CHAPTER 27
“The blood of a huntress is also known as the cure. The only way someone could ever survive the burn of the Darklands lava is through the blood of a huntress and the Light Stone.” - Book of Azure
“I'M NOT RIDING A DAMN dragon!” I shout, tripping over my feet to catch up to Octavian who strides ahead through the tunnel. My voice echoes through the air as my cheeks flush a deep crimson with the thought of me soaring in the clouds.
A sharp, nervous laugh escapes from my trembling lips. “There is no way in hell you will see me on a damn dragon!” My heart pounds as I envision myself falling to my death, and I can feel the heat rising from my skin.
Absolutely not. The Queen is mad.
Octavian tosses his head back with a deep amused chuckle. “There are no dragons in hell.”
“You know exactly what I meant!” I hiss, rubbing my hands through my hair, my loose braid coming undone. I give up braiding my damn hair. I slam my ribbon on the ground, a frustrated groan bellowing from my throat. “I am not training with you. I will not ride a damn dragon.”
We exit the tunnel and the sounds of swords clashing against one another still dance in the air.
Sounds of what seem like daggers piercing wood are mixed in with it.
Octavian strides forward to the other side of the Pyre, towards an arch opening with daggers and arrows pressed against the wall, blood stains still present on the blades.
“Who said I was training you?” His silver hair catches the slight breeze and his strands flicker across the scars slashed across his eyes, glancing over his shoulder but knowing he is never looking at me.
But hearing me. He halts by the archway, and I notice two men in the distance fighting.
“And who said anything about riding a dragon?”
His silverish eyes glisten from the sun that beams directly above us, highlighting his scars across his face. As he shifts his body, he crosses his arms, waiting for my response. My lips pull into a tight line.
“No response?” His brow lifts. “That’s rare coming from you.”
My knee bounces. “I suppose no one said anything about riding a dragon,” I mutter, crossing my arms. “So then, if we aren't riding a dragon… what the hell am I training to ride?”
“The rumors about you have been true, I suppose.” He releases a soft, breathy chuckle.
“Where the hell have you been all your life?” He turns, but before he takes a step, he pauses for a moment and lets his hand rest at the brick arch and whispers to me.
“To the chosen, I shall offer my very breath and heart to fight, to bring peace, once again.”
His head rests against the bricks, then straightens his back. “Do not make me regret bringing you in here.”
“What is this place?” My boots hit a few small rocks as I follow him under the archway, dragons and horses are carved into the bricks with symbols almost resembling the language of the flames.
“You are entering the courtyard of the chosen, where only those who have been the final eight of the battle games are allowed to enter.” He strides forward, inhaling a deep breath. “But for some reason, the Queen has allowed you to step foot inside before the ceremony of the flames.”
“I suppose what happened yesterday made the games this year a little different.”
“You can say that.” He lets his finger glide against the wall, feeling the indentation of the markings. “The chosen are not pleased with what the Queen has done, inviting you into the battle games and bringing you here without the flame accepting you. So be prepared.”
“Everyone has threatened my life here in the Realm, trust me. I am used to people hating me.” I glance away, staring at the neon green bugs with hard shells walking around the cracks of the short tunnel. “Nothing phases me anymore.”
He halts, knowing the last step we take, we enter the courtyard.
His voice shifts to a deep whisper. “Keep your head down. Do not make a scene. If they even sense that you are weak—even with the ability to burn people, you can still be weak to them—you’re dead.
They will kill you. The Queen cannot protect you in here, even if she swore she would. ”
“Noted.” I force a smile.
“The brothers are here, waiting for you.” He nods to the far left corner where Koen sits on a log, vines swirling around it and up the side of the brick wall.
With his dagger, he picks up meat, ripping it with his teeth.
Florian impatiently waits for me. I catch sight of his jaw ticking every few seconds as he stares at the others fighting on the opposite side.
“Good luck.” Octavian reaches out to find my shoulder, but I jerk away, hitting my back against the brick walls of the tunnel. “Ah, shit. I forgot about that.”
My heart thumps against my chest, flashes of the man’s ash floating in the air and falling onto me replays in my mind like a broken nightmare that never leaves. I close my eyes. “Sorry, I…”
“You didn’t want me to burn to ash?” He chuckles. What a sick humor he has. “I believe that’s the nicest thing anyone has ever done to me.”
