by Isla Frost
The blade bit deep, sinking all the way to the hilt. And the shadow stalker toppled. Only thirty feet from its fallen partner.
From Bryn.
The impact of the ground against my mortal injuries turned my world completely black.
Sheer determination forced my eyes to open, and the edges of that blackness receded slightly.
I had to know.
Ameline’s tear-stricken face swam into view. “Don’t you dare die on me, or I’ll tell everyone you were killed by a bush turkey. Is that what you want?”
I cracked a smile. Hell’s breath, it hurt. Everything hurt. But I managed to croak out the question I needed answered.
“Bryn?”
“She’s okay. I’ll bring her over here to stop your bleeding. Hang on.”
I rolled my head to watch. Ameline ran the ten yards to Bryn and leaned down to say something. Beside them, the paralyzed shadow stalker twitched.
The effects of the sleepwood spores were wearing off.
A fresh wave of fear coursed through me. But even the fear was weak now. All I could focus on was the pain. The cold blackness sucking me in and downward.
I tried to call out a warning, but my voice had stopped working. Everything was stopping working.
Ameline had seen the twitch though. She stood up, retrieved the borrowed dagger from wherever she’d stashed it, and slammed the blade into the beast’s ear. Just like that. Her expression was grim, but she spared no tears for the slain stalker. For what she’d just done.
Through the miasma of pain, distant but unmistakable, I recognized my shock. My sorrow at the loss of her innocence. My pride at her courage and pragmatism.
Then she dragged Bryn over to me and propped her into a sitting position. Bryn, still paralyzed, her eyes unable to so much as blink, dredged up the last of her magic to cauterize the hole in my gut. To put an end to the flow of lifeblood pumping from my body and staining the snow red.
Real fire collided with the blaze of agony already there. I smelled burning meat. And surrendered at last to the darkness.
Chapter 29
I woke on the other side of the runegate. In the infirmary.
The beds were full.
The glass ceiling showed it was still dark outside, but soft yellow light illuminated Invermoore’s workspace.
The healer must have labored through the night. Her stern face was drawn, her gray eyes clouded with fatigue, and the state of her hair and clothes an utter mess by walker standards.
But while I ached all over, my formerly shattered ankle was whole and my stomach barely hurt any more than the rest of me.
Bryn was stretched out in the bed beside mine. I’d never been more delighted to hear her gentle snores.
Later I learned that she’d pushed herself into unconsciousness to stop my bleeding. To keep me alive long enough for Ameline to drag us both through the runegate to safety. A Herculean task in itself.
Later I learned I’d been branded forever by that final trial. Not just the scars on my skin, but the marks left on my heart by what my friends had been willing to sacrifice for me.
But right then all I felt was relief.
We’d done it. Survived the three months. Completed the final trial. Not everyone could say the same.
Some would never say anything again.
Now we just had to hope it would be enough…
I closed my eyes to snatch a few last hours of sleep before we learned our fates.
Chapter 30
Ameline came to collect us. The sky above the glass ceiling was streaked with gray. Almost dawn.
“They’re posting the lists in a few minutes. Are you well enough to walk?”
Was I? Around me, many of the beds had emptied, and other kids were rising from their mattresses or waiting for their beds to be lowered so they could leave too. A few remained unmoving. Too injured to wake. The comatose boy from another year’s intake of firstborns somewhere among them.
Bryn shoved her blankets back. “Hell yes. I’m not going to miss this.”
A large bruise covered her left cheek, and her usually golden complexion had an ashy pallor to it, but her eyes sparked with determination. Ameline looked worse for wear too, like she’d spent the night tossing and turning alone in the room she normally shared with us. Perhaps wondering if we’d made it through till dawn. Her blond halo was mussed and dull and the circles beneath her eyes purple.
I was sure I wasn’t about to win any beauty contests either. If they were handing out prizes for zombie costumes, however…
I pushed off my blankets and struggled into a sitting position. The three of us had been through hell together, and we would face whatever was coming side by side too. My friends were strong. Stronger even than I’d given them credit for. But we were stronger together.
We probably didn’t look it though as we forced our unwilling bodies to trudge through Millicent’s corridors. The journey to the dining hall had never felt so long.
When we reached it, Dunraven was departing and a sea of kids were clustering around one section of the wall.
We had to wait our turn. I swayed on my feet, and Ameline steadied me.
Our classmates’ expressions when they turned away from the wall were confused, cautious, like they still weren’t sure of the outcome. Yet they left the dining hall with purpose.
Then it was our turn.
Two lists of names written in the same graceful script were stuck to the wall on ordinary sheets of paper. So mundane for objects upon which the courses of our lives would turn.
There was no indication which list was which. Of who had passed and who had failed. But one list of names was noticeably longer than the other.
I scanned the shorter list as fast as I could, needing to know and figuring this was the quickest way of finding out. Klay’s was on top, which probably meant this was the one we wanted to be on. I saw my own name first. Nova. Bryn’s name was six down from mine. Heart in my throat, I kept scanning.
