In the middle of the Cage, one of Krewl’s Quicksilvers—a petite girl with a leather circlet named Whip—faces off against the Colossal Drack. He was the last to fight last night, but I’m told that someone has to go twice, as we’re an uneven number of contenders. Bax said his name was drawn at random, but I have my doubts on how the fights are chosen, or rigged.
I’m only thankful that Caben or one of the Nactue wasn’t chosen for this burden.
Whip and Drack have made it to the second half of the fight and now both sport weapons. My gaze drifts past their tattered and bloodied forms to where Lilly stood last night. I haven’t seen her yet, and my mind can’t focus on anything going on around me until I know she’s all right.
I’ve said nothing more to Bax. In a way, I understand what he’s doing for his family. His fear of his father runs deep; even deeper is his fear of the moon goddess. If I were him, I’d probably do the same. And as I continue to search for Lilly, I decide in an instant that I would. I would get those I care for far away from here if given the chance.
Knowing now that Bax has a similar motivation as mine hinders my original plan. If I convince him of my link to the deities, would it hurt him or his family? How closely connected is the dark priest to Bale? Does she speak to him directly? Would the dark priest know that my claim is false and punish Bax?
Before, Bale was a myth. But now that I can feel her evil presence here, I think the dark priest would see through the guise. I decide it’s not worth the risk.
As Drack comes crashing down, Whip strangles him with her leather circlet. The small contender jumps off his back as the horn sounds. Drack didn’t beat the odds, and the match is over. Krewl has another win.
I stare at the blood seeping into the black earth, my gaze unfocused. As the guards move in to clear away the felled contender, the crowd quiets, and Bax turns to face his league. His eyes scan each of us in turn. Before he’s ready to give whatever speech he’s prepared, the horn sounds again, and the announcer enters the Cage and calls Orion.
My head snaps to the dominant feather brother.
There’s no hint of fear on his dusky face, and his brother’s features are a hardened mask betraying no emotion until Orion reaches the center of the Cage. Then his face crumples, revealing the worry and anxiety that must be wracking his body.
Caben attempts to move closer to Kaide, but the brother levels him with a squinted glare. He doesn’t want comfort, and he expects his brother to win—for them both to win and walk out of here together.
Maybe they will.
The goddesses haven’t given me a sign as to who will be the victor. I feel like they’ve abandoned me. I close my eyes and search deep, seeking the tiny light that is my empress’s life force. It’s there but weak, hidden beneath the madness and darkness bordering on the edge of my soul.
The crowd roars as the announcer calls Collar’s next contender to the Cage. Primal emerges from the opened door of the chamber, filling the space. His shoulders swell with muscles, leaving no room for a neck, and his tunic and pants nearly tear away from his bulging body as he walks toward Orion.
The horn moans through the dark, and I turn my head before the two contenders clash. I don’t want to watch another bloody death. Instead, I look to the full moon hanging in the starless, projected sky. The pale orb washes me in light as the blackness invades.
Two more fights. One more night.
Crew and Caben grab Kaide’s arms before Bax’s guards draw their weapons. They hold the screaming feather brother back from bolting into the Cage. Kaide elbows Caben in the ribs and wrenches one arm free, but Lena takes Caben’s place, quickly latching an arm around Kaide’s stomach.
Kaide’s wails are drowned out by the roar of the crowd cheering for Primal. My eyes flick to the black dirt where Orion’s body lies severed in two pieces. Primal beats his chest with one large first, having ripped off his tunic mid-fight, and swings a scythe above his head. Blood slings from the tip of the blade.
“Contender,” Bax says, low and gravelly. “Get control of yourself.”
Kaide’s deep irises ignite and he spits in Bax’s face. He says nothing, but his stare alone says he’d like to end Bax right here.
Before Bax can order the guards to stand down, one of them clubs Kaide over the head with his prod. Kaide drops to his knees and sways.
“Enough!” Bax shouts, halting the guards’ attack. “It was his brother.” He takes one last look at the broken contender before he goes to his rickety table where he waits for the statistics.
