Page 104 of Brutal Birthright

He’d be causing her harm, even if this time it wasn’t at his own hands.

Finnic rushed past them to offer a shoulder for Etienne to lean on as he slowly inched his way along the pathway drawing closer to the training arena. Giving him a smile that the vampire grimaced at in return.

“Oriana.” He muttered under his breath, not sure what the fuck he was going to do or say or how to navigate this impending sense of dread filling every inch of space inside his lungs. But when he turned his head towards her, all he saw was the back of her.

And her middle finger.

So instead of doing what every fibre in his body yearned to do, which was to portal straight to her and cut this off before it even began, he watched on silently as her tiny frame disappeared into the darkened edges of the forest surrounded by a thickening cloud of mist.

The deafening silence was only drowned out by the roaring of blood in his ears.

Chapter 32

The scent of rust and the tang of fresh blood clung to Ri’s nose as she entered the forest. Hanging thick in the air like a gruesome, pungent odour. The slick residue of those who had come before her shone in certain spots. A bloodied handprint against a rock here, a slash of red droplets coating some fallen pine needles there. Following the dirt trail she had run so many times, the path now felt like a map on the back of her hand.

Only this time, everything was different.

In a way that caused the back of her neck to prickle with anticipation.

She gripped the handle of her bow, one arrow already cocked and ready to take aim as she crept towards the point where the tree trunks became more gnarled and denser. Light struggled to reach the forest floor, with thin, ghostly wisps of mist threading along the moss-covered ground.

A chorus of chattering birds normally followed her every move as she traversed the path of the assault course through this area of the woods, but today the stillness sent an eerie feeling down her spine.

Clearly, whatever magic Rowan cast had scared off the usual creatures who liked to watch on with curiosity from the shadows.

As her eyes adjusted to the dim lighting, she flexed her fingers and readjusted her grip. There was no knowing when the first of the challenges would appear, but she was in no doubt whatever came first would be designed to weaken her right from the outset.

Rowan would be sure to throw his students straight into the flames. His blackened heart would settle for nothing less than blood from the very beginning. Letting them deal with whatever came along afterwards while already hindered in some fashion. Just as he’d been doing with them inside the training arena every day.

Teaching them to survive and learn how to fight when the darkest moments came. Not when circumstances were stacked in their favour.

A snap of a branch was all the warning she received before a roar burst forth and a blur of grey skin and long talons launched towards her. Ri had her first arrow fired immediately, swinging round and cutting down the skeletal-looking assailant with a shot straight to the head before they’d reached her. But others emerged at the same time from the far side of the path. A pack of at least ten of the ghastly-looking creatures swarmed towards her.

Snatchers. Ri had heard of them, seen them roaming in groups before. Creations of the House of Elharean tasked with one intent only, and that was to cause as much physical harm as possible. Mindless beings with long, razor-sharp claws instead of fingers and sunken faces with sewn-up-looking skin where there should be a mouth.

They were nightmarish things. And despite knowing that this was all an enchantment and none of it was real, there was the distinct possibility of being injured. The trail of blood through this part of the course was evidence of that.

Ri moved quickly. Loading and reloading her arrows to fire with precision and rapid efficiency. She was able to dart her way back towards where a large knotted tree trunk lay fallen beside the trail and scampered to the top of it to give herself leverage over the Snatchers crowding towards her at ground level.

While their lethal claws could easily slash and maim, they weren’t fast or agile. And as long as she could remain calm and pick them off one by one, they wouldn’t pose too much threat to her. Although for less experienced students, the sight of a pack of these sickly grey-looking apparitions would have no doubt proved overwhelming.

No wonder there was so much blood everywhere.

Hitting her mark with each arrow, Ri crouched low on the trunk. Loose bark shifted below her boots as she swung a wide arc, surveying just beyond the trees for any sign of more of the creatures. But the trees sat silent.

At least her first test was over. Now to continue through the rest of the unknown sequence that lay ahead.

Quickly hopping down off the massive trunk, she restored her quiver with a quick use of her magic. Gold arrows refilled the leather pouch, and she set off at a jog. There was no telling what might appear next, and she wasn’t going to sit here waiting.

The dirt path followed the familiar route through several physical obstacles constructed of logs and boulders. Each designed to be climbed over, squeezed past, or crawled beneath. But one thing they all had in common was a type of magic embedded in them that drained energy and powers the longer you took to move past them.

Ri emerged from crawling beneath the last tunnel of criss-crossed logs, having to wriggle on her belly and slide through the dirt to be able to get to the other side, and dragged herself to her knees. When she made an attempt to stand up, it was like suddenly being held down by weights tied to her neck and ankles. The effortless use of her magic from moments before to produce more weapons felt like a pale shade of what she was used to, as if her magic had drifted out of reach.

Shit.

This was exactly why Rowan had forced her to complete this assault course so many times. If she’d had any less experience with navigating these obstacles, she might have been caught off-guard by the impact of the way they drained her magic so powerfully.

But at least now, with Goddess-knows what lurking just around the corner, she had the benefit of growing more resilient after all her extra after-class rounds of this assault course. Learning how to shake off the after-effects of the enchantment faster and faster each time.

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