by Lynette Noni
“The most I can do is get you an audience,” she said as they started up the stairs. “I cannot make them listen.”
Alex opened her mouth to offer her thanks before remembering—again—not to speak, and instead allowed Caspar Lennox to offer gratitude on her behalf.
When they stepped off the staircase, Alex took a moment to look down at the scene below. From her higher vantage point she had an unconcealed view inside the flames—flames that she could now see were shaped along the lines of a six-sided star. Six triangles were connected to a larger hexagonal centre space, all of which the combatants were shadowing their way through as the flames rose and fell, allowing them easier access to the different areas.
“Grandfather, Elders,” Shirez said respectfully in her own tongue, and Alex turned her attention to the three ancient figures seated on dark, throne-like chairs. “There is a human here who wishes to speak with you.”
“A human?” said the male closest to where they stood, peering intently at Alex. A jagged scar sawed through his left eyebrow, making him seem as if he had a permanently quizzical expression.
“Yes, Grandfather,” Shirez said. “Alexandra Jennings.”
“So not just any human,” the female in the middle said, her implied familiarity again puzzling Alex. “And it appears she was brought here by one of our own.”
“Noble Elders,” Caspar Lennox said, also reverting to the language of his race. He stepped forward, offering a deep, respectful bow. “I would not have brought the girl unless I believed what she has to say to be of the utmost importance to your ears.”
“Stand aside, Caspar Lennox, and let her come forth,” said the final male elder, his eyes a staggering pale blue colour against his mottled-grey skin. While Alex had little experience with the shadowy race, he was the first she’d seen with coloured irises. The effect was astounding.
“Alexandra, you have been given leave to approach,” Caspar Lennox told her in the common tongue, as if she didn’t already know.
She played her part and nodded before stepping towards the elders, careful to keep her mouth firmly shut until they gave permission for her to speak.
“Well met, Alexandra Jennings of the human race,” said Shirez’s grandfather, now in the common tongue. “I am Radek Ganare.”
“Azalia Shaw,” offered the female in the middle.
“And I am Saber Karn,” said the blue-eyed male on the far end. “On behalf of our people, we welcome you to Graevale.”
So far, Alex thought things were going rather well. Certainly much better than she’d imagined, especially after Shirez’s less than warm treatment.
“My granddaughter claims you have come to speak with us,” Radek said.
When he said no more, Alex took his statement to be a question and made the assumption that he was granting her permission to speak. “Yes, that’s right. I’ve come to warn—”
“You have arrived during vatali targo,” interrupted Azalia.
When she said no more, Alex again presumed she was allowed to respond. “I’m sorry about that. I didn’t mean to interrupt the, uh… ” She waved a hand to the action below and finished, “… festivities. But—”
“We do not deal with matters of politics during the trials,” said Saber.
“This isn’t really about politics,” Alex said. “It’s about—”
“You will not speak out of turn, human,” Azalia said with slitted eyes.
Frustrated, Alex wondered how she was supposed to know whether she could talk or not if some of their statements were questions while others weren’t.
“Saber Karn speaks true,” Radek said. “We do not discuss politics while the trials are in session.”
Another long pause, which Alex hoped meant she could again attempt speech.
She took a chance and asked, “How long do the trials last?”
“Until a victor is named,” Azalia answered. “Usually no more than a week.”
A week. That wasn’t great, but it also wasn’t terrible. Hopefully Aven wouldn’t do anything drastic in that time, and Alex would still be able to warn the elders before he acted.
“However,” Azalia continued, “we will not discuss politics with anyone until the celebrations have concluded.”
“Do you mean like a party?” Alex asked. “When does it finish?”
“Sunrise,” Saber answered. Before adding, “After the next full moon.”
Alex’s mouth dropped open.
A month? They partied for a whole month?
“You’re not serious?” she gasped out.
The shadows around the elders rose up suddenly, like snakes hissing with fury.
“Watch your tone, human,” said Azalia sharply. “Remember who you stand before.”
This was ridiculous. It was utterly ridiculous. Here she was, trying to warn them about an impending threat, and they wanted to throw a month-long party before they would hear a single word from her.
“My warning can’t wait,” Alex said, not caring that she was using both a firm tone and speaking out of turn. “You need to listen to me. Aven Dal—”
“Enough!” Azalia cried, her voice like thunder, but Alex refused to be interrupted.
“—marta is coming. He has an entire arm—”
Suddenly, Alex’s words were cut off as shadows surrounded her, stealing her voice and choking the air from her lungs. Gagging, she heard Caspar Lennox and, surprisingly, Shirez, interceding on her behalf, but she was too focused on not suffocating to hear what they were saying. Then, in an instant, her asphyxiation eased and she was able to breathe again.
Unable to help herself, she glared at the three elders while sucking in gasps of oxygen. But she also held her tongue while she did so.
“Caspar Lennox advocates strongly for you, Alexandra Jennings,” Radek said. “My granddaughter, too.” He sounded just as baffled by the last as Alex was. “Despite that, we will not allow you to force our attention.”
