What did she have to go back to anyway?
She took a deep breath. Tightened the straps of the dagger sheaths on her thighs. Made the mistake of looking toward what remained of the crowd of spectators, many of them staring at her in awe.
The Revenant is celestial-blessed!
Elyria snorted. Then, recalling the prophecy, she took a deep, slow breath. “Forged in the Crucible of fate, right? Champions rise?”
The Arbiter nodded.
“Well then. What have I got to lose?”
PART II
FRAY
14
THE FIRST TRIAL
CEDRIC
The world shifted around Cedric—avortex of light and shadow. The ground disappeared from beneath his feet, and for a moment he felt as though he would never stop falling. Then he was back on solid ground, the air thick with the heady spice of magic.
It took him a moment to get his bearings. At his back, the Gate he’d stepped through was embedded in a wall of jagged stone that reached toward a starry, aurora-filled sky. The wall stretched out on both sides, curving as it formed the perimeter of an enormous circular arena.
The loamy scent of earth filled Cedric’s nostrils. Under his feet, the ground was uneven—a mix of packed soil and soft, slippery clay. The aurora overhead illuminated towering mounds of earth and craggy rock formations that jutted up from the ground at irregularintervals. Leafless trees, thickets of barbed bushes, and dark, yawning caverns dotted the terrain.
Cedric squinted. At the far end of the bleak landscape in front of him, he could make out a glowing archway. It did not look entirely dissimilar to the Gate he’d just come through, but he knew that it was different. Knew, somehow, that it was important. That no matter what this trial threw at him, no matter what happened next, heneededto make it to this new archway.
And, apparently, he would be doing so alone. Not a single one of his fellow champions was anywhere in sight. Had they truly been so quick to fly into the arena? Taken off immediately? Or had the Gate dropped each champion in a different place? Either way, so much for the Arbiter’s claims that they needed to work together.
Sucking in a steadying breath, Cedric took his first steps into the arena. He made it fewer than twenty paces when a feral snarl echoed out from a nearby cavern. He whipped his head toward the sound, his hand immediately moving to his sword.
He heard it before he saw it. Claws scraping against rock. A rattling breath, as if it were holding in a growl. Theswish, swish, swishof a tail cutting through the dark.
And then it emerged into the light of the shimmering aurora, and Cedric saw the face of death.
Pitch-black skin stretched tight over a skeletal face. Eyes like red embers, burning with predatory focus. Streaks of white ran down each side of its back. It stalked forward on all fours, razor-sharp talons protruding from each paw. And there, at the tip of its scaly tail, a scythe-like barb larger than Cedric’s hand.
It suddenly became all too clear what the purpose of this trial was. This was an arena of death.
The beast prowled toward Cedric, its lip curling up over fangs that dripped with something black and viscous. His sword securely clutched in one hand, Cedric wrapped his other hand around his mana token protectively. He hadn’t wanted to risk draining his token this early, but neither had he thought he’d be facing down a creature from the fourth quarter of hell within the first five minutes of entering the Crucible.
Maybe Elyria hadn’t beencompletelywrong in trying to prevent Kitfrom entering. If there was someone Cedric cared about—or had been charged with protecting, as seemed to be the case for the two fae—he certainly wouldn’t have wanted them facing this.
And he especially wouldn’t have wanted them facing it without the use of their magic, something Cedric realized with a spike of alarm that hewouldbe doing. A lightning-quick glance at his token showed there was still mana inside. The emerald embedded in the stone still glowed.
He just couldn’t reach it. Couldn’t touch it.
Cedric swore he heard the creature huff in amusement as the realization sunk in.
He couldn’t use magic here.
The beast was little more than a blur of shadow as it lunged. Cedric lifted his sword, swinging it in a wide arc that connected with the beast’s leathery hide. It fell to the side with a yowl of pain but scrambled back to its feet a moment later, its ember eyes narrowed. Cedric set his feet in a defensive stance, the tip of his sword pointed at the thrumming vein in the beast’s neck.
The creature pounced.
Knife-tipped claws collided with Cedric’s sword, knocking it from his grasp. The force of the blow sent him sprawling backward. He landed on his back. A pained grunt was forced from his lungs as the beast’s heavy paws pressed on his chest plate, pinning him with crushing force. Its nails screeched against Cedric’s armor. Rancid breath washed over him as the monster leaned closer, fangs bared.
