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“Destiny is real. I feel the pull of it. At the same time, I don’t believe it is set in stone. We mustchooseour Destiny. We must own it.”
Ben looked between the two males and deduced that they were no longer exclusively speaking of the matter at hand.
And yet, Sin’s words resonated. They still applied.
The future, Destiny—they were both unlived, and therefore, unwritten. Ben could still make choices that would impact them.
They all could.
With that epiphany lighting him up inside, he hustled to catch up with Sol.
Together, the four of them entered the bloodied, ash-littered Tournament grounds.
Chapter Seventeen
“On occasion, despite the rules that bind us, destiny reveals an alternate path. Only the courageous, the faithful and the stalwart succeed in walking this path to the end, wherever it may lead.”
—Excerpt from the Lost Chapters of the Ecliptic Scrolls
While Ben tailed the Eagle King like a second shadow, Zai and Sin surveyed their surroundings, instinctively guarding against potential threats, protecting the boy as best they could.
The Tournament grounds could only be described as bloody, violent, organized chaos.
Dark Ones of all sorts fought to the death in pairs and groups. Sometimes, a new opponent would interrupt a paired match to eliminate a potential competitor while they were focused on someone else. There were no rules. The last man standing won.
For the most part, the contestants clustered in the middle of the blood-soaked battlegrounds. Hence, the four interlopers stayed to the outer circle of observers, mostly humans and a few Pure Ones, kept in line by Dark foot soldiers.
As they made their circuit around the grounds, Zai took note of the Queen’s security. She was heavily guarded by the Dark General and several shadow warriors. The Consul stood beside her while she sat upon a makeshift throne overlooking the spectacle from a raised platform a dozen feet in height.
Archers were stationed all around the surrounding hills from elevated positions, their bows and arrows at the ready. They stood guard beside tall torches that also served to illuminate the arena below. If they needed to maim a contestant for whatever reason, they would simply let fly the regular arrows; if they aimed to kill, they would dip the arrows in flames and end the Immortal more efficiently.
It was clear that the fights were winding down. By the end of this night, a Champion would be announced, and the Dark Queen’s Consort would be decided.
This was the second time Zai had set foot onto forbidden grounds on pain of death.
While he had achieved an understanding of sorts with Queen Ashlu that stayed his execution, he hadn’t exactly delivered on his end of the bargain. After all, he wasn’t the one who disclosed the location of the Animal Spirits to the Queen’s soldiers. He didn’t know how they were found, but it hadn’t been because of him.
In any case, if his tattoos were seen by any of the Dark soldiers, violent actions would likely be taken, questions asked later. He was taking a harebrained risk, yet again, by being here.
And yet, here he was.
Zai had never been afraid to die. It was hard to fear the end when he never cared much for the beginning and the middle. But he’d never been one to take unnecessary risks either. He didn’t seek death if he could avoid it.
Yet, here he was.
Risking his life yet again by following a human boy on a mission from another realm that had nothing to do with him, and a liger whom he’d come to…care for.
He cared about the lives and wellbeing of both these males, he realized. He had an overwhelming, irresistible urge to protect them.
From the first time he encountered the boy, he knew that Ben wasspecial. He felt compelled to keep an eye on him, to keep him safe.
And from the first time he encountered the liger, even during that moment of reckoning decades ago, he was…moved.
Something had shifted inside of him.
Something he never knew was there had stretched awake and roared in recognition. As if it had been waiting to meet the Beast all along, lying dormant deep within Zai’s soul. And now that it had, it could finally begin tolive.
That hidden part of him grew stronger, louder and more insistent the more time he spent with Sin. It growled and purred and panted and whined to be closer to the male, stirring up his bloodlust. And just plainlust.
