36. Ella

Chapter 36

Ella

“There’s no way this is appropriate to wear in front of children,” Ella scoffed at her reflection in the mirror.

Since Ella didn’t own any fighting gear to wear for Sword Hunt, she’d relied on Kellen to acquire her some battle apparel from the school’s supply. What he procured for her was the antithesis of what she typically wore and was her living nightmare crafted in a form-fitting jumpsuit, her body clad in sleek leather that hugged her curves like a second layer of skin. The glossy material gleamed in the ambient light of the locker room, accentuating the dangerous, seductive allure of the garment. Elaborate straps and buckles adorned the jumpsuit, giving the illusion of cushioning, with a belt wrapped around her waist to sheathe a weapon, her blonde hair contrasting starkly against the matte black. While the ensemble molded to her body, resembling a suit of armor, Ella had a hard time understanding how this garb would provide her any protection during the game.

“It’s not that bad,” Akio said, sitting on the bench next to the lockers. He was decked out in the titanium armor she’d expected Kellen to grab for her, a masterpiece of metalwork that exuded both strength and elegance, his bluish-black hair gelled off his forehead to give his face room to breathe.

“Not that bad? ” Ella pointed to her backside, which was virtually visible through the leather. “My ass is out!”

“No one’s going to be staring at your ass during Sword Hunt other than Kellen.”

“That doesn’t make me feel better.” Akio chuckled as Ella dropped her face into her hands and groaned. “This suit makes my skin crawl. I’m practically naked in this! Is this Kellen’s way of bringing to life some perverted fantasy about me?”

“Give him some credit. He’d never let a fantasy of the two of you play out in front of other people.” Ella had to laugh at that. “And trust me, you’re going to be thankful for that suit being so tight during battle. It’s way harder to fight when you’ve got bulky armor on than something light and airy.”

She began dividing her hair into two braids with a huff. “I still think Kellen did this on purpose.”

“Did what on purpose?” Kellen asked when he reentered the locker room. His mouth fell open at the exact same time as Ella’s. Similarly to Akio, Kellen was clothed in traditional armor, his pauldrons broad and imposing, festooned with fierce spikes that jutted out from the metal shield, mimicking the horns on his back in dragon form. Spears framed his face in a menacing silhouette. The vambraces that encased his forearms were decorated in an engraved pattern reminiscent of flames, flowing down the armor to his greaves, which were thick and sturdy, promising to protect his muscular legs from harm. Kellen had two swords suspended on either side of his waist—on his left was his own sword, and on the right was a much larger weapon, manufactured from solid gold and varnished in red, the Red Team’s sword that they would need to hide and protect during Sword Hunt. Kellen gulped down a harsh breath that hissed through his teeth as he beheld Ella, flames twirling in his eyes. He then glared at Akio. “You better not have been watching when she put this on.”

“I’d never!” Akio insisted. “Who do you think I am?”

“Seriously, Kilic?” Ella grumbled when she’d recovered her equilibrium and stopped mooning over how gorgeous he looked in his armor. She waved her hand down her body. “This scrap of material was all you could get me?”

“All the women wear this in battle,” Kellen explained, moving with fluid grace across the locker room to stand with her. “Just not all of them look as delicious in it as you do.” He cupped her chin and lifted her head so his lips could scrape against hers. His fingers slid down to curve around her throat. “I don’t know what I find more appealing,” he whispered against her mouth. Ella shuddered at the surge of lightning effervescing through her body from his tongue gently lapping her bottom lip while he spoke. “The leather clinging to your curves, or your hair in those braids.”

“You like braids?” she stammered.

“I like you , Noella Rose.” She melted onto his chest, her fingers tracing the titanium breastplate. Into their kiss, he groaned, “So much it’s sickening.” Kellen grabbed the front zipper on her leather jumpsuit and yanked it up to below her chin while they kissed, cloaking her neck in leather, the metal zipper grating against her throat. “My eyes only,” he murmured, nipping her bottom lip.

“And that’s my cue to leave,” Akio joshed, pretending to rise from the bench and sprint away in slow motion.

“Did you get a sword yet?” Kellen asked, searching the floor for a weapon. She shook her head. “I’ll go get you one.” He seized her chin to pilfer one last kiss from her lips. “You’re fucking impossible to leave,” he growled, then slipped his fingers off her and stalked out of the locker room.

“You look happy,” Akio observed. Ella cupped her flaming cheeks.

“I feel happy,” she whispered, her heart hewed apart by the look of pure joy washing over her friend’s face—her friend who she’d been so cold to simply because he tried to guide her towards repairing things with Kellen, her friend who all this time had been looking out for her and protecting her and wanting to see her happy, and she’d made him out to be this vindictive, selfish bastard in her head, undeserving of trust. “I’m sorry for accusing you of pushing me towards Kellen for your own selfish reasons,” she stammered, truly meaning her apology this time. Akio’s cheeks paled the moment she began apologizing, eyes rounding with something akin to fear. “I know now that you were just being a good friend and looking out for me. I’m so grateful—”

“ELLA,” Akio cut her off mid-sentence. He squeezed his eyes shut, groaning an aggrieved sound like he was experiencing pain somewhere in his body, and whispered, “You weren’t…you weren’t completely wrong.”

