Chapter Thirty-Four

CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

CURSED TIES

“ W hat are you doing here, Fayzien?” I asked at the same time Tey said, “You shouldn’t be here, outsider filth.”

Fayzien smirked. “I am half Fae as well, darling, just like the princess.”

Tey gave him a look of murder and said, “She isn’t welcome, either, if you can’t tell. The Sk?l maesters will come for you in minutes, and you’ll be executed for interfering.”

“Tey of House Saxoni, how lucky is it that I’m the most powerful Witch you will ever meet,” Fayzien responded. “Shielding myself from the eyes of others is child’s play.”

I felt my heel touch the green flames that remained in place around the Talpa. I had no idea why Fayzien was here, and I didn’t really care. I knew better than to waste a good distraction. So, I stepped through the shield, my back connecting with the Talpa, who then gripped me with the fierce strength of Ezren’s body. As we portaled, my eyes narrowed pointedly at Fayzien, before I glanced to the near-dead Xinlan. As much as Fayzien hated me, I prayed he cared for Cas enough to get his lover out of there alive.

I went as far as my memory and ability would let me, and we soon landed in that soft grassy clearing amongst tall trees. I gave the Talpa one look, and it lay on the ground, for it knew we could wait no longer. My heart tightened at the sight of its eyes closing, my mind repeating “this is not Ezren” as a mantra. I sat on its mid-section, my knees bordering its ribs. I pressed its shoulders to the ground and coaxed the air from its lungs. The sensation shocked me. It felt like I called to the air as I did to the Earth, and for a moment, I thought I’d broken the rules. But nothing rang out above me. I had not summoned the Earth, so I continued my work. Bringing two fingers to the place on its neck, I could still feel a slight pulse. Amazing that the Talpa did not struggle at all, such a feat against basic instinct. Eventually, I felt no pulse, and the creature shifted back to its small, leathery body, its withered hand clutching a piece of paper.

I didn’t care about the parchment right now—I cared about reviving the lifeless being in front of me. I clasped my fingers together and began to compress and release its chest. I felt stupid, using the human tactic taught in Argention. But I was no healer, and though my magic searched the creature for a spark of life to ignite, it found nothing.

So I continued to press my hands into its chest and blow breath into its airway, attempting to inflate its lungs. After seconds that felt like minutes, I saw a soft rise and fall of its chest. Its black eyes looked up at me in wonder.

I cupped its cheek and pushed the tears back. “You are in your true form, friend. Shift if it saves you pain.”

“Cobal. Cobal.” It beamed at me. “You may call me Cobal. And for whatever reason, Terragnata of Nebbiolo, it no longer hurts to be in this form.”

I relaxed into the grass for a moment, my legs stretched out, and looked down at my forearm. Unlike before, no new thin gold band appeared. It didn’t surprise me, given the dead Talpa we’d seen, and what I noted on Tey’s wrist. I had lost the second event and had to kill the Talpa simply to remain in the Sk?l.

Cobal dumped the parchment in my lap and bounced up and down. “I knew you could do it!” the Talpa exclaimed, skipping around the small meadow. It looked joyous, with orbed eyes that beamed as it took in the world, finally comfortable in its own form.

I unfurled the paper.

Competitor! Congratulations, you have taken the breath from this creature, and were not the last to do so, preventing your elimination. The remaining competitors have until sundown to complete their tasks. Rest and await further instructions for the test of Honor.

Remember, contestant, you may eliminate your competitors at any time.

Sk?l!

So it was tied then—one victory for me, one victory for Tey. I pressed my eyelids together, praying there would be another competitor besides the two of us to compete in the final challenge of the Sk?l. If there was, I’d only need to ensure they won, and the draw would remain.

And stay alive. That I would also have to do.

“So… you haven’t fulfilled your bargain,” I said to Cobal over a mouthful of nuts and berries. We’d spent the morning gathering provisions and tending to my various cuts and bruises. I’d been waiting for the creature to offer the information, but my curiosity overpowered my patience.

Cobal grunted. “I’m surprised you waited this long to ask.”

“Well?”

“I swore I’d tell you about the Full Moon of the Creatrix after you succeeded in bringing me back, not how long after.”

