Chapter 32
Chapter Thirty-Two
Nina
Asea of cheers rolled over me. The crowd was hungry for blood. Sand shifted under my boots as I walked to the centre of the arena, my heart pounding loud enough to rival the noise. The whispers echoed faintly in the back of my mind, caressing my strength, encouraging me.
I gripped my sword with both hands as I faced the youngest Magpie. His spear hung loose at his side, fingers barely curled around it. He moved fast and far too steadily for someone who should’ve been limping.
The arena’s sand shifted beneath my boots as I circled it, keeping my sword raised. The Magpie watched me with a faint smirk on his lips, as if this were a game.
Then he pounced.
He feinted left, spun, and struck with the blunt end of his spear.
Not the pointed end.
He was going to draw this out . . . he wanted to put on a show.
He caught me in the ribs. Pain bloomed, and I had to give it my all not to drop my sword and double over. I stumbled back, my breath knocked out of me.
The Magpie grinned, enjoying my pain, no doubt.
I launched forward, slashing low, but he blocked with the shaft of his weapon, twisting it to deflect, then shoved me hard. I went down on one knee.
He tried to drive the spear down, but I rolled to the side, threw a handful of sand into his face, and surged to my feet. That wiped the pissing grin off his face.
I swung for his shoulder. He ducked. I punched him in the gut with the hilt. He grunted, retaliated with a sweeping leg, and caught me at the ankle—
I slammed into the sand.
Pain erupted in my hip.
A light tickling sensation grew in the back of my mind.
“Focus,” the whispers urged. “Breath.”
I scrambled to my feet, breathing hard, blood and grit in my mouth. My sword felt heavier now.
We clashed our weapons together once more, and elbows, knees, fists, and heads went crashing against sand. He landed a blow to my jaw, making stars flash across my vision. I answered with a headbutt, sending him reeling.
I tackled him to the ground, straddled his chest, my blade pressed to his throat before he could recover.
“Yield,” I said, panting.
He blinked up at me. Blood trickled from his nose.
“Leander isn’t so useless after all, then,” he breathed. “He’s clearly taught you a few tricks.”
From her throne above the arena, Madalena let out a dramatic sigh that echoed around us like it had been amplified.
“You’re making this dull, you cretinous bird,” the demon drawled, resting her chin on her hand. “Stop playing with your meal.”
Something dark flickered behind the Magpie’s expression before his body shuddered.
Bones cracked and twisted underneath me, and his limbs warped and reshaped.
I jolted back. Feathers rippled over the Magpie’s skin, spreading in a rush of black.
His fingers curved into clawed talons, and his extended legs bent at unnatural angles.
His body swelled, and his frame elongated until the opponent I faced was no longer human but a beast.
The crowd roared their approval.
And then the Magpie charged. I moved before I could think, throwing myself sideways as his talons slashed the space where I’d just been standing.
My grip stayed light on the sword, my weight shifting from my left foot to my right as I weaved between his strikes, just like Leander had encouraged.
Don’t grip too hard. Don’t plant your feet.
If I moved too slowly, it would all be over.
The Magpie struck again. His movements were more erratic now, not as human or predictable.
I dropped low, barely ducking under the sweep of his razor-sharp wing, but I slipped. My sword clattered to the ground, skidding across the dirt, and dissolved.
Agony tore through me as talons impacted my left arm. I gasped, scrambling away from the looming Magpie, whose wings were half-spread, yellow eyes bright with hunger.
I was out of time and out of weapons. I pressed my hand to the wound, applying pressure to stem the blood flow. If I survived, I’d have a nasty scar, that was for sure.
My mind flew to Ezra. The soul that was covered in a thousand scars. But he hadn’t carried a belt like Dominik or worn chest leather like me or Felix, with concealed pockets for stashing daggers.
So, where had he kept all his weapons?
His words echoed in my mind.
Torment rewards pain and suffering.
It wasn’t just a phrase; it was a rule. And just like Temptation responded to desire, Torment must respond to pain.
I sucked in a breath, looking at the blood pooling down my arm, and I imagined two daggers with hilts sized for my palms. The pain in my arm flared like fire, and from the fabric of Torment, my vision came true.
Steel appeared in my hands, not too heavy, not too light.
The Magpie charged at me once more, his wings angled, positioned for a killing blow.
I held my place, didn’t move. I didn’t reveal the weapons I had.
