Chapter 29 #2
Leaving the arena is far harder than entering it. The Sibyls pull me and Zyrel in opposite directions, and I lose sight of Seraphina almost instantly. My steps quicken as we near the open exit doors, until I see the crowd.
Dozens—no, hundreds—of people wait just beyond the threshold. Red scarves and pieces of material flash in the sun as they’re whipped from necks and arms, flung high into the air like ribbons of flame. They scream my name.
“Our ray of light! To the future!”
“To the future!”
“To the future!”
The chant rises around me. Not as eerily synchronized as the Sibyls, but somehow more powerful.
I swallow hard and my steps falter. Magic swells in my chest, thrumming beneath my skin, as if it recognizes something familiar. As if it knows these people are the reason it grows stronger. I scan the faces as we walk, spotting Micheline, who lingers behind the crowd, a red band around her head.
Her presence steadies me, and I eagerly search the people around her, but see no more familiar faces. Peonica would’ve teased me about the scarves, maybe cried a little and denied it afterward. I hope she’s watching through the Divinity Gazes. I hope she saw me win.
“Being worshipped suits you,” Kaelzar says beside me, grinning like a wolf.
“Apparently not enough to make you one of the worshippers,” I blurt out. And gods, it sounds worse out loud. “I meant with all your critiques of my skills and the constant brooding over how I should stop fearing my magic,” I mumble quickly.
His grin only deepens, ignoring everything except the part that amused him. “If worshipping is what my Champion requires, it is my duty—”
I jab my elbow into his ribs. “How do we get through?” I nod toward the wall of bodies, the crowd pressing closer.
Kaelzar bows with theatrical flair. “As I was saying, your wish is my command.”
Ten blobs of shadow rise from the ground at his words, undulating and shifting until they take form: reptilian birds, as large as dogs, their shapes unstable but clearly dangerous. Beaks snap. Wings spike. The crowd gasps and begins to part.
Before I can panic, Kaelzar leans close. His breath brushes my ear, hot and teasing. “They won’t hurt anyone, Trouble,” he murmurs. “They’re yours to command. Just as I am.”
A shiver dances down my spine. I bite my lip, heat slamming into my face.
Gods, why does he always say things like that when I’m least prepared? There’s no hiding it, not with the sun so high and my face on fire.
I open my mouth to respond, maybe something clever, but all that comes out is a tiny, strangled laugh that sounds more like a hiccup. I clamp my mouth shut and look away, mortified.
True to his word, the shadow birds lower their heads as they gently herd people aside. Some back away in fear. Others reach out. Their fingers pass through the shadows, leaving curling wisps in the air.
I reach for Kaelzar’s hand, and he takes mine without hesitation. Together, we walk through the crowd. My crowd. Their cheers are deafening, their smiles radiant. Their hope, blinding. And somehow, it’s for me.
A cautious joy sparks in my chest, then flares into something wild and impossible to contain. I lift my hand and wave. I reach out and brush their palms. They aren’t afraid. Not of my blackened fingers, not of my red-streaked hair, or even Kaelzar’s shadows. We are their salvation.
Then someone grabs my wrist. An older man, his eyes wide with feverish awe. “Tell us you’ll win. Tell us you’ll save the Rust Hollow women!” His grip is tight and I yank my hand free, heart pounding, but force a smile. He must have a daughter there, or someone else that he loves.
“I’ll do what I must,” I say.
Another voice cuts through the roar. A girl, maybe fifteen, pushes forward. “But what if you fail?” she calls. “What happens to them then?”
The question stings. It’s too honest and I can’t answer it, not without lying. I only nod, once, and move on. But I hear someone else replying, “She’ll win! She’s our ray of light, ray of hope. We’ve been waiting for someone like her for so long.”
Warmth blooms and spreads through every inch of my body, and for the first time in my life, I feel it. I belong here.
“What are those birds?” I ask as we walk through the crowd hand in hand. “They look like they could tear a man apart.”
Kaelzar breathes in deeply. I watch the ink on his chest shift, almost imperceptible. Did I say something wrong? But the chains don’t stir further.
“Elysium wasn’t some untouched paradise when the gods fled there after the Skyburn War,” he says, voice low.
“It was already alive, full of things with no names. Predators. Old things. The gods didn’t claim Elysium because it was empty, there for the taking.