Ella’s breath hitched. “What do you mean?” Akio opened one eye to look at her.

“My vision,” he told her, her heartbeat rumbling hysterically, scuffing her eardrums. “It was about you and Kellen. Aros…Aros asked me to make sure you two found your way to each other.”

“Why?” She needed this answered finally. “Why does he care so much about me and Kellen? What else did he tell you?”

“He said…” Akio scanned the doorway to ensure no one was lingering there. He then spoke into her mind for extra precaution, Only when the child of the crown—

“Binds to the child of the flame can the chains of solitude be released,” Ella finished for him, the gasp she loosed singeing her chest. “Bryara said that to me. Are you saying that…that prophecy is about—”

“All staff members, report to base for the start of Sword Hunt,” Headmistress Dyer’s voice boomed from the loudspeaker.

“We’ve got to go,” Akio sighed, starting for the door.

“Akio!” Ella yelled. “What the fuck?!”

“We’ll talk after. I promise.” He spun around to look at her. “You are my friend, Ella. My best friend. I have always wanted what’s best for you. Please believe that.” He abandoned her in the locker room.

A second later, Kellen returned with a sword for Ella, gifting her no time to process or react to what just happened. She accepted the sword from Kellen, then sheathed it in the holster hanging at her waist and followed him out into the hallway.

“Did you see Akio leave on your way here?” she whispered.

“No. Why?” Ella surveyed the hallway on either side to verify no one was in listening distance.

“I need to talk to you about what he just told me.” Kellen came to a halt and turned his body to face her.

“Did he finally tell you about the vision?” She nodded. He demanded, “Tell me what he said.”

“ MOVE ,” Oliviana snapped from behind them, shoving her way through Kellen and Ella to force them apart. Kellen’s promise that her Sword Hunt ensemble was custom for women in Cavale to wear was confirmed through Oliviana. The earth-bender’s apparel mimicked Ella’s, down to the ankle boots with rubberized soles. Her crimson tresses were folded into an intricate bun, a few wisps wiggled free from her elastic to spill down her neck. She whipped her head back, pinning them down with a stony glare, and sneered, “You two don’t have time to talk. You’re supervising the first round.”

“Is this really going to be the rest of your life, Oliviana?” Ella asked her seriously. “Being obsessed with everything Kellen and I do? That’s such a useless waste of your time. Find something else to be consumed by, something far more advantageous to your own happiness. I mean that sincerely.”

“Oh, trust me, princess. I have. You’ll find out soon.” Ella jerked back as Oliviana strutted to the exit.

“Ignore her,” Kellen grumbled under his breath. “I usually do.”

“You didn’t find that a little ominous? You’ll find out soon,” Ella mocked Oliviana in a low tenor.

“Honestly, baby, I don’t take anything that bitch says or does seriously. Not since she asked me to tell her in extensive detail how I almost drowned you in a pool so she could get off on the thought of you in pain.”

“She did?” Bile soiled the inside of Ella’s mouth. “What did you say?”

“I kicked her out of my apartment and told her to fuck off. That’s why I ended things with her. I found it disgustingly unattractive. No part of me would entertain that, even when I tried to convince myself I hated you, because deep down, the thought of you seriously hurt was abhorrent to me. Still is.” Ella reached for Kellen’s hand, giving it a soft squeeze. He squeezed back. “I wasn’t trying to drown you that day. I wanted to scare you into quitting, but I never would’ve actually hurt you.”

“I know that. You wouldn’t do anything that would leave Laya and Jarion in a position to have no guardian. It’s taken me a long time to fully understand your motives, but I know you were scared about your mother and were acting out of fear for the twins. I let go of my anger at you a long time ago, Kellen.”

Kellen’s eyes shimmered. He stared at her for a long moment like he was truly seeing her for the first time.

“The fact that you understand that makes me even more certain that you’re my Cavalisha.” Ella giggled as Kellen captured her face and kissed her in a rapid sequence on every corner of her skin, playfully biting her cheek. “Gods,” he groaned, “I’d do fucking anything for you, Noella.”

“Even walk Freya for me?” Ella bat her eyelashes at Kellen’s frown.

“Really, Rose?” he carped as they resumed walking, heading for the exit of the office building. “Why?”

“Because I want you two to be best friends.”

“Sweetheart,” he laughed at her pout. Kellen held the door open for her. “You can’t guarantee that.”

“She already likes you. When you’re around, she forgets I exist. She only wants to sit on your lap.”

“The feeling isn’t reciprocated.”

“Come on, Kellen.” Ella turned on her heel and stopped walking, plastering on her best, big eyed, beseeching sweet look. “Please? Is it so bad for me to want the two most important beings in my life to mean as much to each other as they mean to me?” Kellen screwed his eyes shut with a grunt.

“Fuck. I miss the days when I could say no to you.” Ella reached up on her tiptoes to tease his jawline with the tip of her nose, dragging it down the sharp demarcation cloaked in scruff.

“You could never say no to me, Kellen Kilic,” she mumbled over his chin. “Don’t kid yourself.”

