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Draven didn’t look up at all. His eyes were focused on whatever lay ahead.
Or perhaps he was angry with me for ignoring him since we’d returned, I thought with a stab of guilt.
“They have weapons,” I murmured to Odessa. There was a bow strapped to Rhea’s back, while I saw other contestants carrying blades, bows, and swords.
Selwyn, the large man with the stormy silver eyes and majestic antlers, hoisted an ax over one shoulder, while Erion, the fair-haired reptilian Siabra who was covered in scales, carried a long spear.
Avriel had two wicked-looking sabers criss-crossed on his back. I had no doubt he had others, hidden in his armor.
“In this challenge, they are permitted to bring whatever they wish to carry. In future challenges, it may be different,” she whispered.
Draven had a sword strapped to his back. I knew just how effective he was with it. Like the other challengers, he wore leather armor–light and easy to move in. Part of me wished he were wearing steel, but I supposed that wouldn’t have been a wise choice, not without knowing what he was going up against.
“What will they face?” I murmured impatiently.
“I have an inkling,” Odessa said, but her face was unreadable. “There.” She pointed.
The cave system below was filling up with mist.
Shouts rang up from the challengers below as the mist reached them. I heard Draven yell out, calling his fellow competitors to form a ring, back-to-back.
Soon we could no longer see them at all.
There were murmurs of complaint from the nobles around me. Their show was being spoiled.
I glanced down the balcony at the queen. She looked unperturbed.
The sounds of fighting rang out. Whatever was down there, the contestants were facing it blind.
There was a scream. The sound of blades running through flesh. The grunt of warriors fighting hand to hand.
I clutched the railing. Was this how the entire challenge would go? Us looking down into the mist with no idea what was unfolding?
Then the mist cleared. We could see the challengers again.
Most of them had done what Draven said. They had formed a group with him, defending themselves and each other. I saw Lyrastra to his right. She seemed unhurt.
Others were not so lucky. Brasad, the small man with short fiery hair and red scales, was favoring one arm while his other dripped blood. I watched while he laughed and shrugged, evidently not put off by the injury.
Nearby, Selwyn put a hand on Malkah’s shoulder–the woman with the onyx fish-like scales whose hair was all the colors of the ocean. She clutched at her stomach, then she straightened and tried to clear a look of pain from her face.
“She’s hurt already. Shit. She would have been a good one,” Odessa muttered.
“A good one?” I was confused. Didn’t we all want Draven to win?
“More than one challenger can make it through, though only one will become ruler,” Crescent said quietly. “If someone comes in second or third place, they’ll often be appointed to the emperor or empress’s council–a prestigious position. Malkah is fair-minded, balanced, wise. She would be a good person to have.”
I nodded my understanding.
Avriel, I noticed, had not joined Draven’s group. He stood a ways off, licking a drop of blood from his lips, grinning as he stood in a fighting stance.
At his feet lay one of the creatures that had attacked in the mist.
“Fucking goblins,” Odessa muttered. “Nasty brutes.”
I looked at the bodies littered around the challengers in fascination. They were humanoid but larger even than the average fae, roughly six to seven feet tall. Their bodies were a greenish tinge, hunched and emaciated, with sinewy limbs and twisted postures. Their skin was rough and covered in scars and blemishes, giving them an eerie appearance.
The goblins heads were elongated, with sharp, jagged teeth jutting out of their mouths. Their ears were pointed, like a fae's, but twisted and deformed, with ragged edges.