They tore at it, like starving wolves around a carcass and staked whatever land they could hold. ”
He exhales sharply, something like a laugh but without humor. “Calista got the forest teeming with monsters that no one else wanted.”
A pause, just long enough for the weight of it to settle.
“I don’t know how much of it’s true,” he adds, glancing away. “Most of what I know came from her and she never had much use for the truth. I’ve never seen anything beyond the forest myself, except for a few raids along the edges of other gods’ territories.”
I wave to the crowd, brushing a few more hands, but my mind is on Kaelzar, on his story.
“We were told we were chosen,” he continues.
“The strongest of us bred to guard the villages that dared grow near the monsters’ nests.
A noble duty. Sacred.” He huffs a chuckle and gives a slight shake of his head.
“We believed her. Lived by her word.” His mouth twists at this proclamation.
“Took me too long to realize those villages weren’t there by accident.
They were her line of defense. Her bait. ”
The heavy word hangs there for a moment.
“She built her castle deep in the center, where the beasts couldn’t reach unless they tore through layers of us first. Every village is a shield. A distraction. And we, her loyal Shadebloods, bred and trained to hold the line. Not for our sake, but for hers.” He flexes his hands, jaw tightening.
“When I won the tournament Liona mentioned, Calista welcomed me into the castle and called it a reward. She gave me command of her Shadeblood cadre, told me we were her sword against the darkness. We bled for her. Slaughtered creatures she claimed threatened the innocent.” He looks away, voice dropping.
“I wish I’d wondered sooner who the real monsters were. ”
I feel the tension trembling through him, the pain threaded in every word.
The loss of his mother. Mia. Gods know what it cost him to survive it.
The ache in his silence sinks its teeth into me.
But there’s something else too. A twisted knot forming just beneath my ribs.
Jealousy, maybe. Or grief for a version of him I never knew.
It’s bitter. Ugly. I don’t want to feel it, and I hate that I do.
So I clear my throat, forcing my voice steady. “So these shadows… they’re from the worst Origins you ever fought?”
“These?” he echoes, lifting a brow, incredulous, as if the mere suggestion that these creatures were the peak of his ability is almost insulting. Calista slips from his mind, just as I’d hoped. Continuing to talk about her would only wake the chains.
“I’ve fought, and won, against far worse. But those shadows would send your people screaming. And with them would go their prayers.”
I smirk and am about to reply when a boyish voice slices through the cheers.
“Lady Raylane!”
I turn. The young boy is waving frantically, panic etched across his face. He looks familiar.
“Levi,” I breathe, hurrying to him. A stone drops in my stomach at the look in his eyes. “What is it?”
“I’m sorry to interrupt, but this can’t wait.
Peonica is missing,” Levi says breathlessly.
“She didn’t come to see me for the last few days.
She always does. We’d been sneaking into the prince’s library.
It was fun at first, but I told her to stop.
She promised she would, but… I think she went back alone. And now, she’s gone.”
“She never keeps her promises,” I snap, like he should have known better. “Why Mael’s library of all places?”
“He has the largest collection on the gods and their artifacts,” he explains quickly. “She said she needed to research a ring.”
My eyes drop to the thin band on my finger, and a curse slips past my lips. “This thing?” I mutter, letting my hand drop as I stare up at the sky. She’s been eyeing it with suspicion for a while now, ever since Eva brushed it off as harmless. “I should’ve just taken it off.”
“You couldn’t have,” Kaelzar murmurs, voice soft and distant.
“I know,” I say quietly. “It warns you when I’m in danger.”
I turn to Levi. “Blackmere Estate?” I ask. He nods.
Of course. Mael’s private residence, tucked behind layers of gates and stone. A place designed for those who preferred to look down on the city rather than walk its streets. No neighbors. No eyes.
I’ve never been inside, but I know its southern edge borders the Birch Forest. That must’ve been how Peonica slipped in—through the trees, past the guards. She was always better at vanishing than obeying.
I whirl on Kaelzar. “We need to get there. Fast. Can you take us through the shadows?”
His expression tightens, gray eyes narrowing. “You swore you’d never go through it again.”
“I don’t care,” I say. “Peonica might be in danger. Just do it.”
His jaw flexes, but he gives a curt nod. “Hold on to me and don’t let go.”
Unsure if I could let go even if I wanted, I step closer, fingers gripping his arm.