Levon
" S he's gone! She's gone!" I screamed, pounding on Tazina's door, my voice cracking in the stillness of the night. It was well past two in the morning, and my legs were on fire from the desperate run. The night sky seemed to sparkle with an overwhelming dread, every star pressing down on me, making it harder to breathe, and voicing their dismay.
I yanked at the handle again, ready to break down the door, when it finally flew open. Kaizen's eyes blazed with fury that would sear me into ash.
I failed again. I failed her.
"She's gone," I heaved. "They took her straight to them. I-I didn't know! It was supposed to be like the other Matches within the Arena," I rasped out, feeling my lungs collapse against the dread, the mistake.
Kaizen's anger flared, his amber eyes burning with a terrifying intensity, as he swiftly disappeared into the darkened room. Tazina emerged, a green shawl hastily thrown over her shoulders, worry etched into her face as she touched her mouth in shock.
Kaizen reappeared, thrusting the Seraph pack into my shaking hands as he flung his cloak on.
"I did it," I muttered. "I initiated the full Awakening." His jaw flickered with enough power that I took a step back.
Tazina stepped in. "What happened." Not a question, a demand.
I told all of it. The suspicions of a dragon, the drinks, how they forced me away as they stripped her down and chained her to the inside of a wagon like a prisoner, pilled with all the other drugged contenders.
They were headed straight for the Aduantas Mountains, where sentinels perched on every peak, watching, reporting, and waiting at the end for the champion.
Tazina steadied herself against the door frame as Kaizen brushed past me, slinging his bow and arrows over his chest.
"The tunnels," I muttered. "They took them through the tunnels."
He flashed me a sharp snarl, looking down to the Seraph bag in my trembling hands. " Do not fail again," he scolded, his voice dripping with wrath. "You know the escape route, be there or I’ll hunt you down and tear you apart if you’re not." He quickly turned before running into the night.
Anger and fear coursed through me, intertwined with a seething hatred for failing to uphold my vow…again.