And scanning.
And scanning.
And there, right at the bottom, was the third name I’d desperately wanted to find. Ameline.
“We’re on the same list!”
We whooped and hugged and carried on like excited eight-year-olds. Very stiff and sore excited eight-year-olds anyway.
We would be sticking together. I was so relieved that I almost didn’t care which group we were in. Those that would stay or those that would depart immediately.
But no, that wasn’t true. I did care. I wanted to win. In part because we’d worked so hard for this. In part because we still had no idea what happened to those who failed. And in part because staying at the academy was a far better position to destroy it from.
At least we didn’t have long to wait. Beneath our names were instructions for all the students listed above to make their way to one of the bigger classrooms. The kids on the second list were directed to go to the largest tower room.
We gathered in the specified classroom, my body gladly sinking into one of the seats, and waited to learn what our future would hold.
Professor Grimwort was already there. Apparently he would be the one to deliver the news. Was that a good sign or bad?
He waited up front for everyone to trickle in and then be seated and silent before talking. Or perhaps he was aware of how taut our nerves were and was enjoying screwing with us.
“If you are in this room, you have been deemed the strongest, fittest, most skilled, and magically gifted among your human peers. Congratulations.”
His words were congratulatory. His tone was not. But despite that and the chilling details we’d uncovered about the transformation ritual, I felt a surge of triumph.
We had made it! All three of had defeated the odds, overcome everything the professors had thrown in our path, and demonstrated our strength, skill, and resilience.
Only a third of the original students had managed the same.
“In short,” Grimwort was saying, “you
have distinguished yourselves as the most suitable candidates for this academy’s ultimate purpose.”
My curiosity spiked. I’d been trying to figure out what was really going on here since I’d first arrived. Maybe they would finally tell us.
“Which is…” Grimwort paused. He had our complete attention. “To form and train a specialized contingent of elite warriors.”
My brain churned over the revelation. Given the content of our classes over the past three months, it wasn’t a complete shock. Yet it made zero sense in the context of reality as I understood it.
Who would we be fighting? The walkers already ruled the world.
Someone else asked the question aloud. “Sir, who or what will this contingent be fighting against?”
Grimwort glowered at the interruption. “You’ll find that out soon enough. The question that should’ve occurred to you is why the walkers would bother training humans to be part of this warrior unit.”
Ding, ding, ding. That’s exactly what I was wondering. We might be the best of the best among the human students. But the weakest walker—even stooped and ancient Cricklewood or the pixie-like girl shorter than Bryn who spent most of her lessons magically altering her hair color to alarming hues—would beat us in any sort of fair fight. Most unfair fights too.
Were they that desperate for soldiers?
But if we were here to be cannon fodder—a distraction for the enemy to play with while the walker troops moved into position—why kick out two-thirds of the students?
Unless…
Anxiety crept over me. Unless the “enemy” was humankind. Unless they needed our insight or ability to blend in or—
But no. That didn’t make sense either. Not unless the rich and powerful humans that fled fifty years ago were coming back equipped with something so powerful I couldn’t conceive it. The timing didn’t work regardless. The Agreement had come into place thirty-seven years ago. Surely if a war had been waging all that time between the humans that fled and the walkers that had taken over, we’d know about it.
Grimwort cleared his throat to silence the whispers of speculation.
“If we left you in your natural state, you would indeed be useless to us. Which is why, before we begin the next phase of your training, each student in this room will undergo a transformation ritual. The ritual itself is not without risk, but assuming you survive, it will unlock great power beyond the conception of most of your kind.”
This time the hum of speculation was louder. A mixture of shock and nerves and excitement.
The excitement seemed to be winning out. Our classmates hadn’t seen the creepy transformation chamber. Or the changes in my old friend.
“Those of you here are the strongest of your cohort both mentally and physically. That gives you a superior chance of surviving the transformation. Even so, it is best that you prepare your bodies for the ordeal.” Grimwort swept his hawklike gaze over the captive audience.
“From the time you leave this room until sundown three days hence, you will be excused from all academy activities. You will fast, drinking only the precious revitalizing nectar you’ll receive from Glenn and Glennys. Endeavor to prepare your minds as well. Do whatever you must to find peace. It may be the difference between dying and coming through the transformation process. Healer Invermoore will come for you when it is your time.”
Grimwort took a step toward the exit, then halted. Turned back.
“Those of you that survive will begin the advanced training next week and receive the answers to your remaining questions then.”
The professor disappeared out the door, and the buzz of conversation turned into a roar.
Chapter 31
Bryn, Ameline, and I headed for our dormitory where we could dissect the news in private.
The students on the second list never came out of the tower room.
The corridors felt empty with the human population reduced by two-thirds. The walkers now outnumbered us three to one.
What had happened to those who’d disappeared? Or departed as Glennys had put it when we’d collected a dose of the nectar.
