Page 119 of The Song of Sunrise
Armor? What the fuck?
Sabra’s snarling laugh ricochets off the stone walls. Armor is not standard protocol for our formals.She must have been warned about the task.
I ready two more stars and hurl them toward the back of the shadowed aisle. I can barely make out her lithe form, but the grunt followed by silence tells me I hit my mark.
“Let’s go. Behind me.” Castor leads me away from the dead end, past Sabra. He’s limping pretty badly.
“Men,” I mumble and tug on his hand until he is behind me. “No, get behind me. I’m clearly in better shape than you right now.” Even though the burn on my leg would disagree. Castor must be in a lot of pain, because he does not argue back. He takes my six as we edge past Sabra. She is slumped against the side of the wall with one of my stars wedged into her armpit, the other on her thigh. She must have knocked herself out against the wall on her fall.
We brush past and re-enter the maze.
“We have to be getting closer,” I say. “How many champions have you passed?”
“Vega and Kauri are out, passed them earlier on.”
“Selene and Leaf are out too. Got held up by a trapped section.”
Castor’s voice is strained and low. “I’m not sure about Pictor, but I think he’s out too.”
“I can confirm that one. He and Cassiopeia dueled right at the start. I doubt he made it any further. Have you seen Artemis or Gryphon?”
“Not sure. I passed Gryphon and Ragnar dueling on my way here, but then had to change course when Sabra saw me.”
Ragnar and Gryphon are the two largest cadets at the academy. My hopes sink for Gryphon. “Ragnar is a third-stone; chances are, he beat Gryphon in the duel.”
Castor grunts his agreement with a haggard breath.
“With Sabra out, that leaves you, me, and Ragnar.” Great, the big, hulking, red-headed beast with a scar on his eyebrow is the only one left with us.
“We cannot let the Jord Lord win. Ragnar has to be taken out,” Castor says.
I shiver at the thought of the Jord Court gaining any more favorability with the treaty. Especially since they cannot even handle their own rogue attacks on human villages. I’m not even sure how they are managing to remain allied members of the treaty. Surely Elder Markus is sharing this information along with the Lux’Civitas.
“Agreed,” I say.
We keep a brisk pace for a while, passing another tarthill that growls at Castor until I swat it away. It disappears into the stone walls immediately.
After a while, Castor’s pace begins to slow.
“You were right,” he mutters.
“About what?”
“My father,” he says. “I overheard him talking with Elder Davenpath before the ceremony. He was rigging certain doors to lead straight into traps, other champions, or creatures… except mine.”
I think about my door. There weren’t any traps or creatures… unless therewasone. Tarthills have been keenly avoiding me this whole maze. I smirk, knowing who must be responsible.
“I should have believed you from the start, but I let my pride get in the way. I thought my father would have let me win anhonest fight, but instead, he set me up. How can I possibly go forward knowing that I was given an easy path? There is no honor in that.”
“I’m sorry,” is all I can offer. Above, faint traces of light trickle down, the last dregs of night resisting to give way to the imminent dawn.
“No. Don’t be. I care about you, Akemi, and you were right. I should have believed you.”
A low, vicious growl vibrates so loudly I can feel it through my shoes. A dark gray ghosthound turns the corner ahead, prowling forward with its shadowed head hanging low. Saliva drips from its rows of pointed teeth, eyes glowing red in the darkness.
Between us and the creature, the wall breaks to the left. I look at Castor. He notices the aisle as well. He nods and we both charge forward. I throw three stars in the span of seconds. Castor unsheathes his curved dual blades from his back.
We run side by side, then suddenly, Castor shoves me into the opening. I lose my footing and roll haphazardly before standing again. The burned skin on my leg rips open. My vision goes white.
