42. Chapter 42
Chapter forty-two
The competitor’s breakfast was similar to the dinner the night before save for the absence of the three rulers. Dey told me they were already sequestered away for the Council but would finish in time for the games. I took my seat beside him and wondered what was being said behind those closed doors. Would he tell the other kings about the prophecy? Or would he let it be a great big surprise one day?
I dug into my breakfast, the tight corset of my long-sleeved, ruby red dress making it difficult to eat... or breathe. When Kiahna arrived at my door this morning, gown in hand, I realized my father was sending a message, if not a punishment, for my rather understated attire last night.
The competitors were divided by court with Diamond at the head of the table followed by Gold then Silver. Peywyn managed to snag a seat next to Elona again who kept throwing shy glances her way, and I was honestly rooting for them. I didn’t know how they would make it work being from different courts, but hopefully love would find a way.
I risked a glance at Sin, but the sight of his completely disheveled appearance didn’t bring me any satisfaction. It was like his very essence had been stripped away, leaving only a shell of the male I knew.
About twenty guards from the various courts arrived a bit later, and Dey told me the competitors were being escorted out to the arena for their designated practice time.
As they filed out, I waited to see if Sin would acknowledge me at all.
My heart cracked a little when he didn’t.
I spent the rest of the morning playing with Jenni and Opal and trying not to think about Sin. I still didn’t know how to take his dismissal this morning. It wasn’t the Sin I knew. He wasn’t angry, he wasn’t arrogant, he was… broken. And I couldn’t help if he wouldn’t let me in.
I was about to go insane with worry when Dey knocked on my door to inform me the King’s Council had ended, and the games were about to start.
Following him out of the castle, I weaved through a massive throng of people milling around outside the arena. I knew the Elemental Games were a big deal, but I didn’t expect to see what was likely the entire population of Civi Adasa funneling into the stadium.
It didn’t escape my notice that there wasn’t a single imminario among them. Apparently the citizens of Civi Obsura didn’t warrant an invite.
There was a palpable atmosphere of excitement as Dey led me down the slick steps toward a cordoned off section at the far end of the arena. About twenty or so individual seats were set apart from the rest of the bench style seating, and each one was adorned with a plush cushion. My father occupied the center most seat, with the Gold and Silver kings off to his right. Each one had a guard from their court standing directly behind them, posture stiff and eyes constantly scanning for danger. The rest of the seats were filled with courtiers and members of the other court's entourages.
Dey guided me to the spot beside my father, and I was pleased to see Jo seated directly behind. Since my father was wrapped up in conversation with the other rulers, and Dey had started speaking with a courtier beside him, I rotated so I could see her.
“Rain!” she squealed inside my head. “You made it!”
I pushed as much sardonic amusement into my words as I could. “Yeah, I don’t think I had a choice in the matter. I just hope none of my friends get hurt. It wasn’t made clear exactly how violent these games get.”
Jo cocked her head slightly. “Are you worried about Dreisin?”
“What? No. I mean, yes, but no more than I’m worried about Cam or Ram.”
Jo gave me a knowing smile, and I don’t know why I had even bothered to try lying.
Three loud horn blasts ripped through the frenetic hum of the crowd, and people scrambled to take their seats. A line of Diamond Court soldiers marched down the stadium stairs to the railing that circled the field and spread out in each direction until there was a guard roughly every five feet.
One approached my father and handed him something that resembled a cross between a bullhorn and a conch shell. Once the din of conversation quieted, he lifted the amplifying device and began to speak.
“Welcome, fellow Rivellans, to the Elemental Games. Allow me to introduce your competitors!”
Down in the arena, a line of Diamond Court fighters followed Sin onto the field. Harpyn led a line of Silver Court competitors from a different entrance, while Vankin was at the head of the Gold Court line. The three courts met in the middle of the field and pivoted to face their kings.
Sin and the rest of the Diamond fighters were dressed in matching burgundy leathers while the Gold Court wore a similar outfit in white but with a gleaming gold cuirass covering their chest. The Silver Court once again had eschewed conformity, with most of them dressed in outfits much like the ones they arrived in.
Cheers thundered through the crowd as my father announced the names of the fighters from the Diamond Court, each one stepping forward and waving as their name was called. The Gold King took the amplifying device next and announced his competitors, followed by the Silver King.
I scanned the crows as more raucous applause echoed through the stands. I thought only citizens from Civi Adasa would be present, but a handful of spectators were dressed to support the other courts with all black or all white outfits.
I turned my attention back to the competitors as the Silver King finished his roll call. Sin looked better than this morning but not by much. I silently begged him to look up at me. If he was going to risk his life in these archaic battle games, then I wanted him to know I hadn’t abandoned him.
