Chapter 41
The warring magic dissipated by divine will.
The Diviner floated before us, her crimson robes billowing. Her mask tilted ever so slightly toward the assembled competitors. Her form flickered like a candle caught in a gust of wind.
Lian didn’t sit down. “We do not tolerate insults from lesser beings,” she spat at Vidor, her voice carrying the simmering wrath of her entire dominion.
Vidor, unaffected by the firens’ display, simply smirked and lowered himself to one knee.
His translucent eyes gleamed with amusement as he pressed his palm to the ground.
To my shock, the stone floor blackened beneath his touch, cracks spreading outward in a widening ring of decay.
“We eagerly anticipate teaching all of you a lesson when we repair the Anchor.”
“I said enough,” the Diviner intoned, and the blackened stone was restored, whole beneath Vidor’s hand.
“No one dominion will be able to repair the Anchors on their own. The essence of all four Celestial Guardians was needed to seal the Anchors millennia ago, and all four dominions’ magic will be needed to repair them now.
If you hope to survive the Raveling, you must learn to work with one another. ”
I looked around the room, taking in the fighting stances of each person here, and thought it might take more than divine will to make that happen.
We assembled hours later in the courtyard for our first day of training. And tension between the dominions had not dissipated.
If anything, it had only grown worse.
I watched as the leaders of each dominion’s team fought over who was in charge.
The Onyx Vidor was the most outspoken, stating that it was beneath him to teach us, but that he should be in charge nonetheless.
Auron had made his case, though the other dominions were reluctant to have him lead, as the Red Phoenix fighting style was significantly different from most of the others.
Then Ire stepped forward, massive and gleaming in polished silver armor. “I’m the king’s nephew and heir to the Silver Dominion,” he said. “This team should answer to me.”
Blake didn’t move. His arms stayed crossed, his voice quiet. “But I’m the most powerful.”
Ire stepped up to Blake, looking prepared to fight. Malissa’s bitter words cut in: “You won’t be heir if you’re dead.”
Ire turned on his heel, but I didn’t miss the resentment blazing from his face.
Calla, who’d apparently beaten out Quinn as the elected leader of the Azures, stood with a small smirk on her lips. She looked like she was savoring how her presence irritated Vidor.
“Nice work,” I whispered.
She grinned, then glanced down at my wrist. “Great Nuwa, you’re still wearing my friendship bracelet.”
“Obviously,” I said. “We’re basically sisters.”
Her smile faded. “Hey—about that Azure pissprick who called you a traitor…”
“I know.” My voice came out quieter. “Sometimes I wonder if he’s right.”
“He’s not,” she said flatly.
Before I could answer, two strong arms wrapped around our shoulders, pulling us together. “Group hug,” Quinn said cheerfully, resting his chin between our heads. “Azures don’t betray each other. We just emotionally blackmail one another into eternal friendship.”
Calla elbowed him in the ribs. I smacked his arm. He didn’t let go.
“All of you are so eager to lead,” Blake said at last, his voice quiet but cutting.
“But none of us have the luxury of pride anymore. The Anchors must be fixed. Not only because of the demons but because the imbalance they cause is wreaking havoc. Our Silver lands are flooding, our crops failing as our people go hungry.”
Auron gave a sharp nod. “The Red Phoenix Dominion is burning. We haven’t seen rain in months. Our volcanoes have awakened.”
“We Onyxes not only lost our king, but we are being slowly poisoned by our own water. Our lands were already colder, harsher than any of yours. That’s why we are stronger. But since the Anchors started failing…” Vidor exhaled sharply. “Yama help us. Pestilence is upon our people.”
“Perhaps it should be Calla then,” Blake said after a beat, speaking over Vidor and Auron’s continued bickering, which had grown in volume. “An Azure, to start us off.”
Vidor’s lip curled. “You suggest the ones who lured our king to his death with this ridiculous fantasy of dominions uniting through that cursed Wedding of Flame and Sky.” His voice dripped with contempt.
One of the Azure men—an eagle shifter, I thought—stalked to Calla’s side. His eyes flashed.
“What exactly are you implying?” he bit out. “Our entire royal line was slaughtered: our queen and king, the crown princess and the prince. The Azure Dominion has been overrun with demons. It was lost. We are a people without a homeland now.”
Vidor’s contemptuous gaze shifted to him. “Then why were their bodies never found?”
Tension crackled between them, but Blake cut through it with a steady, commanding tone. “This argument serves no purpose.”
I turned to him in surprise since he had expressed these exact suspicions of the Azure royal family when we first met.
“The Azures have suffered greatly,” Blake added. “That is beyond question. And I, for one, trust them.” His gaze met mine.
I almost smiled even as I could feel everyone watching me.
It was Vidor’s eyes that I felt the most. They were two wells of hatred searing into me.
“Sure. And what exactly are we to learn from these shapeshifters, then?” He smirked. “How to turn tail and run?” His gaze turned brighter as he lifted his chin toward me, then cut his eyes to Blake. “Seems like you got a firsthand lesson in Azure tail—”
Vidor cut off as a dagger zoomed at his throat, stopping just shy of drawing blood. Blake’s eyes were smoldering with fury.