Misty had been on that list. The girl who’d mistaken the groundbeast’s lure for a flum. William, who’d had the unfortunate claim to fame of setting his desk on fire. Twice. Zoe, who’d started as the slowest endurance runner in Cricklewood’s class and ended up fitter than Bryn. Noah, who we’d saved from going into the forest with Jayden.
Each of them had come here to protect their families. They’d tried and trained and survived. And now? My plan had focused on saving future firstborns from being sacrificed to uphold the Agreement. But what about the current year’s kids? Or the previous one’s?
If I ever succeeded in bringing the Agreement to its knees, I would try to find them. Try to return them to their families. If they still lived. But I couldn’t do anything for them now.
I forced myself to focus on the present, the positive.
Bryn, Ameline, and I had defied the odds and made it through together. And whatever was coming next, we’d get through that together too.
Even if at the moment we could barely walk.
We reached our dorm room, and Millicent let us in with the lightest of pinpricks.
Theus was waiting inside.
He was standing by the window. At some point in the past few months we’d pulled aside the heavy burgundy drapes and left them there so we could enjoy the view. The forest did not hold the same level of fear over us as it once had.
Theus was apparently enjoying the view too, but he turned as we entered. His posture was casual, relaxed, nonthreatening. The expression on his beautiful face friendly.
That meant nothing. A walker could change in an instant. Could slit your throat while still smiling casually. And though he’d never lifted a finger against me, had in fact saved my and other human lives on multiple occasions, Theus was the most dangerous of all. Because sometimes, just for an instant here and there, I’d begun to feel safe in his presence.
Walkers could not be trusted.
Not that I feared he would kill me. If he’d wanted me dead, all he would’ve had to do was stand back and watch during that first trial. I would’ve died trying to save everybody. And if he’d wanted the pleasure of killing me himself, he’d had ample opportunity that night he’d caught me snooping.
But if he was playing the long game like I was, the fallout would be spectacular.
I must keep my guard up.
Except I was so incredibly weary just then that my guard was weak. Weak enough to notice the way the sunlight from the window danced over the handsome lines of his face and lit up those unfathomable deep green eyes.
Ameline told me he’d been the one to carry me to the infirmary after our final trial. Part of me wished I’d been awake for it.
The other part of me had had enough.
After the roller coaster ride of the last twelve hours, my emotions were all over the place. Desire, shock, confusion, irritation, and curiosity rushed through me.
Irritation won.
“What are you doing here?” I demanded.
And why had Millicent let him in?
One of Theus’s expressive eyebrows lifted at my tone. “Lirielle and I thought you might have questions.”
I snorted. “What, and you couldn’t wait outside? How’d you get in?”
His lips quirked. “Those weren’t the sorts of questions I had in mind.”
I tamped down my irritation as what he was really offering penetrated my tired skull. Answers. There was nothing I was hungrier for right now.
Except maybe sleep. My body was pushing me toward my bed, but I remained standing.
Ameline and Bryn stood with me. I glanced at them, and they both nodded. We all wanted answers.
I leaned my back against the wall to hold myself upright and wondered where to start.
Bryn jumped in first. “I’ve got one. How does this transformation ritual work exactly, and why do you need such a creepy
room to do it in?”
Theus’s dark eyebrows rose again. Both of them this time. “You know about that?”
“You’re the only one who’s volunteered to answer questions here.”
Theus inclined his head. “True enough. All right. As Grimwort has covered in Rudimentary Magic, a lot of power is carried in the blood. And as basic biology teaches, blood is vital and almost omnipresent within the body, its influence reaching far and wide.”
Yes, I’d come close to learning exactly how vital my blood was last night.
“So the ritual uses a blood exchange and complex, ancient ceremonial magic to transform yours into something more powerful.”
My brain caught on two words. “Blood exchange? What exactly do you mean by that?”
Theus considered us. Perhaps wondering whether to tell us the truth or fabricate something more palatable.
“You won’t be awake for it. A healer will place you in a deep sleep, and then during the course of the ritual, your blood will be drained out, circulated through a walker’s veins, and then given back to you.”
Oh, and that wasn’t the least bit creepy.
A new idea occurred to me. “Wait, who do we do this exchange with? The walker students? Will we be linked to them in some way?”
Like giant blood-controlled puppets, I was thinking.
But Theus shook his head. “No, they’ll bring other walkers in just for the ritual. The students aren’t suitable.”
“Why not?”
A strange expression passed over Theus’s face. One I’d never seen before. If I didn’t know better, I’d call it haunted. “Have you not heard the professors call us hollows? Each walker student underwent a similar transformation ritual before we arrived.”
“To make you more powerful?”
“To make us harder to kill,” he corrected.
“You seem plenty difficult to kill already,” I observed. “So why do you need humans? Will the ritual make us as powerful as your average walker?”
That at least would make sense. A convenient supply of powerful soldiers they didn’t have to breed themselves.