He maintained his rigid posture, and never once glanced my way.
My father retrieved the amplifying device from the Silver King and brought it to his mouth. “Before we commence the games, I have one last announcement to make. It was decided this morning in the King’s Council that a change will be made to the rules this year. From now on, the death of a competitor will no longer be grounds for disqualification. While we do not encourage fighters to take the lives of their opponents, they will not be penalized for such actions.”
If I didn’t have fire in my veins, his words might have frozen my blood. The Diamond and Gold Court competitors looked nervous, while the Silver Court fighters looked positively gleeful. I had a feeling their ruler was behind this somehow, though my father didn’t look the slightest bit rattled as he made the declaration.
He waited for the fervent whispers in the crowd to die down before he continued. “I wish all of our fighters the best of luck. May you bring glory to your court. Honor to Rivella. Honor to the Source.”
“Honor to Rivella. Honor to the Source,” the competitors replied in unison before turning to stride off the field.
“Are you excited, Raynella?” my father asked, taking his seat beside me.
“Um, I’m not sure,” I said, remembering I shouldn’t know what he had announced. “What did you say that made the crowd so anxious?”
He waved a hand. “Nothing much. Just increasing the stakes a bit. These games are of tremendous importance, you know.”
“Why exactly? I know it’s supposed to bring unity or whatever, but it seems like more than that.”
He wrinkled his brow at me. “These games are the opportunity for each court to showcase their best fighters. It sends a message to the other courts exactly how powerful we are. And with the magic soon to be restored throughout the land, it is important that we send a message of considerable strength. My fighters will not lose, Raynella. They will give their lives before they dishonor our court.”
On that rather ominous note, he shifted his attention back to the field below. The sands were barren save for a few large boulders scattered throughout the space, so I assumed the earth battle would be first.
My suspicions were confirmed as Harpyn and the rest of the terriservians made their way out onto the sands. Elona and her Gold Court partner, Lanset, still looked nervous from the earlier revision to the rules, but Harpyn and his partner, Grelkin, exuded sadistic violence as they postured in front of the crowd, flexing and beating on their bare chests.
The clamor of the crowd died to a hushed whisper of anticipation as each combatant took their assigned positions.
I chewed on a nail, as I waited for what would hopefully not be a bloodbath to begin.
The horn bellowed once, and the arena erupted.
One moment six casters stood spaced in a wide circle, and the next the air was choked with a cloud of dust as rocks ranging in size from pebbles to wheelbarrows pinged and crashed against the walls of the arena. The crowd fell to its first perfect silence of the day as everyone waited for the dust to settle so they could lay eyes on whatever chaos had ensued.
When the field was visible once more, only four combatants remained standing. Elona was sprawled on her back, blood leaking from her mouth and pooling on the ground beneath her. The loud wail I heard from below sounded like Peywyn, and I sent out a silent prayer that Elona was just knocked out.
Off to the far side, Koasha coughed once before falling unconscious, her body draped over the edge of the arena like a ragdoll.
In an instant a third of the fighters were out of the game. My eyes slid clockwise around the ring, taking in the remaining ones.
Jaelin was building up a swirling cloud of dirt while Lanset eyed her warily, his right hand clamped tightly to his left arm which hung loosely at his side. Gorge rose in my throat as I realized a shard of bone jutted out from the skin. His healing magic stemmed the flow of blood, but I doubted it would be enough.
On the other side of the arena, Harpyn, in all his Olympian glory, was unabashedly lounging on a fucking throne built of stone.
I blinked at him, unable to believe the cocky bastard had taken the time to shape a boulder into a seat, as if the chaos and violence surrounding him was of no concern.
Continuing around the ring, I paused when I noticed Grelkin pulling massive chunks of rock toward himself, molding and shaping them to his body. After a second, he fully disappeared within a squat stone golem, its legs thick as logs with arms hanging nearly to the ground.
In reality only a few seconds passed as the four remaining casters sized up one another, but time slowed to an agonizing crawl amidst the adrenaline and excitement that permeated the arena. Eyes snapped back and forth from warrior to warrior, each one trying to suss out who would move first.
Lanset made the first strike, lunging forward and swinging his fist in an uppercut motion. A boulder shaped like a ram’s head ripped from the ground and flew toward Harpyn.
Completely unruffled, the Silver Court caster put the back of one hand to his mouth, feigning a yawn, while his other hand flicked out. Part of his throne popped off and knocked the stone ram out of the air.
