past Finn and the others. He stops in the center of the battlefield, his dragon above roaring with fury that must resonate deep within Raine’s own heart. I watch with a defeated frown and slumped shoulders as he reaches his hand up and fists the air. The students on the other teams still, their eyes wide with horror. Then Raine pulls his hand down quickly, and as he does, blood spurts from all of their noses. Brain matter mixes in the fluids that exit their skulls, drawing vomit to my throat. They fall one by one and then all at once.
Not a single person remains standing, and the stench of their deaths hangs heavily around us. My throat tightens and I want to scream. I want to leap into the depths of the sea and scream until I drown, taking all these horrible images with me.
I look down at Aervin, no longer squirming in pain. Blood leaks from his nose and his eyes stare far into the distance. His blonde hair is muddied from the ash.
A chill sets deep into my bones. I killed Edgar’s friend after he spared mine.
I’ve become the one thing I hate most.
Raine wades through the bodies until he reaches the crowns. He bends down and severs their heads and then he stands in place and looks at what he’s done. At least fifty bodies lie motionless around us. The ashy terrain provides a somber embrace for them.
Finn’s phoenix dissipates into the air and Raine’s dragon fades until it’s nothing but black dust on the wind.
“We’ve become exactly what they wanted us to,” I say in a hushed voice, staring at the bodies.
Finn falls to his knees and lets his head drop, but Kai starts to sob. His soft cries are all that I can hear as we gather ourselves enough to walk to the center of the arena.
Raine holds one head while Corvus holds the other. They cradle them gently, as if they can still feel. I guess it’s better than the callous manner in which Edgar carried his.
“Raine,” I mutter but he ignores me. I clench my hands at my sides. “Raine, I only did it to save you.”
He finally looks back at me and grits his teeth. His lovely black hair is wind-blown and falls over his forehead messily. “I know,” he says slowly and pauses. “But what did it cost you? What did it cost your brother?”
I flex my jaw to keep the tears from falling. “I didn’t know it was Aervin.”
“You can’t trick fate. I wish you would’ve listened to me,” Raine says sadly. The others look at us, not bothering to say anything. What can be said?
The gilded bowl glints in the distance and I let out a relieved breath. I want this to be over.
