by Candy Crum
Arryn smiled as she straightened and kicked the door in as hard as she could. It blew open, smashing into the wall and crumbling some of the plaster to the floor.
As she stepped inside, Arryn saw William, who was also a teacher, Brandi, a student, and Hugh. He had been the one with the familiar energy. When the western side of the Capitol building had been destroyed—not far from where they stood now—she had engaged three people in combat.
Two of those three, she'd managed to kill. The last person, Hugh, she'd subdued on the ground with vines, but she hadn't killed him. Those were just two more of the deaths she'd been blamed for, when in truth she'd been defending the city and trying to save lives.
"Hey, Hugh! Good to see you, buddy. How ya been?" Arryn asked, her smile exaggerated.
Hugh laughed. "Better than you're about to be. You look like shit."
"Ha! Funny story. Hilarious, even. See, I spent a couple weeks on top of a mountain. Isn’t that funny?" she asked, aware that her wide smile and dishevelment made her appear slightly insane. She went with it.
"Hilarious," William agreed flatly, arcing his hands over his chest and creating a fireball in each.
Arryn waved her hands in the air and shook her head, smile never failing. "Wait, wait, wait! I haven't told you the best part. I spent all that time up there with no shower. No way to brush my hair. Or my teeth. I must look hot." At that moment, she reminded herself of Cathillian. He was incapable of taking anything seriously, including battle—he would make a joke in any situation. She continued, "But I also picked up a couple neat tricks."
William laughed. "I doubt that. You spent two decades with teachers. I doubt very seriously two weeks on a mountain taught you anything."
Arryn shrugged, and her eyes turned black. William launched his fireballs, but he was too late. She'd allowed the magic to swell around her and she teleported behind her enemy. She jumped forward, pulling her daggers from her belt, then wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled.
William fell to the ground before he was able to make another sound, bleeding his life out on the floor.
The other two jumped into action, but Arryn was quicker. She threw a knife, hitting Brandi in her shoulder before planting a hard kick in Hugh's stomach. She quickly sheathed the knife in her left hand before running for Brandi.
She ducked under a fireball before coming up, punching her in the face hard enough to knock her off-balance. Arryn kicked the student hard in the knee, taking her to the ground before finishing her with a hard stomp to the throat.
She heard his footsteps before she saw him. She bent forward at the waist, narrowly avoiding a punch aimed at the back of her head, then twisting her body and twirling out of the way. Hugh rounded on her, charging without really paying attention to what he was doing.
Arryn squatted as Hugh reached out with both arms to grab her, keeping her fists up by her face to guard it. She jabbed, punching him in the stomach with her right fist before quickly repeating the move with the left. As he doubled over, she stood, planting an uppercut on his jaw. She followed it up with an elbow to the nose.
He was staggering when she rushed forward to kick his feet out from under him and dump him on the floor.
He groaned as he laid there, struggling to get up. "Oh, no, big boy. That's not a mistake I'll make twice. I won’t fight you again."
Arryn grabbed the knife from her left hip, squatted, and thrust it into the man's heart as he reached for her. She pulled the blade from his chest before cleaning it on his cloak and sheathing it again in her belt, repeating the process for the knife in Brandi’s shoulder.
Rising from her crouch, she turned to the door to see her tiger standing there with blood on her face, watching her closely. "Bet ya didn't know I was a badass, huh?" The big cat made a noise that translated loosely to “hmph.” Arryn smiled as she walked to the door. "Come on, let me have my two seconds, okay? You’ll get to see some real badasses when we go to the forest. Until then, I'm the only one you got."
The tiger backed out of the doorframe and let Arryn into the hall, and she used her senses to search the area. Rebecca had said there were five people including Talia. Had that been five people including Rebecca? If so, Talia was alone. If not—if Rebecca had excluded herself from the count—there was one more person in the building.
As Arryn traveled through the halls to the front of the building into the receiving area, she felt the energy of two people in the Chancellor's office.
Fuck, she thought to herself.