Before he could shift his head and dive down to close the distance between them, she rotated with a vicious laugh, her braids slapping his armor, and skipped off to meet the accumulation of students, all dressed in red, gathered on the great lawn in the academic sector. The rest of campus was blocked off by a forcefield that began at the boundary line of the academic sector and shot up to arch over the entirety of Delmarth, so all Ella could see when she stared at the iridescent partition was her own reflection, not the Varmin sector that typically fringed her office building. Inside the forcefield, which she would pass through in a manner of minutes, lay the arena for Sword Hunt, created by the Cerebri instructors who were standing off to the side with their eyes glazed in silver, absorbed in maintaining the illusion. The Gold Team was on the opposite end of the dome, beginning at the Herculea sector, so she couldn’t see them past the forcefield. Ella searched the queue of Cerebri instructors for Akio, but before she had a chance to locate him, Kellen shepherded her through the sea of students to the front of the throng. He guided her gently by her elbow to where their assigned group of seven students for the first round of Sword Hunt was waiting for them, one student selected from every grade level, beginning with sixth grade and ending with twelfth. Jamie was amongst their group, the tension easing from her shoulders when she saw that Ella was one of the designated faculty supervising her round.

“Tell me what’s going through your head,” Ella entreated her. “You look troubled.”

“I hate Maccabiah,” Jamie spluttered, her fingers clawing at her chest. “Everyone’s emotions get so heightened and I can feel everything that everyone is feeling and it’s just too much. It’s too much, Ms. Rose.”

“Take a second. Breathe with me.” Ella placed her hands on Jamie’s shoulders, ensnaring a mouthful of oxygen in her chest along with Jamie, and counted to four in her head, then released the breath in a heavy, prolonged gale, counting six seconds aloud for Jamie as she released her own gasp. “I know this is hard for you. It’s a lot of energy even for me, so I can’t imagine what it feels like for you. That’s why we coped ahead for this. Can you remember some of the suggestions we came up with for you to fall back on when you get overwhelmed during the event?”

Jamie’s forehead crinkled along with the shutting of her eyes, recalling the cope ahead sheet she and Ella filled out last week in preparation for Maccabiah and specifically for Sword Hunt.

“Go to where there’s water and splash my face,” Jamie recited from the sheet. “Make sure I never stop breathing. Shift into my snake form. Put my hand to my heart and focus on what my heartbeat feels like under my hand to return to my own body.”

“Good.” Ella squeezed her shoulders. “What do you know about what the arena is going to look like?”

“It’s made to look like Lavalden and the Middledeen waters.” Jamie’s eyes were still closed.

“Exactly. You know there’s going to be water there, so when you need a second, you give me the signal we agreed on and go find water. Don’t worry about anyone else. Once you’re in a calmer state, you find your way back to the group. Okay?” Ella’s fingers fell off Jamie’s shoulders before she stepped back to give the serpent-shifter room. “You can do this,” Ella assured her, gripping the hilt of her own sword.

“Okay,” Jamie stammered not convincingly.

“I want to hear you say it.” Jamie exhaled a dilapidated breath.

“I can do this,” the Varmin repeated, falling into the line of students and focusing on the pace of her breaths.

Kellen and Ella settled into place in front of the group.

“Ms. Rose and I are here to supervise,” Kellen told the group when he swiveled around, “but this is your fight. Your search. Once we get in there, talk amongst each other and figure out your strategy. No asking us for help. We’re here to make sure no one gets too carried away. Remember this is supposed to be fun. Do not seriously injure your classmates, or there will be consequences.”

“Red and Gold, get into position,” Headmistress Dyer’s voice echoed from a faraway plane inside the loudspeaker. “Sword Hunt will commence in thirty seconds when the bell tolls.”

“Good luck,” Ella threw over her shoulder at the row of students. “I have no doubt you will do great.”

I’m really glad we’re doing this together, Kellen told Ella. I want to experience every first with you. I want to do the rest of my life with you, Noella Rose. No one else. Ella swallowed down her tears.

Me too, Kell. Love screamed inside her, imploring to be freed. She couldn’t keep it in anymore. I lo— Ella never got to finish the sentiment before the roar of a bell cleaved the ether in half.

They led their group through the forcefield into the arena.

The arena stretched out before them as Kellen and Noella cleared the barrier. A vast expanse of chaos and destruction crashed into the backcloth of a boundless sea, emulating the Middledeen waters that divided Cavale and Lantari. The salty scent of the ocean mingled with the sharp, harsh smell of smoke and blood, amalgamating together to create a surreal, haunting atmosphere heavy from devastation. Unruly waves banged against the rocky shore, a rugged and unforgiving landscape with jagged cliffs rising from the water, their weathered faces carved by the relentless force of the whitecaps that slammed against them. The sand beneath their boots was stained with blood, a macabre canvas of crimson and gold. In the distance, the sun dipped below the horizon, throwing lithe rays of fiery light across the water and painting the cerulean sky in flourishes of red and pink. On the grounds itself, the illusion crafted deceased bodies and scattered them over the battleground, the carcasses covered in weeping wounds and mottled flesh.

Noella gasped at the ghastly sight, stumbling back a step. Kellen reached out his hand to steady her.

It’s not real, Kellen assured her.

