Warrior Beautiful

by Wendy Knight

  Ashra, never one to work her way in from the outside, plunged into the midst of the soul stealers, fighting her way to Havik’s side with her horn and sharp hooves. Scout followed her lead, swinging her scepter and attacking anything within reach. She barely felt the claws anymore, whether because her body was numb from pain or numb from the rush of adrenaline.

  Through it all, she heard Lil Bit urging her on. You can do this, Scout. You’re stronger than their evil. Save my friends. Save yourself.

  She sank her scepter into another bloody chest, ripping it out and watching with a wicked grin as the creature howled and fell from the sky.

  Swinging around and screaming, always screaming, she leveled her scepter at the nearest soul stealers. Fire exploded, shooting through at least six of them, spearing through their rib cages. Kylin fought next to her, so close that Ashra’s wings kept clashing with Kylin’s unicorn’s. Scout glanced at her briefly while looking for her next victim. Kylin studied Scout’s scepter before swinging her own, trying to replicate Scout and Ashra’s attack, taking out three more demons. Scout grinned triumphantly as they fell from the sky.

  Her smile died abruptly as claws swiped at her face. She ducked low over Ashra’s neck, and Ashra shoved her horn deep into the skull of their next threat. Torz lit one on fire with his powerful wings. It burned from the inside out, squealing like the most horrible dying animal.

  “He’s almost free. Just a few more!” Scout yelled and Ashra dove at the closest soul stealers. They had their claws deep in Havik’s neck. Torz attacked from the opposite side, and Kylin’s unicorn fought from above to prevent more from latching on. Scout jabbed with her scepter, nearly impaling Iros as she did so. He dodged sideways and Scout caught the demon. With a jerk, she ripped him away from Havik. Ashra flew backward, dragging the screaming creature with them as her wings took out two more. And then her flames enveloped the rest and they fell through the darkness, nothing but blood and ash.

  Havik exploded free, shooting into the sky like his own bolt of lightning. Iros held his scepter above his head, fire flaming from both ends, searing the soul stealers still clinging to them. Ashra galloped after them, a torch of flames attacking whatever else tried to follow, and Scout swung her scepter like a baton, letting the magic sweep the sky.

  “We’ve got them!” Iros shouted, his words shattering the frozen air.

  The remaining army of soul stealers turned as one, fleeing toward a dark opening in the sky to the north. Ashra didn’t chase them, breathing hard as she fought to stay in the sky. “Scout? He’s going to close the gate as soon as they get inside.”

  Scout’s stomach dropped. She couldn’t ask Iros not to — not now that she realized the stakes. Torz and Trey appeared next to them, both watching Scout intently. Kylin and her unicorn followed the others, creating a strong formation behind Iros.

  Ashra’s voice was barely a whisper in her mind. “I want revenge.”

  Trey’s eyebrows shot up, somehow also hearing Ashra’s growl. Torz swung his graceful head toward them, but didn’t say a word.

  “I don’t understand,” Scout said. “What are you saying? Wasn’t this revenge?” She swung her arms around at the quickly emptying sky, still raining the blood of the soul stealers.

  “No. This was justice. I want to watch Ariston die with my horn through his chest.”

  “Who—?” Scout started.

  Torz, not taking his large brown eyes from Ashra’s, answered her. “Iros’ brother. Their Master.” He tipped his horn just a bit, pointing at the fleeing soul stealers.

  “Scout, if you want to go in, I’m with you.” Ashra said abruptly. “But we don’t have much time. Make your decision, Princess. You say you want to save your sister, and I’ll get us inside before the gate closes.”

  Scout’s heart pounded painfully in her chest. No, Scout! Please, no! Be safe, big sister. Lil Bit’s voice pleaded in her head, and in those few seconds she saw a lifetime of Lil Bit — as a baby, chubby little face creased in her first smile; as a toddler trying to copy Scout’s dance moves; as a little girl hurting because everyone told her she was crazy. As Scout’s only visitor day in and day out at the hospital, holding Scout’s hand, begging her to keep fighting. As Scout’s hero, so scared of the demons but sneaking out of the house to lead them away from her family.