Satisfaction filled me, however, when Harpyn realized his arrogance had caused him to miss the sandstone anaconda that rose up behind him. The stone snake struck, and coil after coil of serrated shards wrapped about him. His bellows of rage could be heard even over the raucous crowd.
Across the arena, Grelkin’s behemoth began to move, loping forward on massive knuckles and stumpy legs. My heart, already pumping with adrenaline, kicked into triple beat overtime as I tracked its trajectory toward Jaelin.
The Diamond Court female flowed to one side, the cyclone she created shifting with her as the stone monstrosity crashed by, missing her by inches. With each swing of her hands, Jaelin’s cloud spun faster, the sand, grit, and rocks condensing into dozens of jagged hailstones. She let out a whooping war cry, and the stones began rapidly firing out of the cyclone.
They chewed into the monster's left shoulder and chest, sending fissures through the stone body that threatened to crack the whole thing apart.
Barely phased, the behemoth set his feet and charged Jaelin once more. She dove nimbly to the side, but as Grelkin charged past, his stone arm broke free and flew through the air to smash into Jaelin mid leap. Throughout the arena, cries of terror and blood thirsty shouts of victory rang out in equal measure when her body crashed to the ground with a horrific thud.
Slow and stumbling like a drunkard, the behemoth began stalking toward Jaelin’s prone body.
Too afraid to watch, I turned away from that fight in time to see Harpyn burst free from the snake. Calmly shaking the dust off, he swirled his left hand. A stone hand formed out of the remains of his throne and swept Lanset up in a crushing grip.
The Gold Court male struggled for a second, then hung his head and held one hand up, his fingers curled into a C shape.
“What is he doing?” I asked Jo.
“ He is making the cedo gesture. He yields to the brute.”
I waited for Harpyn to drop the wounded fighter, but the stone fist only squeezed tighter.
Lanset’s head rocked back, eyes bulging in fear and pain as he shouted, “Cedo! Cedo!”
Harpyn’s evil smile grew a little wider, his eyes a little more manic. I watched in stunned horror as blood poured from Lancet’s mouth and dribbled through cracks in the stony fingers. His pleas grew weaker as the popping of bone grew louder, until his head lolled limply to one side.
The arena exploded in shouts of anger, anguish, and, to my complete disgust, vicious glee.
Harpyn pivoted on his heel and strode with a brisk yet unhurried pace toward Grelkin and Jaelin while the stone hand crumbled into a pile of rubble, half burying Lanset’s broken corpse.
I checked to see if my father shared even an ounce of my revulsion, but he merely watched the fight unfold, not phased in the slightest. He had expected this. They gave the fighters a license to kill knowing full well which ones would abuse it.
As attention across the arena shifted back to Jaelin, a buzz of excitement flitted through the crowd when she struggled to sit up.
Harpyn approached the behemoth from behind and plunged his arm into its back, ripping Grelkin from the stone confines.
“This pretty little thing is all mine,” he roared then tossed his partner to the ground where Grelkin meekly rolled onto his back and lifted a C-shaped hand in the air.
Dragging herself backward, Jaelin slumped against the edge of the arena, one arm wrapped tightly against her middle, while her other hand formed into the same yield symbol. Not that it had done Lanset any good against Harpyn’s bloodthirstiness.
The brutal Silver Court male stalked over to Jaelin, and at first it appeared like he might help her up.
I should have known better than to have any altruistic thoughts about Harpyn.
The ground around him rippled as the stone hand crawled forth once more. It scooped Jaelin up, and I closed my eyes, refusing to watch helplessly while Harpyn murdered another person.
“Harpyn!” The loud booming voice cut through my fear, and my eyes snapped open to see the Silver King on his feet, bullhorn conch grasped with his white-knuckled fist. Harpyn hesitated, glancing back at his king who just shook his head.
A collective breath was held by all as Harpyn glared at his ruler before finally flicking his wrist, and the stone hand grasping Jaelin tossed her twenty feet into the stands. Three of the guards positioned around the arena lifted their arms, and her body halted in midair before slowly lowering to the ground.
Harpyn strutted toward the center of the arena and tossed his arms up in victory.
The eruption of cheers from the crowd made me sick, and it fully hit me then exactly how much danger Sin was facing. If the other Silver Court casters were even half as deranged, they would not hesitate to murder him in cold blood and smile while doing it.
I couldn’t let that happen. Not when I just found him.
I didn’t need to fake my sickly pallor, clammy skin, or shaking body. “I’m going to be sick,” I said to my father. “I need to leave for a bit.”
He frowned. “Raynella, it is most important that you remain here where everyone can see you. A true Rivellan would support the games.”
