Page 93 of Immortal Origins
Akadian looked at her as though she were nothing more than an insect he could swat away with ease. “Put away your toys.”
“You have no idea what I’m capable of.” Lily glared at him. “Maybe they’d all be alive if I had been there.”
Akadian turned to her, eyes flaring. “Shall we see just how strong youare?”
“I’m always ready,” Lily threw back at him, swords held high.
Ambrose laughed and pat her friend on the back, hoping to defuse the situation before Lily tried to outright murder the second most powerful ruler in the kingdom. She might only have a few days left of survival, but being with Lily and Akadian was a memory she’d cherish until the last moment. She thanked the gods that at least she got to spend this last bit of time with the people she loved.
Ernaline had been rummaging about the palace all day, meeting Ambrose whenever she could manage between jobs, offering as much advice as she could from information she found in the library. She stayed up all night reading and spent all day telling Ambrose everything she discovered about the previous tournaments. She still had no idea what type of monsters she’d for sure be facing, but with Ernaline’s help, she had a much better idea.
Lily insisted on training her all day. Demanding that she use her magick with their training so that Ambrose could use a sword while simultaneously wielding an Element. It was becoming easier to feel the Elements calling her when in the midst of battle and pick out which one she needed. She was finally able to focus on her sword and Magick, though it was stillveryclumsy. Even as they stood there, she could feel the ground pulsing, the wind whistling through her chest, the warmth of the fading sun and the flames that sat just beyond that warmth, coaxing her. If she truly focused, she could feel everything in an almost overwhelmingly calm way. Something she owed entirely to Lily relentlessly training her. It was beginning to make her feel like she actually might survive.
Maybe.
Though, she tried not to get her hopes up too high. Lily was right, this was serious, and she needed to treat it as seriously as it was or it wouldn’t matter how good she became at recognizing her magick, she’d be dead before she could use it. But with her friends all rallied in their own ways to help her… it was hard not to hope.
So, she’d train harder than she ever had in her life over the next few days.She’d prepare for everything and anything she could, ready for whatever the tournament or the gods could throw at her. And she’d either succeed—or die trying.
“Thanks for doing these extra training sessions with me,” Ambrose told Lily as the last rays of sun dipped out of view on the horizon and the cool blue light of early evening fell over the yard. “I honestly don’t know what I would’ve done without your help these last months. You’re a master swordswoman and it’s been an honor learning from you. I couldn’t have asked for a better teacher.” She meant it.
“I can’t let you go in without it, what kind of friend would I be?” Lily nudged her shoulder, her eyes deep with worry. She paused for a few heartbeats before saying, “And stop talking like you’re saying goodbye. You’re gonna be fine. Right? Even if you don’t win, you just have to stay alive until someone else does and you’ll be fine. It’ll all be over.”
There was no possible way either of them could know but Ambrose could feel how much her friend feared for her in how ferociously she’d fought that day. Holding nothing back, she pushed Ambrose to her limits, giving her little room for mistakes in her swordplay or Magick.
“Of course I will,” she promised. But they both knew it was empty.
* * *
Ambrose sat upright in her chair as Ernaline pored over the books she’d found of the last few tournaments. Each one a breakdown of what happened during each round, what monsters they had and how long anyone lasted in it. An entire directory of names, horrifying creatures and torture. Akadian stretched out across a few chairs, eyes closed, as Ernaline stood over the long wooden table, a candle in her hand as she recounted everything she’d learned so far. Having read all day, the only sign that it had taken a slight toll was the loose curls that had fallen out of her usually manicured bun. She’d tucked them behind her ear ratherthan spared any time to fix it. The small dark rings forming under her eyes indicated little sleep. The glow of firelights danced along the walls of the library, illuminating the vast library and the scrolls and leather-bound editions displayed on the wooden shelves.
“This one—” She pointed at a particularly nasty-looking dragon whose flesh barely clung to bone as it bore naked teeth over a rotting skull. With bones that stuck out like sharp ivory blades and an unsettling red glow where its eyes should’ve been. “—Is a Necro Dragon. Vile creatures and a forbidden form of Magick. But the gods don’t follow the laws they make for us.”
“What’s forbidden about it?” Ambrose rubbed the tiredness from her eyes as she tried to get her brain to focus against the late hour and her sore muscles.
“It takes necromancy to create one. The gods don’t particularly like when others play with life or death the way they do, so it’s forbidden for any mage to attempt it. As far as they’re concerned, only the gods get to create and destroy life.” Ernaline turned the pages of the book they were studying as one of the lilacs from her bun fell to the table. Ernaline was a gifted nature mage and always had a different flower growing in the dorms, hidden in her closet. Inspired by the ones she’d find around the palace, it’s what usually had her studying in the library. But, it was a different day. “For anyone else to even try would be an automatic death sentence, no trial.”
“Okay…” Ambrose breathed, pushing herself up to look through the pages at the horrors that could be awaiting her. “So, it really is fair game once it starts huh?”
“Yes,” Ernaline stressed. “This is going to be the hardest thing you’ve ever done. Fighters have been killed within the first minute of the tournament starting. The Grand Arena changes every time so there’s no way of knowing the layout until you’ve already started. There will be an illusion projection so the nobles and royals can watch everything going on from every corner. You’ll be facing monsters—and not to mention the countless other Trial Champions—who will want to kill you. Everything in there will be vying for your head.”
“I think Rowland has probably claimed that honor by now,” Ambrose yawned.
“I’m serious. This isn’t going to be like any of the fights you’ve been in, or training with your brother. This is pure life and death in the worst ways the empire can imagine.” Ernaline frowned and pointed to the next abomination in her book. “This one is a Hydrael. A species of dragon with multiple heads that can all devour you at the same time. It usually sticks to the mountains, only coming out to hunt once a month and can eat its own weight in food. Last time they used it, they starved it for six months before the tournament started. Not something you want to have to fight, especially alone.”
“No kidding,” Ambrose mumbled as she stared at the drawing. A dragon with one head was bad enough. Let alone one with multiple.
“That year was brutal,” Akadian offered from his chair as he stretched his hands high over his head. “The entire tournament ended within twenty minutes. I doubt the gods will be using one of those again. Too quick. Didn’t offer much entertainment when each head could eat a different Trial Champion at a time and it was almost mad from hunger. Wasn’t nearly enough for them after waiting five years.”
“Wow,” Ambrose cringed. “That’s…morbid.”
Akadian shrugged and tilted back in his seat. “Many of the upper class bet small fortunes on the Trial Champions. They weren’t too happy to see all their prospects get eaten before any kind of return.”
“Comforting,” Ambrose joked but her heart wasn’t fully in it. A weight as heavy as a stone dropped into her stomach and found a home there.
“Just focus on staying alive.” Ernaline placed an encouraging hand on her shoulder. “Speaking of which, I heard you fought the Alkijin.” She began flipping through pages until she found the one she was looking for with an ‘ah!’. Turning the book, she showed Ambrose a page with a creature she knew as well as her nightmares. Long salivating teeth against a midnight shadow with piercing red eyes and fingers that were almost entirely claws. She quickly turned away.
“Yeah, I wouldn’t want to have to do it again though, it wasn’t an easyfight.” She recoiled at the memory.
