Page 76 of Fallen Stars

Enzo remained kneeling as the remnants of Elara’s shadows drifted away. His body racked with sobs as the gloam of the woods enveloped him, a Sun with tatters of a shadow in his palms.

Chapter Twenty-Five

Elara felt Ariete’s charm surround her—battle cries and the scent of sweet blood coating her as his arms wrapped around her, pressing her close. She couldn’t see for a moment, utter darkness enveloping her. She fought against him, biting and kicking before he finally relinquished his hold. She went to take a step away from him and screamed.

She was suspended on a swing high in the air, atrapezeshe realised, a yawning pit below her. Surrounding her were rows upon rows of red velvet seats, blank-eyed souls in every one. As she gripped the ropes on either side of her, she heard a cold chuckle—one that had chased her for months.

“When, oh when will you learn, dear Elara, that you simply can not dupe me? I have mastered the art of war, of strategy. How arrogant do you have to be to think I wouldn’t feel you running around in my dreams?”

Elara turned her head carefully, finally laying eyes once more upon the King of Stars. His face was mere inches from hers, as beautiful and repulsive as ever. His body pressed against her as they stood on the swing together, a black top hat gracing his head, red velvet suit with tails cladding his body, and a whip in one hand, the other arm hooked around the swing’s rope nonchalantly.

Rage boiled within Elara, and she tried to abate it.Calm, Elara reminded herself.Remain calm.

“You know what I’m here for. Give me Enzo’s tether before I lock you in your own dreams and watch you die a slow, maddening death.”

Ariete towered above her and leaned over. Elara had nowhere to move as he enclosed the space between them. “It’s sweet how you still believe you’re in control of this situation. But I’m the ringmaster. And these are my dreams after all.”

He peered down to the pit below them, and Elara heard an ominous growl drift up to them.

“I’ve decided that you can have Enzo’s tether.”

Elara’s eyes narrowed. “What?”

Ariete shrugged. “It’s yours.”

It was a trick. It had to be. “On what terms?” she snarled.

Ariete’s smile was feral. “Clever girl. Just one term. You strike a bargain with me.”

Elara laughed. “Over my dead body. I will kill you and pry the tether from your cold, dead hands.”

Ariete’s voice was soft. “We’ll see.”

Another roar sounded from within the pit and Elara flinched, then she grew angry at herself for showing any sign of fear.

“You have two options, darling. Before you lies your escape.”

At the other side of the ring a small platform appeared with a red door.

“Get to the other side and through that door, and I’ll give you the tether. I’d be careful though. That pit below is a trancehole—one that will rip your tether from your soul before you can scream if you fall.”

Panic seized Elara, her body going rigid as she peered into the darkness. An abyss yawned below her, a deep cavernous maw of darkness that beckoned if she so much as slipped.

And she heard sounds within it, could see shadows shifting.

“What are those?” she hissed as Ariete grinned.

“My demons. Oh, they’re hungry,” Ariete murmured, his eyes fixed on the pit below. “And oh, so very real.”

“This is a dream,” Elara snarled. “No matter how you may try to convince me otherwise.”

Ariete chuckled. “Is it? You see, we may be in a dream realm, but did you ever stop to think about the people here, themonsters?” He paused. “My souls, these are. Every death that I’ve collected, every soul on my conscience—and a god of war has many.”

Elara was used to his long soliloquies by now and half tuned him out as she began to form a plan of escape.

“And in that pit are creatures not of this world, no, but of my imagination, mycreation. Now what could be more terrifying than that?”

Elara didn’t allow herself to feel anything, channelling Eli as she forced a calm composure over her tumultuous emotions. She understood nightmares, knew that to not become lost in one, one could never bow down to fear.

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