It’s real somewhere, she answered in a voice full of sadness. Kellen was knocked off guard by the truth of that statement. It bashed him in the gut. He felt it reverberate and scar every valley in his body.

Sometimes, he found it difficult to remember what was happening on the frontier lines of Cavale, despite how often they spoke about the war with the students and prepared them for the conditions of battle. Delmarth was such a beautiful bubble entombed on the other side of the kingdom, so far removed from the destruction that it sometimes felt like a myth they told the students, not something that was factually happening and continued to happen every single day while they all lived their lives, as if people weren’t dying every second. The sun still shone and the wind still blew, but somewhere in Cavale, mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters, waited in vain, their lives completely halted, their hearts ripped from their chest and existing with their loved ones on that battlefield. Those soldiers who were once children, just like the children behind Kellen now, were reduced to meat for the birds. Their eyes and hearts were as immobile as their limbs. What was displayed before them now on the Sword Hunt arena was only a fraction of the horror occurring in this exact moment in the real Lavalden, the wounded draped over the wintry grounds, garish scarlet flowing over the frosted white sand, blanketing the earth in tragedy.

Noella had not been shy about expressing her extreme disapproval for Aros Cavalian and how he expected his people to fight for him when he barely fought for them. Kellen had never looked at it that way before, but now, he wasn’t able to see it any other way, the unfair hypocrisy of it all. He thought about what Markus had said weeks ago and suddenly couldn’t agree more. What were they even fighting for anyway?

Why did they spend so much time talking about the war, training for the war, mastering their powers to take on the Sireres, but never got to actually see the war or what was happening in Lavalden? What was the point in giving their lives for a king who couldn’t give two shits about any of them? These were children who were being molded into warriors. Expected to forfeit their lives to Aros’s cause against Edar. Forced to side with a king who’d never given them an actual reason to side with him because the threat of being tortured for the rest of their lives was too grave.

What was the fucking point?

Kell, an angel’s voice ruptured through his downward spiral, reaching out a dainty hand to yank him back into reality.

My love, he sighed in his head, relief flooding through him to have her sweet voice replace his depressing, crushing thoughts. Noella’s eyelashes fluttered when he called her that so casually, as if he’d always called her that, which, strangely, it felt like he had, like she’d always been his love.

Kellen returned his focus to the squabbling students before he started overthinking the fact that he just called her that for the first time.

“Altair should take Robin in the sky with him and survey the grounds for the other team’s sword,” Callum, a senior Herculea strength-wielder demanded, taking the helm of the group because no one else seemed eager to claim the reins. “Me and Evander will hide and guard the sword. The rest of you should go searching for their sword.”

That left Jamie, a Meteoro earth-bender named Clovis, and a Cerebri named Blair as the group hunting for Gold’s sword. Kellen agreed with this plan, not that he elected to share that with Callum.

Should we split up too? Noella asked Kellen. Neither seemed thrilled about the idea of separating. Maybe one of us should stay with the kids guarding our sword while the other goes with the group searching for Gold’s sword.

I really don’t want to leave you. Noella’s lips drooped in a taunting pout, her eyes laughing at him. Kellen realized what a fucking sap he sounded like and snapped out of it. Fine. I’ll stay with the group guarding the sword. You should stay with Jamie.

“Mr. Kilic will stay with Callum and Evander,” Noella shared with the group. “I’ll join the group searching for the sword.”

“Robin,” Kellen addressed the sixth grade Cerebri. “When you locate the Gold team overhead with Altair, let Callum know where you see them so I can communicate it to Ms. Rose’s group.”

Altair, a gryphon-shifter, took no time to spare before he transformed into his Varmin form, his body becoming a seamless blend of a regal lion and a powerful eagle, with a massive wingspan that shimmered in the sunlight like a tapestry of gold and silver. Feathers of dazzling blue and green garlanded his wings, casting an incredible array of colors across the ghoulish landscape. Robin crawled onto Altair’s back, her fingers fisting his feathers for support before he leapt off his hind legs and hurled them into the sky, a wink of green and gold amidst the panorama of blue.

You okay, sweetheart? Noella whispered before her group left. You looked like you were dissociating before.

Kellen nearly fell to his knees before her when she called him that.

He couldn’t stop his eyes from hungrily devouring her in her battle uniform and her adorable braids, the leather of her fighting suit adhering to her flawless figure, worshipping her curves the way he wished he could right now. He never knew it was possible to become jealous of cloth, but right now, he yearned to shred the material apart and replace the fabric on her body with his tongue.

Got lost in my head for a second. You brought me back. Noella’s gaze warmed.

I always will, she promised. He felt so overwhelmed by her beauty and mere existence that he could barely catch his breath.

Kellen bit his tongue before he snapped at the students in Noella’s group to take care of her, since that was supposed to be their jobs as supervisors to take care of the kids. He watched her drape an arm around Jamie’s shoulders and turn to begin their hunt for Gold’s sword, gifting him a moment to appreciate the shape of her ass before he was forced to will his eyes off her and onto Callum and Evander.

“Where are you thinking you want to hide the sword?” Kellen asked them.

“In the sand,” Evander, a Meteoro water-bender, replied, his eyes locked on the impersonation of the Middledeen waters. “I think we should stay near the water.”