I held firm, and when those wings were an inch from my head, where they intended to separate my neck from my shoulders, I twisted out of reach and angled my daggers, slicing through feathers and flesh.
The Magpie cried out, his body twisting mid-air and crashing into the dirt. His form shuddered, rippled, and then collapsed. Where wings had been, now lay a man. He was human again, breathing hard. Blood flowed from a gaping wound that ran from his shoulder to his wrist.
He glanced at the gash and smiled.
“Well done,” he murmured, his yellow eyes soft and kind. “He said you were different.”
My stomach twisted. I tightened my grip around the daggers. “Who?”
The Magpie’s smile only widened, but he didn’t answer.
The gong rang out across the arena. Madalena’s hands came together in applause, but the flash in her eyes cut cold.
She was furious.
She descended from the dais, her gown dragging behind her.
“Not many souls can beat my Magpies,” she croaked. “Especially not by using my own domain against them.”
I forced myself to hold firm, to keep my breathing even. The daggers in my hands were gone – melted back into whatever abyss I called them from. But the sting in my arm remained, a throbbing reminder that I had not come out of this fight unscathed.
Still, I met her gaze. “But they’re not your Magpies, are they?”
Her expression froze. A flicker of something passed through her eyes – doubt or maybe curiosity. “What do you know about it, Champion?”
“They’re trapped here, just like every other soul.”
She let out a soft hum, her fingers tapping idly against her side. “You’re just a Champion. And all Champions—” Her eyes narrowed. “—come to the same fate in the end.”
I gulped but didn’t let my face betray anything.
Madalena lifted her hand, and a steel key materialised in her palm, hovering above her fingers. Blackened metal, edges worn and twisted, something about it felt ancient, used, heavy with meaning.
I reached out and took it, and the moment my fingers curled around the cool steel, a memory surfaced.
Chains. The snap of iron. The final clang as the wagon door slammed shut, sealing my parents inside.
The man who had come for them snickered and looped the door key over his neck. He pushed me away, and there in the dust, covered in filth, hunger building in my stomach, I watched as the wagon rolled away, dust rising in its wake. It would be the last time I saw them.
My parents . . . just another pair of murderers in Jesserot City.
Tears sprang to my eyes at the memory, and I breathed as evenly as I could.
I would not let this demon see me break.
Madalena’s lips curled into a sneer. “Now, get out of my sight.”
Felix was waiting on the outskirts of the arena, still bruised but alive. He gave me a once-over.
“You were amazing out there,” he said.
“Thanks. So were you.”
“I’m glad you made it,” he added. That was all he needed to say.
I’d helped Felix, and he’d forgiven me in return.
The bridge I’d burned was now mended. Tobias would have been proud to see me shed my armour. A warm bud blossomed deep in my chest.
Amabel still lay unconscious beside Felix, but someone was missing.
“Where’s Dominik?”
“He left,” Felix said with a shrug. “He’s not here for anyone but himself.”
I frowned and wondered when he’d gone. Before my fight or after? Either way, he hadn’t stuck around to check I was okay.
And it was getting a whole lot worse.
Selene was up against two Magpies.
“Oh, come on,” I shouted. “How is that fair?”
“Nothing in Hell is ever fair,” Felix muttered. He sounded like Leander.
The Magpies were injured, but Selene wasn’t facing them in their human form. They’d already shapeshifted into their monstrous bodies, and somehow their injuries vanished beneath all that fur and wings.
Or maybe they’d healed themselves.
Who knew?
One thing was certain – the Magpies were in excellent condition. Fast, fierce and agile. Two giant Magpies versus one soul was hardly a level playing field.
The gong sounded, and they launched into the sky, circling overhead like vultures. The first dove with its claws outstretched. Selene rolled and thrashed her sword at the Magpie, but the second had planned for that. He nose-dived.
Selene’s back was turned. She had no clue those talons were coming for her.
“Watch out,” I screamed, but not loud enough.
The Magpie’s talons tore across her side, and Selene cried out, staggering, her body crumpling to the ground. But she hadn’t let go of her weapon.
She pushed herself up, her legs shaking beneath her. She held her sword like a lifeline as the Magpies circled above once more.
They dove in unison, one from the left, one from the right. Selene met the first with a swing of her blade, but the second slammed into her like a battering ram.
She was lifted off her feet and crashed to the dirt, her sword flying from her grasp and vanishing into nothing.
The Magpies were seriously brutal, ripping her apart piece by piece.
“Destroy her,” Madalena ordered.
No, no, no, no, no.