Chapter Thirty-Two

C HAPTER T HIRTY-TWO

I blink as my eyes adjust to the swirling colours and ethereal light of the sun above me. It isn’t blinding brightness, but it is enough to bring back the memories of what happened.

Sitting up, I will myself forward. The arena is silent, but my head is thrumming with noise. I look down at my chest, running my hands over the bloodstain on my clothes with no sign of wound or gash on my skin.

A muted groan catches my attention and I turn to the side, seeing Darius stir. I scramble over to him, frantically prying his shirt open to see his skin miraculously healed.

‘Of course you will find any opportunity to undress me, Goldie,’ he murmurs, and my eyes flicker up to his face, where he is already looking at me with a lazy smile.

Something lights within me, and I choke out a half-laugh and a half-sob. I hardly wait for him as he rises onto his elbow, and I throw my arms around his neck. He buries his head into my hair, and before we can even so much as kiss, a glow emits from below his chest.

We part as he lifts his shirt, and the symbol of lines and an arrowhead fade into nothing.

Our eyes meet, an unspoken understanding passing between us.

‘Nara?’ Illias says in disbelief as I look at him, and a smile starts to appear on our faces before a guttural roar splits the arena.

Rising to our feet, Darius and I whirl our heads towards the balcony. Aurum’s furious gaze locks with mine, but it is Darius who looks up at him undeterred with a cunning smirk on his lips like he has been waiting for this moment for far too long now.

Aurum raises his hand, smiling as he snaps his thumb and forefinger together. Nothing happens. Darius’s smirk grows, and for the first time, Aurum’s face pales.

‘Secure the prisoners!’ he commands the Elves, his voice rumbling through the arena grounds. Some of the Elves look torn for a moment between their loyalty to Aurum and the horror of seeing Darius and me alive. ‘Now—’ Aurum’s order is abruptly cut off by the piercing caw of a bird. I gaze skywards as a shadow glides over us, revealing the majestic form of a phoenix with a legion of dragons trailing behind.

‘Lorcan,’ I whisper with a smile. At once, flames descend upon the stands and people start to flee.

Illias says, ‘I’ll try to find a way to get everyone out of the cells!’ He turns away from us, sprinting past everyone to get to the passages that lead towards the dungeons.

I don’t even get to tell him to wait for me when screams tear through the stands as Elves charge our way. Shadow tendrils wrap around my waist, pulling me towards Darius’s chest before an Elf’s sword slices at the ground.

Disorientated, I look up at Darius as he grins at me.

I tell him, ‘We’re getting out of here, like you said.’

‘And you found a way.’

I smile, my eyes flickering past him. ‘On your left.’

Understanding my every word, he twists as I slide out of the way of an oncoming attack onto the ground. Darius gracefully manoeuvres through the Elves, dodging, using his powers and striking each Elf down with such fluidity.

He hasn’t been able to do this in so long without Aurum manipulating him that I can’t stop watching him with a mixture of admiration and determination for his success.

I forget where we are for that moment until an Elf charges towards me, lifting a spear above his head. I react instinctually, raising my hand to block the blow when a beam of magical energy shoots from my palm, sending the Elf reeling back with a powerful blast.

I glance at my hand with wide eyes, feeling the pulse of energy course through my veins as it throbs and burns for me to use it again.

What will happen if I choose to accept who I am?

Then you will become the true immortal vessel you were meant to be.

My lips twitch with a smile of disbelief.

The Galgrs were always right.

Gus was right.

‘Miss Nara!’ Tibith shouts, and I look up as he runs towards me. ‘I told you that you have powers!’

Lorcan is behind him. ‘Sorry we’re late,’ he says, helping me up.

I consider the thousands of questions I have for him, whether he orchestrated all this with the remaining shifters or how he is after knowing Hira was his mother all along, but there isn’t time for that. Not now. Not in the middle of this.

Nodding in appreciation, I glance over his shoulder, where I spot Leira and Aelle with violet swirls of magic dancing from their fingertips while Fernah dives across the arena with other Ardenti dragons behind her.

‘Rydan,’ I suddenly say.

Lorcan frowns.

‘Rydan, Freya, Link, my brothers . . . Gus – they’re all locked in a cage,’ I add, panic scratching the surfaces of my heart because I have no idea if Illias is safe having left for the cells. ‘We need—’

The ground quakes beneath our feet and my attention is drawn to the rising cage – my brothers, desperately scanning the chaos to find me. However, my focus shifts to the balcony, where a jolt of shock pulses through me as I see Sarilyn’s hand resting on the lever. Her gaze is fixed on me with a strange smile that paralyses me.

