Chapter 28
Chapter
Twenty-Eight
“Now you will hear from the one they call the Chosen,” Redmayne boomed. A furious buzz of voices told me they didn’t want to hear it.
“Come on,” I shouted to the others. “We’ll go in from the top of the hill!” I had to get in there, even though my legs could barely hold me upright. I used my arms to pull myself up, desperately crawling as fast as I could.
Within the amphitheater, Redmayne was trying to placate the crowd. “No, no. You must listen to her. The purpose of this debate is to hear both sides. Come, girl. No, come here. You must speak.”
Audrina’s breathy voice floated out of the amphitheater as we stumbled and crawled up the hill. “I… uh. I love magic. I want to take it all.”
A loud chorus of boos almost deafened me as I hauled myself to the top of the hill. I looked down and gasped.
There were hundreds of thousands of creatures here.
Not just centaurs, I saw high fae, goblins, pixies, brownies, shifters in their animal forms, all shape and size.
Vampires with their teeth bared, hissing at the stage.
A big ogre, right at the front, roaring and brandishing an ax.
They all screamed curses at Audrina. “Tyrant! Dictator! Bloodthirsty whore!”
A giant centaur with long red hair trailing down his back nodded pointedly at Audrina. She stood in the middle of the stage, staring at Connor with huge, glazed eyes. “And, uh. I want to rule the world. The worlds, plural,” she added awkwardly. “That’s right?”
Connor held her gaze and nodded subtly.
“It’s my right, as the Chosen One,” Audrina continued. “I’m supposed to close the stones and take their magic.”
The screams of the crowd drowned her out. Someone threw a rotten cabbage; it thumped onto the stage near her feet. Connor’s lips twitched. He was trying not to grin.
I took a deep breath and pulled every ounce of heat from the core of my belly. “Quiet!”
Silence. Every single creature in the auditorium turned around to look at me. Thousands of faces—angry, furious, scared, outraged.
A wave of exhaustion crashed over me. I had to do this quickly before the spell broke, and I passed out.
“She’s not the Chosen One.” I pointed with a shaking finger.
“Connor is using seduire magic to beguile you. Everything he said is a lie. He’s devouring spark stones and taking their power, and you all know that for a fact. Don’t let him fool you.”
The spell broke, and Connor leapt to his feet. “Liar!” He hissed. “This woman is lying.” His words had no power. It was a small mercy. He might be drained, but so was I. I had nothing left, not one ounce of energy. If anyone attacked me now, I was dead.
“How dare you?” Redmayne boomed. “Who are you?”
“Tell them!” I lifted my chin. “Who am I, Connor?”
His face twisted. “I have no idea.”
The crowd looked, waiting for him to reassure them. Glazed eyes were clearing slowly.
“He doesn’t want to tell you, because it proves that he’s lying to you!” I shouted as loud as I could. “Because I’m the Chosen One.”
“She’s lying,” Connor snarled. “She is just a crazy human woman. Do not listen to her, good people!”
But Audrina was looking up at me. “Susan? Susan, is that you? Susan!” She lifted her long arms and waved at me frantically, her eyes clearing a little.
She burst into tears. “Susan, I kept trying to tell them that I wasn’t you, but they wouldn’t listen!
” She rushed to the front of the stage. “Your friend here said I just had to play along, and say what he wanted me to say, and he’d take me back to you. Please, can I come home? Please?”
The crowd broke into furious mutters, shifting restlessly on their feet. Even Redmayne looked confused. He clomped forward. “What is going on here?”
“Did you honestly think that she was the Chosen One, Redmayne?” I shouted down at him. “She has no magic. You can see that yourself.”
“She is hiding her magic so that we will underestimate her!”
“Are you that stupid? She’s a human girl.”
A group of witches in the front row called out. “We told you, Redmayne. She’s got no magic at all. She’s not the Chosen One.”
“Connor set this all up,” I shouted. “He’s made a fool of you.
He took advantage of your overwhelming arrogance, and he sucked you right in.
” I saw some of the haze in Redmayne’s eyes clear, so I pushed a little harder.
“The centaurs are going to be the laughingstock of the whole Middle World for this.”
The centaur’s mouth dropped open; he was outraged. “How dare you?”
The crowd drowned out his bluster, everyone shouting at once.
The centaurs bellowed, and the other creatures screamed back at them.
Just then, I spotted Donovan creeping towards the stage.
Connor saw him, and then his eyes flicked left and right, seeing Eryk and Nate moving through the crowd towards him, too, covering all sides.
Connor's face screwed up in rage.
I exhaled. That’s right, asshole. The crowd is uncertain, your assassins are gone, you’re outnumbered, and we’re coming to kick your ass.
Well, not me, because I was so exhausted I was about to collapse.
Suddenly, Connor lurched forward and grabbed Audrina by the neck. A knife flashed in his hand.
“My people!” His voice boomed above the noise. “Please do not be confused by these meddlesome humans. I will take care of everything. Keep the faith, and the truth will be revealed in time!” He locked eyes with me and dragged Audrina backwards across the stage.
“Stop him!” I screamed. No, not Audrina, he couldn’t take her…
Time slowed down. I threw myself forward, trying to run on jelly-like legs, desperate to get to the stage, but I was far too high up.
Adrenaline surged, and everything became sharp.
I could see every detail of everything—the whites of Audrina’s terrified eyes, the flashing silver blade in Connor’s hands, the gleam of his white teeth, Donovan, almost a blur, running down the aisle towards him.
Then, a little golden figure shot across the stage behind Connor. I stumbled down the hill as Cecil galloped with his little legs, head down and eyes narrowed.
He ran straight into Connor’s backside.
Connor screamed. He let go of Audrina, the momentum of Cecil’s charge throwing her across the stage to roll to the edge. Eryk got to her first and scooped her up.
Oh, no…
Connor had stabbed her. His knife was sticking out of her back.
“Audrina!” I stumbled down a step and crumbled to the ground, lurching up immediately. This was a nightmare, a horrible nightmare where you’re trying to save someone, but your legs wouldn’t hold you up, and you can't run fast enough.
Cecil’s horns had stabbed into Connor’s ass, one in each cheek.
The tiny pony was desperately backtracking, his shiny hooves skidding on the stage, as he tried to free himself.
Connor, roaring in fury, saw Donovan sprinting across the stage towards him.
He reached around, grabbed Cecil by the mane, yanking the horns out of his ass, and he punched the air.
Black smoke billowed out of his fists. He shouted a word, then knelt, smashing his fist against the ground.
The black smoke exploded, covering the stage completely.
When it cleared, Connor was gone.