  “I want to save my sister.” Scout’s voice was hard, nearly unrecognizable to her own ears. Ashra tossed her head once in agreement before she tucked her wings and plummeted through the sky after Iros, dropping low, nearly reaching the snow covered earth below them. She raced beneath the unicorns, hooves cracking the air as she shot past her comrades, her friends and family. Above them, Iros leveled his scepter at the gate, bright flames lighting the sky, shooting through the air. They wove over and under the gaping wound the soul stealers were trying to escape through.

  “We aren’t going to make it!” Scout yelled. Ashra lengthened her stride, moving so fast through the air that it burned Scout’s eyes and tore at her helmet. Only Ashra’s tail, wrapped tightly around Scout’s waist, kept her from flying off. Scout could hear Ashra’s ragged breathing and the pounding of her hooves, drowning out every other sound. Her eyes fastened and held tight to the gap in the sky ahead of them, slowly closing.

  They blew past Havik, but he didn’t see them until it was too late. Scout heard his mighty roar but Ashra was leaping, soaring through the sky, tucking her wings close again as she slid through the weaving flames. Scout ducked low against her back as the blackness closed around them. Ashra’s wings snapped out again and caught them as they fell, her hooves crashing into the rocky ground, shattering the stone as she landed. From behind them, Scout heard the whoosh of wings snapping, and the ground shook. She spun on Ashra’s back, nearly toppling off in the process, trying to hold her scepter up in her exhausted arms.

  “You didn’t think I’d let you go alone, did you?” Torz asked mildly, his mighty chest rising and falling, lather soaking his neck.

  Trey pulled his helmet off, wiping sweat from his brow as he met Scout’s eyes. “I’m not leaving you again.”

  She opened her mouth to object, but he shook his head. “I abandoned you once. It was the worst mistake of my life. Every single second of every single day, I’ve wished that I could go back to that night when I stood outside your hospital room. Instead of turning away in shame, I would go in and hold your hand and not let go. I am not making that mistake again, Scout. My heart belongs wherever you are. Even if where you are—” he paused and looked around them, swallowing hard, “—is here.”

  Scout didn’t want to turn away from him. She didn’t want to lose sight of him even for a heartbeat, and she didn’t want to see the terror around them. But Lil Bit was here somewhere. Her fingers clenched and unclenched Ashra’s wispy mane as she raised her eyes.

  “Aptavaras.”

  About the Author

  Wendy Knight was born and raised in Utah by a wonderful family who spoiled her rotten because she was the baby. Now she spends her time driving her husband crazy with her many eccentricities (no water after five, terror when faced with a live phone call, etcetera, etcetera). She also enjoys chasing her three adorable kids, playing tennis, watching football, reading, and hiking. Camping is also big: her family is slowly working toward a goal of seeing all the National Parks in the U.S.

  You can usually find her with at least one Pepsi nearby, wearing ridiculously high heels for whatever the occasion may be. And if everything works out just right, she will also be writing.

  Also Available from Wendy Knight

  Chapter One

  Park City, Utah, Present Day

  Arianna Delacour thunked her black duffle bag at the foot of her bed, wondering if she should even bother unpacking. This was her sixteenth boarding school. Sixteen in nine years, but there would have been more if she hadn’t been home schooled until third grade. That was when the Family started sending her out to hunt.

  Wrong life. She shoved the thought awa
y, jumping to a safer one. She had to focus on this life now. She was about to start her senior year, and she wanted to graduate. So, quieting the flames running through her blood, she started unpacking.

  “Who are you?” a high pitched voice demanded behind her.

  Ari didn’t turn to investigate. “I’m Ari. Who are you?”

  “This is my room,” the voice said.

  Ari thought it over, decided there was nothing to respond to, and continued unpacking.

  “I said, this is my room.” The voice grated on Ari’s ears and made her teeth ache. Sighing, Ari stood up, shoving her long black braid over her shoulder as she turned. A much shorter, somewhat round blonde girl stood in the doorway with her hand on her hip, green eyes glowering back at her.

