Chapter 19
Nyx
We’ve barely been walking long enough for the sun to fully rise in the sky before the smell of rot and decay fills the air. Talon is the first to gag, bringing his shirt up over his nose, while Thorian wrinkles his next.
Then, it hits me.
“Rotten blood,” Talon mutters, when we turn the corner to find a pile of bones and flesh, gristle and guts, right where we’d been headed.
It takes me a moment to recognize the pile of flesh for what it is, given the untouched head lying near the pile.
“Sir Willem,” I breathe, before turning and gagging into the brush alongside the road.
“Here, come here,” Fenric says, grabbing the cloth he used before as his blindfold, splashing water on it from his canteen, and holding it up to my nose and mouth. “Breathe through this.”
“I can’t look,” I mutter, closing my eyes, trying not to conjure the sight of it again. That’s what I would have looked like last night, if it weren’t for the berries. If it weren’t for our quick thinking and hiding.
“I should be the one gagging,” Talon says, his voice muffled by his shirt. “Do you have any idea how terrible blood churned with flesh smells?”
Thorian grits his teeth and lets out a sound.
“I have an inkling. I expected a few to die last night. There’s always at least one.
Most are safe, especially fearless warriors.
Those who can control their fear, detach from it.
My first time, everyone else died. My second time?
Only half the competitors. This time though?
I have no idea. We have tough competitors. ”
“Fuck,” Fenric mutters, rubbing at his face with his hands.
Talon takes a step back, letting out a sick-sounding noise.
“Fenric, come with me,” Thorian says, and although I can tell the berserker does not want to go with him, he does, swallowing and stepping forward with intention.
Talon steps back, gathering me into his arms, as Thorian and Fenric move up the road. There’s the sound of scraping, dragging, and eventually, they return, breathing hard and rinsing their hands under water.
Fenric looks a shade paler than he did before.
“There’s no time to dig him a grave,” Thorian says, wiping his hands roughly on his tunic, then meeting my gaze. “But hopefully we managed to put him to rest.”
Tears spring to my eyes. Surely he wouldn’t have gone to the effort before. He’s done this for me, knowing how I feel about the man, left indisposed like that. The knights might have been our competitors, but I’ve only ever known knights to be pure of heart and fierce warriors.
Unlike Magnus, Sir Willem wouldn’t have come upon me that day when I was undressed. He would have averted his attention, I’m sure of it, even if he’d been trying to hurt me. That’s how knights are.
“Thank you,” I say, and we continue on.
Thorian guides us as he has throughout it all, his connection to the Obsidian Spire clear.
We walk for only a few minutes, until we’re walking through a grove of vibrant citrus trees.
It’s vibrant the way Fenric is when he’s excited.
I pluck an orange from the branch and tell Fenric it reminds me of him, which makes him blush.
“Oh, stop flirting,” Talon mutters, though he smiles as he plucks the orange from my hand, before tossing it back.
“Now you’re the jealous one,” Fenric retorts, peeling the orange and popping one of the slices into his mouth.
“Always eating things without hesitation,” Thorian mutters, rolling his eyes. “It’s going to get you killed.”
“Just say you’d like her to compare you to a fruit,” Fenric jokes, dancing out of the way of Thorian’s playful punch.
I'm about to make a joke of my own, to imply that after last night I've learned Thorian is more like a certain vegetable, but before I can conjure the words, Fenric says, “You want to know what sucks?”
“What?” Talon says, humoring him.
“That none of us have powers. I’d love it if we could fight fire with fire against those assholes.”
I stiffen.
Thorian glances in my direction, brow raised.
“About that,” I say, trying to find the words.
Everyone looks toward me, and I start trying to find the words. They’d been honest with me in the cave. It was my turn, but I couldn’t figure out what to say. How to explain what I am.,o explain how dangerous knowing this information is.
Will they know immediately that no one should find out? Will they grasp that I don’t know what will happen if the gods find out? And even if all of that goes smoothly, how do I explain that I’m not actually that useful with my magic?
But when I open my mouth to tell them, the ground beneath Thorian gives a sickening groan. He lurches sideways as the earth shifts, and for one terrible suspended second I watch him start to go over the edge of a gap that wasn't there a moment ago, his arms out, his weight tipping wrong.
Talon moves before any of us can think. He throws himself forward, hitting the ground hard on his stomach, arm shooting out, and his hand catches Thorian's wrist at the last possible moment.
"I've got you," Talon grits out, "but I'm slipping—"
Fenric drops down and grabs Talon's legs, digging in his heels as the hole continues to groan and widen around them, orange and lemon trees tumbling in on the far side, roots and all.
"No, no, no—"
I drop down behind Fenric and wrap my arms around his torso, adding my weight to his, and we pull.
It's graceless and desperate, all of us scrabbling backward inch by inch while the edge crumbles closer, until finally Thorian clears the lip and we all go tumbling back in a heap several yards from the edge, landing hard on solid ground.
For a moment nobody moves.
"Fucking fuck," Thorian says, and he pushes to his feet immediately, fury written across his face. He reaches down and pulls me up, while Fenric does the same for Talon. The berserker and the vampire both look at me, but my gaze is locked on the demi-god.
“What was that?” I ask.
“Terranis,” Thorian says, rotating his wrists. The trees around us sway in the wind, seeming to shake with anger. Is that from the god of the soil and forests?
“Terranis,” Talon deadpans, glancing at the hole. “What, he forgot how to make the ground function correctly?”
“No,” Thorian says, sighing and plunging his hands into his hair.
“He’s trying to sabotage us,” Fenric breathes, the words barely loud enough to hear. A moment passes, then Thorian nods, and my heart jumps into my throat.
“I thought the gods weren’t supposed to interfere?” I ask, hands shaking.
“Valtor’s already broken that rule,” Fenric points out.
I think, though I don’t voice it, that was more about Valtor against his son. It wasn’t okay, obviously, but felt logical because of their relationship. The storm before was also anger over me freeing the souls.
But this, a completely unrelated god using his powers to try and kill the strongest member of our team? That’s not right. That’s not playing fair at all.
“Terranis chose the Ashen Hounds as his team,” Thorian says, his voice level as he looks to the sky, as though it might give him some strength.
“Now that we’re nearing the end of the competition, he’s going to start trying to take out the strongest competitors.
The gods say they don’t interfere, but they have every time. ”
“Perhaps we should take solace in the fact that Terranis considers us to be strong contenders,” Fenric mutters, though he doesn’t sound like he means it.
“Perhaps we should get moving,” Talon says, glancing at the sky. “Before he sends more trouble our way.”
“Has anyone ever told you you’re a massive baby?” Thorian asks, and despite how close we’ve been growing, I still glance at him in surprise when he jokes like that.
It’s so different from the Thorian I met back in the city, propositioning me in the bar to join his team, that it still catches me off guard.
“Definitely a baby. The earth opening up to swallow us is hardly a big deal,” Fenric mutters, which makes all of us laugh, the tension from finding Willem fully dissipating.
“Talon is right, though,” Thorian says, brushing away the rest of the debris and sighing, pointing into the woods and away from the hole in the ground. “We’ll need to circumnavigate this and continue moving ahead. Carefully.”
We start walking and Fenric snort laughs. We all glance at him.
He laughs again. “Did you see Thorian’s face when he started falling?”
Talon snickers. “It was like, ‘wha! What!’”
And then we’re all laughing. Except Thorian, who shakes his head, but there’s a smile on his face.