Page 85 of House of Ydril

Nothing.

Without hesitation, I push myself up off the ground and start running in the direction of the pillar. I hear the sound of the sword digging into the glass floor.

And I hear the knights charging after me, but I try to drown it all out. I thought I’d get my power back if I only got rid of the scimitar and the effects of what appears to be blood magic. But there’s something more going on here. It’s as if none of the elements inside the glass cube can be manipulated, at all. So I think my best chance is to just try to make a run for it.

I almost get to my goal.

But just as I’m about to come to a stop and plant my flag, something slams into me and sends me flying to the ground.

Lying on my back, I see the red leader appear above me, the other four stopping behind him.

Once again, he raises his sword and I have to fight the onset of a panic attack.

At this point, I’ll try anything. I close my eyes shut and I tap one of my unactivated Runes.

There’s a moment of silence before I hear it, the labored sound of things being brought into existence. And when I open my eyes, I see three new blue knights appear out of thin air and land around my enemies with a loud thud.

As they take care of four of the five knights, I hear gasping from the audience all around me, but my eyes are fixed on the red leader.

Not paying the rest of his army any mind, he’s swinging his sword down on me.

For a second, I feel my heart stop.

Then I tap my newly activated rune and I make a stone shield block his sword.

I don’t hesitate. I push myself off the ground and lunge to my right, straight at the stone pillar.

Just as I raise the hand in which I have the flag, with the corner of my eye, I see his blade swinging at me again.

I muster all my strength and with one forceful movement, I drive the fucking flag in with the rest.

I don’t wait to turn back to the red leader, but when I do, I see him and all the other knights, including mine, disappear.

As soon as they’re gone, I come crashing to the ground, panting, bloody and in terrible pain.

What surprises me is that the people in the Arena stay silent. I glance up at the Pied Piper’s booth. She’s standing right in front of the glass wall, looking down at me.

Almost right away, I see a medic rush into the ring. Holding me up, he leads me out of the ring and into a hallway, dealing with my worst wound while walking. And I assume we’re going straight to the interview because it’s the same hallway I’ve walked before. And it’s packed with people staring at me in awe, including the prince’s uncle.

“Genesis, really?” he asks as we walk past him, but it’s not really a question. “I have to say I didn’t expect you to become so powerful so fast.”

I just smile and keep walking. The worst is over, but the pain is still a lot to bear.

But just as we approach the archway leading into the interview room, the chatter of the crowd drifting through, the medic stops and just remains standing there.

I frown, but before I can ask him what’s going on, I feel a switch being flipped in my head.

The next thing I know, my body starts leading me in the opposite direction, away from all the people and down a series of deserted hallways, each darker than the last. When I finally reach an old wooden door and my body stops before it, my own hand betraying me by raising to grab the handle, my heart is beating so wildly, I fear it might just stop.

Chapter thirty-six

Myhandonthehandle, I push the door open and, no matter how hard I try, fail to stop myself from walking into the darkness behind it.

But as soon as I’m through the door and my eyes adjust to the lack of light, I see it’s just a large, windowless storage space with rows of crates and cardboard boxes along the walls.

I remain standing there, my heart pounding wildly and my mind racing to come up with a way out.

But it doesn’t take long for me to sense a presence behind my back. I still don’t have control over my own body so I can’t turn around. At the same time, this makes me feel relieved and fills me with dread.

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