A split second later, Aurum grabs her by the arm and shouts something in her face. She mutters something back, enraging Aurum as he backhands her across the cheek. Fury wraps around me, making me start towards the balcony, but Lorcan pulls me back as an arrow cuts across me, narrowly missing me.

I whip my head towards the one who has fired it and watch as he reaches behind him to grab another arrow. Still ramped up with rage, I clench my fists. ‘Get Tibith to Darius,’ I order Lorcan, never taking my eyes away from the Elf.

Whether he is doing it or not, I don’t know as I march across the arena. The Elf aims the arrow at my head, and with a flick of my hand, the ground splits, making him stumble. His bulging green eyes widen even more as he desperately tries to nock the arrow, but I am already nearing him.

I grow angrier, the accumulation of everything that has happened fuelling me as light from my hands turns blinding, and I snap the Elf’s hand with the motion of my fingers. He screams, attempting with his free hand to use his powers, but failing, and as I raise my palm, a distant voice snaps me out of it all. There’s a grip on my wrist, and I turn my head, staring at deep blue eyes that make me think of my mother.

‘Idris,’ I whisper softly. I look behind him, where all my friends are now free, and then Ruvyn is beside them.

Our eyes meet and he sends me a decisive nod.

He freed my brothers from the cage.

He chose me .

‘Leave the Elf to us,’ Idris says to me as my eyes cut to him. ‘It’s Aurum you want.’

‘You’ll lose either way,’ the Elf chuckles from the ground. When I look at him, sweat beads down the side of his head, his straggly long hair sticking to his neck. ‘Whatever you are—’ His words are cut short into a gurgle as a dagger made of shadows punctures a hole between his eyes.

I glance past him, watching Darius stalking towards us. His eyes blaze a golden colour that I haven’t seen except when he is absolutely mad. His lips part, a snickering comment likely brewing.

‘Nara!’ Freya’s voice comes out as a frightened gasp. All of us turn to find her in front of Aurum as he wraps a hand around her throat.

Rage sluices through my veins, my legs aching to propel myself forward, but I know better. Idris and Iker, however, let their desperation take over as they rush ahead, and Aurum’s grip tightens, causing Freya’s chin to lift more.

‘Careful.’ Aurum grins as my brothers freeze. ‘One more step, and I’ll snap her delicate little neck.’

I can see Freya’s hand at the side, attempting to conjure up some of her magic. Sparks of violet power crackle beneath her palm.

‘The stones,’ Aurum says, shuffling backwards with Freya in his grasp. ‘Give them to me.’

My eyes snap to the necklace around Freya’s neck – the one harbouring the magic of the Isle of Elements portal. She gives me the same wild look as we try to come up with the next step.

‘You’re rotting away,’ I tell Aurum, planting my hand out to the side when I sense Idris ready to run again towards Freya. ‘The Isle can’t give you anything. It will just take and take until it destroys this world.’

The maddening look in Aurum’s one eye never yields. ‘Don’t test me, Nara.’ His fingers dig into Freya’s neck and a strangled cry leaves her lips.

At once, her magic manifests, and she raises a purple-stricken hand, blasting his face with dust.

Aurum’s menacing growl reverberates through the air as he forcefully releases Freya, sending her tumbling to the ground. She clutches the pendant, but the desperate grip proves futile against the brute force of Aurum as it slips from her fingers. The protective shield opens with a crack, and a flash of light erupts, unleashing a force of power up into the air.

My pounding heart echoes around the arena when Aurum’s gaze lands on the pendant and the portal. He begins to laugh – a sickening winner’s laugh that sends a thick wave of nausea over me – as he sees the opportunity to grab it.

At the same time, Darius and I yell out, ‘No!’ as we both lunge for it, before Darius’s golden eyes turn silver, burning bright as he conjures a blast of water from his palm. It hits Aurum straight in the chest, sending him back against the arena wall and causing it to crack.

Darius slows down, shock making him stumble as he glances down at his hands. His fingers flex as if he knows this is something new, something I can only imagine is thanks to Crello.

But instead of dwelling on it, we have no time. I snatch the pendant off the ground, closing it along with the portal. I’m watching Idris and Iker running towards Freya when Aurum rises to his feet, a look of lethal vengeance in his gaze as gold swirls encompass him, and he emerges from them as a dragon.