Bishop to Knight One (Diviner’s Game #1)

Matt

Erroll of Morgaine’s crimes against the non-human community shock everyone and it takes the announcer quite a few minutes to list them all. He stands in the Cage with his head held high like he thinks he’s going to win this fight, which, to be honest, going against a fire talent might have caused me doubt before, but I am a fucking Obsidite, all I have to do it harden my skin, which is how my people live and work with magma. Plus, he’s not like Gage, who threw a fucking fireball at me, his talent is limited to his hands.

This is the first time I’ve seen the man, but he fits the description of the person Deejay glimpsed in his cursed mirror. Long black hair and long pointed ears that reach to the crown of his head; he’s tall, like Deejay, with a permanent sneer in his utterly beautiful face. Unfortunately, his wispy, shadowy aura tells me that his beauty is only skin deep. The man has no boundaries at all, and kidnapping my babies was just one crime in a long, appalling list.

When the announcer finishes pronouncing the death sentence, and the gong rings, I don’t wait for him to attack. I move toward him, but he dodges and runs around the Cage instead of meeting me head on; he must not be confident in his hand-to-hand combat skills. So, I limit my chase, letting him expend his energy rather than me. He’s faster than I am, but he’s also been in a cell for about twenty-four hours, so it doesn’t take long before he actually trips over his own feet. I sprint the short distance between us, hardening my skin and kick him as he falls, throwing him into the chain link. The iron threading through the Cage sears him and saps his energy. Instead of landing and getting back up, he trembles in his attempt. I grab his long hair and punch him, breaking his face. Then I do what I swore to Deejay I would.