Arryn slowly moved forward, her breath coming hard and heavy even though she tried to calm herself before she got close to the door.
This was it.
This was the moment she'd awaited for weeks. Not just the two weeks she'd spent on the mountain, but the many she'd spent before that, knowing what this woman had done.
But before her visit to that small village, Arryn hadn't even come close to knowing everything Talia had done. She’d spent her entire life terrorizing her own mother and murdered the men in her mother’s life, starting from the age of five.
She had been cold and heartless from the beginning, and the next few minutes wouldn't only settle the wrongs she’d committed since she had come to Arcadia, it would settle the wrongs that had been committed since her birth.
Arryn reached the door to the Chancellor’s office and debated whether she should open it and walk through, or spend the energy to teleport inside. She shook her head, knowing that once all was said and done, she would have to teleport to the Dark Forest.
She couldn't risk traveling on foot with Scarlett on the loose. It was hard to say where the mystic was.
I hope you're ready for this. If it comes down to the two of us, let me die. Your baby is on the wall, and he can't live without a mama. Take him and go west to the Dark Forest. You'll be safe there.
Taking a deep breath, Arryn decided to do what she did best.
Arryn flung the door open and walked inside. Talia jumped up from her seat behind the desk, her eyes widening. On her desk sat Camdon, which Arryn found quite interesting, but she let it go
"Amelia! Oh, Amelia, it's so good to see you. Though, I must say…" Arryn took a step forward, giving another award-winning false smile. "I'm a little disappointed in the welcome party. And Amelia, you've really let yourself go. You look like shit."
Talia shook her head, her shock replaced by confusion and rage. "It's good to see you haven't changed a bit."
"Quite the contrary, Amelia, I've changed a lot." Arryn looked around the office before turning back to the Dean, or the Chancellor, as Talia now styled herself.
"Call me by that name one more time—"
Arryn laughed loudly, interrupting the Dean before she could finish her threat. "And you'll what? Kill me? You've already proven you fucking suck at that. Let me tell you a few more things I discovered you suck at. Being Amelia, for one. You’re a bitch—can’t quite pull it off. Actually, I've been compiling your failures into a nice list, but I didn't get a chance to put a tune to them yet. You see, I thought they were worthy of a song. I'm not the best singer, though. Maybe we can get your boyfriend there to sing it for you."
As Camdon rose from the desk, obviously ready to attack, a deep, guttural roar rolled into the room from just outside the door. The tiger had stayed out of sight, but she was more than happy to allow herself to be heard.
Talia's eyes widened. "What the fuck was that?"
Arryn smiled. "Like I said before, not only did you not kill me, you abandoned me in a place that allowed me to get stronger. That was the sound of my familiar. She announced herself because she’s bored. Did I mention she's as tall as I am?"
Arryn gave Talia only a moment to react to the news before she continued, "You failed to kill me. You failed to kill Amelia. The remnant attack was a failure. You failed to pick a group of people who were worth a fuck. I should know, since I've killed almost all of them. You also failed to pick a confidant who liked anything about you."
/> Talia's eyes narrowed. "What are you talking about?"
Arryn smiled, tilting her head to the side as she regarded Talia with great amusement. "Wow, you really had no idea! I'm talking about Scarlett. Before I even approached this building, I felt her messing around in my head. She knew I was here, back in the city. She could have warned you, but she didn't. In fact, she sends her regards."
Talia shook her head. "You're a liar."
"She told me to pass them along when I discovered she'd placed my bow and staff in the dungeon where I could find them. She knew it was coming, Talia. She'd been waiting. Why do you think she isn't here? The city was never yours. It's not hers either, but she has taken it for the time being. So, as much as I love talking to you, I'm done playing. It's time to end this. I'll take this victory now, and come back for the rest later."
Talia slowly walked around the desk, the expression on her face enough to turn the very building they stood in to ash. "I'm going to destroy you. I'm going to rip you apart and dump the pieces in the Dark Forest just before bu—"
"Burning it to the ground, blah, blah, blah. Yeah, yeah. You've made that speech before." Arryn squinted her eyes, giving an exaggerated smile as she leaned forward. "How has that worked out for you?"