He grins, revealing his pearly white teeth before walking out to the courtyard. “Good luck. You need it.”
Florian catches sight of Octavian walking in before his eyes lock onto mine.
I suck in a deep breath, square my shoulders, and walk out.
In the center of the courtyard stands a statue of a woman with a dagger to her heart and her hand reaching up to the sky.
The char markings along the sculpture feel as if fire itself has scorched it and molded it.
Almost reminding me of the time Florian shifted, breathing the bridge to life.
I never want to witness Florian in pain ever again. And he never will, as long as I do what the Queen says.
To the right, I lock eyes with a man whose right arm appears to be part machine, with raven-black metal that gleams menacingly with every twist of his blade as he practices with another.
Inside, a fierce, molten red—like the fiery veins of a volcano—pulses through it with a vivid glow.
His auburn hair cascades down to his lower back, with the left side intricately styled into multiple thin braids.
I can see the tones of warm emerald and golden hues inside his eyes.
His scarred lip tugs upward as he sees me walk in, snapping his gaze back towards the man with a dark, braided mohawk.
With each movement of the man shifting his blade left to right, his muscles tighten, revealing rows of thick veins down to his broad fingers.
The golden markings along the side of his shaved head and along the sides of his face, brighten against his dark skin.
He is the only one shirtless, revealing his defined abs and pecks, with scars across his body.
As he moves, the necklace of shells and bones clash together and it hits me. He is from the sea.
He greets Octavian, throwing a sword towards him to begin their training.
“Over here.” Florian gestures his head for me to walk over towards them.
But I hesitate, my heart catching in my chest as I catch sight of him. Koen.
Just saying his name in my head makes my body heat like an inferno. Gods, why couldn’t you take this feeling away from me?
How will I ever be able to leave the Realms knowing he will be here? And I will not.
But so much has happened. In such a short amount of time.
I shouldn’t even feel the way I do towards him… not after everything.
His gaze is already fixed on me, and the moment our eyes meet, his melt with a tender softness that hitches my breath.
I get lost in the golden emerald hues that flicker in his eyes, which sends a longing ache through me.
Gods… his eyes. I have just seen him, yet it feels as if years have gone by since I laid my eyes on him.
If I ever want to give into this, this burning desire for his body just to be close to mine once more, I won’t be able to.
My touch will kill him.
And that kills me.
That destroys me.
But there he is, standing now in the distance near the vine-covered brick wall, bathed in the soft morning light. The golden sun flickers against his warm skin, his curls falling to his shoulder as his hair isn’t tied up in a bun today.
The Gods here made him so beautiful.
But so deadly.
My heart flutters like a wild bird in my chest as I yearn for him to move toward me. Almost begging him to take a step towards me.
But I fear, we both know, it's impossible for us to be near each other.
Would he try and kill me as he said he needed to? Or would he let the Gods decide my fate?
“Serene,” Florian calls out as I stand frozen, his brows pulling tightly together as he looks over his shoulder towards Koen. Koen rips his gaze away, knowing Florian would break if he saw what just happened between the two of us.
I clear my voice. “I’m coming.”
Koen’s jaw clenches, avoiding my presence as he walks to the far corner away from me and takes a few daggers from his waist to start throwing them against the wooden targets.
“I guess he is avoiding me,” I mutter out to Florian.
He cocks his head to the side, his golden hair falling across his chest while revealing the white bow Kaine carved for me. “I think it’s for the best.”
My eyes widen, grabbing it gently from his hand. “You went into the dormitory for me?”
“Koen did.”
I tighten my grip on the bow, feeling the smooth curve press against my palm. “He can do nice gestures for me, yet still won’t talk to me?” A frustrated sigh leaves my lips. “I don’t understand him.”
“He fears he might hurt you.”
“Or does he fear me?” I move the bow over my shoulder, securing it snugly against my back.
Kaine thoughtfully crafted a small attachment on my worn leather strap before the first game, designed to hold both the bow and arrows firmly in place.
He said when the games are over, to stay in the Realm with him and Theon.
That they would show me the ways of their world.
Teach me how to hunt. To fight. To be a part of something more than what my world could offer me.
