“Other specimens? Well, that’s just great,”I reply sarcastically.
“When you see a creature, describe it to me, and I can give you the run down, and point out its weaknesses. But you’ll have to be careful not to get yourself into trouble before I can explain them to you,”Raith says.
I nod, glad to have his voice in my ear.“Okay, well there’s this lake monster thing with a large, spined fin,”I say.“Any weaknesses?”
“Nope,”Raith answers abruptly.“Stay away from it.”
My jaw drops.“What? How is that helpful?”
“Because now you know it doesn’t have any weaknesses,”Raith says.“That’s a taseral. It prefers to reside in large bodies of water, but it can also walk on land. It’s massive, usually growin’ to around thirteen-feet long, with four clawed feet that it uses to hold its prey before eating their heads, and then devourin’ the rest of their bodies. Its skin is near indestructible, its eyes have leathery hoods that come down to protect themwhen its eyes are targeted, and it has incredibly good hearin’. So like I said, stay away from it.”
“Everything must have a weakness,”I reply, not willing to believe the creature is impossible to defeat.
“Well, I guess it does,”Raith concedes.“There’s a soft fleshy section on the underside of its belly where a blade could penetrate, but the creatures walk with their bellies draggin’ along the earth, so unless you’re in the water beneath them, it’s unlikely you could get a good shot at it.”
I take a moment to let this information sink in. Throughout all of our lessons, swimming training wasn’t on the list, and I can’t remember if that’s a skill I’ve learned in the past.“Okay, stay away from the taseral, or whatever it is. Got it.”
I’m distracted when Ian’s cruel voice cuts across the arena, drawing my attention to where Ian stands with Satine, Ed, Paiton, and Izzy. “Oh goodie, Jericho’s finally awake!” Ian calls out as the group circles Jericho like a pack of hunting wolves, and Ian wrenches Jericho to his feet, before wrapping his arm across the man’s shoulders. “And just in time for all the fun.”
With his other hand, Ian draws his sword, pointing the blade directly at the section of jungle forest. “How ’bout you take one for the team, hey Jericho? Be a good little sacrifice and go find out what’s hiding in those trees, will you?”
“A s-sacrifice?” Jericho stutters, shaking with fear as he turns his gaze from the amphitheater stands and focuses on the trees dressed in thick vines.
“Well yeah, if you’re going to die, you may as well be useful to us,” Ian drawls, not even pretending that Jericho might survive.
Satine snickers, drawing her sword as well. “You heard him. Off you go.” She gestures to the same trees as Ian.
When Jericho still doesn’t move, Ian glares at him and spits on the sand. “Now,” he demands, his expression hard.
Instinctively, I take a step forward. “Don’t—” I start to say without thinking, but Kenzie grabs my arm.
“You try and save him, and they’ll kill you in an instant,” she hisses at me.
“Listen to your friend, treasure. Now isn’t the time to be heroic,”Galen drawls.“You’ll witness much more death before this is over.”
I hate hearing that. And I hate the idea that Jericho will die simply because he’s not as strong as Ian and the others. At least, not in the way that counts in this arena. Biting my tongue, I watch tensely as Jericho walks on shaky legs toward the tall trees.
“At least now we’ll see what’s lurkin’ in there,”Raith comments, chuckling.
I hold my breath as Jericho moves closer to the jungle. He’s almost at the first layer of trees when the ground begins to shake. I crane my neck, trying to see past the students who are standing in front of me, and I get a better view just as Jericho screams in terror. A dark patch appears on the back of Jericho’s trousers, and I don’t see what grabs him. One moment Jericho is standing on the sand, and the next, something has sucked him into the darkness between the trees.
“What the hell was that?” Kenzie whispers in horror from beside me.
A ripple of fear travels through the students, and even Ian and Ed look a little unsettled. That is, until Ian starts laughing, and the others join in. The crowd in the stands goes wild, like seeing the first taste of blood on the sands has sent them into a frenzy.
My stomach roils.“It happened too fast,”I tell my mates, forcing myself to think of the different zenali creatures the guys captured and what they’ve told me about them. This could have been a number of those beasts.
“It’s a nasken,”Raith says.
“How do you know that?”I ask.
“It has three curved, red talons on each foot,”Raith rumbles.“It was fast, but not quick enough for me to miss that. It’ll be hard to kill but not impossible if you work together with a few other students. The creature has a frill that lifts around its neck when it attacks, and there’s a weak spot right behind the frill where its leathery skin isn’t quite as thick. Drive a blade in there and it’ll fall.”
The warmth drains from my face, because the idea of having to do that sounds terrible, but I guess I should be glad to know the creature has any weakness at all. If nothing else, it helps me to clamp down on the fear that had been starting to eat away at me.
Many of the students still look stunned when Queen Krosia rises to her feet, lifting from her throne and stretching her arms wide. “Warriors of Kiru,” she says, her voice carrying around the amphitheater as she addresses the crowd. “It is with great excitement that I gather you here tonight to witness the graduation games. But first, let us recite the prophecy that started it all.” She places her palm against her chest, and around the amphitheater, the warriors rise from their seats, copying the gesture. The originals do the same, standing behind the queen, and the students lift their hands, pressing them to their chests as well. As one, we chant the words:
Where the black sky weeps and shadows reign