A fireball came from Camdon's direction, but Arryn had enough time to react. Thrusting her hand out, she used telekinetic force to send it directly back at him. "Not today, pretty boy."
He screamed as his fireball hit him in the shoulder. Arryn could actually hear him sobbing from across the room.
Talia's eyes turned black, and Arryn immediately recognized the energy she was pulling. She threw both hands out, creating a barrier around the Dean before she could teleport out of the room. It distracted Talia enough to halt her attempt, and Arryn dropped the barrier, shoving her magic forward and slamming Talia into the wall.
Camdon disappeared behind the desk. She had no idea what he was up to, but she would have to keep an eye on him as well. She'd meant to kill him when she sent the fireball back, but she’d missed his chest.
Talia recovered and sent two fireballs flying at Arryn. She was able to dodge them, but not the surge of telekinetic energy that came directly after. Talia had anticipated her movements and slammed her into the wall this time.
Arryn could hardly move, pinned by magic to the wall as Talia and Camdon both advanced on her.
Talia laughed. "Here we stand again. Little girl, I've been at this for a very long time. You're never going to be a strong as me."
It was true that Talia was strong. She may have even been too strong. The force pushing against Arryn was almost enough to keep her from breathing, but Arryn managed.
Summoning all the strength she could muster, Arryn tried to wiggle her fingers and was happy to see that she could. "I don't have to be stronger. I just have to be smarter."
Arryn's eyes turned vibrant green, the white parts turning obsidian. She could hear the rumble of the tiger outside of the room, and she silently willed her to stay there.
Talia looked terrified for a moment, but it was only a flash. She quickly recovered and took a step forward. "If you were smarter, you never would've come here."
The Dean had become overly confident, exactly as Arryn had hoped. Her force had weakened some, allowing Arryn to move her hands. She took advantage of that, causing a gust of wind to blow through the window, raining shattered glass down to the floor.
Talia laughed. "Really? That's all you've got?"
Arryn smiled. "Not even close."
Arryn twisted her hands and the shards of glass lifted from the ground. Talia’s eyes widened as she stopped pushing against Arryn to create a shield around herself, but she failed to create one around Camdon before Arryn loosed the glass. Camdon was dead within seconds, and Arryn set her sights on Talia.
Arryn's eyes turned blacker as she created an ice shield around Talia that enveloped Talia's own barrier and began to push. Spikes of ice pressed harder and harder against Talia's magic, Arryn's rage and force causing the furniture and other items in the room to tremble.
Talia screamed, her face contorted with the massive amount of power she was drawing on. But Arryn had had weeks of practice, building her strength and her rage. Talia could not compete with the sheer amount of white-hot anger Arryn had saved up for this moment.
She pressed harder, and Talia's shield began to crack. "One last thing,” Arryn said, enjoying the look of terror on Talia's face. "Your mother says, ‘Rot in hell.’"
Arryn stepped forward, shoving her magic toward Talia with incredible strength. Talia's barrier crushed under the weight of it, and the ice shards impaled her from every direction. The last one sheared straight through her neck, fulfilling the promise Arryn had made when the Dean's severed head hit the floor.
Though it hadn't been Arryn's intention, she couldn't help but feel satisfied knowing she'd kept her word.
Exhausted, Arryn collapsed to the floor and took a moment to gather herself. The tiger walked into the room, coming over to sniff Arryn's face and check on her. "I'm okay, monster paws, but I need to get outside and touch the ground fast. I don't have much remaining in me, and everything I have left will be used to get us to the Dark Forest."
Pulling herself together, Arryn went to grab her staff, bow, and quiver. Then she and the tiger quickly made their way out of the Capitol building, careful to avoid any attention. The sun would begin to rise any time now, and she had to be out of the city before that.