I narrowed my eyes at the Talpa. “Are you serious?”

The creature sighed. “Fine. I will tell you the meaning of the day, and nothing more.”

I nodded. “As you vowed.”

“The Full Moon of the Creatrix, the day you were born, is—how shall we say—an auspicious day to be born. The Creatrix is thought of by both Witch and Fae as The Original.”

I cocked my head. “The original what?”

“The Original Creator. Original Fae. Original Witch. The Seed of Life. The Mother of All. The Beginning of Everything.”

I chuckled. “You know, the Fae and humans aren’t so different from one another. That sounds an awful lot like human folklore and religion.”

Cobal bristled, which made a tinge of shame sting my cheeks for laughing at its customs.

“So, what is the Full Moon of the Creatrix, exactly?”

“It is the day the full moon intercepts the summer solstice. It is a day of honoring, celebrating, and generally giving thanks, for the interception only happens once every twenty years or so. Fae and Witch alike give thanks to the Earth and her goddess for what has been created, and for what will be. There are many sacrifices to the Creatrix herself. I believe your next birthday will be such a day.”

“And why did knowing I was born on the day of this festival make you follow me?”

“For an Earth daughter, the likes of which has not been seen in a thousand years, to be born on this day… well, it is an auspicious sign, as I said. I could not abandon you. I can offer nothing more than that.”

I thought to press the creature, but its expression was weary and warning, as if it had already shared more than it wanted. After filling my belly, boiling water to drink, and applying a makeshift salve to the slash on my face, Cobal offered to take the first watch. Resting seemed unthinkable, but the many portals and the duel with Tey had exhausted me. The next event could come any time after sundown. So despite my initial protest, I slept. The mossy clearing curled around me, and I sunk in. The mid-day sun warmed my core and I drifted into a sleep so strong, so enticing, I had the passing thought it could be magic.

And then I dreamed.

The details and edges were blurry. First, I saw a flash of lightning. And then another. And another. Six Witches stood on a rock under the night sky—connected somehow. Sharing power. The lightning struck again, this time touching all of them. They fell, not one by one, but as a unit, save their leader. She roared, blood trickling from her eyes. And then her scarlet dripping gaze turned to me.

I fought and fought to focus on her face. But I could not make it out. The scent of a female filled my nostrils as she moved closer, her likeness still hidden from my mind. It wasn’t until her face drew close enough to mine—so close I could feel the tickle of her breath on my skin—that I saw my mother’s eyes. The blackness in them threatened to swallow me whole.

“It’s time to go.”

I couldn’t move.

“I said, it’s time to go.”

This is a dream. Just wake up, and you can move.

“Terra, Descendent of the First Earth Daughter. It’s time to go.”

And then she raised her hand, as if to strike.

I sat up gasping, my hand clenched on my pounding chest, the sweet scent of a female—old, ancient almost—pricking at my nostrils, like it had in the dream. I jumped to my feet, preparing for the next surprise from the competitors that had found me last time. But it was not Brita, nor Xinlan I scented. It was not Tey’s smug, condescending face that emerged from the thickness. Swaying dark chocolate hair gleamed in the dusky light that filtered through the trees surrounding the meadow. It framed a rich brown face, with eyes of the deepest blue set atop cheekbones that could cut glass. Her beauty had been obvious when I first met her, but now she looked sad and tormented, somehow all the more striking for it. Cleo .

I drew my blade, though I noticed she was unarmed. She approached me, her long legs in a melodic saunter. By all measures, she seemed to come in peace, but her magic was still unknown, and I wouldn’t be caught unprepared.

Cobal crouched behind me. My chest rose with anticipation as she neared, my eyes dancing around in assessment, searching for co-conspirators lurking in the distance.

“You did not kill your Talpa,” she said, cocking her head at me whilst she approached, her gaze lingering on the ring of gold on my forearm. She had none.

“I did, but then I revived him,” I answered.

She quirked her brow. “Ah, a healer Witch too?”

I shook my head. “I used a human method, just breathing air back into the lungs.”

She gave me a distant look I couldn’t quite place. “I could not kill mine.”

