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A creaking sound reaches my ears, followed by the rhythmic splash of waves against a hull. The sway beneath my feet is tangible; so is the brine-stained air as I breathe it in. The walls narrow in damp, curving lines as chains rattle nearby.

I’m standing in the belly of a ship.

Chains rattle again, and my stomach twists as I take a hesitant step forward, shadows shifting as a single lantern swings from a hook in the low ceiling.

A body is slumped against the wall, shackles biting into wrists, their edges gleaming along darkened, bruised skin. Her head is bowed, strands of tangled hair hiding her face, but even so, I know it’s her.

“Nyssa!” My voice breaks over her name. I rush forward, my knees hitting the boards as my hands reach instinctively for her. My fingers pass through her shoulder and a sob lodges in my throat.

Her chest rises and falls, ragged and shallow, but her gaze remains locked on the floor, unseeing. My hands tremble as I reach for the chains, my voice rising in desperation. “Nyssa, please, look up—”

The sound of footsteps cuts my words short, and my blood chills as they echo closer. I whip my head around as the door groans open and a silhouette pauses within the frame before stepping into view.

Lord Malis. The Eagle.

His eyes sweep over the room before they land on Nyssa. He steps forward, his presence filling the confined space as his voice cuts through the stale air.

“How is my test subject feeling today?”

A growl gathers at the back of my throat, but I swallow it as Nyssa shifts beside me. I turn to her as she lifts her head. She doesn’t look at him directly, but the angle provides a view of her eyes. The defiance burning in them is familiar enough, except, they’re green. A vivid, verdant emerald has taken over her hazel irises.

“What do you want, Malis?” she hisses.

“You know,” he says, his gaze drifting as if lost in memory, “for a while, it was…thrilling. The chase. The not knowing where you had hidden. You were clever, I will give you that. Slipping through the cracks, leaving enough of a trail to keep me guessing. It was almost like a game.” He chuckles darkly, his eyes flicking back to her. “There were moments when I thought the chase itself might be better than the capture.”

Nyssa’s brow furrows, her eyelashes fluttering, and I get the distinct impression she has no idea what he’s talking about before she smooths the expression from her face.

“What do you want from me?” she asks again.

“I trained you better than that, Sparrow,” he counters smoothly. “You already know, do you not?”

She doesn’t answer. He takes a step closer, hands casually clasped behind his back, the smirk on his face deepening. “There has been a very unfortunate accident on the journey and one of our champions has died before they could set foot in the arena,” he says, savoring his words. “You, Nyssa, are going to be one of the Sorrows’s champions in the Empyrieos Games.”

Nyssa’s body stills.

Then, she laughs. A sharp, derisive sound, laced with ridicule. “That’s your plan? You think she’ll fall for this? Aella will know it’s a trap before she even steps foot on your cursed sands.”

Malis steps closer. “Yet she will come.”

The scene begins to dissolve once more.

“Don’t give up, Nys,” I cry out. “Don’t let him win.”

My screams go unheard, my body torn backward into the darkness of the vision’s unraveling edges.

My throat is raw and frayed when the Oracle’s cavern materializes around me. From across the frozen surface of the pool, she remains unmoving at the edge of the shadows, her expression stony as she watches me.

“Has this happened?” My voice cracks against the quiet. “Or is it still to come?”

“It has already come to pass.”

My chest tightens, every word coiling into a knot beneath my ribs. “Then why show me this? Why don’t you show me what happens instead?”

Her head tilts. “Would you rather that?” she asks, unyielding in the simplicity of the question. “Or would you prefer to choose?”

My breath catches shallow in my chest. The walls seem like they’re closing in, the choice pressing down until I can’t breathe. I’m on my feet before the silence can suffocate me.

I falter as Ares rises from where he lounges on the cavern floor.