Yes, actually. “I was just thinking about how bold it is of you to tell us not to be scared after just delivering the news that eleven of us are about to die. Thank you for the heads-up, really, but I’d just rather you tell us where we are instead of joking around.”
The fairy cleared his throat, dragging his palm down the line of buttons on his shirt. “It was just my poor attempt to lighten up your mood, but I believe my timing was off,” he quickly answered with a pout. “You’ll find out the answer to your question later, but now, we must fulfill our duty as your guarding fairies.”
The sound of his snapping fingers echoed, and before I could register what was happening, I was consumed by the darkness. As if I no longer existed as a person, but as a soul trapped in a shadowy realm.
Seconds later—the mere blink of an eye, it seemed—I found myself seated before tall, monolithic columns, weathered by centuries of sun and storm. They reached toward the heavens, their rough surfaces caressing the light flooding in where a perfect circle sat. I blew out a breath, but it was absorbed and carried away by the wind sneaking through the gaps between the pillars.
My focus wavered for an instant as a subtle pressure began to build at the sides of my head.
The sky…was different—a vague dark blue, a backdrop for the radiant sun, with no clouds in sight. Even the air itself felt unusual, heavy with the weight of history. The structure seemed to be pulled from my mother’s Greek mythology books, as if the stories had solidified before my eyes. And perhaps they had.
“I’m out of here,” a man with a shaved head declared as he strode past us and out of the circular structure. Two others followed him in an instant.
As most moved to leave, the sky split in two with a thunder. A few screams cracked in the air, people running to shield away from a potential storm—but there was nowhere to hide in the open place.
Columns trembled. The ground shivered. The air thickened.
The three who attempted to leave toward their freedom halted abruptly, their gazes scanning the surroundings, trying to pinpoint the source of this strange occurrence.
I swallowed, taking step after step until my back hit a pillar.
A blinding bolt of lightning slammed into the arena’s heart, the impact shoving a cloud of dust and smoke into the air, obscuring our view. Choking on the fine particles reaching my nostrils, I coughed, my lungs burning as I squinted through the thick fog, desperate to see what was shifting ahead.
Was that a person?
As the question arose in the depths of my mind, I turned to stone, mouth parted and eyes wide. My heart pounded violently in my chest when a ghostly figure knelt between wisps of white smoke, pressing one knee into the rough concrete as it pushed to rise, its heavy crown tilting.
“You, mortals, own no plan, but too much pride. How quaint.”
The place filled with a dark laugh, and the sound of it blustered, almost as if dozens of speakers were under its powerful voice. Like a fleeting dream, the smoke vanished to unveil the tallest man I had ever seen. But it wasn’t his height that had my fists clenching.
Under the sun, his white eyes flashed, a silent testament to the predatory nature within. His head turned slowly, his silver hair softly grazing his shoulders as he held our gaze, one by one. When he made it to me, I held my breath, forcing my chin to push up just the slightest.
The man savored watching us take him in, the beast inside probably purring at the attention.
“W-what is that thing?” Theo whispered from beside me.
“I feel sick,” another one gasped, immediately vomiting as the words tumbled out.
The mumbling continued, but I looked at him, scanning for evidence that could confirm he was who I thought he was. I examined his white robe, flowing from his left shoulder to his knees, cinched by a gold belt. When I reached his eyes, they were already locked on me. Deadly curious stare. He raised a brow in challenge just before he squinted, head tilting.
Agitation spread through the crowd, and with a devious smile, the man snapped his fingers, breaking the sky in two once again. The voices came to a stop, our attention moving above where lightning sped to the ground.
Well,shit.
He was who I thought he was.
His hand shot up, and as a bolt of lightning struck, it solidified into a weapon within his grasp.
“What kind of wizard is he?” someone asked from beside me, but I didn’t move my head to see where the masculine voice came from.
“He’s not a wizard,” I whispered, thinking no one would hear, but every head turned to me, including the so-called wizard’s.
I cursed myself in my mind.
My skin prickled under the unsolicited attention, and a gulp pushed from my throat down to my stomach as the man marched toward me, leaving behind a swathe of pulverized concrete. It looked less like a person had stood there and more like a meteorite had crashed.
He didn’t move his eyes off me as he neared. I instinctively pressed myself harder into the column, my palms lying flat onits surface. My nails scraped over the concrete, breath held. Even the room quieted, buzzing in anticipation.
