Page 120 of Trial of Bronze and Blood
Before the mouth of the cave, Dru, who fell back slightly, cries out. He glances back to find a red slash across her leg, blood staining her light pants. The rider, who appeared out of nowhere, lunges for her again. She manages to block their advance as they’re plunged into semi-darkness.
The sound of their hooves reverberates loudly against the tunnel walls. The only light comes from either end of the wide tunnel—Marcus still looks back for Dru, seeing only shadows. Neither her nor the other competitor hold a clear advantage in the dark, but the quicker they get out, the better.
Another clang of swords resounds, followed by a cacophony of high-pitched screeches filling the tunnel. Marcus glances up, finding the source of it in hundreds of reflective eyes.Bats. The creatures detach from the ceiling and swoop down, heading straight for them.
Merda.
Marcus clears the tunnel before the small beasts can touch him. Peeking back over his shoulder, they spew out of the passageway like a swarm of shadows behind Dru—right as the attacker tries to skewer her with his sword. She gets her own sword up in time to stop it from sinking between her ribs, ducking to avoid its upward trajectory. Fear spoils whatever food is left in his stomach from this morning.
Thinking quickly, Marcus angles for the edge of the path, aiming for the thin, rounded posts marking the course. Sheathing his sword, he grabs the nearest one and wrenches it from the uneven ground.
Post in hand, he yanks on his horse’s rein and immediately slows. Dru and the other competitor pass him easily before he digs his heels in and whips the rein to catch back up. In no time at all,he’s closing in on the competitor, who’s poised his sword for another attack.
Marcus brings back the arm gripping the post and throws it as hard as he can without unseating himself. It slices through the air and meets its mark, the pointed tip sinking into the flesh of the man’s back.
Marcus maneuvers around him as he slides off his horse onto the dirt, lifeless.
“Thanks,” Dru says breathlessly once he’s caught up to her, sheathing her sword and gripping her rein with trembling hands. He nods, wishing they could slow down and take a moment to breathe. Already, the hooves of the other competitors gain on them.
A little further down the course, the path narrows again. The canopy gradually disappears, and a high valley expands before them: a breadth of steep ridges layered across one another and blooming with flora border a system of lakes and waterfalls. Marcus breathes in deep, the clean scent of fresh water revitalizing him. He’s seen this path through Anziano from other vantage points and marveled at its beauty; he never thought he’d be caught in the middle of it.
The course takes them over one of the gentler waterfalls, and Marcus tightens his hold on the reins through the shallow water.We’re lucky it hasn’t rained in a while, he thinks as he slows the horses to a brisk trot over river rocks and mud. Although, glancing up at the darkening clouds, that might?—
A squelching sound echoes behind him, cutting off his thoughts. Before he can turn around, a rider with a blue arm band passes close by him, her stomach nearly cut in half. Her wide gold eyes catch on his as her sword tumbles from her grasp and clinks off the sharp rocks. Marcus watches her horse navigate along the path until veering toward the edge of the waterfall. In a final act of defiance, the beast throws the lifeless body from the saddle and down into the pool far below before trotting off.
He glances back at Dru to find her wiping off her blood-soaked sword andsheathing it again.
As soon as they leave the valley, the trees encroach on them once more until the Multum Sea appears again.We’re nearing the end.
The sky chooses that moment to open up. Light rain soaks him to the bone instantly, water falling down his hair and into his eyes. Although it’s a relief from the oppressive weather, it’ll make gripping a sword more difficult.
A few competitors pass them without incident, which worries Marcus. The Imperium’s new rule distracts him more than he wants to admit in this last section of the race, and he nearly misses a tight turn in the terrain.
“Everything all right up there?” Dru asks, worry sullying her question.
“Fine,” he grumbles, shaking his head to clear it and spraying water everywhere.
“Well, good,” she says, though she couldn’t have heard him, “because we’re about to be in some serious shit.”
On a short straightaway along the cliffs, he looks back over his shoulder to find a large rider clad all in black gaining on them. The brightness of his red arm band blazes like fiery embers. Head shaved, a ridged pink scar cuts across his neck and exposed chest. He carries no weapon except the black, barbed chain in his hand. Marcus doesn’t remember seeing this man at the first trial, but he was a bit distracted then.
Before he can think of how to handle him, Dru comes up beside Marcus and hands him her rein without looking him in the eye. Rain slickens her dark hair and her tunic clings to her frame.
“If I don’t make it, keep going.” She wipes the water from her forehead. “You can’t finish in last place or they’ll kill you.”
“What do you mean if you don’t make it?” Marcus demands. “You’re not doing anything stupid.”
She grins. “It’s what I do best.”
With both hands grasping the reins, Marcus can’t reach for her. “Drusilla, don’t.”
She turns from him as the black rider comes close enough tothrow his chain over her, likely looking to pull her from her horse. But instead of allowing herself to be caught in its snare, she throws her arm up and closes her hand around it. She hisses from the points puncturing her skin, and he nearly decides to forget about the horses to help her.
But youarehelping her, he reminds himself,by keeping both your horses to the course.
Glancing back again, he watches her yank on the chain with both hands, likely hoping to catch the black rider off-guard and pull him from his horse instead. He barely flinches, flexing the muscles in his arms to maintain control.
She glances back at Marcus, and their gazes meet. She’s decided something, and by the look in her eye, he won’t like it.
