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48. Kami

48

Kami

T he pain is worse than anything I've felt thus far in the competition. I'm burning as I fly through the air. The only thing making this bearable is the fact I'm close to launching out of the stadium.

As long as I can land without breaking all my bones. But since I seem to keep healing my many injuries, I might just escape.

Finally some good weirdness after all the bad.

Unfortunately, a whirlwind captures me, puts out the fire—thank Death—and dumps me back onto the battlefield.

I could cry.

Malkar, Crash, Ries, and eight other fae in Lancer and Asrai colors are still standing. No one from Godtown seems to have made it.

Malkar is holding Crash back from attacking Ries, who doesn't appear at all bothered as he pats down his clothing, putting out small fires.

"I knew I could count on the hothead to keep things even." Ries snorts. "So predictable. "

Malkar shoves Crash back before he can maul Ries. " Enough. Relax, Crash. Ries helped us."

"How is that?" I ask, my voice hoarse.

Everyone turns to me, and once the crowd notices their attention, the noise in the stadium magnifies.

Are they cheering for the others to kill me, or cheering that I'm not dead yet? A pretty toy to break for the masses?

I crawl closer to hear Ries and, with his help, stand on shaky feet.

"Whew. Sorry, Kami. I thought you'd be safe enough behind those bodies. But the firebug was on a rager, I guess."

"I'm so confused." And sore. My left arm feels like it's been set on fire and toasted. Oh right, because it has. I'm covered in blisters. My flesh is close to sloughing off. It's gross.

Malkar turns to frown at Ries. "This was your grand plan? Ingratiate yourself with the enemy, stir Crash into losing it, then hope we'd all survive?"

"He was pretending?" Crash blinks and steps back. "What?"

Ries sighs. "In the dungeon, I overheard them planning to take the three of us out. Enwiss doesn't want to wait for Daddy to take his turn with her." He nods at me. "He's trying to kill us off and steal Kami for himself. Then, when Rilitar's favorite team wins the trials—because we'll be out of the way—and makes him some serious gold, he won't care about losing us."

"Dick move." Crash scowls. "But I'm still not sure why you had to join them."

"To make sure they tried to kill you out here , in front of the audience, not in the dungeon where we'd have no pull."

"Huh?" My arm aches, and now he's giving me a headache.

The merman turns to me and speaks slowly. "Crash and Malkar were supposed to die in the dungeon while Enwiss and his cronies took their turns, then gave you to everyone else who wanted a turn. Ah, well, um…" he trails off, no doubt spotting my dismay.

He clears his throat to add, "I had them use their plan B. If they couldn't get rid of Crash and Malkar inside the dungeon, then out here, I'd steal Kami away and give her to the guards to take to Enwiss. While he was having his fun, you two would die."

"And now?" Crash asks with a sneer.

"Now I'm screwed." Ries doesn't sound upset.

"Why didn't you tell us?" I ask.

"Kami, you have no poker face."

"What's poker?"

Malkar answers, "A regular game played with cards that involves bluffing. He's basically saying you're a bad liar."

"Thanks?"

"You're welcome."

"So what now?" Crash asks, though he continues to watch Ries with suspicion.

I agree. Something about what Ries said sounds off.

"Watch this." Ries turns to the crowd and yells Enwiss's name. Then he makes a rude gesture.

Enwiss is sitting behind his father, his expression stiff. But I know that look. He's enraged and trying to hide it.

Ries laughs like a loon. "So satisfying."

Rilitar frowns and has a few words with his son before Enwiss storms away from the Lancer box and disappears. My ex-boss, unlike Enwiss, smiles slyly at us.

I think he's glad we survived, and that makes me doubly wary.

The announcer claps, and silence fills the stadium. "Congratulations to our twelve finalists. And now, the obstacle course!"

The world around us shifts, and we're no longer inside the stadium.

"What now?" I ask, still bothered by my arm that's aching, though my outer skin has started to turn bark brown.

At some point I might just turn into a tree.

Malkar comes to my side, inspects my injuries, and pats me on the head.

I jerk back. "What the hell?"

"It's okay, pet."

"Wait. Why are you still calling me that?" I pause a moment. "Were you petting me?"

Malkar looks puzzled. "Well, yes."

"Why?"

He snorts. "Isn't it obvious?"

Not to me.

Everything around us suddenly blurs, and I'm distracted by our new surroundings.

