“Your quarrel is not with me,” said the Arbiter’s many voices, their grip crushing.
“I beg to differ,” Elyria spat.
The Arbiter’s head tipped back, and for a moment, Elyria thought she might glimpse the face hidden beneath the voluminous hood. But it stayed in place, the being’s face still masked in shadow as the Arbiter started to tremble. Then shake.
Elyria’s arm ached under the Arbiter’s iron grip as they convulsed, their layered voice strained and eerie as words tumbled forth.
“From bitterest rivals to heartbreaking ends, two bloods shall find their way. Through sacrifice, darkness, and friendship betrayed, as dawn brings a new day.”
Almost as quickly as it had begun, it was over.
“What the fuck was that?” Elyria yelled as she wrenched her arm from the Arbiter’s grasp. The being swayed on their feet, dazed.
“The prophecy!” called a lingering spectator, awestruck. “Praise to Lunara!”
“The Revenant is celestial-blessed!” called another.
Elyria spun, halfway prepared to violently correct whoever had spoken, and halfway determined to demand the Arbiter explain. Why were they spewing this prophetic nonsense at Elyria, of all people? And why did it seem different than the version Cedric had recited only minutes before?
A scream pierced the air before she got the chance to ask.
Elyria whipped around, her eyes wide with shock as someone burst back through the Gate, clutching his shoulder. Brandon Cormac, one of the human champions. His face was contorted in terror, blood gushing from a deep wound that started on his upper arm and cut across his chest. Elyria thought she glimpsed a flash of white bone amidst the jagged, torn flesh.
He staggered forward, collapsing onto his knees in front of Elyria. “The t-trial,” he garbled, his mouth full of blood. He tried to speak again. He couldn’t. Not aloud.
“The beasts. They’re savage. They’re everywhere. Get to the gate.”The words echoed in Elyria’s head, and she trembled at the realization that Cormac was a mindwielder.“You have to get to the gate. But you can’t—they don’t—they won’t allow?—”
He shuddered. Clutched his forehead with a red-stained hand. Then let out a scream so agonizing, so harrowing, Elyria knew she would hear it in her nightmares for a long, long time.
The celestial mark on Cormac’s forehead glowed brightly, even as his body crumpled. Elyria reacted quickly, crouching to catch him before he hit the floor. She rolled him onto his back. But there was nothing she could do—nothing to be done.
His eyes were frozen open, unseeing.
The man was dead.
A piercing wail sounded from somewhere behind her. A horror-stricken gasp. Someone was sobbing. Other voices began to mix in Elyria’s ears, gossiping whispers and words of comfort alike.
A voice pierced the din. Many voices, speaking as one. “He was marked. He was bound to the Sanctum.” The Arbiter bowed their head, still swaying unevenly. “He left the Sanctum.”
Brandon Cormac’s body erupted inblue flame.
And as he burned, as the flames reduced his body to ash, Elyria could think of only one thing: Kit.
Her eyes met the shadowed void where the Arbiter’s face should be. She sensed an infinitesimal nod from beneath the hood.
Elyria shivered, colder now than when Kit’s magic had nearly frozen her in place. Kit could have already fallen. Could have been clawed apart by whatever vile creature had left Cormac so wounded and so terrified that he’d risked the celestials’ wrath by running back through the Gate rather than face it. The thought stole the breath from Elyria’s lungs.
The curtain of light within the Gate wafted in a phantom breeze, as if beckoning her forth. Did it simply want someone to replace the champion the Sanctum had lost? And was Elyria absolutely insane for considering it?
“This is madness,” she said to herself.
The Arbiter responded anyway. “Perhaps.”
Elyria stood.
“Should you do this, you must know there is no turning back. Not for you, Elyria Lightbreaker.”
Elyria clenched her fist, her fingernails biting into the skin of her palms. She couldn’t just stand by knowing the horrors Kit was likely facing at this exact moment. She certainly couldn’t simplyleave.