They returned to the wall, Arryn having stopped on the Capitol lawn to heal herself before climbing up and returning to the tiger cub. Just as he’d been told, the little guy had stayed put, lying down to remain out of sight.
The mama jumped down from the wall, but Arryn had to use vines to lower herself and the cub to keep from injuring themselves. Taking a deep breath, Arryn summoned all the strength she had left, her eyes turning black as she allowed magic to swell around her once again. In the blink of an eye they were gone, teleported over halfway to the Dark Forest.
When they landed Arryn collapsed to the ground, her breathing shallow. Her body was exhausted, and she could barely keep her eyes open. The tiger laid on the ground and allowed Arryn to climb onto her. It reminded her of the day she competed in the Versuch. Nika had worn her out physically, but she’d done it to herself magically.
Cathillian had put her on Chaos' back and she'd passed out, not unlike now. Darkness surrounded Arryn as consciousness began to fade. She used her last waking moment to tell the tiger to head west and not to stop until she reached the Dark Forest.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Cathillian awoke to the sound of repeated screeching above his hut. It took a second, but he felt Echo’s familiar energy, so he threw the blankets back and rushed out of bed. When he arrived outside, he saw Echo perched on his house, and Elysia, the Chieftain, Samuel, and a fully healed Celine coming to see what the commotion was about.
"What is it, Echo?" Cathillian asked.
Echo called to him again, and Cathillian reached through the bond to see what she had observed.
His eyes widened. "It's Arryn. She found Arryn!" When he looked around, he saw similar looks of excitement on the faces near him. Tears filled Celine's eyes as she reached out and hugged Samuel without thinking. Cathillian continued, "She found Arryn up north, riding back here on a… Riding a what?"
Elysia stepped forward. "What is it?"
Cathillian's jaw was slack as he turned away from the golden eagle to face his mother. "She says Arryn was riding on a tiger. A huge white tiger. She had a tiger cub with her, too. Said she was headed toward Arcadia, and she'd come to the Dark Forest soon."
The Chieftain and Elysia looked at one another. "Surely, she wouldn't try to take Talia out by herself," Elysia said.
Nika snorted. "Have you met her?"
Cathillian nodded. "Nika's right. There's no doubt in my mind that Arryn went after her."
Elysia started to protest, started to get upset with t
he possibilities, but Samuel stepped in. "In case all of ye fergot just who we're talkin' about here, the girl was taken weeks ago. Wherever she was, she survived it. And if she has two white tigers with her, well, those're snow cats. It's too warm in the valley fer snow, so that means she was way up north—I'd say in the mountains. If she was dumped up there, and lasted two weeks, she ain't dyin' today."
The Chieftain smiled. "She's stubborn. Takes after me."
Elysia sighed and rolled her eyes, shaking her head. "We can argue the stupidity of that statement later. Right now, I want our warriors to fan out on the eastern and southern sides of the forest just past our border, no more than twenty feet apart, to search for her. Familiars, too. Keep the Schatten in the trees by the barrier."
Cathillian smiled, fighting back the emotions he been holding in since she disappeared. There would be time for those when she was with them. Right now, he just wanted to focus on searching for her.
***
Arryn was still unconscious, but the tiger trekked on. The cub managed to keep up on foot. Arryn had gotten them close enough it had been relatively safe to make the rest of the trip at a leisurely pace. It had taken nearly all day, but they were now moving through the forest.
This was all unfamiliar territory for the tiger, but she didn't mind. A couple hours later, the tiger became aware that Arryn was losing her balance. The big cat growled loudly, trying to wake her mistress, but it did no good, so she quickly dropped to the ground to keep Arryn from falling such a long distance.
Even after she landed on the cool ground, Arryn remained unconscious. There was no way for the big cat to put her back up, so she did the only thing she could think of.
The tiger grabbed Arryn's cloak, dragging her as she headed toward the barrier. In the unfamiliar territory, the tiger felt out of place and overly cautious about which animals might attack. She knew what creatures existed in the mountains, but had no idea what to expect in the forest, and her fur could be seen a mile away in this environment.