“Take him to the back of the chamber,” the guard with half his face painted red orders. Then the two of them turn their backs on us.
Crew and Lena pick Kaide up under his arms while Caben grabs his limp legs. They prop him up against the wall in the far back. I cross my arms, waiting to see if Kaide will speak. He doesn’t. His eyes glaze over as he stares straight ahead at nothing.
Heaving a deep breath, Crew turns to us. “Well, maybe now we can sway his alliance.”
My chest flares with heated, lashing tendrils, and I step forward, but Caben is quicker. He punches Crew, the hard knock landing with a loud smack against Crew’s square jaw.
“You son of a bitch—” Crew snaps his head around and starts toward Caben. Lena grabs Crew’s arm, and I step in front of Caben, planting my hands on his chest. I manage to drive him back a step while Lena mumbles something to Crew, his arms strained and trembling.
“You went too far,” Caben says.
Crew’s hands fly up. “It’s the truth! I only said what everyone else is thinking.” His chest puffs out. “Without his brother here, we can convince him—”
“Shut up,” Caben growls. “Not now.” His eyes flick to the guards, then scan Kaide’s weak form.
If Kaide is called to fight now—he can’t. He’s too wracked with grief to enter the Cage tonight, and probably tomorrow night. Even if he was to side with us, he won’t be of any use. I close my eyes and scold myself for thinking of his life in this way. But I have to. And Caben must be considering the same.
The horn captures our attention, and we move to the front of the chamber. Kaide is nearly catatonic. Right now, there’s nothing any of us can do for him.
As I’m saying a prayer to Farrah to spare Kaide this fight after watching his brother die, the announcer takes his place. “. . . entering the Cage, Collar’s Colossal, Van!”
The bodies in the risers spring to their feet. The noise of the stadium burns through me like fire. I stare at the sidelines, waiting to see Van’s opponent.
Only one thing could be worse than watching her fight at all; watching her fight Lilly. The ring leaders are smarter than that, though. They know we’d never fight each other, that we’d choose death over ending another protector’s life.
But I fear the final battle—when I’ll have to kill whoever comes near them.
I’m counting on Kaide to recover and take up our plan. If he doesn’t, there might be an even fight ahead.
Van exits her chamber and stops before reaching the center. She crosses her arms, a hard scowl marring her pretty face. The announcer shrugs and looks back to the audience.
“And competing, Bax’s Colossal”—he pauses for effect—“Taggar’s lethal assassin, Lena!”
My feet are moving before words come to my mind. I latch on to Lena’s arm and Caben is there in a second to pull me back. I fight off his hold and grab her hand. “Don’t,” I beg. “I’ll take a stand now. I’ll go with you right now—” I set my jaw hard, trying to think of the right words. “Lena, please—”
“Move away from me, protector,” Lena says, her eyes focused on the Cage. Her words are a sharp slap.
Caben succeeds in catching my wrist before my fist connects with her face. She glances at me once, remorse turning the corners of her violet eyes downward, and sprints off to meet her foe.
“There’s nothing to be done, Kal,” Caben whispers in my ear. “You knew—”
I turn o
n him. “I’m stopping this. I won’t watch another one of my girls die.”
Encircling his arms around me from the back, Caben pulls me tight to his chest and lowers his mouth to my ear. “How do you know Van will lose? You have no faith in your girls?”
The fact that I wish her to win and take Lena’s life is further proof of the vileness overtaking me. The darkness has all but consumed my senses, and I can no longer feel Empress Iana. I have nothing left to lose. I need to go out there and end the madness.
Maybe if I shed my own blood over Bale’s grave then no one else will have to die.
An image of my father’s head jerking back and forth as he lost his mind springs forth, and I wonder if this is how he felt. Did I force the blackness into his brain as it’s now being seared into mine? If this is retribution—my penance—then I accept it.
I accept my punishment.
I elbow Caben, knowing his side can’t take the beating, and he releases me. The horn blares and Lena runs toward Van as I rush the entrance. Bax throws out his arm. It hits my stomach and I double over, but continue to hedge forward. He snatches my tunic and plants me against the wall.
