Page 109 of Creatures of Chaos

“Running a little late, don’t you think?” I ask, looking at my watch and seeing it’s mere minutes before the trial is scheduled to start.

Talon surveys the rowdy crowd, his face blanked of emotion. “I was trying to check out the ruins before the trial started. The whole area is warded and encased in a magical barrier. I couldn’t get through. I think he’s making sure once the trial starts no one can interfere.”

“Do you really think this is going to be a fair fight?”

He shakes his head. “Not for one second.”

A horn blasts and then the game master appears atop the closest ruin in a cloud of smoke. A toxic mix of fear and hatred rises in my chest toward the hooded figure for all the pain he’s inflicted for his own selfish desires. I can’t wait to see Talon beat him at his own game and claim the dagger back for his family.

The game master starts droning on about what an accomplishment it is for the six of us to have made it this far andhow the winner will go down in infamy. It’s all shallow words, a front for the deception he’s running. I’m only half listening as I wait for him to lay out the rules of the last trial when my gaze snags on a familiar blond head.

Becks is standing off to the side, watching with his arms crossed over his chest. The moment my gaze connects with his I visibly jolt. Talon must notice, because the next thing I know he’s leaning over to whisper in my ear.

“Do you need me to put on another show? Because I’m willing and available.”

The blasé tone in his voice makes me bristle. Regardless of how necessary it was to break things off for good with Becks, feelings were still involved. Specifically Becks’ and mine.

Becks’ gaze narrows when Talon leans closer, and his face darkens, but he doesn’t break eye contact.

“Careful, Freckles. Keep staring at your princeling like that and he might start to doubt the sincerity of our fake relationship.”

He’s right, but I can’t look away.

“Now for the rules of this last trial,” the game master says, and I’m finally able to tear my gaze from Becks.

The game master is angled toward the competitors now, his face a blurred shadow beneath his hood. “This is a battle of magical strength,” he says, confirming Talon’s theories. My stomach roils. Part of me was hoping Talon would be wrong about this trial and everything else, but it looks like he isn’t. I catch Titus’s attention flick toward Talon before he looks away. “One at a time you’ll each be directed to a starting location in the ruins,” the game master continues. “When the horn blares again, a free-for-all battle will begin. Your objective is to use your powers to take out your fellow competitors and then make your way to the cathedral at the end of the street. The competitor whomakes it to the ruin first and captures the Blade of Power will be our Chaos champion.”

Reaching into the folds of his clothes, he pulls out Shadow Striker. Talon stiffens next to me, his face as hard as stone and his eyes lasered in on the wavy bladed dagger. The game master’s face is obscured but I’d bet money he’s grinning back at us right now. A low growl comes from Talon’s throat, and he starts forward, but I grab his arm and he halts. His muscles bunch beneath my hand, but he doesn’t try to take another step.

“One other thing. I’ve hidden two magical objects somewhere in the ruins. Find one, and you’ll find you have an advantage in this trial.”

My interest piques with that news. I don’t have magic, but maybe I can get a leg up by finding one of those objects. At least then I won’t be as much of a liability for Talon and Titus.

But the game master isn’t done. “In order to keep the location of each competitor secret until the trial begins, the ruins will be cloaked. They’ll enter one at a time and follow the lights to their location. Good luck to each of you.”

In another smoke explosion, the game master and Shadow Striker disappear; the area around the ruins goes dark and opaque, like the shadows have solidified. The competitors all glance at each other, waiting to see who’s going to go first.

Titus steps forward. “I’ll head in,” he says, and doesn’t wait for anyone to stop him and agree before jumping off the platform and walking right toward the ruins. The blackness swallows him immediately.

“Locklyn will go next,” Talon says for me, and gives me a little nudge forward.

“I will?”

Talon leans over and pretends to kiss my cheek, but really whispers, “I want you to go between me and Titus in case our locations are close to each other.” He pauses. “Good luck, lovemuffin,” he says loud enough for those closest to us to hear, earning some scowls from the remaining competitors who now, no doubt, know that we’re working together.

Grumbling under my breath I start for the end of the platform. Right before I step down I look for Becks, but he’s gone. My heart drops. I just wanted to see him one more time. Just in case something goes horribly wrong.

My nerves start to take over as I walk the few short steps to the barrier. I push against it with my hand, but it doesn’t let me through. I try it a couple more times and finally my hand sinks through. I can only assume it won’t let a competitor in until the one before is hidden.

Taking a deep breath, I step forward and I’m on the other side by the time my foot touches the ground. There’s a lighted purple path on the cracked cobblestone road leading forward. I follow the path about halfway down the street and then into one of the structures on the right. I have to duck and move vines out of the way to get inside the ruin, where I find the glowing purple circle I’m assuming I’m meant to stand in. Taking a deep breath, I enter the circle and wait as one by one the other competitors are led to their starting spots.

An eternity passes while I wait. Every minute that ticks away, my nerves fray a little more. I cast my gaze around the space to distract myself, learning every nook and cranny of the ruin. I miss it on my first sweep, but the second time I glance over the stones on the wall I notice a round indentation in one of the rocks. It’s dark in the ruin. The roof is missing, but a tree has grown in the middle of the room and the branches cover a lot of the sky, blocking the moonlight. But when I look hard enough, I realize what it is: the Chaos, or rather Shadow Striker, emblem.

Is that where one of the magical objects is hidden?

I won’t know until I look, but I have to wait for the trial to begin before I leave the purple circle. The moment thehorn blasts, signaling all the competitors are in place and the trial has started, I rush over to the stone with the emblem and immediately notice there’s no mortar around it. Reaching forward, I yank the stone free. Sitting in the now empty space is a gold cuff. I pull it out and fasten it around my wrist and forearm. And then . . .

Nothing happens.

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