36. The Fifth Game
THE FIFTH GAME
Seraphina
The hellgate spits us out into the infernal heat of Hell.
I land hard on loose gravel, my boots sliding as I try to get my balance.
My hands slam into the sharp surface of jagged rock, the space so narrow that I have to catch myself by bracing my hands against the walls either side of me.
What little space I have is made narrower still as more cadets stumble out of the hellgate, and claustrophobia quickly sets in.
I look up, searching for an exit, only to discover we are inside a ravine. It’s so tight the walls feel like they’re leaning toward each other, threatening to crush all of us between them.
The sky above is barely a thin strip of burning red visible between the towering cliffs. There’s something hanging in that strip of sky, a lot of somethings. I squint, trying to focus on them instead of the suffocating walls and crush of bodies.
They are baskets. No, cages, woven with big square gaps in between the wooden weaves so you can see inside. Hundreds of them, each dangling from some kind of thick chain seemingly anchored in the clouds far above.
They sway gently in the hot wind and my breath catches as some of the closer ones come into focus.
Each cage holds something. Some are full to bursting, others barely filled at all, almost looking empty from down here. Some glitter like they are filled with treasure, and others don’t look very inspiring at all.
Some cages are so far away I can’t make out their contents, but the ones closer make my chest tighten with sudden, sharp hunger.
What might they hold? Ancient relics, weapons, glittering piles of gold. The more possibilities my mind lists, the quicker greed creeps its way under my skin like poison slipping through my veins.
I want them.
All of them.
Someone calls out from behind me and as I turn, the hellgate closes.
Suddenly, I’m deep in shadow, and Silver is looking down at us from atop a cage, Yuvi and Zaheer either side of him.
“Welcome,” Yuvi says, “to the fifth game.” His head turns toward the hanging cages to his left, then right. “This is what we like to call The Ravine of Riches.”
A murmur ripples through the cadets, and Silver lifts a hand lazily toward the swaying chains. “You may take what you need,” he says, and the cadets around me start to vibrate at the prospect. “The only rule, it’s one cage per cadet.”
The ravine’s occupants go still and my gaze drifts over the cages, desire to have all of them curling tighter in my chest.
What if there are rare blades? A katana infused with heavenly fire like those the Legion of Light wield?
Jewels that would buy a kingdom, and the kind of armor that could protect one.
Beside me, Khali suddenly sucks in a breath. “Sera...”
I follow her gaze. A cage directly above her glints as the wind turns it. Inside are what look like three small silver stars. They look sharper than any weapon I’ve ever wielded, and I can somehow sense that each blade will be perfectly balanced.
They are etched with delicate runic patterns and Khali’s voice lowers to barely more than a whisper. “I recognize those.”
“From where?”
“My sister.”
Eurya.
Her eyes don’t leave the cage. “They’re her throwing stars. I can feel it.”
Before I can respond, Yuvi claps once, as though the Overlord’s somehow lost the cadets attention to our salivating over what the cages contain.
All eyes go to him.
“Good luck,” is all he says.
Silver’s gaze flicks briefly to mine and he gives a small nod. I nod back, as if to say “I’ve got this,” even though the desire to rip every last cage to pieces and claim its contents is sinking its claws deeper into me by the second.
Lilliana is the first to speak. She lets out a low whistle. “I want that cage first,” she drawls, looking up at the one the Overlords occupy. “Oh, to own three sexy Overlords.”
Brandor snorts beside her.
My fingers dig into the jagged rock walls until it feels like my nails are going to break. How dare she joke about that. What if Silver heard her?
Now is not the time for worrying about Lilliana or Silver’s feelings.
Cadets begin to split up, some scrambling up the rock walls, others trying to fly, only for their wings to become wedged in the too narrow gap.
Az cranes his neck upward. “It’s too narrow to fly,” he mutters.
Reiva nods. “We climb then.”
Khali looks between us and nods. “Together.”
Az grins, his eyes trained on that cage of throwing stars, and we spread out across the walls, Az and I taking the wall to our left, Khali and Reiva the right.
My fingers find cracks in the rock and my boots wedge into narrow ledges. One of the few perks to being wingless—climbing is something I’ve had plenty of practice at.
As we climb, cadets above us are already scrambling toward the cages, some climbing chains, others leaping between jagged outcroppings.
At first I’d assumed the cages were higher than the top of the ravine, but I realize now they are dangling inside of it, all at different heights, the ravine walls towering even higher than I thought.