“Not the sand,” Callum denied, “though I agree we should stay near the water. If I can create an opening in the rock for us to hide the sword, even if Gold makes it over here, they’ll never think to look inside the cliff.”

Great idea, Kellen wanted to say, but instead, he schooled his features to hide his approval, allowing the students to lead the way to the ocean. The sound of the surf heaving under the callused breeze filled the air with a sonata of rolling waves and swirling currents circling around the crenelated cliff, ridged with deep grooves. Pools of water collected in the crevices of the rocks. Kellen carefully assessed Callum’s progression up the cliff, the rock beneath his feet slick and treacherous, worn smooth by the illusion imitating a rock that had endured centuries of pounding waves and shifting tides. Once he reached the top, Callum mustered all his strength to stab his fingers into the rock, mincing through the aggregate minerals to create a large enough opening for himself to slide their team’s sword inside. He then used the debris gathered around him of pulverized granite to coat the top and shroud the hilt of the sword. He inched his way down the cliff slowly, prudent of his footwork so he didn’t slip off the edge, and hopped back onto the sand.

Evander steered his hands towards the ocean and guided the marine to the left. A wave of water obeyed his command and swept onto the cliff base, dousing it in glassy liquid that would ensure anyone who dared to attempt an ascent up the rock would slip right back onto the beach. The boys high-fived when Evander was finished.

“Good job, guys,” Kellen offered them.

While they waited, Kellen dove into Noella’s head, looking through her eyes to check on the other group’s progress.

Noella’s group had reached the illusion’s version of the Lavalden forest. The sun filtered through the cracks in the canopy of trees, designing dappled patterns and throwing a gilded spotlight onto the leaf-strewn path Noella and the students followed. She remained at the back of the group, intently observing as the students navigated the winding trails on their hands and knees to search for the Gold sword, her footsteps light and sure on the soft forest floor, her hand hovering near the hilt of her sword.

Through his connection with her mind, he could feel how the earthy fragrance of damp soil, moss, and pine needles relaxed the thrashing of her heart, how she used the pungent assault on her senses to help calm her nervous system.

Hi, baby, Kellen cooed to her.

Hi, sweetheart, she answered in equally as tender a voice. He groaned out loud and didn’t care if Callum or Evander heard him. Gods, he loved her so fucking much. Where did the boys hide the sword?

We stayed by the ocean, he told her. Callum had an idea to hide the sword inside the cliff. Even if Gold comes this way, they won’t be able to get to it or even see where it’s located. It was a brilliant move.

Good idea, she agreed. I wouldn’t have thought of that.

Fallen leaves crunched under Noella’s boots. A soothing rhythm followed in her wake as her group moved deeper into the forest. The distant call of simulated birds provided a peaceful soundtrack to their journey.

How’s your group doing? he asked despite being able to see through her eyes.

No luck yet finding any sword. We haven’t encountered anyone from Gold. The kids are getting along well. I’m keeping a close eye on Jamie.

She’s lucky to have you. We all are. Kellen felt her lips lift in a smile through their bond. I miss you.

Is it crazy that I miss you too? she laughed in his head. We saw each other five minutes ago!

If you stay in Cavale, we’ll never have to part again. Wrong moment to be broaching this conversation, he knew, but he couldn’t help himself from dangling the temptation in front of her and seeing if she’d bite.

I’ve been thinking about that the past few days. Kellen’s heartbeat stuttered in his chest. Being a part of Maccabiah has been so special for me. I never went to summer camp like some of my peers in school who got to live a version of these types of games. Maybe it’s making me look at Delmarth and Cavale through rose-colored glasses a bit, but I honestly can’t imagine leaving and not getting to experience this with you ever again.

Kellen stopped breathing. Are you saying what I think you’re saying, Rose? He felt a blush steal across her cheeks.

I’m saying…I think I want to stay here, Noella declared, filling Kellen with abounding light, so much he was teeming with it, leaking it, pouring his delight out into the universe. Tears graced the corners of his eyes.

He laughed a mixture of a cackle and a sob, gushing, We’ll talk later about how your feelings for me weren’t enough for you to stay, but FUCK, Noella. You just made me the happiest man alive.

Noella was about to object when suddenly, there was a flash of movement in front of them before a burly figure pounced on her from the side and pummeled her to the ground, her head smacking the forest floor. Kellen felt the blow to the back of Noella’s skull reverberate through his own cranium, as if it had been him trampled and not her. Noella didn’t hesitate to slam her elbow into the face of her assailer, not even checking first to see if it was a student, though from the bulk and the blonde hair, she’d figured out before Kellen that it was Daniel Madix on top of her.

“Are you two good to guard the sword alone?” Kellen asked Callum and Evander.

He’d taken off running before the boys had even lifted their chins to bob their heads in nods.

Kellen watched Daniel, through Noella’s eyes, splutter a callous laugh at the torrent of blood spouting out of his now mangled nose. He rose off the forest floor, staring down at the crimson smudges on the center of his palm as Noella extracted her sword from its sheath, her beauty overtaken by rancor. All around them, students from both teams engaged one another in battle, red-tinted armor fusing with gold.