The situation seemed hopeless.
Even the deepest shadow awaits the dawn. There is light in every darkness because hope is eternal. I sought Edith’s voice.
“All right.” I stood and cleared my throat, stepping to the center of everyone gathered. “I have an idea.”
“Oh, wonderful,” Malissa grumbled. “The feeblest of us leading the training.”
I took a calming breath. “I am not suggesting myself. Malissa is right, I’m the weakest. But I’m also an Azure who has trained as a Silver. I think, instead of one singular leader, we need you all.
“The demons we will face are unknown to many of us. Each dominion has skills that we need, distinct weapons, distinct magic. Maybe we should be focused on training each other instead of showing off.”
Jace slowly nodded.
Calla grinned while Quinn winked at me. “I’m with Rubi.”
Auron agreed as well. I didn’t need to worry about Ire and Malissa—I was Flame’s Bonded, and she was their tygers’ queen. They would do what she said.
“I won’t play these stupid games,” Vidor snapped, and with a wave of his hand, the Onyxes left, his yins scurrying behind.
But, except for the Onyx Dominion, my suggestion worked.
Blake took the Azures, which made something in my heart happy, to work with them on weapon training and a few moves that would work with their up-close style of fighting.
What not to do if shifted and close with a demon.
Although Blake was in charge, I saw him nodding and taking notes as they taught him some quick evasive maneuvers as well.
Calla took the firens, who all seemed pleased for a woman to instruct them. I could see they had trouble at first incorporating Calla’s wrestling fighting technique into their style, but it worked out to be an interesting match.
The Silvers and I ended up with Auron, who looked every bit the firen prince with his crimson hair.
Malissa said lightly, “Let’s hope things go better today than the last time we crossed paths, Prince Auron.”
He gave a short nod. “Agreed, Princess. No rampaging demon horde would be a nice change.” He shot her a brief look. “And no more shouting matches.”
Her cheeks colored. “Fair.”
They must have last seen each other at the Annihilation, when their arranged engagement collapsed. Through the demons or each other? I wondered.
Then, to my surprise, Auron turned to me and grasped my shoulder. “What is your name?”
“Rubi Morningtail.”
“By the goddess of compassion, I am happy to meet you,” he said, eyes intent on mine. “Are you well, Rubi Morningtail?”
“Cursed blade!” Ire interjected. “Can we just get on with it?!”
Malissa was glaring at me as well. Jace eyed us with speculation. In the distance, I caught a glimpse of ice blue eyes trained, razor-sharp, on Auron’s hand on my shoulder. Blake.
At my shy nod, Auron gave me a quick smile before starting by showing us the highest level of his fire magic.
“This is phoenix phire,” he said, his hands releasing something icy white and terrifying. Even Ire stepped backward, unsure, as he stared at it.
“It’s our purest form of fire, and it is the only thing we’ve found that will kill demons.” His handsome face was serious. “Only our royal family has this ability.”
“So we cannot wield it,” Jace said, sidling up beside me.
Auron put out the phire in his hands and reached into one of his pockets, pulling out a small white glyph.
He flicked it with his thumb toward us, Jace easily catching it. “Try it.”
Jace circled it with his own thumb, before pocketing it and putting his hand out.
Nothing happened.
Auron shook his head. “You don’t have fire magic, Silver. Use a weapon.”
Jace pulled the broadsword from his belt and tried it, furrowing his brow in concentration. The blade ignited.
A disbelieving laugh spilled from his lips, and I smiled.
“Easy, point that thing over there,” I said as he swung toward me in excitement.
Ire rumbled something under his breath that made even Malissa laugh before Auron glared over at them.
“Fun party trick, Red,” Ire said. “Maybe something like that against the demons at that Azure wedding could have stopped the slaughter. But let me guess—we weren’t worthy of your weapons.”
Auron frowned, taking the sword from Jace’s hands as the flames went out. “Only those trusted by the royal family are allowed to use our glyphs. They are extremely rare.”
I winced. It was definitely the wrong thing to say, and Ire’s metal skin appeared, clanking as it encased him.
“Why did you bother showing us this phire, then?” Jace asked.
“I might have a soft spot for your team,” Auron said, looking right at me.
The sword in Auron’s hand warped and fell from his grip.
Jace stalked toward Blake. “Damn it, Axefire! If you keep that possessive bullshit up, we won’t have a weapon left to our names.”
I chuckled, raising an eyebrow at Blake. “He’s right. Please, fix the sword.” Blake looked slightly sheepish as the sword came back to shape, though he glared at Auron for good measure.
I dropped my voice, addressing Auron quietly. “Everyone is sensitive about what happened at the Annihilation,” I said. “And Blake—he lost his twin brother there.”
Auron stared into my eyes, his intensity growing, heat wafting off his palms in waves. “I lost my family, too. It was not just one dominion that suffered. It was us all.”