My eyes narrowed, wondering if this was a distraction ploy. “You will be eliminated soon,” I said flatly. “It will be sundown any moment. So, what use do you have for me? Do you plan to kill me, too? For the king’s coin?”

She tilted her face to the sky, absorbing the last bit of sun that peaked through the opening of the Convallis. “I am not here to kill you, Terragnata. I am here to help you win. As I always have been.”

I opened my mouth to object, to question, but she continued. “You won the first event, for you made your Talpa see your beauty within minutes. However, you wasted precious hours contemplating how to kill it, while Tey and Xinlan found their Talpa, completing the first and second tasks. Though I slowed her, Tey was the first to kill her Talpa and won the event of Strength. Livia was eliminated from the first round, and Brita and I…” she paused, looking at the sky again for a moment. “Will be following that path shortly. You know this, I assume, but I’ll say it, anyway. You must be the one to complete the task of Honor first. That is, if you want to secure victory.”

I narrowed my eyes. “What is your magic? And why do you want to help me?” The words came out more like accusations than questions.

“I have sight. Not in the way of The Sight, like some Witches have, but I can see the truth clearly. It’s not very forward-looking, nor is it always evident, especially if I see a concept I don’t understand. But I know this much is true. If Tey wins the last event, she will win the competition. And I know that is not an outcome you would desire.”

“She is also preoccupied with another effort,” I said, and Cleo looked at me with understanding.

“Aye, it’s slowed her progress. She has gone mad…” she trailed off slowly. Recognition flickered across her face. “Terra, you must do what needs to be done in the contest of Honor,” Cleo rushed her words as if she was running out of time. “It will be difficult, but much depends?—”

The Fae fell silent. I looked around to see what halted her breath; there was not even a flicker of movement in the meadow.

Until there was.

I could tell we were still in the meadow, because the scent and feel of grass beneath my feet remained utterly unchanged. A glamor had slipped around it, altering the scene, bringing the spectators I hadn’t seen or scented closer, so much closer. All of a sudden, their faces blurred together in a distorted illusion of jeering sport fans in stadium seats, and their cheers were louder, louder; they filled my ears. A blazing-blue line encircled the clearing in which we stood, making it an arena within the arena. And then a gong rang, a sound so intense it reverberated in my chest. I imagined it signaled the sun had slipped beneath the horizon, and the last event was to commence.

Cleo vanished—as if she was portaled away. What kind of Witch power would be required to apply a portal to another being without touch? I guessed the magic was also used on Brita, somewhere within the Convallis. The Talpa remained by my side—apparently a part of the new stage the Sk?lmaester had set.

And then they appeared, the final contestants. Xinlan and Tey portaled into the ring of blue, which separated our final battlefield from the spectators. I unsheathed my sword and took a few steps backwards to feel if any magic held us within the perimeter. A small shock to my left shoulder confirmed my suspicion.

Tey looked about ready to pounce on me when a swirl of black hair, whipping around in front of her, forced a to pause. Two young girls had appeared before Tey. I could not see their faces since their backs were to me, but they clung to each other, trembling. Tey’s face turned ash white as she retrieved the message from one of their mouths and let out a cry. She wailed so unnaturally I could only imagine what the paper commanded. Sisters, perhaps. I swallowed, trembling a bit myself.

Xinlan, too, watched the scene, her wounds no longer visible, as she waited for her test to come. And just a few moments after Tey’s, it did. An older couple appeared before her—I could see their features from the side. They had hooded eyes like her own. Parents, I guessed.

I pressed my eyes shut, my own shaking intensifying at the tenor of Tey’s sobbing, terrified to see who’d be standing in front of me when I opened them. And then I felt the whoosh of the portal and knew they were there.

My eyes flew open to see Jana and Leiya standing before me, and the unnatural screeching from the spectator illusion barely registered in my mind. I swore under my breath. Though I was relieved to see Leiya alive and well, my gut twisted in anticipation of what their presence meant. Pure rage lined Leiya’s face as she opened her mouth, extending a crumpled parchment from her tongue. Jana’s paper-thin skin revealed the jut of bones—a whisper of the full Witch I’d known before her days in the Viri dungeon. Despite her now hollow face, she offered me a nod of reassurance, directing me to take it.