Alex wanted to throw something at him. At all of them.
“However,” Radek said, and she hastily retracted her previous thought, “you may have the opportunity to earn that attention.”
Alex stilled, feeling both curious and wary about how she might manage such a feat.
“If you wish to speak freely before the conclusion of the vatali targo and its accompanying celebrations,” Saber took up the conversation, “then you shall have to claim the right to do so.”
Clearing her throat in the silence that followed, Alex risked asking, “And how would I do that?”
“Compete in the trials,” answered Azalia, her smug tone showing how amused she was by the idea. “Prove that you’re worthy of our consideration, and we will listen to anything you have to say.”
Twenty-One
At the elders’ offer, Alex’s eyes flickered down to the combatants below and her breath became trapped in her chest again—but this time the shadows weren’t responsible for her choked sensation.
“All you have to do is win a single round,” Radek said, following her gaze. He raised his hands in what would normally account for a conciliatory gesture and finished, “Or you can decline, and we will meet with you again in a month.”
Alex didn’t know what to say.
“We are aware that you are only human and our offer is unprecedented for one of your kind, so there is no shame in refusing,” Saber told her, his melodic voice almost kind. But all Alex heard was the ‘you are only human’ dig, and it was enough to keep her frustration boiling steadily under the surface.
Looking at the blurring Shadow Walkers twirling amidst the purple fire down on the floor, Alex carefully considered the offer. She’d come a long way thanks to her training with Niyx, but this was something else entirely. Without actually being down there in the flaming arena, she had no way of knowing how she’d fare against the shadowy race.
In her favour was that they were also mortal, and it appeared they had neither the enhanced speed nor the fighting grace of the Meya
rins that she had at her disposal. But their ability to travel through the shadows was no small advantage, when her feet would be firmly stuck on the ground.
Unsure, she reached out to the one person who knew her skills better than anyone, sending Niyx an image of what she was looking at and telling him of the offer she’d been given.
I say stuff them, Aeylia, came his unwavering response. If they’re not willing to listen without making you bust your ass to earn it, then they’re not worth warning. Just leave them to their fate.
Are you saying that because we don’t need them, or because you’re not sure I can win?
Kitten, even I would have trouble winning against six Shadow Walkers in a closed environment like that, and that’s with the Valispath putting me on more equal footing, Niyx replied.
It’s two against one, not six, Alex pointed out, as if those odds would make much difference.
Only for the earlier rounds, Niyx said. The more trials pass, the more opponents the champions have to face. He paused and added, You might have a chance—a slim chance—if they let you enter this round and you only have to go up against two of them. But I won’t lie, Aeylia, it will be a challenge I’m not sure you’re ready for.
Alex hesitated. Is it a fight to the death?
No, thank the light, Niyx answered. But that doesn’t mean it can’t happen. So if you do this, proceed with caution. And by the stars, whatever you do, don’t touch that fire.
That much I figured out on my own, thanks, Alex returned dryly, before listening to him wish her good luck and leaving her to her decision.
She turned back to the elders and confirmed, “If I win a single round—one round—you’ll listen?”
All three heads dipped in agreement. Caspar Lennox, however, was shaking his wildly, while Shirez gave nothing away.
“Fine,” Alex said, ignoring her teacher as well as her uneasy stomach. “When do we do this?”
The three elders glanced at each other, their expressions ranging from surprise to speculation and amusement. As they did so, a deafening cheer rose up from the ground as the current match came to an end.
“If you’re certain,” Radek said slowly, as if giving her a chance to rescind her acceptance, “then I suppose there is no time like the present.”
Swallowing back her sudden nausea, Alex gave a curt nod, figuring she might as well get it over with before she threw up all over their shadowed feet.
“Then by all means, let’s do this.”
Alex felt like she was dying.
The heat, the sound, the acrid smell of the purple fire—her eyes watered, her ears rang, her skin burned. And all that while she was standing squarely in the large hexagonal centre of the fiery star, nowhere near the triangular lines of the flames.
She wondered if part of winning required the patience to endure the torturous environment before anything actually began. But her current lack of action was more likely because her combatants—and the rest of the gathered Shadow Walkers—were arguing about her, a human, taking part in their vatali targo.
As the flames rose and fell at irregular intervals, Alex could see through the purple to the crowd assembled on the ground, all of them in an uproar. The same was true for those watching from their balconies affixed to the towering walls of the cathedral.
Clearly, no one was pleased with this development. And Alex didn’t blame them. She certainly didn’t want to be where she was—especially after learning that she would have to remain unarmed, since apparently weapons were only permitted in the final round of combat. But if this was the only way for her to earn the ears of the elders, then so be it. She had trained in unarmed combat with Niyx. It was time to test her skills.
A hush fell over the crowd until all Alex could hear was the whooshing of the flames as they rose and fell in waves of lines. She tensed at the sudden lack of ambient sound, her body alert with skin-tingling awareness as a sense of anticipation saturated the air.
And then came an explosion of purple as the flames rose higher than ever, blazing enough that Alex had to raise a hand to shield her eyes—a mistake, she knew a fraction of a second later, when she recognised the abrupt inferno for the distraction it was.
