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My stance widened as I grabbed the dagger from my thigh, ripping it out quickly, and flicked it at the only other man in here. It landed in his heart before anyone could process what was happening. When he dropped to the floor dead the tall man gawked at me.
“More men will come,” he threatened.
“Then I’ll kill them too.” I was out of weapons, but he didn’t need to know that.
“All for one man?” he scoffed. “That’s a weakness. That is something that will get you killed.”
My eyes shifted to Cassius, who watched me with pleading eyes. He was my weakness, and it made no sense, but it didn’t make it any less true.
“Stupid girl. Would he have done the same for you?” Would he? I doubted it. My mind faltered for a moment and that was all the opening he needed to knock me back with his magic. I landed on the ground with a grunt. There was no time to process the pain because the man had me by the hair lifting me with little effort.
I jabbed my fingers into his eyes and he dropped me immediately. I kicked him with all the force I could muster and made him tumble back, but he caught himself before falling over completely. He charged at me and tackled us to the ground. He was strong, but I was definitely faster. I wiggled my way out of the hold he tried to put me in. My legs wrapped around his neck as he leaned over me, holding him where he was. I punched and punched at him. He grabbed my thigh wound and squeezed it.
“Fuck!” My thighs loosened their hold on him. He grabbed me by the neck and slammed me into the ground over and over.
“You used my magic to shield them,” he muttered. “How did you do that?”
Turning my head to the side, I revealed my elite magic mark. His eyes found mine.
“That is more than elite magic.” His hand squeezed my neck tighter, and I couldn’t breathe. My legs thrashed around, trying to desperately get away. Cassius was trying to yell through his gag somewhere behind the man.
The man stared at me, and a look of understanding passed over his features. “My Gods, it’s you. You’re the woman from the prophets telling.”
Confusion filled me as his eyes reflected terror. His hands squeezed harder making my eyes flutter closed.
“I must rid our realm of your evil.”
When I opened my eyes my fire magic exploded without permission. The man on top of me was burning. He released me and rolled in the dirt, attempting to douse the flames. I knew his screams would haunt me, but I pulled myself up on shaky legs and glared down at him. He had stopped rolling around, giving in to his inevitable fate.
The smell of burnt clothing and skin made my stomach churn. As soon as his eyes turned vacant the barrier keeping the king’s guard out vanished and the men immediately rushed to free the guards. I hurried over to Cassius and fell to my knees. I struggled to get the metal barbs off of him without ripping his skin more. Once he had a hand free, he ripped the gag from his mouth.
“What the fuck were thinking? He could have killed you!”
“That’s a weird way to say thank you, but you’re welcome.” Puffy breaths escaped me. Cassius pulled me to him in a tight hug and I clung to him as he stood with me, lifting me effortlessly. My vision was foggy at best. Using so much magic had drained me.
“I got you, Little Viper,” he whispered.
“There’s men coming towards us!” one of the guards yelled.
“I need you to stay awake, Thea. We might need your magic to get us out of here.” He lifted me up onto his horse before climbing on. He turned me, so I was facing him in the saddle, straddling his lap. Our faces were mere inches apart. His arms slipped around me so he could grab the reins. I slipped my arms around him to hang on.
“We need you to watch behind us and use your magic to repel the enemy if they get too close.”
I nodded, and we took off on horseback. I watched over Cassius’s shoulder, and before long, men dressed in gray uniforms burst through the tree line on horses. Cassius’s arms wrapped around me tighter as he urged the horse to go faster. A flame appeared in my hand when I saw them ready their arrows. As soon as they launched them at us, I used everything I could muster to send a shield of fire behind us. Most of the arrows incinerated in the fire, but a few snuck through. One of them headed straight for us but I reacted first. Quickly, I pushed Cassius backward, so he was out of the line with the arrow's attack. The arrow shot into my shoulder instead of his back.
“Fuck!” I screamed. Blood poured from the wound.
He sat back up on the horse and urged it to go faster and faster. My breath caught as I ripped the arrow from my shoulder. The men in grey uniforms stopped as the forest thinned out, almost like they weren’t allowed to follow us onto the Crimson Kingdom’s territory. The wound hurt with every bump we hit.
“Damn it, Thea. Why did you do that?” he snapped.
“It would have killed you!”
His face was angry as he pulled me into his chest and held me tightly for the rest of the ride. I buried my face into the crook of his neck and allowed the exhaustion to take over.
Sybil’s healing magic couldn’t be found inside my chest. But I had nothing to pull from. Pain radiated through my entire body. Flashes of bright orange light followed us, and I knew it was a Wisp, but not the one that was always with me. Then I noticed several others following closely. Maybe I had lost too much blood and was dying? Why could I see these colorful flames that floated around and no one else could? The castle bell chimed as we arrived, indicating our arrival.
All of the contestants and the royal family were outside the castle when we got back, staring in awe when we rode in. Breathing in Cassius’s familiar rain and forest scent helped distract me from the pain.
