“No!” Cedric rolled diagonally so he was no longer in line with the other champions, an attempt to keep them out of the path of the dragonfyre he knew was coming his way. The heat of the dragon’s breath grazed his skin once more, and he felt a sickening certainty that he would not be lucky enough to escape a second time. The dragon was too close, too fast?—
A blur of motion caught his eye. Not a person this time, but a weapon.
Thraigg’s massive hammer flew through the air, striking the underside of the dragon’s jaw with a furious crunch that forced the beast’s mouth shut before returning to the dwarf’s outstretched hand.
Cedric wasted no time scrambling back to his feet. “Handy trick!” he shouted, nodding at the hammer as he sprinted for the exit. Just twenty feet away now. Ten. Five. Thraigg grinned toothily as he matched Cedric’s step and the two threw themselves into the glowing archway with a final burst of speed.
The world tilted, the familiar sensation of being pulled through space washing over Cedric. And then they were through, the ground solid beneath their feet once more.
“They made it!” shouted someone as Cedric stumbled forward, catching himself before he fell. Thraigg burst forth just a few paces behind.
Zephyr approached Cedric first, her face pale. “You did it,” she whispered, her gaze darting between him and the archway as if she couldn’t quite believe her eyes.
Cedric could only nod, his heart pounding too fast and fiercely for his tongue to form words. He surveyed his new surroundings between gulps of labored breath. Zephyr, Elyria, Kit, and a handful of other champions were strewn about a stone antechamber. Most didn’t look much better off than Cedric felt—he noted the blood and grime covering the majority of them, though spirits seemed to vary. Gael Winters was clapping her friend Paelin on his shoulder with a hearty, disbelieving laugh. Alden Ashford’s sandy head was bent as he muttered prayers of gratitude to Aurelia. The remaining nocterrian champion, Tenebris Nox, simply leaned against a wall, silent and still as a statue.
Cedric managed to slow his breathing. His heart started to beat more evenly. Then, it stuttered as he caught Elyria’s eye for the briefest moment, her expression utterly bewildering. It was fleeting, gone too fast for Cedric to make sense of the emotions he thought he saw flicker across her face. Was she...relieved to see he’d made it through?
He looked back at the archway and thought of the way she saved him—about all the ways he’d already escaped death by a hairsbreadth. Cedric’s heart sank with the knowledge that this had only been the beginning.
And much worse was yet to come.
17
HERBWITCH SHIT
ELYRIA
Elyria’s breathcame in sharp, ragged bursts as she stepped through the archway, her boots striking solid ground with a finality that felt a lot like relief. The searing heat of the dragon’s breath clung to her skin, but it was only one of many things that would haunt her. The first trial had been far more than she’d expected—unsurprising, she supposed, since she hadn’t really known what to expect at all.
Perhaps being endlessly hunted by shadowy beasts—claws like obsidian, eyes like embers—was a fitting comeuppance for Elyria’s sheer stupidity in following Kit through the Gate. They’d been relentless, and Elyria had fought through them with a single-minded focus. There was only one thing that mattered, one goal: reaching Kit.
And so, Elyria had cut them down, her staffspinning in deadly arcs, her daggers cutting through flesh and sinew and bone. And there had been moments—brief but terrifying—when she hadn’t been sure she’d make it.
If Elyria made it through the rest of the Crucible alive, she would figure out a way to have words with the Arbiter about whatever that no-magic bullshit was.
Fighting to steady her breathing, Elyria ran her gaze around the dim stone chamber. Some of the other champions had made it through ahead of her. They were strewn around the room, still catching their breath, regrouping after whatever brutal encounters they’d faced during the trial. Most importantly, Kit was there, intact and unharmed. And that was all that mattered.
Even if Elyria still couldn’t make sense of the look that had been in Kit’s eyes when she’d finally caught up with her in the arena. So many overlapping emotions—relief and gratitude, obstinance and willfulness. Kit knew that Elyria was only here for her, and Elyria thought she might just love her for it...and loathe her for it at the same time.
Because Kit was in this to win—for Evander, for herself—and nobody was going to stand in her way.
Elyria wasn’t sure if she was proud or terrified. Likely a little of both.
The rush of adrenaline had barely faded when the other champions began shouting. Two more had just come through the archway.
It washim.
Elyria clenched her fists at her sides, trying to shake off the tangle of emotions twisting in her chest. Saving Cedric had been a reflex, the kind of instinct honed through years of combat—one she couldn’t just forget. For Solaris’ sake, she hadn’t even known whose fiery fate she was preventing.
But the look on his face after—the disbelief, theresentment—unsettled her. The frustration in his eyes when he realized who she was, the way his jaw had clenched with something like...shame? And there had been...something else there too. Something she couldn’t quite place.
Why did it bother her so much? Why did she care? At best, he was just some human, some rival from across the Chasms. At worst, he was anenemy.Another champion standing between Kit and the prize at the end of this deadly game. And thus, standing between Elyria and herability to get her friend out alive.
On the other hand, he was clearly an idiot. What other reason could there have been for him to rush headlong into danger with no plan?
And yet...Seeing him pinned there, nearly broken under the weight of the dragon’s claws, had sparked something in her. Stirred some protective instinct she’d thought long buried.
Then there was the way he’d thrust himself back into the fray when the dragon returned, wounded and with no reason to risk his life further. She saw the way he rolled aside as the creature prepared to release another bout of vicious dragonfyre, drawing its aim away from the rest of them. Away from her.