Leiya’s expression screamed wrong , something is wrong! But of course, it was all wrong. My hands shook as I retrieved the message from Leiya’s mouth, spreading the sides of the paper wide, and my heart thumped violently in my chest.

Competitor! Welcome to the Contest of Honor. A queen faces many difficult decisions in order to honor her king and her kingdom. Before you stand two traitors of the Viri crown, one of which will not leave this arena with their life. You must honor Viribrum and the king’s wish by choosing which will live, and which will die. The first competitor to complete this task will win this event.

Those who fail to choose will be disqualified and watch both traitors die. Or you may decide to forfeit your own life to spare those who stand before you. This is the way of honor.

One dies, two die, one dies.

Remember, contestant, you may eliminate your competitors at any time.

Sk?l!

Jana smiled at me—a smile full of a warmth so bright it beamed like love. “I am ready to reunite with Reece, to move on. You have many here that will help guide you.” She glanced sideways at Leiya. “And I have no doubt you will stand bravely against anything you face. Finish what you have started here, and then chart your own path. Seek your Siphon. It will help guide you to your destiny.”

Her cryptic message hardly registered over Tey’s ever increasing wailing , over the roaring in my head. Jana and Leiya had lied, yes, and perhaps used me. They’d withheld the truth about who I was to get me to cooperate with them. But seeing them stand before me… I felt no lingering anger or pang of betrayal. Only admiration and respect. My face grew hot as I fought back the tears that welled. I looked at Leiya; she met my eyes stoically, a true warrior who would accept any fate dealt.

“I don’t think I can,” I whispered, to them, to myself. I shook my head. “I don’t think I can.”

Before Jana could protest, a buzz filled the air. Tey’s blades had left her armor and were soaring above her. She will win if she kills one of them, I thought numbly. She won the second event. This would seal her victory of the Sk?l.

Tey extended her arms out, her face to the sky, red and puffy. The knives reached their apogee and came diving down, with a force so immense that when they punctured their target, blood exploded in every direction.

It happened so fast I blinked to make sure of what I saw. The blades had sunk into Tey’s body, not the girls’. They burst out into tears themselves, coated in the remains of their sister. And then they vanished, portaled away, as if they had never been there.

The phantom crowd went wild.

Xinlan and I locked eyes. If she felt as sick as I did, she did not show it. She simply turned to the couple in front of her and bowed deeply. The male stepped forward and drew the sword strapped to his side. But before the edges of their metals could even collide, she lifted her weapon in the air, and sliced his head clean off.

I fought the urge to look away. The female next to him did not make a sound. She did not look at the rolling head that bumped against her foot, with eyes still open, nor did she flinch at the blood that sprayed across her chest. She only bowed deeply to Xinlan, and then was whisked away along with the body, vanishing through the depths of a portal.

As Xinlan turned towards me, a shimmering gold ring appeared on her forearm—matching mine. It would only be a matter of moments before she’d take her shot at eliminating me. We were tied, each the winner of one test—a draw in the eyes of the Fae. But to her, victory could still come if my life ended, or if I failed to complete the final task.

“Terra, dear, it has to be now,” Jana urged.

“I can’t kill you,” I whispered while racking my brain for an alternative. I needed a loophole, some solution to this problem. But before I could string a conscious thought together, Xinlan’s blade slashed towards me. I rolled out of the way and unsheathed my own sword, finding my feet quickly.

“His death cannot be in vain, Terra,” she said plainly. “I’m sorry.”

Our blades collided. She didn’t fight as fast as Tey, given her injured thigh, but she certainly was just as strong. We parried and danced. Out of the corner of my eye, Leiya flinched at every clash of metal. The distraction cost me—Xinlan’s leg found my ankles, sweeping my feet from beneath me. I fell, and she leapt on me in an instant. Without thinking, I portaled, leaving her fumbling on the ground, and appeared behind her, my dagger pressed to her throat.

“I’m sorry too, Xinlan. I don’t want this… this fight,” I choked out, pulling her up. “Drop your sword and forfeit. We will be tied.”

“You have to finish the task for that to be true,” she spat. She did not release her weapon.

