Page 13 of A Warrior's Fate

Isla lifted her head to it and squinted despite the shadow that cast gray upon her face. Her narrowed eyes took in the barrier’s surface, all the crevices and, thankfully, shallow cracks it had gathered over its centuries-old existence. Behind the border lay some of the more horrendous things she’d likely see in her lifetime—beasts known as the embodiment of fear itself. If all held up as it had, she’d never have to face them again but would be ready for another encounter.

Her body tingled with nerves and excitement. This was it. Today was the day.

“You know what to do, right?”

Isla snapped her attention away from the Wall to Adrien who was walking at her side. Sebastian had been on the opposite side at one point—offering his own warrior and big brother guidance—but then bounded off, jabbering something about a bet.

“Stay low,” she recited.

“And?”

“Keep it in front of me and go for the legs.”

“Good.” Adrien’s expression was serious, though, still at ease. “They’re massive and dumb as shit, but that’s what makes them dangerous. They can only think of one thing, and it’s killing you. It won’t stop fighting until it’s dead or you are.”

Isla swallowed and looked over at the Wall. She reached out and ran her hand along it, stone dust accumulating on her fingertips and flecks of rubble falling to the earth.

She knew all the details. She’d heard them countless times in the scary stories told to her in her youth and the endless hours of instruction barked in training. But hearing them now, so close to the grand barrier that shielded her people’s greatest nightmares, the warnings held new weight.

“Got it.”

She dropped her hand back to her side and opened her mouth to add on but was cut off by a heavy thud on her back. It was accompanied by warmth around her shoulders. There was no need for her to turn to know who it was, but she did anyway.

Sebastian had wedged himself between them, his hair, which held a more golden hue than his sister’s, a wild mess atop his head. The curls poked at Isla’s face as he leaned down to speak lowly between them, bearing most of his weight on her side.

“Alright, Pudge, I really need you to lock in here.”

Pudge, a nickname given to her by her doting brother during her rounder days as a child. Despite the fact she’d grown since then, slimmed down, and gained muscle from all her training, the name, albeit fitting less and less, still carried through to their older years.

Recalling Sebastian’s utterances before he’d gone off earlier, and knowing her sibling all too well, Isla gave him a dead stare. “What did you do?”

Sebastian flashed a snake-oil grin. “I have a lot of money on you being second in this thing, so you have to—”

Second?

Isla shrugged him off. “You think I’ll be second?”

“You think you’ll be first?” Sebastian scoffed. “And you say I ‘have a complex’. You’re hunting with an alpha.”

“So?” Isla snapped, but then she processed.

An alpha?

She assumed Sebastian meant a future alpha, an heir. Actual in-power alphas never went into the Hunt, save a select few but those had long passed.

It wasn’t a requirement to go through the warrior rite to rule a kingdom, though, it did help prove an alpha’s strength to his people, which in the end only boosted morale, solidified trust, and instilled just enough fear to never cross them. But the immense dangers of the trial which made a victory so exulted were what made the participation by those in the highest of places avert it.

To compensate, heirs were trained and ran in the Hunt before they came to power. Same show of strength, same effect, but with less hierarchical risk. As horrible as it sounded, there could be another offspring waiting in the wings to take the fallen’s former place, or there would be enough time for the alpha and luna to produce another.

There hadn’t been any talk of an heir in this year’s running. Though they typically trained separately, the news would’ve spread.

“What are you talking about? There are no heirs this year,” Isla said.

“No, there isn’t,” her brother confirmed, then realization took over his face. “No one’s told you?”

Isla didn’t like how jubilant his features were becoming. “Told me what?”

Sebastian couldn’t keep his smile at bay. She wasn’t sure if it was a universal trait of siblings, but he found such joy in delivering news that would make her angry. “The new Alpha of Deimos is in the Hunt.”

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