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“Welcome to the penultimate trial.” Councilman Ruby’s voice fills the room through the speaker attached to the ceiling.
I glance up, my stomach flipping with nerves. I’ve not been able to feel Joel or Syn since I was brought here, and that’s only making it worse. I hadn’t realised how much I value their steady presence—Joel’s at least, because Syn is a whole different matter.
“To complete this trial, you have to cross from one side of the arena to the other. Everyone will be timed, and the top five will go through to the finals,” the councilman continues. “Of course, it’s not quite as simple as that. We have provided an incentive to make sure you finish as quickly as possible.”
That makes me nervous, especially because there is a blatant note of smugness in his voice. What’s the incentive and why wouldn’t I cross as quickly as I can? It makes no sense. It can’t be as easy as this. There has to be something waiting for me on the other side of the door that will make it challenging—something that wants to kill me if the previous trials have taught me anything.
“You can make this easier for yourself by using a bridge at the side of the arena. If you use this, you will be protected for part of the arena, however, it will add time to your crossing.” I’m just contemplating the use of this bridge when the councilman starts talking again. “Oh, one more detail. The bridge is warded and will only become visible when you shift into wolf form.”
They have created a trial that they know I can’t complete. At least, it’s going to take me longer if I can’t use this bridge and everyone else can. Is it enough to make me fail?Please, help me through this, I pray, hoping the goddess is listening.
The door behind me opens, and a guard gestures for me to follow him with a cruel twist to his lips as he grabs my arm and drags me through the corridor. I lose track of where we go, but we eventually come to a large black wall with a single metal door in the centre. No one else is around besides the guard, and when he opens the door, I have to shield my eyes from the light streaming through.
“Good luck,” he sneers before roughly shoving me over the threshold. I hear the loud sound of metal slamming and then the slide of a lock, telling me I’m now trapped inside the arena.
My eyes take a moment to adjust, and the sound of the roaring crowd is deafening as I try to get my bearings. If I’m going to get through this and make it to the final trial, then I need to work out a plan, and to do that, I need to be able to see the bloody arena. I don’t know why it’s so bright out here, but the artificial lights create a buzzing noise that’s driving me to distraction, even over the clamour of those watching. I take several deep breaths, and I begin to realise that the crowd isn’t cheering or jeering as usual, but several of them are screaming what I think are warnings. Jerking my head up, I see many of them pointing. I follow their directions to the other side of the arena and find a huge, snake-like creature. Its slitted amber eyes are narrowed on me, and fangs as long as my arm are bared in a display of aggression. Before I can begin to feel terror or even start to work out how I’m going to beat this, I notice movement behind it, and that’s when my fear truly kicks in.
Behind the snake, bloodied, beaten, gagged, and bound, is my father.
ChapterNineteen
No, this can’t be happening.
My eyes widen, and my head shakes in disbelief as I take in the scene before me. My father, the strongest man I know, is in mortal danger, but the thing that upsets me the most is that they had himbeaten. Was harming Nicolai not enough? Not only are they trying to shatter my heart, but they also want to destroy everything I am and know in the process.
I should have known they’d resort to something like this. I expected them to use my mates and friends against me, but not my father. When Selina came to my room this morning and not my father, I should have suspected something then. My father would always put me above whatever the council wanted.
I try to contain my terror—not for myself, oh no, because my fear for myself disappeared the moment I saw my father. We might not be related by blood, but that doesn’t matter. Blood doesn’t make family, their actions do. I won’t let the council take that from me.
Although I can’t see them and I have no idea where they are, my mates sense my need and send me their strength through the bond, helping to calm me. As I take a deep breath, a sudden sense of clarity settles over me. I need to pull myself together. This is no longer about completing the trial within a certain time frame. Instead, it’s about getting to my father as quickly as possible.
Studying my opponent, I take in every detail, looking for any weaknesses that I can use against it.
It’s huge, and even with its long, scaly body wrapped around the pylon that my father is tied to, I can tell it’s easily the length of two buses, if not longer. Reptiles aren’t something I’m well versed on, never having much to do with them other than what I’ve seen on TV or trips to the zoo. However, I’d say it looks a little like a giant python with its dark colouring, but that’s where the similarities end. Razor-sharp spikes protrude from its skull just behind its eyes and down the length of its spine. Even from here, I can tell they are lethal. The largest spikes are on its head, about the length of my forearm, and then they steadily get smaller until they end about halfway down its body. Curved fangs jut from its maw, and they are so large it can’t fully close its mouth.
It’s watching me with narrowed eyes, the front of its body poised to strike should it feel threatened. However, it makes no move towards me nor my father. Because of this, I decide that I have time to examine my surroundings and come up with a plan. I know that I’m being timed and every second counts, but that won’t matter if I go rushing in and die because I didn’t plan.
Glancing around, I notice we’re in a football stadium with raised platforms for the spectators with a wall surrounding the pit to protect them. Unlike a normal football stadium, this one has been cleaved into two by a large body of water in the middle. I stand on one side, and the creature holds my father hostage on the other.
Somehow, I need to get across the water and then fight the creature to get my father, which means I’m going to have to swim. From what I remember, many snakes are able to swim, so I’m guessing as soon as I get in the water, the creature will as well. Fighting that thing will be difficult enough anyway, but to fight it in water while trying to keep myself afloat… Now I understand why Councilman Ruby mentioned a bridge. It will keep the champions out of the water, conserving their energy for the fight on the other side. It’s a great idea, not that I’ll be able to use it. They have purposely put in something to give the other champions an advantage that I can’t use, and of course, they have decided to rub that fact in my face.
There’s no point in dwelling on that, though, because the bridge isn’t an option, meaning I need to focus on what Icanwork with. Taking another deep breath, I bite my lip as I examine the body of water. That’s going to be where I struggle the most, so I need to make sure I get in and out as quickly as possible. Star shifts within me, and I almost smile at her impatience.
I call her with a gentle caress, and Star materialises beside me, snarling as she faces off against the snake. Hopefully she’ll be able to distract the creature as I cross to the other side. The ground on the opposite side has been churned up by the snake, so rocks and large pieces of debris lie scattered around, and I’ll have to be careful to avoid them.
I have no weapons, but I do have something no one else does—magic. I might not be able to control it or understand it, but every time I’ve needed it, it’s not failed me. Even now I can feel the tingling in my hand that tells me my dagger of starlight has appeared. The other presence within me is oddly quiet, letting me take everything in and come to my own conclusions, but I’m too focused on my current task to examine why that might be.
It’s time, the goddess whispers, her invisible love surrounding me with warmth.You must act now.
There’s a hint of urgency in her ethereal voice, and without allowing myself to think about it any longer, I lock my gaze on my father and burst into a sprint.
My movement seems to have broken whatever spell the snake was under, and with a loud hiss that reverberates through my bones, it leaps forward. However, it doesn’t jump into the water like I thought it would, and instead, it rears up and slithers up and down the length of the water’s edge in agitation. Perhaps it can’t swim after all, or there’s something that’s stopping it.
In theory, the trial is simple—cross the ground, then the water, and run to the other side as fast as possible. It seems too easy. I know the council, and although I still have the snake to fight, something has set my instincts alight, warning me that there’s something else and this will be my most dangerous challenge yet.
Trusting my instincts, I remain hypervigilant as I cross my section of the arena, hesitating only when I reach the water. Something isn’t right. Star makes a strangled whining sound, and as I glance around, I see her hopping from foot to foot anxiously, her gaze on the creature on the other side of the water.
Looking back at the water, I push away my fears and reservations, take a large breath, and dive in.
