Page 122 of Trial of Thorns
I don’t account for the rush those words send through me, but luckily our enemy’s reaction is way worse.
Flames roar toward us from behind the boulder still more than twenty feet away. Two male screams reverberate over the roar of the flames, as sand and rock fly. Drake and Tyadin scramble to get away from their hiding place, where they’d burn alive with Brielle’s temper tantrum. They each leap from their cover and Rev and I leap behind the closest tree. The flames recede quickly, and we each lob daggers at Brielle.
She ducks behind the boulder, missing our blades, but the magically-created barrier crumbles at her feet leaving her in the open with nowhere to hide. “Stupid dwarf!” she hollers, leaping away. “Can’t you do anything?”
But Tyadin stands, shoulders back, a massive blade in his hand, the skin over his forearm is red and blistering from Brielle’s fiery outburst. “Would you like to see what I can do?” he asks with a smile, just before swinging the blade in her direction.
She squeals and rolls, just missing decapitation.
Yes! Tyadin is on our side after all.
“Dammit, dwarf!” Drake yells. “Can’t stay loyal for even a day?”
“You think I joined you for any reason other than survival? Stupidfae.”
My heart leaps. If we could eliminate Brielle and Drake now, we could go into the final trials with only the three of us.
A roar of flame flies at Tyadin’s head at the same time as Drake’s sword. Tyadin dodges both attacks, diving away with a holler.
Tyadin is on the ground as we reach him. I just barely block Drake’s killing swing, inches from Tyadin’s nose. He’s not fast enough for Drake.
Rev takes on Brielle, who’s snarling, her blade covered in blue flame. She’s faster than I’d have expected. Her rage fuels her power, making her a fair match for Rev.
Drake however, can’t take me. He disarms me quickly, but I don’t let that deter me in the slightest. He thinks he has the upper hand, him with a sharp sword and me with nothing. But I smile as I dodge his sword, once, twice, a third time. He screams in rage. “Die you stupid bitch!” But that comment only makes me laugh.
I keep dodging him and maneuver him away from the others. The moment he’s clear, I send a blast of raging power at him. His eyes are wide in terror as his body is thrown from the island, his stupid hair flowing beautifully until he splashes into the sparking water. At least he’d be proud of how he looked as he lost.
I turn toward Brielle and Rev. He blocks her flaming blade but doesn’t take the opportunity to swing. “Stop holding back,” I yell at him.
“Kill her if you have to!” Tyadin shouts.
I leap toward their fight. If he won’t kill her, I will.
Magic rips from my body, and I notice Rev doing the same. Our black and white power ripples, swirling together and flying toward Brielle. She cries out as the combined magic rips into her, smashing her into the sandy beach. She stirs in only moments but we don’t move.
Panting, Rev and I stop and watch as she clamors for the water, toward her ally. Not one of us moves as she swims out into the open water.
“We left them alive,” I say, knowing it was stupid.
“We made a choice,” Rev says.
“Did we?” I watch him as he watches Brielle and Drake swim away. We’ll have to fight them again in the next trial. Was mercy worth it now? Or does he mean that he has decided my fate?
“Are you okay?” Rev asks as he approaches our dwarfish friend, still sprawled out in the sand. Rev reaches out an arm to help him up. “What happened?”
Tyadin accepts Rev’s helping hand and pulls himself up to his feet. “Once I was separated from you two, they made me an offer.” He wipes the white sand from his clothes. “They wanted numbers back on their side and I knew I was dead if I didn’t accept. They bicker like an old married couple. It was so annoying. If I hadn’t already planned to betray them the first chance I got, that would have pushed me over the edge.”
Rev chuckles.
Tyadin nods. “They’re idiots if they thought I’d be loyal to them.”
“So, what’s this task?” I ask.
He nods toward the fire. “Stare into it for a minute. It’ll show you something horrific, but you can’t look away. It gives you instructions for the final day of the challenge, but it’s nothing we didn’t already expect.”
I nod and look into the blazing fire. For several seconds, all I see are dancing red flames. Then they shift and change. Shadows emerge, growing sharper until the image is as clear as a TV screen. Brielle is standing before me, a black bird in her hands. My stomach drops, ice fills my limbs. “No,” I whisper.It’s not real, it’s not real. It’s not real, I chant as Brielle twists Raven’s head from her body.
I cover my mouth with my hand but keep watching. Finally, the image shifts to the Flicker Court and focuses on the thorn gates. “There are no more clues. Find your way back,” the flames hiss, and then the images fade. I rip my gaze from the illusion and fall to my knees, stomach clenching wildly.