  “Apparently, it’s also my room. If that’s going to be a problem, you should take it up with the headmistress.” Ari’s dark brown eyes clashed with the girl’s green gaze. The girl’s lips tightened as she gave Ari a slow once over. Ari folded her arms and glared back. Finally, the blonde gave up, shaking her hair away from her face.

  “I’m Brittany.” She dropped her hand from her hip and pushed her way into the room. She threw herself down on her unmade bed and scowled at Ari.

  “Hey.” Ari turned back to her unpacking. Brittany stayed on her bed, filing her nails and watching, until it was obvious that Ari wasn’t going to attempt to socialize. With a huff, she got up and stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind her. Ari smirked.

  This school had uniforms, which was nice. They saved her the time and effort of trying to decide what to wear that would make her stand out the least. But she was five foot ten for one thing, when most girls her age were closer to five foot four, and for another thing, her long black hair had dark red streaks running through it — streaks that were natural yet looked anything but. Between the two, and the fact that she was always the new kid, fading into the background was impossible.

  She put her clothes away and stuffed her bag under her bed. Satisfied, she stood back with her hands on her hips and blew a stray hair out of her face, surveying the room. The bed against the right wall was covered in a sparkly pink bedspread and a dozen shiny pillows thrown all over. Ari winced away from it, afraid it might attack her with rhinestones and glitter.

  Inching around the chaos across the room, she flopped on her safe bed with its crisp white sheets and a gray blanket. With a grunt, she rolled over. School started in two days. Another first day at a new school. But on the bright side, she thought, studying the yellow walls next to her head, it’s a lot of other people’s first day too. Not a lot of seniors, but she’d take what she could get.

  Ari closed her eyes, fighting the headache coming on. But the second she did, her thoughts raced to her other life. The life she tried so hard to banish from her thoughts. She never succeeded.

  Her grandfather didn’t see the point in school at all. Ari was a warrior. What did she need school for? It was Ari’s mother, Vivian, in her passive aggressive way, who suggested sending Ari to school. It was Vivian’s secret hope that Ari might have something of a normal life. She got around the whole grandfather-saying-school-is-pointless-thing by telling him there was no better way to hunt the Carules than in schools, where they were young and untrained.

  Carules. Ari gritted her teeth at the word. She was an Edren, a red-flame-throwing sorceress. Carules were her people’s ancient enemies. She threw red spells. They threw blue. And that was why she hunted them.

  In a compromise between her mother and her grandfather that Ari had had no say in whatsoever, she was sent to boarding school after boarding school, where she attempted to fit in with Normals, or regular humans with no magic. Her mother sent her there to try to let her be a regular teenager. Her grandfather sent her there to hunt, and then he would pull her out and stick her somewhere else as soon as she found any trace of Carules magic… and eliminated it.

  Ari must have dozed off sometime during her battle to not think, because the next thing she knew the door was slamming against the wall, jerking her out of sleep. Her eyes flew open as Brittany strode through. “I need someone tall,” she announced, stopping at Ari’s side.

  Ari frowned in confusion. Maybe she’d been more soundly asleep than she’d thought, but it felt like she’d come into the conversation when it was half over. “Good?” she answered slowly, lowering her brows and trying to focus her bleary eyes on her new roommate.

  “Ugh! Fine.” Brittany flipped her thick blonde waves over her shoulder. “I told Shane that I would decorate the auditorium for the whole welcome back ball thing.” Her hand floated through the air dismissively. Ari rubbed her forehead, trying to follow. “And none of us are tall enough to reach the top of the door, even with the ladder. And I thought to myself, ‘who do I know who’s tall?’ and—” Brittany gave a dramatic pause and snapped her fingers — “I thought of you.”

  Ari gave a snort and sat up, stretching. “Lucky me. No offense, but I’ll pass.”

  “What?” Brittany snatched up Ari’s arm. Ari’s eyebrows shot up in surprise.

  “Dramatic much?” She freed her arm none too gently from Brittany’s sweaty fingers. “I have no desire to spend my first afternoon here showing my school spirit—” Ari waved her hands around her head like she had pompoms “—by getting tangled in crepe paper and giving myself a headache blowing up cheesy balloons.”