“Protector,” he grinds out. “I’m quickly losing my patience—” His words break off as his glowing eyes land on my chest. His hand slowly moves aside the neck of my tunic, and I hastily look around the chamber. But Bax’s massive back blocks the curious stares of the other contenders.
His eyes illuminate red as he scans the clamp, and his thin mouth pulls into a hard line.
I jerk my tunic back into place. “Can you guess what courses through my blood, mongrel?” I whisper bitterly, then turn my attention to the fight raging in the Cage.
“I can,” Bax says low.
I look back into his eyes. “Let me give the dark priest the sacrifice he needs,” I say. “If I do, can you stop the fight?”
His eyes lose their heated red glare as they slip over me. “No, protector. I cannot. You’d sacrifice yourself for nothing.”
“But then he’d be able to summon Bale. This is what he wants, right?” I squint at him. “It would end now.”
He releases a harsh breath. “The fights would go on. There’s nothing you can do to stop what has already begun, as I’ve told you. Go.” He jerks his head toward the back of the chamber.
“You’re a coward, Bax.” I wrestle my arms out of his grasp, then move to the bars and grip them tightly, pressing my face to the cold iron. Van and Lena trade blows, and the darkness coils around my heart.
I should be worried about the cool look in Bax’s eyes as he glimpsed my clamp. What he may do now that he knows about my blood—the mercury. About whether or not he’ll hand me over to the dark priest to strike some accord for the sake of his family. But I can’t worry about myself right now. My only concern is on the fight happening in the Cage.
Lena lands a hard hit to Van’s jaw. Van drops her defensive stance, sways, and falls to her hands and knees. I press closer to the bars. Stand up. Stand up—
She’s not given a chance to recover as Lena moves in behind her and pulls her upright. Van reaches up—but she’s not quick enough. Lena cries out and yanks Van’s head around with a snap.
Caben’s arms surround me. “Kal—”
A tremor rocks my body. My eyes stare after Van as she falls lifeless to the black earth.
Lena stands over Van’s body, ignoring the announcer as he raises her arm and proclaims her victory. Then her eyes find mine. She holds my glare as she makes her way back to our league’s chamber.
“Kal,” Caben says again, his voice a desperate plea.
The barred door grinds open.
I break his hold and launch at Lena.
I clip her temple with my fist and send my knee into her kidney before the guards are on me. They pull me off of her and I’m slammed against the wall. One of the guards raises his rod.
“Stop!” Bax shouts, knocking the guard’s arm aside. “She fights next.”
My gaze holds Lena as I pant out heavy breaths. “You’re mine.”
She braces her palm against her chin and twists her neck. The sound of her cracking it sends fire thundering through my body. I want to break her face.
The guards continue to hold me back as Lena steps close. “Maybe now you’ll use that rage, protector,” she says, then saunters to the opposite side of the chamber.
“Release her,” Bax snarls.
The guards drag me toward the front of the chamber as the announcer in the Cage calls my name. It’s muffled, a distant noise in the back of my head, mixing with the drumming and shouts. A whirring fills my ears. Then I’m pushed over the plank and into the Cage.
Across the Cage, the barred door of Collar’s chamber slides open.
My body thrums with the darkness gathering around me. I close my eyes, try to center my prayers, but the coils lash and whip at my insides. My eyes fly open when the crowd stomps down, the ground rocking with the force.
A massive contender the size of a small mountain steps out. The announcer to my right shouts into his vissa display. “The Colossal, Cannon!”
I jerk my head toward Bax’s chamber. His face is lowered, his eyes searching his screen device. Then he looks up at me, the worry present on his shadowed features. Caben was supposed to be positioned to face Cannon in the final battle. Something has changed. The ring leaders have pulled a switch, and Bax is no longer in their confidence.
My eyes seek Caben. He’s standing in the middle of the chamber, his head tipped forward, his gaze steady on me. He crosses and uncrosses his arms. I wish the guards would have given me a moment—time to tell him something reassuring. Though I’m unsure of what I would have said.