A flash of inky blackness in her peripheral vision was all the warning she received to tell her the match had begun. She hadn’t expected trumpets, but it would have been nice to have some kind of announcement. A countdown, a bell, a whistle—anything but the flying fist to the face that knocked her back so hard that she fell and skidded along the floor.
Her training kicked in immediately and she pushed past the pain to leap back up to her feet with lightning-fast reflexes. She raised her hands defensively as she looked at the two shadow-covered figures in front of her—one male, one female.
Just as she hadn’t expected trumpets, she also didn’t expect dialogue, so this time at least she was prepared when they rushed towards her again.
The female lunged directly forward while the male disappeared in a swirl of shadows. With Alex’s attention divided, she focused on the threat she could see and deflected the female’s attack with her forearm. Despite still blinking back stars from the initial strike to her cheekbone, it was an easy block on Alex’s part, something that helped boost her confidence.
Knowing her best shot against them was to follow the same method as when she’d sparred with Kyia and Zain—using the element of surprise to take them down quickly—Alex turned on the offensive, attacking the female with a speed that startled the Shadow Walker.
But Alex was only able to land a handful of solid hits before she was blinded by shadows and violently yanked from her position in the centre of the star. She suddenly found herself in one of the outer triangles, the male Shadow Walker having reappeared only to transport her with him.
Unprepared for the instant travel, Alex struggled with the repositioning. She was tweaked, everything about her on high alert, and that was the only reason she was able to recover fast enough to jump over the sweep of his legs and then duck when the female appeared beside them and went for Alex’s face.
Before she could return their attack, shadows surrounded her once more and she was relocated to another triangle. Not allowing her the chance to stabilise from the move, she was instantly transported again… and again… and again.
Head dizzy from being leapfrogged around the purple star, Alex was too slow to react when the female caught her in the chest with a powerful forward kick. Somehow she was able to remain upright, but she still staggered back a few steps, her arms cartwheeling for balance.
It was as she was trying to keep her feet under her that she stumbled over one of the currently dormant fire lines—right as the flames rose up again.
Most of her body had cleared the line in time, but one of her wheeling arms was caught in the blaze of purple, and agony—such blinding agony—seared along the fleshy underside of her forearm.
Aeylia!
She heard Niyx’s alarmed cry when he felt her pain, but she couldn’t respond because both of her opponents reappeared from within shadows and continued their unrelenting assault.
Adrenaline pumping, Alex forced herself to compartmentalise the shooting torture of her wounded arm, keeping her focus on resisting their continued attacks and giving back as best she could. But not even her Meyarin abilities could stand up against their appearing-and-disappearing tricks. Half her hits never landed, since her opponents would simply vanish into empty air. It was like trying to fight a ghost—a merciless ghost who was capable of fighting back.
Only as she began to realise that she had no chance at winning did Alex find an opening. Remembering how she’d fought the cursed Sir Camden as a headless suit of armour, the next time she was yanked through the shadows against her will, Alex pushed past the dizziness and, with a burst of Meyarin speed, spun behind her attacker. It was the male, and she didn’t hesitate to jump straight onto his back, wrapping her legs around his torso and latching onto him for dear life.
Startle
d, he grunted and tried to throw her off, but she was stuck to him like glue. As she knew he would, he carried them through the shadows, trying to loosen her grip through the disorienting swirls of darkness. But she refused to let go.
Ruthlessly, he scored his nails along the raw flesh of her burned arm and she cried out—as did Niyx, with palpable concern—and the male took the opportunity to reach back, grip her waist, and haul her over his head like a sack of grain.
The air was forced from her lungs as she landed hard on the ground. Even with her immortal reflexes, she barely managed to roll out of the way when he attempted a body slam on top of her.
A sickening crack sounded when his elbow shattered against the floor, right where her stomach had been a fraction of a second earlier.
Leaping up to her feet and wheezing air into her winded lungs, Alex listened to his pained moans while considering her next move, but in doing so, she realised—much too late—that she hadn’t been keeping track of the female.
While the male remained on the ground at her feet, shadows materialised to her left, followed instantly by a swift uppercut to Alex’s temple that, winded and wounded, her reaction speed was too slow to duck.
All she saw as she crumpled to the ground was blurring purple fire followed by blissful darkness.
Alex awoke to a splitting headache and a throbbing body.
She hissed as she pulled herself into a sitting position, drawing her arm protectively to her chest. Someone had bandaged it, but the pain was extreme.
The more she looked at the bandage and wondered just how bad the damage underneath was, the more it seemed to thump in time with her heartbeat, so she turned her attention from her wound and looked around the room she was in.
Alex had no idea where she was. It was small, dark and somewhat musty. Frankly, it reminded her of a crypt—one that she was eager to be away from.
Standing carefully to her feet, Alex’s back cracked with loud popping sounds. And no wonder, since she’d been lying on a slab of solid stone—hardly comfortable sleeping arrangements, let alone after being beaten unconscious.