Page 56 of Empire of Flame and Thorns

Fury crackles through my veins.

Pushing myself into a sitting position, I curl my fingers into the damp grass and channel my magic. Then I shove it towards the excited spark in Tommen’s chest.

Just as I predicted, there is a spark there. And it’s already massive after his little victory. I pour my magic into it.

Tommen starts climbing faster.

I increase his excitement even more, turning it from enthusiastic anticipation into a wild frenzy.

He climbs faster and faster, desperately eager to reach the top of the wall, until he’s moving at breakneck speed.

And then it happens. In his frenzy, he misses the next handhold.

I sit there on the damp grass with a vicious smile on my lips and watch as he plummets to the ground.

He hits it hard. On his side.

Smug victory pulses through my chest like golden sparkles as I’m rewarded with not only the sound of shattering glass, but also breaking wood. His entire box is now ruined beyond repair.

I grin at his shocked expression as he stares down at the splinters and shards on the ground.

Revenge really is sweet.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Air saws through my throat as I suck in deep breaths. The next hedge corridor opens up into some kind of wider space up ahead, and I’m sure that something awful awaits me there.

By my best estimate, I’m about halfway through the maze.

Apart from the ice wall, the other clan leaders have also given us some nasty surprises. Gremar Fireclaw used his magic to create a field of lava a few corridors back, which forced us to climb along the hedge walls to get through it.

I drag in deep breaths and try to calm my pounding heart as I finally reach the end of the corridor.

Just as I expected, a larger space opens up before me.

To my surprise, it’s filled with people.

Frowning, I squint at the scene before me. Why are there so many people still here? I’m in the middle of the pack, so all of these people should already be far ahead of me. And why is it so dark?

I glance upwards.

Oh.

The area where the next hedge corridor should be located has been blocked off by a smooth rock wall rising straight up to thetop of the hedges. No doubt courtesy of the leader of the Brown Dragon Clan, who has earth magic.

The rock wall then continues up over the entire space, making it impossible to climb over it. The only way forward is a narrow hole in the ground. And since only one person at a time can crawl through what is likely a tunnel that runs the entire length of the next corridor, it has created a bottleneck.

Behind me, leaves rustle.

I glance over my shoulder to find a woman trying to climb up the hedge wall behind me. It’s no doubt an effort to make it to the top of that wall, which would then allow her to run across the top of the stone roof instead. But three quarters of the way up, the leader of the Brown Dragon Clan, in his dragon form, suddenly sticks his head over the edge of the roof and snaps his jaws at her. She shrieks and falls back down to the ground.

With a sigh, I turn back to the hole in the ground. He must be guarding the stone roof to prevent anyone from getting past that way. Which means that the only way forward is through that tunnel.

Somewhere higher above the rock wall, other dragons roar impatiently.

I drift closer to the tunnel entrance.

A crowd is already gathered there. Thankfully, Alistair is nowhere to be seen. He has been at the front of the group this whole time, along with Isera, so he must already be through it.

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