A scream echoes somewhere higher up, and suddenly a body is falling. It’s a member of Stannum Company, and as he falls, he takes out every cadet beneath him.
They are all Stannum, I realize, as one by one their bodies plummet back down the hundreds of feet they must have climbed, their heads, backs and limbs slamming into rock as hard, sharp and deadly as any good weapon.
The fall isn’t survivable, and as I hold my breath, unable to help any of them from where I cling to the wall myself, I notice only one member of Stannum Company remains.
I look up to the Overlords above. Silver’s gaze is locked on me, while Yuvi is crouched down, looking genuinely broken by what happened to the cadets he’s taken under his wing for weeks now. I’ve seen him with them, far warmer than Silver is with most of Ferrum. He’s hurting at the loss.
For the first time since hearing of the seven games we’d be facing, I actually feel sorry for the Overlord’s part they have to play.
I can’t imagine getting to know wave after wave of new cadets, only to see the majority of them die.
Most of the time in hideous, painful ways you wouldn’t wish upon an enemy.
I look around for my alliance, making sure they are all still in the game. They are, but the longer I remain still, the more greed pulses in my chest, like it’s more excited than ever now that there are less people breathing to share the cages around.
Az is above me, considerably so, and Khali’s stars hang just above him.
“Az,” Khali calls quietly.
He grins. “Your wish is my command.”
His fingers hook the edge of the cage and the chains creak.
“Easy,” Reiva mutters.
Az swings himself up and the cage tilts.
“Shit, careful!” Khali calls.
Az grabs the stars…
That’s when the cage begins to fall, like the thick chain holding it from the clouds was never really there.
It drops.
Straight down the ravine.
Taking Az with it.
“Az!” Khali screams. The pain in that scream, I’ll never forget. It’s the kind of scream that can only be ripped out of you in the name of love.
My monster of a friend slams into a ravine wall halfway down, and the crack of bone is loud enough to echo.
Then he’s falling again, and I don’t even think.
I push off the rock and scramble down, sliding and catching myself on jagged ledges.
Az hits the ground hard and when he’s ten feet below me, I jump down to crouch at his side and my stomach drops.
His leg is twisted wrong. Blood is already spreading across the stone beneath him. One of the throwing stars is buried deep in his side.
Khali and Reiva are still climbing down the opposite wall desperately, while trying not to fall themselves.
“Az,” I breathe.
He coughs weakly. “Hey, Angel… Girl.”
Blood bubbles at the corner of his mouth and my gaze shoots upward.
‘Take what you need.’ Yuvi had said, not what you desire.
Well I need some medical supplies urgently, or this amazing man is going to die and break hearts into a thousand shattered pieces as he goes.
Far, far above, Silver still stands on the most central cage, watching us.
My eyes scream the question.
Help him.
But he shakes his head once. Even from so far away, I can see it’s a denial wrapped in apology, like he wishes his hands weren’t tied when it came to saving this particular warrior.
But he can’t, and I knew he wouldn’t be allowed to. Still, my chest aches.
Then Silver surprises me. He nods, just slightly, toward another cage, directly to the right of his.
Understanding slams into me.
Khali and Reiva make it down to us, but there isn’t space for everyone.
“Stay with him. Both of you.”
Khali’s voice breaks. “Is he?”
I shake my head. “Not yet. Listen, I’ll be back.”
I don’t wait for a response, I start climbing. Fast.
The rock tears into my fingers and palms but I don’t slow.
The cage I need hangs just ahead, and when I reach it, I don’t stop to question whether it will hold or not as I haul myself onto it.
Az had taken something Khali wanted, but neither of them needed it.
Whereas I need medical supplies right now more than I’ve ever needed anything.
I nearly collapse into the pile of bandages, potions, and splints as I climb inside the cage.
Take what you need.
I grab a handful of potions and throw them into the medical kit.
Then something catches my eye.
The cage beside this one, below the Overlords, glitters like the rivers in Virtus.
It’s overflowing with jewels, angel relics, treasures older than the heavenly council itself.
Greed claws at me so violently I reach out toward it.
I could take one. Just one. Only what I need.
My heart pounds when I see it. A katana exactly like the one I gave to Lorelei in the alley.
I want it so bad it feels like a need.
Then I look down.
Khali looks so small kneeling beside Az, pressing her hands against the blood soaking his side.
He was already pale when I left. Too pale.
My grip tightens on the medical kit and the cage does not waver.