Page 85 of Of Flame and Fury

The ruby phoenix—a blood phoenix—was larger than Savita, her wings almost twice the width. But Kel knew that Sav was faster,smarter. As the wild phoenix dove and struck out, Sav refused to retaliate. Instead, Sav dashed to the right, then the left, barely evading the ruby phoenix’s dagger-sharp bill.

Sav dodged another strike, swerving so hard Kel flung a hand back to keep herself from falling.

The wild phoenix released a deep, throaty cry. It struck forward, fast as a viper, yet Sav easily avoided the sharp peak of its beak.

Kel kept one hand pressed to her searing wound and the other clutching the pommel. Sav’s movements tossed her around like a puppet and jarred her bleeding hip.

The blood phoenix let out a monstrouscawand dove once more. Savita lurched to the left, almost throwing Kel from the saddle.

The wild phoenix’s talons caught a handful of feathers from Sav’s right wing. Kel winced as Sav wailed in pain, but her phoenix still didn’t attack. She hung in the air, anticipating the blood phoenix’s next move.

The wild phoenix was familiar with this terrain, and used to fighting other phoenixes. But Kel had seen the red light gleaming in Savita’s eyes when chaos had broken out in the clearing. She’d seen the way Sav had battled the other wild phoenix in the sky, leaving nothing but shredded organs and broken feathers around her.

Slowly, the wild phoenix’s attacks grew slower. Its wings heaved faster to stay aloft. The small spurts of fire that had danced across its back were being blown out like candles in a storm.

Only then did Savita attack.

Sav plunged down like an arrow. Kel screamed as Savita speared the wild phoenix’s midriff, a great, meaty section that bowed around Sav’s beak as she pulled back and struck again.

Again. Again.Again.

Kel struggled to keep a grip on the saddle pommel. Savita’s movements were too erratic. The wild phoenix was barely conscious, and still Savita launched forward.

Sav pivoted to attack from another angle, and Kel’s grip slipped. She flung her hand from her wound to reach for the saddle pommel, but her hand was slick with blood.

Savita tilted to the side, and Kel fell.

Limbs too heavy to flail, Kel dropped through the sky like an anchor. Wind whipped her cheeks and she watched red beads float above her, unable to keep pace. Darkness flared across her vision.

Even as screams and smoke surrounded her, Kel wasn’t afraid.

The fall to the forest was short, but not so short that Sav couldn’t catch her.

She’ll catch me. She’ll catch me.

Kel kept falling.

She’ll catch me.

As the black dots turned to a blanket, Kel felt the first slivers of doubt.

THIRTY-SEVEN

Harsh lights forced Kel awake. It took a few blinks to clear the sleep. For too long, all she could see was smoke and a red sky.

Eventually, Kel placed her surroundings. The room was long and empty. There was one figure, a thin girl with dark hair, in a hospital bed at the opposite end of the hall—either dead or asleep, Kel couldn’t tell. A green blanket with floral stitching cocooned her like a body bag, and the square nightstand to her right was crowded with lilies.

The twenty other beds around them were pristine and empty. Kel tried to prop herself up on her elbows. Her arms wobbled and she gritted her teeth. As sweat began pooling down her back, she surrendered back to the bed.

The only light came from the media screen hovering overhead. The sharp colors sent a pang through her temples and she averted her eyes. They snagged on something to her left, an awkward, unmoving shadow at the foot of her bed.

Coup.

Neck kinked to the right, slouched into the folds of an armchair, Coup’s eyes were closed, an open book splayed across his thighs.

She squinted back up at the screen. Some news broadcast flashed to a clip of their last CAPR race. Wild flames tore through the video and Kel was back in Vohre Forest, shrouded by smoke and fire and silver weapons.

She remembered the race that had gone astray. The darkness that drowned her.

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