Chapter 9 Terra
TERRA
"You realize this is going to be basically impossible without wings, right?" Vega's voice cut through the chaos of warriors launching themselves in every direction.
I pressed my back against the rough stone wall of a side corridor, watching scaled bodies blur past the opening. The sound of claws on rock was deafening. Wing beats created gusts that sent dust swirling. And then there were the roars of challenge and determination.
"I like being underestimated," I said.
Lexa appeared beside us, breathing hard from our sprint away from the main crush. "Being underestimated is great right up until someone underestimates you to death."
Fair point.
The corridor we'd ducked into was narrow enough that a Drakarn with spread wings couldn't follow easily. Perfect for humans, a tight squeeze for a Drakarn.
I leaned forward carefully, peering around the corner toward the main thoroughfare. Warriors streamed past, most heading upward toward the Temple district. Some flew. A few ran along the ground, relying on speed over altitude.
"We need a plan," Vega said. She'd pulled out a scrap of cloth and was wiping sweat from her face.
Her gray eyes tracked movement beyond our hiding spot with the focus of someone cataloging threats.
"Charging straight for the Temple is suicide.
Half the senior warriors will be positioned along the main routes. "
"I am aware of that." I shifted my weight, feeling the blade at my hip settle into a more comfortable position. "What are you thinking?"
"Tunnel routes." Vega pointed farther down the corridor. "I’ve scouted some of the lower passages. They're slower, but they're hidden. Less chance of running into warriors who can snap us like twigs."
"How much slower?" Lexa asked.
"Maybe double the time of a direct route. But we'd actually make it alive, so there's that."
I considered it.
The logic was sound.
Take the safe path, avoid confrontation, reach the Temple through routes the Drakarn wouldn't expect or bother watching. We might not win, but we'd survive. We'd complete the trial. We'd prove we could finish what we started.
But that wasn't why I was here.
"No," I said.
Vega's head snapped toward me. "No?"
"If we take the tunnels, we're just confirming what everyone already thinks. That humans can't compete directly. That we're too weak to handle the real challenge." I met her gaze. "I didn't enter this thing to hide in the shadows. I need to be seen doing this."
"You entered this thing to prove a point," Vega countered. "Dead people don't prove points. They just prove they were stupid."
"She's not wrong," Lexa said.
"I know she's not wrong." I pushed away from the wall, rolling my shoulders to loosen the tension building there.
"But think about it. If we skulk through hidden passages and somehow manage to reach the blood-flame, what does that prove?
That we're good at sneaking? Everyone already knows that.
They've been calling us weak and fragile for months.
Taking the coward's route just confirms it. "
"The smart route," Vega corrected. "There's a difference between cowardice and tactics."
"Not in this."
Silence fell between us. Somewhere in the distance, metal rang against metal. A roar of pain or fury echoed off stone walls. The competition was already getting violent.
Lexa broke the quiet. "So what's the alternative? We run straight down the main street and hope nobody notices?"
"We be visible," I said, "but strategic. Not suicidal. We use the main routes enough that people see us. See us holding our own. But we're smart about when to engage and when to avoid." I looked at Vega. "You're the tactical genius. Tell me there's a way to make that work."
She stared at me for a long moment. Then she sighed, the sound carrying more resignation than agreement. "There might be. Emphasis on might."
"I'll take it."
"You're going to get us killed."
"People don’t usually die in the Skalanth."
"That's not as comforting as you think it is," Lexa muttered.
Vega pulled out a small piece of charcoal she'd tucked into her belt and started sketching on the stone wall. A rough map took shape. Lines for corridors. Circles for major intersections. X marks for what I assumed were danger zones.
"Main routes are here, here, and here." She tapped three lines that converged toward the Temple district.
"Most warriors will take the upper paths.
Faster if you can fly. Senior warriors will be positioned at chokepoints.
" She marked several spots with heavy X's.
"We avoid those. Stick to secondary routes that are still visible from the main thoroughfares.
We'll be seen, but we won't be trapped."
"What about the Temple entrance?" I asked.
"That's where it gets messy." Vega's charcoal hovered over the map. "The Temple will be heavily guarded. No way around that. We'll have to either fight through or find another way in."
