He showed his teeth, and it was my turn to attack. I charged toward him, but Elijah crouched and spread his wings wide. He took to the air. I furiously jumped upward to try to drag him down. I missed, and he flew out of my reach. Elijah landed, and I tried again, but once my fangs were inches within grabbing him, he flew away once more, like a maddening bird I could not catch.
Elijah circled me from above, and I gave a frustrated growl. Now that he had wings, I couldn’t get my fangs in him. Every time I tried, he just took flight. This wasn’t a fair fight.
My cousin flew behind me, gaining the advantage. Before I could turn around, he landed on my back, sinking his claws in. I gave a shout of pain as he dug his fangs into the flesh between my shoulder blades, tearing out my fur and ripping my skin.
“Ethan!” Emma screamed. I heard her sword ring out as it clashed against Gabby’s.
“Don’t worry about me!” I blinked rain out of my eyes as I slammed myself onto my back. Elijah let out a grunt, crushed under my weight. I rolled upward, and he had let go, though blood was still slicking down my shoulders. As he faced me once again, I felt my stomach turning sour with dread. Elijah had a crazed look in his eyes that made me fear he’d gone mad.
“Who do you think you are? I am the Hidden King, the Black Claw’s heir and lord of the Unseelie fae!” Elijah bellowed. “I am the one destined to offer the Worldweaver’s blood, and raise Droga from the dead!All must bow down to me!”
“I will not let you hurt Emma!” Odette’s prophecy would not come true. The Hidden King would not end her, for tonight, I was ending him.
“The leshane should’ve killed you, cripple. It’s time for me to do what should’ve been done years ago,” Elijah seethed.
He launched himself at me, and we fell into a tussle on the roof, our bodies tumbling upon the tiles. I felt his fangs penetrate my chest, my torso, but none of these were fatal blows, and I would not let him get on top of me to hold me down— if that happened, it was all over.
He was closely guarding his throat. I couldn’t get to it. But there were other parts of him that were valuable. I lunged my teeth out at his wing, and latched onto it. I tugged, and Elijah cried out as I heard the fragile bone break. Elijah let go of me, and pushed me off. He was breathing hard, his injured wing drooping uselessly on the ground as I triumphantly stood back.
Elijah transformed. He staggered forward before drawing the sword at his side. I changed, and drew my own. We traded blows for a few moments, locked in a deadly combat that was going nowhere.
I lost patience and flung out my hand. An alicorn horn in my pocket turned to dust as I cast an Unseelie battle orb, one that was meant to kill Elijah on the spot. He ducked aside to let it fly by, and it hit a tower on the other side of the roof, crumbling it to bits. Elijah laughed cruelly, appearing both incredulous and slightly impressed.
“So you have a few Unseelie tricks.” He smirked. “So do I.”
Elijah let out a great cry, and purple Unseelie flames emitted from his form, spinning around him in an arc. I had to drop to the ground to allow the flames to pass over me, though when they ricocheted against a part of the school, the building crumbled.
I pushed myself upward again, and shot off a ray of Unseelie spells. Elijah returned in kind, throwing up dark shields that absorbed my battle orbs. He spun the magic around, using my own spells against me as he blasted them backward. One nearly hit me, and I cried out in pain as I landed harshly on the area where my thigh met my prosthetic in order to avoid it. I cast another spell back, but all Elijah did was redirect it back at me, like this was child's play to him.
It wasn’t working. My spells were just making him stronger. He was absorbing my own dark energy, using it for himself. How did he do that?
Elijah snickered at the bewildered look on my face. “I’ve been studying Unseelie magic far longer than you,” Elijah said. “Do you think we won the King’s Contest without help? Do you thinkanyonedoes?”
My mouth twisted in rage. “You liar! You cheated just as we did!”
“We used the tools at our disposal— dark magic being our greatest asset. And if you weren’t such a cowardly, insufferable, holier-than-thouprude, the crown would be sitting on your head right now. But it isn’t! It’s on mine, and you willalwayslose to me!”
Elijah conjured a dark portal. I fell to the ground, and my nails dug into the tiles as I felt the dark portal suck me backward like a funnel of death. The portal was stronger than I was, and I knew if I was drawn into it, I’d be done for, but I could hardly move against its strong power.
At the last moment, I used a griffin feather to close the portal before it sucked me in. The effort left me gasping and helpless. Elijah laughed as he towered over me.
I felt around in my pocket, and my heart dropped as I realized I’d used all my objects. I didn’t have anything else to pull Unseelie magic from.
I had to keep him talking, so I could recover and plan the right moment to attack. I forced myself to get back up, though I wassotired, and said, “So you relied on Unseelie magic to get you through the Contest. What other dishonorable things have you done, to feed your own ambition?”
Elijah’s expression heated with rage. “I will do what is necessary for Malovia’s sake. Could you?”
“Necessary?” I gave a bitter laugh. “All of what you’ve done isnecessary?”
“You have no idea what it’s like to be a king— the power that rests on my shoulders. Malovia’s future depends on me!” Elijah’s voice edged on the note of fanaticism.
“Youwantedit!”
“I didn’t realize what I was asking for!”
Our swords clashed a few times more as he struck out at me. I was too slow, and he slapped me across the face. His armored glove caused a tooth to break off in my mouth, and I felt blood spill over my tongue as I collapsed onto my knees again. My arms shook as I tried to rise, and failed. Elijah was approaching me far too quickly, his armor clanking as he advanced.
“So you underestimated what it was like to be king,” I asked coldly. “Apologies if I hold no sympathy, for my own title was taken from me.”
