Chapter 83
CHAPTER 83
Dayton
M y mate, Wrenley hovers above me, waiting for me to pass my Blessing.
I must do it to protect Delphie.
I reach out my arm to touch Wrenley when something catches the light. Something bright, hovering just beside the sun.
The light burning my eyes isn’t the sun at all. It’s the Orb of Ancestors. What, does Kairyn not think this knight will be enough to end me? He has to bring out some of the ancients to finish me off as well?
The orb sparks, jagged lines of light shooting out at all angles.
“Dayton,” Wrenley says, her face flashing. “We have to do this now. The Bronze Knight won’t wait.”
“Hold on …” I rasp because there’s another voice trying to break through.
I stare at the orb as it circles and spins. No warriors of light emerge, but there is something else emanating from it.
Energy, magic, light—
Never in a million years did I think I’d see little Daytonales on his back in the arena.
That voice, I know that voice. It’s Damocles.
Don’t fear, he’s just lying in wait to surprise his enemy , Decimus says.
Wrenley and the Bronze Knight don’t react. They can’t hear my brothers. I must be closer to the afterlife than I thought.
This can’t be the kid who bested me.
I recognize that voice too. Lucretia the Swift, a fierce gladiator from the past with unmatched speed and agility. I beat her spirit when I was still but a child, becoming the youngest champion to prevail against a warrior of light.
“Dayton!” Wrenley shakes my shoulders frantically. “Don’t die before you pass your Blessing.”
There’s so much blood around me now. Blood like the ancestors shed. For thousands of years, the blood of the gladiators of Summer has soaked into the sand. They’ve given their bodies and spirits to this sacred space. In return, the crowd offers their excitement, their energy. It’s symbiotic in a way, like a High Ruler’s relationship with Castletree.
You always saw this place differently than your brothers. A voice I would know anywhere drifts into my mind. My mother. Sabine. You saw the magic that was created here. The magic you created here.
My eyes widen at the light, so bright it threatens to blind me.
More and more voices pour into my mind, warriors ancient and powerful. Words of courage, bravery, and honor. I feel the demand in all of it. Fight!
Little brother, is this how you want your story to end? Crushed on the sand by a man hidden by metal? Damocles says, and for a moment, I can almost see an echo of his face in the shimmering orb.
Wouldn’t make a very striking mural , Decimus quips. It’s like they’re beside me, how they used to be. This isn’t the version of them Kairyn brought to the arena before. This is a true memory of how they were.
The Blessing of Summer burns within you. Show the world you are worthy of it , Damocles says. Our deeds break across the waves of time, creating a legacy that can never be forgotten. Stand and fight.
I’m too broken to fight. Everything from my chest to my arms aches with fatigue.
Then mend your cracks with light. That voice … it sounds like her. Rosalina. Rise, Dayton. Rise like the sun breaking over the horizon.
Mend? I’m no healer, not like Ez, not like Fare. I clutch my arm, feeling the metal bargain band. Through every storm and every season …
Distantly, I hear Wrenley screaming. Shadows move, the Bronze Knight is getting closer.
I don’t know how to heal. But I know what it felt like when Fare drew strength from me, taking my energy to fill his own well. I’ve watched Ezryn countless times, drawing life from plants.
My body may be broken, but there is life in the very stones of the colosseum, in the crackling air, in the blood-soaked sand. I have given myself countless times to this place. Now, I need to take a little back.
My hands fall to my sides, and I dig my fingers into the sand. Drawing the magic up through me, my well of power fills, and it swirls like a stream of light, knitting together wounds, repairing torn muscles, allowing oxygen to flow through my blood.
Gasping, I open my eyes. Wrenley is still above me. Slowly, I push myself to my feet. “Get somewhere safe. I’ve got a fight to win.”
Confusion flashes in her features. “What? How are you standing?”
“You didn’t think I’d lose my streak over a little wound, did you?”
“You can’t possibly win!” Wrenley screams. “You don’t have your full power! You haven’t broken your curse.”