“You’ve got a mean right hook, earthborn,” Daniel chuckled, taunting, “Does Kellen enjoy that in bed?” before he flicked his fingers and sent her soaring into a tree with nothing but his mind, grinning at the sound of her spine smashing into the trunk with an excruciating snap. Kellen’s wings unfolded from his back, shattering through his armor as both his and Coz’s concern amalgamated into one and he let his dragon take over to get him to Noella faster, leaping off his feet.

Noella pulled herself up with a pained groan, then hauled herself into a standing position, soil sliding down the leather of her jumpsuit. “Careful there,” she seethed. “It almost sounds like you’re jealous.”

“Jealous of who? Of you?” Noella mocked him with a condescending shrug. Daniel’s features darkened.

“Maybe you’ve actually been in love with Kellen this whole time, not Oliviana. Yeah, that’s right. I pay attention.”

She lunged forward right when Daniel opened his mouth to respond and swiped her sword through the air, taking Daniel off guard with her swift advance so she was able to notch his cheek, carving a blood-spattered line down his face. She dipped under his arm and slammed the hilt of her sword into the back of his neck, lobbing him to his knees. Daniel reached behind her, grabbed her waist, and chucked her over his shoulder, sending her plummeting back into the tree.

Noella crumpled into a jumbled stack of limbs amongst the verdant, discarded leaves at the bottom of the tree trunk.

“Is throwing me into trees the new throwing me into walls?” she groaned between a bitter laugh, her fingers clawing through the soil to find her sword. Her eyes darted to Daniel, dripping hatred, and sneered, “How original.”

“Everyone’s been wondering what power you must possess for Kellen Kilic to have gone from ruler of Delmarth to submissive, lovestruck fool.” Daniel loomed over her and blasted his foot into the side of her neck, pressing down on her throat and smushing her into the soil. When he diminished her to a hurricane of throttled wheezes, the skin of her face altered a startling shade of red, his foot glided away and sunk to the ground to meet her, fisting his fingers in her hair to bring her face close to his. Against her cheek, he muttered, “Maybe I need to find out for myself what’s so special about human cunt.” Kellen had never beat his wings harder in his fucking life.

Fly faster, Coz snarled.

I’M FLYING AS FAST AS I CAN! Kellen yelled back, scouring the forest from above to find them.

“Try to put your hands on me, Daniel, and you will lose them,” Noella threatened, her voice resounding clear despite the hammering of her heart in her chest. “If not by me, then by Kellen or Aros Cavalian’s envoy.”

“I can do whatever I fucking want, Ms. Rose. I don’t see either of your guard dogs around here.”

“Look up, asshole,” Kellen growled, landing right on Daniel and pitching him off Noella. Fire surged out from the tips of Kellen’s fingers, drenching his hands, so when he snatched Daniel by the throat and shoved him into a tree trunk, his fingers crushing Daniel’s windpipe scorched his flesh as well, turning the skin into charred membrane, burning through to the underlying tendons.

“K-Ke—” Daniel choked.

“What was that?” Kellen drawled. “Speak up. I really want to hear you beg for your life.” Kellen gripped him harder.

Kellen, stop, Noella pleaded.

Stop?! Kellen repeated, his head whipping around to look at her. He touched you. He fucking—

I know what he did. Her gaze was wet and soft with love. I know what he said, but you’re better than him, Kell. If you kill him, if you actually kill him, it will haunt you for the rest of your life. He was once your friend. Don’t put yourself in a position to carry that burden if you don’t need to.

Kellen drowned in her gaze.

His rage and his love battled for dominance of the hand still clutching Daniel’s throat. In the end, they reached a satisfying compromise as Kellen contracted his fingers and permitted Daniel to nosedive to the ground. Kellen’s foot came down on the back of Daniel’s neck, keeping him pinned. He withdrew his sword from his holster and veered it downwards, slashing through Daniel’s wrist to sever the hand from his arm that had been in Noella’s hair. While Daniel buried his face in the soil and screamed a violent lament into the earth, blood jetting out from the open wound, Kellen wiped the blood off his sword with a leaf.

“I once told the love of my life that if anyone dared to touch her, it would be the last thing they ever touch,” Kellen told Daniel, tossing the blood-tarnished leaf into Daniel’s face. “I’m a man of my word, especially where she’s concerned.” He spun around to begin heading over to Noella.

Daniel, with what little strength he’d conserved, stretched out his fingers towards Noella before Kellen completed a full step in her direction. A second later, Noella fell to her knees and began shrieking at the top of her lungs, her fingernails abrading her temples as she rocked back and forth, vibrating.

“NOELLA!” Kellen yelled, then charged at Daniel. Daniel’s eyes flitted to him before Kellen was sent sailing backward into the tree Daniel had thrown Noella into, his power keeping Kellen restrained there. He writhed in vain against the trunk, jerking forward to fight the invisible chain ensnaring him against the tree, but kept meeting resistance on the other side, the shackle squashing his spine into the timber.

He had no choice but to watch the love of his life dissolve into a puddle of pitiful sobs as she tried to claw her own brain out of her head to free herself from whatever torment Daniel was inflicting on her.

