Page 89 of Courting War
Nefeli cackled in response. “No helping from the gladiator circle.” Her haunting laugh continued, and a silver cross decorated with weapons popped out of the sand. “Choose your weapons, and let the games begin.”
Morrigan’s face paled. It was the manifestation of the fear she’d shared with him—the fear of not being strong enough, of not trusting her new body to act as she needed it to.
She glanced at him, their eyes locking for a moment. Both recognized the difficulty that lay before them.
Holding her head high, she faced the assortment of weapons that clung to the cross. Swords glinted under the watchful gaze of the cave light. Longswords, broadswords, greatswords, rapiers, and katanas. All waiting for carnage. Yet no guns because modern technology was outlawed in the games.
Morrigan picked up a few and smelled the blades, checking for poisons. Then she lifted the javelins and tested their balance, checking to ensure they’d fly quickly and straight through the wind.
It was fascinating to watch. She was a weapons master.
Knowing precisely how to wield every weapon from the broadsword to the bow to throwing stars.
She treated each with respect and dignity, touching them like newborn babies. Morrigan set three aside before moving on to a more intimate weapon: the sai. They weren’t the most practical in a melee—that prize would probably go to the halberd—but from the sparkle in her eye, she seemed to love these the most.
Many weapons killed from afar, but a sai killed up close and personal.
Sliding them into her belt, she nodded and stepped back from the display. As she did, the cross disappeared, sucked under the sand.
“Your first word,” the booming voice echoed, and from the sand emerged a massive hydra. Was he spelling the name of the creature?
The beast started with five serpent heads, all snapping and dancing around Morrigan.
She twisted her broadsword in her hand, standing tall before the beast. “Let’s do this.”
She feinted past one of the heads, sliding beneath its teeth, trying to get a clear shot at the beast’s stomach. But she wasn’t fast enough, and a second head grazed her shoulder.
“Fuck,” she said, ducking around another head, switching hersword arm. The pain must have been intense for her not to want to hold the broadsword with her dominant hand.
“Kel, I don’t mean to rush you, but you might want to start spelling,” Cecile said, watching the battle unfold, wincing as another snake glided along Morrigan’s torso.
She panted, and blood dripped down her corset. But she didn’t give up.
Neither would Kellyn.
“Right.” Kellyn gulped. “Spelling. H . . .” he hesitated, having no idea how to spell the word. “H . . .I?” He guessed.
“Wrong,” the wind whispered, and from the sand sprung a second Hydra.
Morrigan loosed an expressive string of curses as she dodged ten heads.
Shit, shit, shit.
Sweat dripped from Kellyn’s forehead, and he glanced at the statues’ cameras clustering the sides of the cave. The whole world was watching, seeing his failure on full display.
“You can do this, Kel,” Morrigan shouted and rolled out of the way of the hydra’s acid, barely stopping before the side of the island. Her hair wasn’t so lucky; a loose strand fell into the water and sizzled, melting away. “Take a breath and just think about it.”
Kellyn inhaled sharply.
“We can do this,” she said, jumping up and tossing the broadsword to the ground underneath the hydra. “Together.”
Sliding past its jaws, Morrigan hurled herself between the beast’s legs, slicing them with her sais. Being smaller and faster was a definite advantage against a giant. As it fell to the ground, she clutched her broadsword from the sand and cut straight up, disemboweling the beast.
It fell to the ground dead and disappeared into smoke, leaving a black echo of its form as it left.
Turning, Morrigan faced the second monster, but as she stepped, parrying its jabs, two more hydras leaped from the black stain in the sand.
Kill one and two appeared.