I shook my head furiously, fighting an urge to vomit that was all too quickly becoming a viable possibility. “If I don’t leave, I’m going to puke in front of the entire Diamond Court.”
He assessed my distress then nodded. “Compose yourself and return with haste. You do not want to miss the rest of the games.”
Actually, that was exactly what I wanted to do, but I gave him a grateful smile and jogged out of the stadium.
Hurrying toward the courtyard that would lead me to the arena's tunnel, I slid to a stop outside the portcullis when Harpyn’s cruel voice reached my ears. Ducking behind the wall, I peered around the corner.
I found Harpyn tucked into an alcove, locked in a confrontation with Ram.
“You don’t think I forgot, did you?” Harpyn snarled into Ram’s face. “What he did? How you helped? I’ve waited years for my revenge, and I think I’ll start with you.”
Ram laughed, and it was a bitter sound that I couldn’t imagine came out of my friend. “Unlike your Silver lackeys, I’m not afraid of you, Harp. And you can’t lay a finger on me before the games.”
Harpyn grinned maliciously. “Who’s going to stop me? It’s just you and me, little fire bug. Besides, I don’t need to kill you. All I need to do is make sure that you don’t make it to your battle. Your king will take care of the rest. Seeing him behead his favorite general while Sin and Cam are forced to watch will provide me with years of joy.”
Ram's carefree smirk faded, his eyes darting around the courtyard.
“What’s wrong?” Harpyn taunted. “No flames around to defend yourself with? Pity. I was hoping for a challenge.”
Apparently Ram’s boasting that he could pull fire down from the sun was not entirely accurate because he didn't even defend himself as Harpyn slammed both of his hands together and a massive chunk of the wall above Ram’s head exploded, burying my friend under a pile of diamond-studded rocks.
I choked back my sobs, petrified of what the brute would do if he heard me. It nearly killed me to remain hidden in the shadows while Harpyn snapped his fingers, and every boulder and loose diamond merged back into the wall. All that was left was Ram’s crushed body, and not a single trace of evidence that might implicate the terriservian.
Harpyn whistled as he strolled out of the courtyard, and if I thought I even stood the slightest chance at surviving it, I would have roasted him alive for what he’d done.
Instead, I remained out of sight until he was gone, then I raced over to my friend.
Throwing myself to the ground at Ram’s side, I breathed a sigh of relief as I saw his chest rise and fall, but his breathing was ragged, and I feared his healing power wouldn’t be enough. The rocks had crushed most of his bones, and I barely recognized the bloody, pulpy mess in front of me.
“Ram?” I heard a voice call moments before Cam emerged into the courtyard. “You are not going to miss my battle are you?”
His eyes landed on me then slid to Ram’s broken body. The wail he unleashed as he fell beside his brother chilled me to bone, and I hoped I never heard such anguish again.
My heart broke as tears streamed down Cam’s face, and I gathered him into my arms. “It’s okay, he’s alive. He’s going to be okay.”
Cam shook in my embrace, violent sobs racking his body. “He cannot fight. If he does not fight, he dies. There is no exception to the rules.”
I wouldn’t have believed him if I hadn’t just witnessed Harpyn murder someone while the kings sat back and let it happen. I doubted the Gold King would let my father spare his general when he had already lost one of his own.
I was not about to let Ram die, though. Not if I could save him.
I grabbed Cam’s face, forcing him to look at me. “Cam, do you trust me?”
Lost to his sorrow, he didn’t even acknowledge me. “Cam!” I shouted, slapping him in the face as hard as I could. “Do you trust me?” I asked again.
His tears slowed as he took in the determination on my face. “Yes, of course, but what does that have to do with—”
“Listen to me. Ram is not going to die today. Do you hear me? I am not losing anyone I care about, and I need your help if we’re going to save him.”
Normally I despised hope. It never did anything but disappoint me. Right then, however, I was grateful to see the accursed emotion flicker in Cam’s eyes.
“What do I need to do?” he choked out.
“First off, I need you to find Sin and send him out here. And secondly, you can’t miss your own battle. So I need you to go out there and fight.”
He nodded and wiped the tears from his face. “Do you really think you can save him?”
I nodded furiously. “I can, I know I can, but you have to do your part. You have to suck it up and stroll out there with all the confidence of the best aeriservian in Rivella.”
“Okay,” he said, climbing gingerly to his feet. He headed off toward the tunnel, then paused to look back. “Thank you, Princess, for whatever you are about to do… Thank you.”
I gave him a grim but determined smile. I just really hoped Sin was as powerful as he claimed because I would prefer letting Harpyn murder me to telling Cam that I couldn’t save his brother.