Daniel pushed off the ground with the hand he still retained and marched over to Noella, his intent to kill her clear in his stormy gaze. Kellen fired his own power at Daniel and sent a film of opaque black to bandage over his vision, blinding him before he could reach her. Daniel destroyed the screen from over his eyes with ease, the black dissolving into the normally blue hue, then wrenched Noella to her feet by pulling on one of her braids, spinning her around so she faced Kellen.

“You had a chance to kill me, and you choked,” Daniel cackled, grabbing Noella by the throat.

Noella kept her eyes over Kellen’s, her bottom lip trembling.

She mouthed to him it’s okay, my love, even as tears fell down her cheeks in unchecked streams.

“Let her go,” Kellen begged, choking on gasps and the taste of vomit. “ Please. I’ll give you whatever you want. You want to kill me, Daniel? I will take out my own heart and hand it to you.”

“Kell,” Noella sobbed.

“Your love for her has made you weak, Kellen,” Daniel continued jeering. “You are not the same man who Aros Cavalian chose for his personal cadre. The King of the Gods would laugh at you now. You—”

A giant purple snake slithered out from the underbrush and took a chunk out of Daniel’s cheek, moving with sinuous grace as she sprang off the forest floor and flattened him in the soil, forcing Daniel to release both Noella and Kellen from his influence. Noella toppled to the ground and crawled to where Kellen landed on his knees, the two of them lunging for each other. Kellen collected her in his arms and buried his face in her neck for one treasured moment of reunification.

Sweetheart, he gushed as he kissed the edge of her jaw. Are you okay?

I’m fine, she gasped back, her fingers easing off him. I take back everything I said. Go end him.

Anything for you, my love, Kellen swore.

He moved her off his lap so he could join where the snake, her body coiling and uncoiling, devoured Daniel’s face, gouging his eyes and spitting them out onto the forest like she couldn’t stand the taste of him.

“Let me finish him off, Jo,” Kellen said, flashing a wicked smile. He knew it was Josefyn from the second he’d seen the deep, rich purple hue of her scales, with subtle hints of blue and silver that caught the sunlight and sparkled like precious gems. Josefyn raised her lavender eyes, glinting in recognition, then eased back, emitting a soft, rumbling hiss before she glided over to sit with Noella.

Kellen’s face contorted with undiluted rage as he accosted Daniel. Josefyn had masticated his facial features, mauling his flesh with teeth marks and bloodied gashes, his eye sockets bursting with gore. Despite no longer having eyes, he knew it was Kellen hovering over him.

“Kellen, please,” Daniel pleaded. “Don’t do this.”

“It’s a little too late for begging.” Kellen seized Daniel’s chin and burrowed his fingers into the battered jawline. “You think my love for her has weakened me? How fucking wrong you are.” Kellen’s fingers slipped down to Daniel’s chest, positioning over his flailing heart. “Let me show you the power my love for her has given me. Let that be the last thing you ever feel in this life.”

Kellen’s fire tore through Daniel’s chest and scorched through the tissue of his heart, frying him from the inside out, flames surging up Daniel’s throat and tumbling off his tongue when he suffocated on the inferno. Kellen extracted his fingers from inside Daniel once no life breathed through him anymore. He pivoted to face Noella, finding Josefyn wrapped around her neck, the snake nuzzling her cheek.

Thank you, Kellen communicated to Jo, struggling not to weep. I am forever in your debt, Josefyn Yilanci.

No debt needed, Josefyn replied. Noella stroked Jo’s vertebrae with her index finger. Ella is my best friend. So are you, Kell. I’ll always protect the people I love. Kellen placed his bloody fingers over his heart.

“We should probably go find our team, my beauty,” Kellen said to Noella with a sad laugh, realizing that the battling students had dispersed and the three of them, plus Daniel’s deceased body, were now alone in the forest. He didn’t understand why Noella’s eyes got so big when he said that. Was it because he called her my beauty, which he didn’t normally say? Why would that make her face pale? “Noella? What’s wro—” The sound of screaming cut through the ether like a serrated knife.

“Jamie,” Noella gasped, recognizing the voice. She hefted to her feet and took off running through the forest without looking back, leaving Kellen and Josefyn to sprint after her. Josefyn curled around Kellen’s leg so he could drag her with him. Jamie’s cries led them back to the beach, the salty sea air blending with the tang of sweat on his tongue. Near the water’s edge, beside where he’d left Callum and Evander, there was a figure hunched over, shoulders shaking with silent sobs. As they advanced, her features became more distinct, her long blue hair tangled and windswept, one hand clenched tightly in the sand while the other splayed out on her chest, over her heart. “JAMIE!” Noella yelled at the raw pain etched on the snake-shifter’s face, the anguish in her eyes seeming to reach into the depths of her soul. She finally made it to Jamie and knelt at her side.

“I can feel it,” Jamie wailed, sagging against Noella.

“Feel what, Jamie?” Jamie lifted her desolate gaze, red-rimmed and filled with unshed tears.

“ Death.” Noella looked up at Kellen with guilt wrought in her wet eyes.

He was about to tell her that this wasn’t their fault when a body came barreling through the forcefield, ripping a hole in the illusion and soaring over the replica of the Middledeen waters to collapse on the beach in a crumpled heap of broken limbs. Kellen recognized the student immediately from the hair and build.

