I can see Kai moving in a whirlwind of attacks now, trying to overwhelm Glacius through the sheer volume of strikes he throws at the other man.Glacius is bleeding from a dozen wounds, moving slower than he had been before and staying on the defensive.He risks a strike in Kai’s direction, presumably seeing an opening.
It’s a trap.Kai weaves out of the way, striking Glacius’ sword from his hand.His net sweeps low, tangling the other man’s legs and bringing him to the ground.Glacius tries to roll and come to his feet, but Kai yanks the net again, keeping him down.He stands over Glacius, spear held high, edge shining with a shimmering field of force.
I can see the triumph shining in Kai’s eyes, along with a determination to kill I’ve seen far too many times before on the faces of my opponents.Another second, and I know that Kai will slay Glacius, and the crowd will probably cheer as he does it.
Then Glacius moves, with a speed that’s surprising, given his wounds.Some survival instinct must have kicked in, the desire to do whatever is required to live.It’s an instinct that runs through so many of the former gladiators, the reason we’re still alive, when others aren’t.He lifts a hand and an icicle as long as his forearm comes into being in his grip.It’s a spike of pure ice, pointed and sharp, and I know what’s going to happen next.
“No!”I cry out, struggling to open the gates to the arena floor, but there’s no time for me to do it.
Glacius moves underneath Kai’s spear, letting the head scrape down his back, partly blocked by his armor, but also opening up his flesh as Kai tries to strike his killing blow.Glacius is more accurate, driving his spike of ice up underneath Kai’s breastplate, into his heart, holding him so close that the two might be clinging to one another in a moment of reconciliation.
I see the shock on Kai’s face, the sudden agony.I watch him jerk, and then go limp.The crowd is silent as Glacius lets his opponent fall.
Then they erupt into a wall of euphoric sound that chills me to my core.
CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE: LYRA
Chaos follows as Kai falls, the people in the crowds shouting and shoving, fighting among themselves and calling out Glacius’ name.
“Glacius!Glacius!”
“The fight is at an end!”Marcus calls out, as I rush out onto the sands of the colosseum, not that it makes much of a difference now.At this point, with Kai already lying still and dead in the middle of the arena, there’s nothing more I can do.
Healers are rushing out towards him, but I know just from looking at him that it’s too late.I saw the blow that defeated him, and I know the icicle Glacius conjured would have pierced his heart, leaving him only seconds to live.Kai is gone now, his body lying broken and still on the ground.
I rush forwards, emotions running through me faster than I can keep up with them.I feel pain at Kai’s death, at the loss of someone who seemed so similar to me in many ways.I feel shame, that I wasn’t able to keep him safe, and that I allowed the games to go ahead at all.
And I feel anger.Anger at myself, anger at everyone who pushed for this moment, anger at Glacius.I rush up to him, that anger blazing in my eyes, and he takes a step back as I approach.Is he afraid of what I’ll do now?Should he be?
A part of me is already reaching out to the creatures around the arena.I can feel the birds there and the small animals, the same ones through whose eyes I was looking before.I could so easily bring them down to attack Glacius.I could set them on the crowd whose bloodlust fueled this moment of death in the colosseum.I could do all of it, and the worst thing is that a part of me wants to.The part of me that makes me the strongest of the beast whisperers is also just a step away from being wild and deadly.
“You killed him,” I snarl.“This was supposed to be a different kind of match, an exhibition, not a death fight.”
“I had no choice,” Glacius says.“You saw him.He was going to kill me if I didn’t kill him first.”
“You could have stepped back,” I insist.“You could have called for an end to the fight.You could have conceded.”
“Concede?Tohim?”Glacius says, in an offended tone.
I’ve heard that tone before among gladiators, heard both aspects of his excuses from them.In Ironhold, we all knew that we had no choice.We fought or we died, it was that simple.I tried to stand by and refuse to fight, but even I reacted when someone was trying to kill me.At the same time, most of the gladiators hated the thought of losing anyway.They wanted to be the strongest and the toughest.They wanted the world to know it.
Above me, a flock of birds is swirling, waiting for me to decide what to do next.
“Lyra!”Marcus is on the sands now, rushing over to me even as the healers lift Kai’s limp and lifeless body, carrying it from the arena floor.“Lyra, you need to stop.”
He puts his hand on my shoulder, a jolt of lightning running through me.It's enough to shock me out of my endless anger, my need to seek revenge on behalf of a young man who wouldn't believe me when I told him that the games were too dangerous for him.
I stare at Marcus, then at Glacius.
“I know this isn't what we intended,” Marcus says.“But we need to finish this properly.”
He goes over to Glacius, who's still bleeding from the wounds Kai inflicted.Marcus raises the other man's arm.
“Ladies and gentlemen your victor: Glacius!”
The crowd roars in response, and I see a renewed look of triumph on Glacius’ face as he stands there with his arm raised.If he regrets Kai’s death, he's doing a good job of hiding it.I stalk from the arena floor, heading up through it, and Marcus is just a pace or two behind me.
“Lyra, wait for me.”
