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Someone across the arena from me let out a gasp at the grotesque sight of them. Their ears bent toward the noise before letting out a piercing shriek into the dark sky. All three creatures took off in the direction of the man who screamed and chaos erupted. Men were yelling and running to escape the arena.
The young fae from this morning with red hair and freckles moved swiftly towards the stones without any noise, without paying much attention to the chaos.
It was impressive how fast and quietly he moved. Following his lead, I headed quickly towards the stones but stopped by a boulder to ensure I was still off their radar. This was just like sneaking through the shadow boundary and through the forbidden wood. It wasn't until I was halfway through the meadow that a deafening crash sounded next to me. A rock rolled past me, hitting the large boulder I was hiding behind. The impact was loud even with men yelling.
When I glanced behind me, the burly man gave me an evil smile. I turned back right as one of the creatures grabbed me. Its long claws dug into my shoulder with a piercing cry. A deep, painful sob tore through me before silencing myself. One of them was manageable, but all of them would kill me.
The creature's ankle was as cold as ice when I grabbed it to steady myself and take the pressure of its claws off my shoulder as we started ascending. I reached for the dagger in my boot, praying to the gods above that I didn’t drop it. When the dagger balanced in my hand, I pulled it back as far as I could for power. The blade seemed heavy as I angled it at the monster’s ankle. I sliced as far through the ankle as I could, nearly severing it from the monster’s leg.
Thankfully we hadn’t made it too far above the ground before it dropped me, but the wind was still knocked from my lungs as I landed on the ground. The air whooshed from me, leaving me gasping for air as pain shot through my shoulder and back. Warm blood soaked through my shirt, but my eyes caught the faint blue of a Wisp by the tree line. Even though it had no eyes that I could see, I could sense that it was watching me as it flickered out and appeared next to me in the field. I couldn’t explain the feeling of urgency that filled me when the Wisp came closer.
I needed to hurry up before the stones were gone or that creature came looking for me again.
Men were still shouting, some using magic to fight off the creatures even though it wasn’t allowed. Thoughts of Sybil, the twins, and the mother with her young son who died for no reason plagued me. They were counting on me to stand up and finish this task. The pain that shot through my shoulder took away my breath as I stood up.
By some stroke of luck, the creature had dropped me closer to the stones than where I had been. There were still quite a few which meant I might still place in the top ten. I grabbed a stone and turned towards the edge of the tree line. My eyes took in the horrific scene unfolding. Creatures had ripped men apart, eating parts of them before leaving to kill another.
Blood splatter covered the tall grass of the meadow. It was an absolute massacre. There was no way only ten would’ve died here. A quick glance at the scoreboard showed my name in second place, but having a rock didn’t secure my safety. Refusing to look behind me at the sounds of terrified men and creatures, I forced myself to push forward. I had seen enough of the massacre in front of me. Task one was almost behind me. I just needed to walk through the boundary, and I was nearly there when the Wisp cut me off. No one else seemed to notice the blue orb floating in front of me. I opened my mouth to ask what it was doing, but it shifted to the side making my eyes follow.
The burly fae had trapped the young fae man.
“Give it now!” the giant fae whispered harshly. He was restraining the young red haired fae by his upper arms. The fae shook his head, refusing to give the stone, his red curls bouncy with the movement. The burly man didn’t hesitate to punch the kid in the face. The sound of crunching bones had me turning away.
I continued towards the edge of the arena, reminding myself that that was not my battle to fight. I didn’t need to involve myself.
The Wisp thought differently as it stopped me again, clearly wanting me to reconsider. The crunch of the fae’s bones made me flinch. I mulled my options over. If the burly man got that stone from the kid, he would definitely make the top ten for this task. I needed the best of the best to actually win so I could win the wish. That kid should be in the top spot with how well he did getting the task done. His stealth was unmatched and that was valuable.
As I turned to face them again the burly man grabbed the stone from the boy.
Fuck. I guess I was involving myself.
Grabbing the dagger from my boot, I flicked it quickly at the man. He swallowed down his painful cry as my blade buried itself in his wrist, falling to his knees in pain. My dagger was long, so it stuck straight through his wrist on both sides. The stone fell from his hand and so did the young fae. His body was a heap of blood and broken bones. He didn’t move or make a noise and worried he might be dead already.
I hurried over to him. I wasn’t letting him lose his top ten spot because of that asshole. He was bloodied and his hand twisted in the wrong direction. Gods be damned. Grabbing his stone, I slipped it into his pocket.
“Come on,” I whispered as I lifted him. He sobbed softly. Thank the stars that he was smaller than the typical male fae.
“Shhh.” My eyes darted around but the creatures were too busy with other contestants to notice his small noise.
“Just leave me. I’m too wounded to do well in the next task,” he muttered.
“I’ll heal you when this task is completed,” I promised because the Wisp made it a point that I needed to step in. It was stupid to involve myself.
He leaned into me as a couple of others ran ahead of us and through the boundary. Damn it. My focus was on getting us through the edge of the trees. We only needed to be in the top ten to receive the most points. When we were almost there, I heard the burly man making his way towards us. He had a stone in his hand, but I was sure he wanted to kill me or both of us.
“This is going to hurt,” I warned the young fae.
“Wh–” his sentence was cut short when I shoved him through the barrier. His name shifted up on the leaderboard.
The burly man tackled me through the boundary. The brightness on this side was nearly paralyzing. Pain seeped into every part of my body. I let out a painful cry as my shoulder landed on the unforgiving ground.
“You fucking bitch!” The burly man yelled now that the creatures weren’t a threat. His fist connected with my face, and I cried out before I bucked him off me. I stood and kicked him as hard as I could in the face. The crunch of his nose gave me great satisfaction. His reaction was quick as I tumbled to the ground again when he swiped my feet out from under me. I didn’t care where I was hitting. My only goal was to inflict as much pain as possible as I swung my fists.
I grabbed his wrist where my dagger embedded into it and squeezed. The horrifying scream he made called to the darkness in my chest. The darkness that didn’t let me feel bad for killing others who got in my way. My fire magic simmered in my chest, but I pushed it down. Losing control couldn’t happen. His other fist caught me off guard when it connected to my eye. Again, my fire magic surged forward, but I held it in the cage of my chest. The burly man lay under me as we both swung our fists mercilessly before we were torn apart.
Cassius pulled us away from each other. His eyes were black as night as he stared down the burly man then shifted his glare to me. The man and I were both bleeding from our faces. Blood soaked my shirt from the shoulder wound. Others had gathered around to watch the fight. I stared him down as he huffed angry breaths.
“I’ll fucking kill you!” the burly fae promised. I glanced at the leaderboard and noticed I was above him in spot number four.