We're standing in what seems like a hedge maze, a living labyrinth.

The shrubbery on either side of us is a good two-orcs high. The dirt path underfoot is wide enough that all four of us can stand next to each other with space to spare. The sky above is blue, with a few clouds dotting the blanket of splendor.

The air is sweet and temperate with a slight breeze.

That brings the smell of death.

I recall the announcer mentioning the heart of the maze and a combat course. We're definitely in the maze.

I hear a few of the other combatants swearing and back up a few paces to gaze down a corridor perpendicular to the one we're in.

Four of the jerks who just survived the battle stand together, leaving the other four elsewhere.

One of them, the vampire Serl, sees me .

He waves and gives me a smile that promises much suffering before he murders me.

I hurry to rejoin my companions and feel a pang that Oz isn't here.

I should be happier he's safer in the royal box away from this mess.

A better person would be glad for a friend's well-being. But I'm petty enough to wish he was right down here with the rest of us, suffering together.

I can't explain why I miss him so much. Perhaps I really did somehow tie us together by giving him apples. Plus, the intimacy we shared feels like so much more than just sex.

"I hate this place," Crash mutters. In the same breath, he turns and punches Ries in the stomach.

Ries doubles over and coughs. "F-fae fucker."

"You deserved it," I say before Crash can. I worm my way between him and Malkar and grab onto Malkar's hand. "What do we do now?"

The answer comes from above, as elven guards appear floating above us, anchored in place by winged demons.

The sight of them brings screams of delight from the crowd staring down at us.

The announcer's voice echoes. "Watch now as our tributes navigate a deadly maze while keeping one step ahead of the Nyte Guard."

This just keeps getting better and better.

Even I've heard of the Nyte Guard, a bunch of brutal butchers who kill for the glory of Goras Vamyar.

I would cry if I wasn't so numb. And if my arm wasn't taking most of my misery.

I'm not healing very fast. I usually heal faster than normal fae, but like the trees I so love, I'm naturally vulnerable to fire.

Malkar pats my shoulder. "Don't worry, Kami. The Nyte Guard will be easy enough to defeat."

I think he's being more positive than the situation warrants, but it's easier to pretend he's right than worry about more death.

Until the ground rumbles beneath us and splits wide, forcing us to jump on either side of the growing crevasse.

I'm on my own, with the guys on the other side of a deep gap too wide for me to jump across.

Malkar adds, "Hmm. This might be a problem."

An oversized creature crawls out of the darkness. It's djinn-black and moving with deliberate steps on its three chitinous legs. The thing has a round body the size of Oz, with three arms, no neck, and a face…

Well, a face only a demon could love.

The thing bristles, and I realize the shifting "fur" on its body are eyes.

So many eyes.

"Hmm. It looks familiar, but I can't place it." Malkar frowns.

Ries swears, "Oh fuck. That's an azag."

We all turn to him.

"You know. Spawn. It's kind of a demon, kind of a beast."

Terrific.

He continues, "Its skin is as tough as rock. I don't think it can be killed without magic. The good news is they don't have teeth, so they can't bite."

I hate to ask. "And the bad news?"

The azag's gaze moves over us and seems to center on me.

"The bad news is it vomits acid and sucks up its prey with a hidden proboscis." Ries makes a face.

Crash sounds impressed. "Huh. Like a giant, demonic fly."

"I'm surprised you know what ‘proboscis' means." Malkar chuckles.

I have no idea what that is, so I keep quiet, my gaze on the azag who takes a step forward.

Malkar adds with condescension, "You did mean an elongated, sucking mouthpart as pertains to insectoids, didn't you? Not that it's got some kind of trunk like an ancient pachyderm. Ries meant?—"

"I know what he meant, dickhead," Crash snarls. "Fuck, you're more annoying than a horde of gray pixies on devil dust."

They start arguing while the azag takes another step then stops, watching us.

A Nyte Guard shoots an arrow behind it.

The azag looks at it, unimpressed. Until the arrowhead explodes into a cloud of smoke.

The creatures screeches and rears up on one thick leg at the same time a different Nyte Guard vanishes then reappears behind Ries with a dagger aimed at his throat.

Two more tall, lethal elves teleport in and flank Malkar and Crash.

I don't know what to do, how to help.

The azag makes a weird, trumpet-like sound and charges.

Right at me.

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