All the oxygen in his chest divorced from his lungs and mashed into the mass that once was Connor Paight.

“Is that Connor?!” Noella spluttered as she pulled Jamie closer to her protectively. She glanced at Kellen. “Was that part of the game?” When Kellen swallowed, it was a great feat to get the saliva down his throat.

“No,” Kellen exhaled in a raspy voice. “No, it’s not.”

Noella scampered across the sand and sunk to her knees next to Connor. She pressed her fingers to his pulse.

Kellen already knew what she’d find. He could hear the silence echo beneath Connor’s skin.

She whirled to Kellen in horror. “He’s dead, Kell.”

An earsplitting alarm, nails sliding down a chalkboard epitomized, resounded from the clouds. Kellen’s eardrums wept for relief while his heart dropped down to his stomach and rattled his intestines. Noella’s hands covered her ears to protect her brain against the ghastly sound.

“What is that?” she screamed.

“ Fuck,” Kellen hissed, reaching for the hilt of his sword. “It’s the Sireres alarm.” Noella’s hands descended into her lap. The color of Jamie’s face hinted she was two seconds away from puking.

“ Sireres?” Noella repeated. “ On campus?” Kellen offered her his hand to pull her up, then did the same for Jamie.

“It’s not a game anymore, Rose.” He tipped his chin towards her blade. “You ready for another fight?”

“I’m ready,” she answered without hesitation, gliding her dagger out from the sheath at her waist.

“That’s my girl.” Kellen looked to Jamie, Callum, and Evander. “Go gather the rest of the students. Both teams. Take them over the forcefield back onto campus. Get ready to fight.” Jamie’s breath stuttered, but she nodded in acceptance of her orders along with Callum and Evander. The three students sprinted off to the forest as Kellen looked down at Josefyn, who was still enveloped around his calf. “Go, Jo. Find Akio. We’ll meet you over the forcefield.” Josefyn slunk down his leg.

He watched her glide past the sand and shatter through the forcefield, disappearing on the other side.

“You wanted to watch me shift, sweetheart,” Kellen crooned to Noella as he handed her his sword. “Now’s your chance.”

Kellen took a step back from Noella. His muscles tensed, his skin beginning to gleam and ripple, Coz moving beneath the surface, preparing for emergence. With a sudden and violent burst, Kellen’s body warped and expanded, his bones cracking and stretching as his form shifted. His skin darkened from ebony brown to obsidian black, scales erupting from his flesh in a riot of midnight. His hands twisted and elongated into razor-sharp claws, his feet morphing into powerful talons that dug into the sand below. His massive wings unfurled from his back, his face lengthening into a snout filled with rows of polished teeth. Inside him, Coz’s claw slipped into Kellen’s hand, pulling Kellen down into a crouched position inside his own chest so Coz could amble to the forefront of Kellen’s mind, claiming the reins of their body. From where he towered over the beach in all his fearsome glory, Noella looked puny, like a diminutive bug compared to his immense height.

Let me ride on your back, Kellen, Noella said, no fear in her eyes.

It would be my honor, Noella Rose. Kellen inclined his wing, creating a slope for Noella to crawl up. He felt her scale his back, mounting the trenches by using the spikes as leverage in her ascension. She settled into the correct form, gripping two of his thorns and squeezing her thighs around the muscles in his upper back. The groan that loosed off his tongue was either him or Coz. You ready, my love?

I’m ready, she answered, giving his thorns a squeeze.

With a powerful beat of his wings, he launched them into the sky, leaving a trail of smoldering embers in his wake. They crashed through the forcefield, emerging on the other side of the illusion.

Kellen couldn’t believe what his eyes witnessed.

Delmarth had become a brutal battlefield, a chaotic scene of blood and smoke and carnage, the grim and desolate landscape scarred by the ravages of war. Smoke swelled into the sky, obscuring the sun and casting a dark, melancholic shadow over the blood-bathed ground. The campus was besieged with figures cloaked head to toe in black—Dissidents—with a flood of Sireres streaming between them, their black armor and the kaleidoscopic shimmer suffused in their flesh differentiating them from the Primordials. The sound of Varmin-shifters, both Primordial and Sireres, tangling in the sky shook the ground with each explosive impact of their hefty bulks rear-ending with one another.

Mangled bodies lay strewn across the campus, so many of them young students that Kellen’s heart recoiled in his chest, their lifeless eyes staring up at the sky in a soundless plea for mercy.

In the midst of the chaos, Kellen watched his students fight with desperate determination, their faces twisted in grimaces of pain and rage. The clashing of swords, the thunder of fire, and the screams of the wounded created a cacophony of sound that terrorized the solidity of the kingdom itself.

Delmarth.

His home.

His favorite place in the world, being reduced to rubble and bloodshed and a morbid graveyard.

Kellen’s gaze swept to the now open gates of Delmarth.

What he found there almost caused him to lose his grip on their flight, nearly dropping both Coz and Noella to the ground.

Coz? Kellen? What’s wrong? Noella squeaked when she felt them stumble.

The Dissident manning the gates, swathed in black, was a face he hadn’t expected to see for another four years.

A face he’d hoped he’d never see again.

Ciaran Ates.