Chapter 15

Fifteen

Moon

S o, Daire won his flag easily. I don’t know what his opponent was, but one second the Vampire was next to me, and then in the next, he was gone. Only for him to reappear seconds later with his flag.

He decided he’d accompany me to find my own flag after that. There are little hints about which way each color should go. A white arrow here, and a sign that says white there.

“Seems unfair that you found yours so easily,” I say, and Daire nods.

“It was strange. The path was so easy to follow, and I didn’t see anyone or anything on the way there.” Daire shakes his head, and I sigh.

“Who do you think that guy was, the one who tossed you off of me?” I ask, and Daire shivers.

“A Light One. They’re… His kind isn’t meant to exist anymore. They were originally Angels. Black wings and beautiful souls. Then they started doing soul magic. Lost their wings, hair turned white, and they all just devolved into these mindless murderers,” Daire explains, as I step over a huge puddle of mud in our path.

“Yikes…” I whisper, looking around at the darkness of the new part of the arena. It’s no longer maze-like, but a forest. Massive trees and muddy ground. It smells incredible, but I don’t trust it. Everything is sus out here.

“He seemed, I don’t know, not so mindless?” Daire offers, and I nod.

“He kissed my cheek and dropped a pebble,” I tell him, and he frowns.

“This game is changing everything I thought I knew about every-fucking-thing,” Daire mumbles, and I chuckle.

“No kidding… Oh, look, my flag,” I whisper, pointing to it up ahead. The flag is attached to a thin pole that’s just stuck in a pile of dirt. It’s in a small clearing, surrounded by trees. Easy-peasy.

“Be careful,” Daire warns, as I creep forward. He barely gets the words out when I’m pulled up off my feet and flung into the air. I expect to go flying, but instead, I find myself trapped in a damn net.

“Balls! Cut me down…” My words trail off when I look down and find that Daire is gone. “Rude,” I hiss and then snap my mouth shut when two Goblins come slinking forward.

“Got her,” the small and slightly creepier one says. Goblins are not much fun to look at… Dark green skin the texture of a pickle with the biggest bug eyes ever. I firmly believe that beauty is subjective, but my goodness, Goblins are my only exception.

The small creep has a stick and uses it to poke me. Evil little jerks with a penchant for bloodshed. Goblins are easily one of my least favorite beings.

I screech in pain, as the sharp edge of the stick slices through my skin when he pokes me harder this time.

“You’re not supposed to murder your opponent!” I hiss, but he just chuckles. Who even allowed Goblins to enter!?

“We’re just here for you, dearie,” the other one says in a voice that sounds like what I imagine dog shit would if it could speak.

“Well, I’m not interested, thanks, so just let me down!” I yelp, as I clutch my side, where the mean fuck stabbed me. Shit that hurts.

“We’re gonna have some fun first,” the creepier one says, before stabbing me again.

“Ah!’ I scream, wanting to cry out to Daire for help, but not wanting him to risk himself for me. Maybe he’s scared of Goblins, or maybe something got to him too? He wouldn’t have just run away, would he? Maybe he thought this was the perfect opportunity to ditch me.

“Very good,” a man I can’t see says from behind a cloak, as he steps out from between two trees. “Kill her, and then get her down.” My heart stalls, and I start to panic. Frantically I call to my magic, but it doesn’t answer me like it has for the last twenty years.

“No, no, no,” I cry, trying to set the net on fire or send the evil fucks flying, but nothing happens. “I don’t want to die,” I whisper when I hear a scream from below me. I look down, watching as he rips the head off one Goblin, and then spins, reaching for the other.

“Fenrick!” I yell, as the man in a cloak lashes out with magic, at the same time the fucking Goblin stabs me again. Harder, straight through my stomach. I start coughing up blood instantly, as Fenrick is hit by the cloaked man’s magic. It knocks him down, and the Goblin shoves him backward against a tree. My net is cut, and I fall to the ground, hitting it so hard, I’m disoriented as I fucking bleed out.

The world spins, and I can’t breathe, but I lift my head, searching for Fenrick.

“No,” I whisper when I see him. I crawl forward, trying to save him when two boots step in my path.

“Time to go, kid,” a familiar voice says, but I’m so disoriented, I can’t place it. I call for my magic again and find nothing when the cloaked man curses. “Fuck, get out of here!”

And then he’s running. He’s gone, and I don’t know when he’ll be back, so I crawl for Fenrick, tears burning my eyes when I see the state he’s in. That fucking Goblin impaled him on a tree branch. He’s slumped forward, and I can’t tell if he’s breathing. It seems like it takes an eternity to reach him, and when I do, I don’t know what to do.

I’m bleeding out, and if I pull Fenrick off the tree, he will too.

Unless…

“Come on,” I whisper, pulling with all my strength, and he wakes up, screaming in pain as I pull him off the branch. We tumble to the forest floor, and I lift a gloved hand to his mask, pulling it off. He’s unconscious again from the pain or the fact that he hit his head pretty hard. I don’t know.

“I can’t stop the bleeding,” I whisper, knowing not to even try. So instead, I remove my glove, grab a sharp rock, lift my wrist, and cut it open. Using my gloved hand to part his lips, I let my blood drip into his mouth.

He’s a Blood Fae, maybe blood will heal him. All Fae and Elves drink blood to survive, but not in the same way Vampires do. It’s more of a supplement, at least that's what Arlo said when I asked him about Crow’s fangs. I hope this works.

His eyes fly open, but they’re entirely black, so when he grips my arm with so much force and flips us so I'm on my back, and then sinks his fangs into my neck, I know it’s just the beast inside. His need to survive.

He wouldn’t save me, just to kill me himself, unless he was out of his mind. His touch means death, though, so as my world fades to black, I whisper a final goodbye to Grams.