She might be moments from being ripped apart, but she settled into her training. She jumped up and down, shaking her arms a few times to warm them up. It was easy now to focus, to ignore the crowd above her. Iryana drove the spear into the ground a few paces to her left, then pulled the bow off her body and nocked an arrow. Everything seemed to slow down.
Bit by bit, the beast emerged. First came the snout and exposed black teeth, then its strong gray head and black eyes that looked around in confusion. She held her breath waiting for the horns.
Nestled in the waving sky-colored mane was a single set of horns. She let out a sigh of relief. A younger dakya, then.
It slunk into the pit, shoulder blades sinking and rising with each step. Its eyes finally locked with hers.
Iryana waited to draw her bow back fully, hoping for a few more moments to watch the dakya. She slowly stepped to the side to get a better look. It growled, but Iryana could see how bulky the dakya was. It was probably a male, strongerbut less agile.
She rocked a little between her feet, tensing her muscles to keep them warm. This was good. Her only advantages in this pit would be her agility and her magic.
Iryana didn’t wait for the beast to attack or give her a better angle. Aiming right above its nostrils, she quickly drew the bow and released an arrow. It sank into the dakya’s face, but didn’t penetrate deep enough. Their skulls were thick, less weak spots than something like a deer or wolf. As the dakya roared and pounded toward her, she took another shot instead of diving out of the way.
She pushed out her magic at the last moment; the bow cracked and was thrown out of her hands as the beast slammed into her.
Iryana went flying, but the dakii’s teeth and claws didn’t penetrate her shield. She could feel the pressure, though, where it tried to clamp down on her neck.
A cry from the crowd above broke through her concentration.
The moment she hit the ground, Iryana rolled to avoid being pinned down. A cloud of dust spun around her as she leaped up and raced for the spear.
She could hear the beast recovering behind her.
Grabbing the spear and yanking it out of the ground, Iryana spun to face the dakya that was once again tearing after her.
It was strong—too strong for her to get a direct kill shot in.
Taking advantage of its momentum, Iryana dodged out of the way at the last minute, slashing across the front of the dakya’s leg. One cut wouldn’t slow it down, but inky blood slithered down its leg.
Every time the beast charged at her, trying for different angles as if trying to find her weak spot, Iryana thrust with her spear. She pierced its thick flesh a few times, though shallowly, before it could knock her spear out of the way, forcing her to dodge. The few times she didn’t dodge quickly enough, her shield kept her whole.
Until the dakya caught her head-on, her skull bashing into the back of her shield too fast for it to adjust. She was airborne, her vision spinning, her stomach clenching with the need to vomit.
Iryana crashed onto the ground, her shield blinking as her head spun. Her shoulder and hip ached where nothing had braced her fall.
She looked up from the blood-stained dirt, arms shaking as she braced herself against the ground.
Chapter Eleven
Iryana squared her shoulders, begging her vision to steady. Anger coursed through her blood as she stared down the dakya, pacing at the opposite end of the pit.
They were at an impasse, both panting. It watched her in a way that made her nerves twitch.
Blood oozed from the dakya’s wounds, matting its fur, and Iryana could only hope the wounds were catching up with him. But she was battered and exhausted, unsure if she’d be able to outlast him.
She had to do something soon, something different, or that would be it. If she died now, already, Hadima would lose all hope. But the beast was too good at keeping himself protected and not tiring as quickly. Her thoughts spun.
With a stupid, desperate idea in mind, Iryana charged the dakya like she had every time before. They had the dance down, but where she normally dodged, Iryanaleaped instead.
The dakya shot beneath her, horns tore against her shield along her stomach, knocking the wind out of her. But she grabbed one of his horns, her body slamming against his back.
A moment of shock nearly gave the beast the opportunity to buck her off, before Iryana squeezed her legs around him. She struggled to hang on, gasping and clinging to his transparent hair, and dropped the spear in favor of her knife. She could feel his growls reverberate through his body.
Iryana clamped her thighs around the dakii’s back, knowing she would only have moments before he rolled or slammed her into a wall.
With all the force she had left, she drove the blade into the base of his skull. The dakya spasmed, and she shoved it deeper.
If her blade had been a metal-forging, the dakya would have died long ago, but her knife was the next best thing: made by a metal-forged smith with hammer and anvil forgings. No unforged blade could be stronger.