"We'll figure it out when we get there," I said. "First, we need to actually reach the Temple."
Vega nodded and wiped away her map with one sleeve. "Stay close. Move fast. Don't engage unless we have to."
We moved back toward the main corridor, staying tight to the wall. The flow of warriors had thinned slightly as competitors spread throughout the city, but enough remained that stepping into the open felt like diving into rapids.
I went first.
The transition from shadow to light made me squint.
The main thoroughfare was wider here, carved to accommodate Drakarn wings and tails.
Spectators lined the upper levels, Scalvaris citizens who'd come to watch the Skalanth.
Their voices created a droning background noise.
Cheering. Commentary. Placing bets, probably.
Some of them noticed us immediately.
"Humans?"
"Is that the Warrior Lord's mate?"
"What are they doing here?"
The whispers spread like fire. I felt the weight of attention shift toward us. Hundreds of eyes. Judgment and curiosity and hostility all mixed together.
Keep moving. Don't react.
The street sloped upward, following the natural contours of the mountain. Ahead, I could see where it branched into multiple paths. Some leading deeper into the Temple district. Others curving toward different sections of the city.
I heard more whispers from the crowd.
"Give them ten minutes."
"I'm betting five."
"The Warrior Lord's going to lose his mind when his pet gets broken."
I kept walking. Let them talk. Words were just noise.
But the prickling sensation between my shoulder blades intensified. Being watched. Being judged. Every step documented and assessed.
"You okay?" Vega asked quietly.
"Fine."
"You don't look fine."
"I'm fine."
She didn't push. We turned onto a side street that ran parallel to the main route. Fewer spectators here, but still visible from the upper levels. Present but not suicidal.
The street narrowed as we climbed. Buildings carved from the mountain itself pressed close on either side.
Some had windows that glowed with internal light.
Others were dark, abandoned or used for storage.
The architecture was beautiful in its way.
Functional but decorated with carvings that depicted battles and ceremonies and moments from Scalvaris history.
I'd studied some of those carvings during my time here. Learned the stories. Tried to understand the culture I'd mated into.
None of those lessons had prepared me for this.
"Movement ahead," Lexa warned.
I looked up. A warrior descended from above, wings spread to control his fall.
He landed maybe twenty meters in front of us, claws scraping stone.
His scales were a mottled brown and gray, good camouflage against the rock.
Young, probably mid-twenties. Confident in the way that came from never having been seriously challenged.
He saw us and grinned.
"Three little humans, all alone." He flexed his claws. "This is almost too easy."
"This doesn’t have to be a fight," I said.
"You’re funny." He took a step forward. "Capturing the Warrior Lord's mate during the Skalanth? That's a story I can tell for years."
I put my hand on the hilt of my blade. "That’s not going to happen."
"I have wings. You have …" He made a show of looking us over. "What do you have, exactly? Fragile skin? Breakable bones?"
Vega bristled. She didn't draw a weapon. Didn't make any obvious aggressive move. Just shifted her stance slightly, weight on the balls of her feet, hands loose at her sides.
The warrior noticed. His grin widened. "Oh, you want to fight? This should be entertaining."
Lexa circled to the warrior's left while I went right. Vega stayed center, drawing his attention. Classic triangle formation. Surround and overwhelm.
The warrior's confidence faltered slightly as he realized he was being flanked. His tail lashed. Wings flared partway, an instinctive threat display.
"Three on one?" He tried to sound contemptuous but didn't quite manage it. "Cowards."
She attacked.
Not with a blade. With her boot, sweeping low toward his ankle. He jumped back, wings beating once to gain altitude. Fast. But Lexa was already moving, grabbing a loose stone from the ground and hurling it at his head.
He twisted to avoid it, and I closed the distance. My blade came free of its sheath with a whisper of metal. I didn't try to stab. Just slashed at his extended wing membrane, forcing him to fold it or risk damage.
He folded.
And dropped.
Vega was there when he landed, driving her shoulder into his midsection. The impact sent him stumbling backward. His tail caught on a jutting piece of rock, and he went down hard, wings tangling beneath him.