I drag my gaze away from Caben and look at Cannon as he moves to the center of the Cage. His biceps bulge, like two cannon balls have been implanted beneath his skin. For all I know, they have been. The ring leaders are sick enough to do just that.
He roars and smacks his fist into his palm. Then he barrels toward me.
His face shifts back and forth quickly as he runs, shaking in my line of vision. Suddenly his face is my father’s. It flashes before me in an instant, followed by an image of Van falling to the ground. Willa’s lifeless form. Lilly. My mother. Caben. The images seize my mind and a deep laugh rolls inside of my head.
Kill him.
I shake my head and lunge out of Cannon’s path. He swipes the air. Rolling out of range of his stomp, I get to my knees and grab his bare ankle. I twist, and he falls backward. He hits the ground hard, the dirt kicking up around him.
I tamp down the throaty voice in my head urging me to end his life. I thought it was the madness of the Otherworld invading my senses, but I know the truth. I’m standing atop Bale’s grave. The conduit running through my veins calls to her. I can hear her; feel her presence—her darkness. She’s not entered my mind; not able to hear my thoughts—the dark priest would have shut down our scheme if so—but I’m tired of hearing her voice. Tired of her madness pressing me.
The rage drumming though me after watching yet another of my Nactue die desires to end this beast trying to kill me now, but I have to remember who I am.
What I vowed.
To protect and serve those I care for.
Not to end lives for a blood sport—a dark goddess.
Cannon wraps his hulking arms around my midsection and lifts me off the ground. He squeezes, and a cry rips from my throat. The mercury pumps faster, scorching my insides. I pull my head back and snap it forward, knocking Cannon in the face.
His nose explodes. Blood sprays my face.
He drops me and swipes the air, his vision blurred. Sickened, I wipe at the blood. It smears over my skin—and I stop—allow it to hide the mercury rising to the surface. Jumping back into action, I kick his legs from beneath him and round his large form. Coming up behind him, I angle my arm around his thick neck and tighten until I see his eyes bulge. Their deep brown irises darken as he gasps for air.
I can kno
ck him out. Anger the ring leaders and the dark priest. They can come out here and kill us themselves to bleed their sacrifices for their goddess. I won’t do it. Lena had no choice, I understand that. But she also tried to use her kill to prep me for my fight. I think of her face as I squeeze Cannon’s neck tighter.
The horn sounds, and I look up. Weapons descend from the top of the Cage.
Before Cannon loses consciousness, he gets a handle on my wrist and kicks off the ground. His foot connects with my face.
I try to bring him with me as I’m knocked backward, but he scrambles sideways and breaks my hold. He takes off for the closest weapon dangling from the chains.
He yanks the flail free and swings the spiked ball above his head. The crowd stomps harder and faster as he builds momentum. The whom whom of the spikes slicing the air cuts through my eardrums.
Behind him, illuminated by the projected full moon, is a long sword. I bound to my feet and run.
The flail swipes the air and I just dive out of Cannon’s reach as the spiked ball slams the ground. He roars and jerks his weapon free of the black dirt. I turn and leap backward as the flail flies toward me again. It snags my tunic. The bottom of my shirt tears as I struggle free and sprint.
I hear the pad of Cannon’s bare feet thumping the ground behind me. Before he launches his weapon, I spring up and grab the sword. Dropping down next to him, I arc my blade against his flail. Our weapons meet with a metallic clang.
Cannon’s eyes widen, his sockets enlarging to deliver a crazed glare. He laughs a deep, adrenaline-filled chuckle. “It’s over, protector,” he roars. “I’m going to smash your bones to dust, just like I’ll do to little Red over there when I get to her.”
Spinning and blocking his blow, I glance at Krewl’s chamber, to where Lilly watches my battle wide-eyed. I knock Cannon’s chin with the hilt of my sword. Lilly lost Willa. She suffered through her death. I won’t let her witness my death, too.
I won’t give Cannon the chance to touch her.
Of Silver and Beasts (Goddess Wars) Page 22