Now, I believe none of that is possible. The only way for peace is for me to leave.
“Let’s just get this day over with.” I walk towards the log, sitting down to tighten the laces of my worn, raven leather boots.
“So what am I training to ride?” I let my arms rest over my knees, glaring at Florian who casually walks over, kicking a few small rocks that are covered in the white dirt.
But then, I see Koen chatting with someone far out towards the Pyre entrance.
The person is blocked by the walls. No one can enter unless they are a chosen, or with the Queen’s approval.
He has yet to check on me since the battle games, which makes my insides roll with pure anger. I rise swiftly, dusting off my pants before I stride away from Florian.
“I’ll be back!” I glance over my shoulder, tossing my hair out of my face. Florian’s arm stretches wide in disbelief, shaking his head before he sits on the log.
I jog up, but slow down my pace before sliding my back along the ridges of the rocks, flushing my back upright against the entrance of the Pyre. I see Koen’s hair pulled back high in a bun, his braids freshly woven in today.
But when I hear my name, my heart sinks.
I tiptoe, trying my hardness not to let my boots kick up the rocks underfoot.
“You promised she would be gone by now.” A woman’s voice is tinged with rage, yet whispering so softly for no one to hear. “What the hell are you doing?”
My body shifts to peek around, yet I can only see Koen’s back. His hands frustratedly dig into his head.
“Plans changed,” he mutters. “It’s not going to happen.”
“You obey me! I saved you!” Her voice heightens before dropping back to a rageful whisper. “You forget that you owe me a debt. Without me, you’d be dead. The last bit of light would have been swallowed whole by the darkness if it wasn’t for me.”
“I never asked you to do that,” he snaps back.
“You wouldn’t be here with her if I didn’t,” she hisses.
Her voice feels so familiar.
He drops his hands towards his daggers against his hips. “I know. But what you are asking me to do, will never happen.”
“Then the flame will just control you to do so. And when you snap out of it, you’ll know that you were the one to kill her. You.”
Koen goes silent. The breeze catches his strands as his shoulders rise.
“Or, continue our work by killing Serene and you shall have what you want in return.” I hear her footsteps kicking rocks as she leaves. “Don’t disappoint me. After all these years together.”
My hand covers my mouth instantly, holding in the gasp that almost leaves my lips. My eyes widen as my body heats—unsure if its rage or pure shock—but the damn world is spinning. I lose my balance as I stumble backwards, holding on to the ridges of the rocks to keep me standing.
I turn, faster than ever, and sprint back towards Florian as he stands by the wall, sharpening his dagger. Tears slide across my face as I wipe them off and hold in the cry that wants to escape my lips.
Damn him.
I should have never allowed him to enter my heart.
In shock, my trembling hands meet the log first before my body, and I gaze out to the Pyre as the men practice, and see Koen walk in. His fingers violently pull through his hair before kicking a rock, making it soar across the Pyre.
I look away as I notice him walking closer towards us.
I wonder if the day in the field of ash wasn’t by accident… what if he has been watching me all along?
“Are you good?” Florian walks over.
I nod, staying silent so he doesn’t catch the shakiness in my voice.
“We need to teach you how to ride the four.” He sits beside me at a safe distance. “The next battle game will be to ride some of the four, and then fight the others with the one you will bond with.”
“And if I don’t bond with it?” I turn towards him. “What happens then?”
“Then you don’t pass the battle games. You won’t make it out alive.”
My lips part to exhale a deep breath, staring at the rocks that tremble under my feet. I suppose I might have never had a chance to survive being here in the Realms. From the moment I arrived, death has been hanging over my head like a damn storm cloud, ready to take me.
My hands fall over my face. I need to snap out of this.
I must turn this weak feeling of self-pettiness into a storm. I have stayed strong this whole time, and I will not let one man dictate when I will break.
He will not break me. No matter how much this hurts.
He hid this from me. This whole time, he couldn’t leave me because he was sworn to kill me.
My eyes shut, exhaling a deep breath to regain my strength, and I reopen my eyes. Maybe the Gods cursed me with the ability to burn to protect me from the man Koen is.
He will not take my life.
No one will.
I’m going to survive. It’ll be either his life or mine, and I won’t go down without a fight.