I pressed my blade to his throat before he could recover.
"Yield," I said.
He stared up at me, shock written across his features. His chest heaved. Claws flexed uselessly against the stone.
"Yield," I repeated.
"You …" He seemed unable to finish the thought. "You're human."
"True." I didn't move the blade. "Yield or we keep going. Your choice."
He yielded.
I stepped back, sheathing my weapon. Vega and Lexa maintained their positions, ready in case he changed his mind. But the fight had gone out of him. He just lay there, staring at us like we'd violated some fundamental law of nature.
Maybe we had.
We left him there and continued up the street. None of us spoke until we'd put distance between us and the fallen warrior. Then Lexa started laughing. Quiet at first, then building until she had to stop walking and lean against a wall.
"Did you see his face?" She wiped tears from her eyes. "He couldn't believe it."
"Good." Vega's expression remained serious. "Maybe the next one think twice."
I had trouble believing that would happen.
The encounter had cost us time but bought us something more valuable. Proof that we could compete. That three humans working together could take down a Drakarn warrior. It wouldn't be enough to win the Skalanth, but it was a start.
The prickling sensation between my shoulders intensified.
I stopped walking and turned, scanning the rooftops and upper levels. Nothing obvious. Just the usual spectators watching from safe distances. But the feeling persisted. Someone was paying very close attention.
"What is it?" Vega asked.
"Someone’s watching us."
“Kind of the point, remember?" Her tone was dry. "You wanted to be visible."
"This is different." I couldn't explain it. Just a gut feeling that had kept me alive through too many dangerous situations to ignore. "I think someone’s tracking us."
Lexa followed my gaze upward. Her expression shifted from amused to alert. "I don't see anyone."
Who was it? Some minion from Karyseth? A warrior waiting to make his move?
We couldn’t stop to worry.
We started moving again, faster now. Drakarn warriors passed us going the opposite direction, eliminated from competition and heading back toward the gathering square. Some had ash marks on their faces. Others just looked defeated.
The Temple district loomed ahead. I could see the massive entrance carved into the mountain's face. Pillars thick as ancient trees. Symbols etched deep into stone. Heat crystals the size of my head embedded in the archway, casting everything in shades of fire.
And warriors. So many warriors.
They clustered around the entrance like scales on a dragon's hide. Senior warriors, judging by their size and the way they moved. Confident. Experienced. Ready to stop anyone who tried to pass.
"That's a lot of guards," Lexa observed.
"More than I expected," Vega agreed. She'd stopped at the edge of a market square that offered a clear view of the Temple. "We're not fighting through that."
"No," I said. "We're not."
Vega’s face grew serious, and I could see thoughts whizzing by in her eyes. She pursed her lips and then nodded decisively.
She met my gaze steadily, no arguments. "Give me two minutes. When you see the guards move, run." She checked her weapons one more time. "Don't wait for me. Don't look back. Just get inside and finish this."
"Vega …"
She moved before either of us could say anything else. She slipped into the crowd of spectators that had gathered to watch the Temple entrance. Her auburn hair disappeared among the larger Drakarn bodies.
Two minutes.
I used the time to curse up and storm and then study the side passage she'd pointed to before running off like a big damn hero. It was there, barely visible between two carved pillars. Dark. Narrow. Probably designed for servants to move supplies without disrupting ceremonies.
Perfect for sneaking.
If we could reach it.
Lexa shifted beside me, her weight balanced and ready. "This is a terrible plan."
"I know."
"We're probably going to die."
"We’re not going to die."
Movement at the Temple entrance. The guards shifted, attention drawn toward something in the market square. Voices rose. Not alarm yet, but curiosity.
Then Vega's voice cut through the noise, loud and challenging.
"Is this the best Scalvaris can offer? I've seen better guards at a freaking shopping mall!"
The effect was immediate. Warriors turned. Some laughed. Others bristled at the insult. Vega kept going, her voice carrying across the square.
"Come on! I'm one unarmed human! Surely someone here can catch me!"
She took off running.
The guards broke formation and gave chase.
And Lex and I had our way into the temple.