Gently, I touch her shoulder. “And I never will. I’m sorry, Wrenley, I can’t be your mate.”
Her blue eyes blaze. “You can’t just choose that!”
“Actually, I can,” I say.
The Bronze Knight, seeing me on my feet, storms toward us, lance raised.
“He’s going to fucking kill you anyway,” Wrenley growls.
“I think this might help.” From my pocket, I pull out the token of the Queen. There’s no point in hiding it now.
As soon as it hits my neck, I feel a surge of energy within me. In my outstretched palm appears my trident, glowing a brilliant teal. I block the Bronze Knight’s lance.
Power explodes between us as the two weapons collide. Digging my sandals into the sand, I slide back a few paces. There’s an eruption in the stands, a crazed energy. It fuels me. Using all my strength, I push back against the Bronze Knight, hard enough that he stumbles.
Running a few paces away from him, I jump over a few broken columns and look upon the crowd. Below me, the Bronze Knight tries to scramble up, but he’s too heavy, stone breaking beneath him.
“Citizens of Summer!” I yell to the crowd, beckoning the echosphere closer. “It’s your High Prince, Dayton.” There is a thunderous applause. “I can’t help but notice the so-called Emperor has left. So perhaps it’s time we took back the realm for ourselves!”
The ground shakes beneath me as the Bronze Knight crumbles the pillar. I fall hard, landing on my back. I bring the trident up to block before rolling away and leaping up. Distantly, I notice Wrenley standing off on the sidelines.
I have to set her free too.
“I have a confession to make to you, Summer,” I say, parrying with the Bronze Knight as he charges. “Perhaps you’ve heard the rumors. The princes of Castletree are cursed.”
A shocked murmur rumbles through the crowd, but I barely pay attention to it. They might not be in the stands to hear me, but I need to give the words to the wind. I need to speak my truth.
“It is true. I am. My own power has been shackled to the point that this idiot is giving me a good show.” I smirk, feeding on the laughter from the crowd. “But I’ve realized that breaking the curse would come at too high a cost.”
I dodge away from the knight and clamber up on a crumbled archway, buying me a few moments of reprieve. But a few moments are all I need. “It would mean forgoing the love of Farron, High Prince of Autumn, and Rosalina O’Connell, the Golden Rose, both of which hold my heart undisputedly.”
The Bronze Knight drives the Lance of Valor into the archway. Spiderwebs crack beneath my feet. “I know now, all the magic in the world wouldn’t give me strength without them. So instead of wallowing in that fact, I see it a different way. Maybe this curse isn’t a curse at all. Maybe it’s the gift Summer needs.”
With that, I toss off my clothes, and shift into the golden wolf.
There is a shocked sound in the stands, followed by a glorious cheer.
The archway crumbles beneath my weight, and I leap from it, shoving the Bronze Knight to the ground. He drives the lance up at my belly, but I knock it away, pinning his hand down. Then, with a swipe of my other paw, I break the chain around his neck, and the maple leaf falls to the ground.
The Bronze Knight screams, his hand still around the Lance of Valor, grip pinned beneath my paw. He can’t let go, and without the token, he can’t wield the weapon without pain.
It’s all right. I plan to put him out of his misery. I open my massive jaws and relieve the Bronze Knight of his head.
Blood coats my maw, and I shift back into my fae form. The trident re-forms in my hand and I don my breeches.
The crowd’s roar is deafening, but I’m not done yet. I bend, picking up Autumn’s token, and place it around my neck. I know this feeling, that of crisp nights and foggy mornings, of freckle-splattered cheeks and copper hair gleaming in the sun.
With the Trident of Honor in one hand and the Lance of Valor in the other, I look to the crowd. “I think that the Below has had a hold on the Summer Realm for too long. Let’s take back what’s ours.”
I spin, pointing both the lance and trident. In a whirl of water and golden leaves, magic strikes the gates leading to the barracks. They collapse, and from behind them, Tilla and the other gladiators race out.
The crowd’s roar has changed to a war cry as the people begin to fight back against those who would claim this land as theirs.
The fight for Summer has begun.