I narrow my eyes, thinking back to the tremendous undercurrent of power I felt when he showed his spirit energy to block the brute’s swing. If he decides to kill me, it won’t be a matter of a step or two.
So I take the steps and close the distance between us. His palm is smooth and warm when I pick up Arrow. I slip the blade into my sleeve, feeling whole once more.
“Thank you,” I say. His lips curl, and I think I see something genuine behind that smirk. “What did he mean when he said the tournament starts now?”
“Rumor has it that the trials begin as soon as we set foot beyond these mountains. The first challenge is to get through the Way of Ghosts and cross the border of the Kingdom of Sky. What better way to test for strength than to see who survives a death trap of monsters and demons from the Kingdom of Night?”
I struggle to reconcile this turn of events with the recollections from my father’s journal entries. “I thought they would train us before the trials.”
“Train us? I highly doubt that.” Red’s eyes glint. “As far as I know, we’re on our own.”
I am beginning to realize how underprepared I am to survive this tournament. Not when my competition is the likes of this man and Yán’lù.
“Keep that stinger of yours sharp, because no one will see it coming.” Red touches his neck again, where the blood from the wound I gave him glistens dark beneath the moonlight. He makes a quick gesture; the air shifts with spirit energy as a talisman forms, dissipating the blood. “Well, I can’t say it’s been a pleasure, but ithasbeen fun. I hope to see you on the other side, little scorpion.”
Before I can summon a response, the jade pendant against my clavicle heats.
A message has come through.
My heart lurches into my throat as I fish it from my collar and hold it up. In the moonlight, I make out a single character:
RUN.
4
Wingbeats in the skies.
I don’t have time to ponder the message from my pendant and how it knows, how it spoke to me when I didn’t ask it for help this time. I do the only thing I can think of in that moment.
With Fleet in my hands, I leap at Red’s retreating back.
He’s so quick, he almost reacts in time. I see him turn, the moonlight casting his eyes like coins that reflect the color of his cloak. He reaches for me, but I crash into him first and we slam into the long grass.
He flips me easily and pins me against the ground, his legs twining against mine to hold them down as I kick. I bring up Fleet, but he knocks it from me before I even realize his hand has moved. Then his fingers are at my throat, his body crushing the air from my lungs.
I can’t speak, can’t breathe. Stars pop in my vision.
Ironic, that I was trying to save him—and now he is going to kill me.
His face is so calm, nearlybored,and still undeniably beautiful as he lowers it to mine. “Fool me once, I let you go. Fool me twice…” His fingers tighten.
I choke, but that’s when a shadow falls over us. We’re beneath a great cathaya tree, its branches fracturing the skies and the moon—and I see it the moment the slivers of light wink out.
The practitioner darts a glance over his shoulder just as the creature comes into view. Its wings are so massive, the air stirs the silvergrasses all around me and the ground jolts as it lands in the clearing where we confronted Yán’lù, where the rest of the convoy was slain.
Red swears softly, and his fingers lift from my windpipe. Even with my vision clearing, there is no mistaking the beast that stands in the clearing less than twelve paces from us.
From here, it resembles a winged tiger the size of my house—but as it turns and stalks into the moonlight, I see that it is nothing but a mass of shadows on a gnarled skeleton. Bones jut from its ribs and wings, as sharp as razors and undoubtedly capable of slicing me in half. Its hollow eyes flash with the blood red of beings from the Kingdom of Night: enhanced vision to allow them to see in a land of eternal darkness.
I’ve read of this hellbeast in the studies put together by mortal practitioners. It has a name: Qióng’qí. One of the great Four Perils of the Kingdom of Night, which once stalked the mortal lands…before the Heavenly Order. And now that the Kingdom of Rivers is sinking into the Kingdom of Night, their creatures are coming through the broken wards to haunt our lands. My father’s wards and my careful maintenance of them have kept my village safe…yet I can’t help but think what will happen once those fragile spells fade away.
Red shifts his head to me. Slowly, he presses a finger to his mouth.
Obviously.I roll my eyes, and he smiles. Like he thinks I’m funny.
Hilarious that both of us might be torn to shreds and devoured in seconds.
I flick my wrist, and Shadow slides into my palm. I slice open the skin on my index finger and jam it against the hilt. As the talisman ripples into effect, the night grows a bit darker, more muted, and I know we’re protected.