  Brittany leaned her face as close to Ari’s as she could, given the height difference, desperation clear in her wide eyes. Ari could see the makeup lines along her jaw, something she could have done without, and resisted the urge to tell Brittany that her foundation was just a tad too dark. “Okay, look. You don’t understand. I told Shane I would do this a week ago. The ball is tonight. If I don’t get it done it will blow all my chances with him, and I am this close—” she held up two fingers close together “—to him asking me out.”

  “And I care about this why?” Ari raised a dark eyebrow and smothered a yawn.

  “Ugh! I’ve only been in love with him for four years now!” Brittany exclaimed, flopping back on her still-unmade bed. Ari waited for a dust cloud of sparkles to poof into the air, but it didn’t happen. “Every girl in school is in love with him. And he chose me to decorate. It’s his way of telling me he likes me.”

  Ari rolled her eyes. “Again, why do I care?”

  “Let me tell you about my Shane. He is gorgeous. Probably not your type.” Brittany waved her hand. Ari frowned. “He’s got this wavy black hair that I will soon be running my fingers through. And his eyes!” Still lying on her back, Brittany exclaimed to the ceiling, “He’s got amazing blue eyes. And he is…” She snickered. Ari sighed and studied her nails, waiting for the point. “Well, let’s just say he is in very good shape.”

  “Forgive me for sounding like I’m stuck on repeat, but I. Don’t. Care.”

  Brittany sat up, leaned forward, and put her elbows on her knees, her face a perfect mask of seriousness. Ari fought the urge to laugh. “Do you want to start the school year knowing no one?”

  Ari opened her mouth to tell Brittany she didn’t care if she did. She had a rule about making friends — she didn’t do it. Fourteen schools ago, she learned that girls were mean. They were your friend while they needed you, and only to your face. Behind your back they were whispering and plotting. And when they didn’t need you anymore, they turned on you. And boys were even worse.

  Besides that, she hated listening to them complain about their petty problems while she had been hunted her entire life. She hated listening to them whine about a lame date over the weekend when she had spent her weekend killing Carules in some nasty battle or another. Carules who might be her enemy, but who also might have families and homes.

  Despite all of that, somehow, somewhere deep, deep down where Ari couldn’t squash it, was a bit of hope that she would find a friend. Life alone was a miserable existence. No matter how many times she told herself it was stupid, especially since so much of her life was a
secret that could get her killed, her heart still leaped at the chance. And she always got hurt, because girls were mean and boys were worse.

  “No,” Ari snapped, jumping up and heading for the door, inner battle waged and won.

  Brittany grabbed her arm again and Ari stopped, turning around. “Pleeeeaaase?” Brittany pleaded, her green eyes filling with tears.

  And so Ari found herself standing on the top rung of a high ladder, tangled in crepe paper. She growled as she blew a stray piece of dark hair away from her face, only to watch in frustration as it fluttered back and landed on her nose, making it itch. Her hands twitched with the need to blast the whole cheesy mess with red flames — she could even picture the spell she’d use in her head, but she resisted. No magic, or she’d be found out and her grandfather would have her transferred again.

  Ari glanced around the room, finding the door, her gaze locking on it with a yearning to escape. She could just climb down this ladder and leave… except that was easier said than done. More so than most of her other schools, this campus was massively confusing to negotiate. It was set up so that the main building — a large, square, three-story of red brick — was in the middle of four two-story dorms running parallel on each side, with nicely landscaped expanses of lawn between and manicured walkways connecting it all.

  Boys and girls didn’t share dorm buildings, and each grade got their own floor. Since Ari was a senior, she was on the top floor of her building. So the dorms she understood. It was getting out of the school that was a problem. It was a huge maze of hallways that all looked the exact same, with classes on each side and no distinguishing features whatsoever.

  She had followed Brittany here, trying her best not to say anything sarcastic the whole time, but she wasn’t sure she could find her way back by herself, and wandering lost and helpless was not an option. Which meant she was stuck here until the gym was done and Brittany went back to their room. Wonderful.