“Please,” I whispered, digging the edge of my dagger into her skin just slightly. “Please don’t make me do something I’ll regret.”

Jana stepped in front of Xinlan, lifting up the tip of the contestant’s sword and resting it on her own breastbone. Xinlan froze. “Terra, by honor of the king, do you choose me to die, to pay for my sins against the crown and otherwise?” Her voice was firm, confident, a contrast to her decimated state.

I shook my head, all words dying in my throat, as the tears broke whatever dam I’d tried to maintain against them. “Jana,” I warned. “Don’t.”

“Daughter of the Earth, it is time. Look at me! I am withered to a ghost. I have many sins to pay for and souls to reunite with. It is time .” She began to lean into Xinlan’s blade, drawing blood.

Xinlan’s muscle twitched, as if to take the choice away from me.

Before she could complete the kill, I whispered, “I choose you.”

Jana leaned full force into Xinlan’s blade.

And the gong rang again.

“Two final contestants! What a delight!” the Sk?lmaester’s voice rang out above the mirage of spectators’ unnatural cheering. It was the first time we’d heard him speak—his hair-raising tone carried across the dusky sky. Xinlan bucked against me, releasing herself from my grip, which had weakened anyway. My attention focused only on the Witch lying at our feet. A moment later, her body disappeared—Leiya too, was spirited away. Only Cobal remained near me, alert, sensing.

My gaze lingered on where my aunt’s blood stained the ground. I’d barely known her, yet she’d sacrificed herself for me.

At least we’d tied.

“But we will not accept a draw in the thirty-third Sk?l, per decree of the king!”

No, no, no— I had gambled on this. The draw had been upheld in the 14th and 26th Sk?ls, giving the future king time to consult the gods on the auspicious result. That would have bought me months to figure out the king’s plan, the Rexi’s motivations, to come up with a? —

“One of you will leave this arena a victor today,” he continued. “And one of you will not leave this arena at all.”

So, I would die. Or I would win, and Gia would die at the king’s hand for my disobedience. Jana’s appearance at the Sk?l proved she was not safe wherever Cas had hidden her.

“And that,” he finished, “will not be a fate decided by your opposing competitor, but by your own self.”

Xinlan and I looked at each other in confusion. I detected movement to my left. First, I saw Cobal sprinting out of the arena, clearly not bound by the magical perimeter. Something else moved. They were hard to see in the dusky light, but small black specs on the ground scurried towards us from the right. I looked left, and more came. And more from behind Xinlan. One second, I was squinting, trying to make out their nature, and the next, the arena was full of thumbnail-sized spiders—small enough that alone, I wouldn’t think twice about crushing one with my boot. But together, the effect was terrifying. A second later, they came within reach of our feet. I portaled immediately, my instincts screaming at me to get out of there, but instead of safely landing elsewhere, I collided with the blue-edge perimeter and bounced back into the spider-filled arena.

I hit the ground. And then they were on me—the most unpleasant, hair-raising, terrifying tickle I’d ever experienced. But it soon turned into excruciating pain. They scurried under my leathers, into my nose, and through my hairline. Tiny fanged mouths bit and bit until welts appeared everywhere, approaching the most sensitive parts of my body. I kicked and screamed and jolted, attempting to fling them off me, but they were too small and too many for my fighting to be effective. I spelled, an expulsion cantrip, which shot them off in every direction—even out of my mouth, but that only provided a second of relief, and then more came.

“The first to perish loses, the longest to survive wins. Sk?l!”

The Sk?lmaester’s words brushed by me, and I found it hard to process his meaning. I pressed my lips and eyes shut, silencing my screams, not attempting another spell for fear of opening my mouth to them once more. I reached out for my Earth magic, not caring if I earned disqualification—just wanting it to stop. But there was no response, no zinging call back. Perhaps the mini arena had been spelled against the fight they knew I’d put up. And then they filled my nose again. With my mouth shut, I could feel the air slipping from my body as I lay in that meadow.

I just need to outlast Xinlan , I told myself. But in those moments, I couldn’t think about tactics, or strategy, or the Sk?l. I couldn’t think of Gia or Jana. I couldn’t even think about Ezren. I only thought of death. I begged it to come.