I stand tall with my blade, counting them. Ten wyvern now and only four of us. The crowd grows strangely quiet, and I glance up at the stands. They’re all watching us, horror on their faces. Perhaps this is too much death even for them. Perhaps the ruling council, in their need for blood sport to unite the people and entertain them, have taken it too far. I seek out Agnes’s eyes and touch my heart with my fingers, then hold my hand out to her. She does the same and I know in this moment it could be goodbye. The only goodbye we’ll be able to make.
I blow out a breath and look at the others: fierce, proud, clutching weapons, not ready yet to break. The council pitted us against each other, yet we’ve banded together. I’m not ready to die yet. Not here, not today. Not with my people so far away, not with so much at stake. And not with Eli a world away. The thought ofhim leaves me raw, and all I want to do is cry out for him, for all we have lost. The pain of wanting him is suddenly so deep, so sharp and searing. I murmur to him, as though he is here with me.
I whisper,I love you, into the storm. Then I gather myself, pushing him gently away in my mind. Perhaps it’s my final goodbye to him too.
‘Kell, pick off the outliers if you can,’ I say, my voice hardening. ‘Sember, Heath, you spread out, but stay close enough so that you can support one another.’
‘And you?’ Sember asks.
‘It’s time I find out what the ruling council were so afraid of. What they seek to control, to use for their own gain,’ I say with a smile. ‘It’s time they learn what a storm bringer canreallydo.’
I take a step forward and then say over my shoulder, ‘Kell, add your flame at the right moment. You’ll know when.’
Then I set off, striking out alone across the vast arena, as the wyvern soar ever closer, like winged death against the thunderous sky.
i begin to run. theten wyvern in the sky above me swoop closer. Heart pounding, focus narrowing, all I can feel is the twist inside my veins. The fire and sea, lightning and thunder, all wanting to break free. Gathering everything inside myself, I push my will up into the clouds, and thunder booms loudly over the arena. The crowd begins to panic, a fresh torrent of rain hitting them as the wind picks up. I’m soaked to the skin, but I don’t stop. I feel it all, the wild pulse of the storm, the friction as the cold air meets warmth, the electric fizz as the lightning forms. I am the storm and the thunder.
I am a reckoning.
The first wyvern of the horde overhead draws its wings in, shrieking as it spears the air. I throw out my hand, the wind whipping my plait around my head, and lightning forks from that storm cloud to the ground, frying the diving wyvern in its path.
Killing it instantly.
It thuds to the grass, but already two more are takingits place, preparing to dive. And the real fight truly begins. I hear the shouts of Sember and Heath as they engage their first wyvern. The two that have me in their sights hover above me, trying a different tactic, rotating quickly so there is always one at my back where I can’t see it as I turn, heart thundering like the swirling storm. Then they both dive as one, claws extended. I grit my teeth, drawing my fist to my chest, and close my eyes. I sense them, the rush of wings, the narrowed hate and call on the storm. I call for lightning.
Then I open my eyes.
Lightning crackles from the sky and in a flash of searing light they’re both fried. I stumble at the impact as both bodies hit the ground on either side of me.
When I look around, I’m surrounded by charred wings and the stench of their death. Breathing heavily through my mouth, I feel for the first time the toll it’s taking to use this side of myself, the magic in my veins. But the shouts of Kell and the others sharpen me, and I whip round.
Drawing together all my strength, I get to my feet and walk towards them. Lightning forks from the sky, thunder crashing overhead, and as I hold a hand up to the thunderous clouds a cone of wind spins down, hitting the ground beside me. I realise, I am no longer a girl.
I am storm and lightning and rage.
I am the bringer of their destruction.
Two wyvern fall twitching to the ground, five circlingand diving, harrying my friends into a tight group. My pulse thuds in my ears and I know it’s time. This is the moment. I call to Kell.
‘Kell, now!’
Kell looks over, terror lacing his features as he throws both his hands towards me, releasing a plume of pale flame. I guide my fist towards that flame, the spinning tornado gleefully consuming it, thickening and whirling …
And I unleash it.
Straight at the five remaining wyvern.
Two cannot escape fast enough, and with harsh cries are consumed by the pillar of moving flame. The final three try to fly, beating their wings in desperation, clawing at the air, even as they’re pulled back, the tornado reaching for them as well.
With a burst of fire, they’re all incinerated in the whirling vortex of death. Heath collapses to the ground, panting, as his sword clatters at his side. Sapira begins to cry in relief, burying her face in Kell’s shoulder, as they stand tall above Fey. And Sember merely nods to me, a smile flickering on her face. I bend my will round the tornado, asking it to cease, to calm. And, with a wrench, it begins to still. The bodies of the wyvern crash, one by one, smoking and still burning. The scent is overpowering and I cough, tears streaming from my eyes as I make my way to the others. The rain begins to patter and I realise … I have control. For thefirst time. I did not lose control of this storm.
And the wyvern sent to kill us are all dead.
The final Trial is over.
I walk over to the others on trembling legs, waiting for the commentator to declare the victor. But the crowd is whispering, a wave of murmurings all around us, and when I look to the ruling council I see they are arguing with the other representatives.
‘They can’t agree,’ I say in disgust. ‘None of them will concede.’
