Page 62 of The Heartless Archer

The ground shuddered as the wolf fell and she swung herself onto his body, squeezing so tight at its neck that it finally let her hand go. Noora let out another scream as she watched her blood flow over her wrist and down her arm, bite marks adorning half of her palm in the form of a crescent.

With all her might she pulled her injured hand and the wolf whimpered in pain as she yanked the fake tooth out of its jaw.

A huff left her lips not letting go of its neck, not hard enough to choke, not weak enough to let it escape.

She drew her right hand against her chest, pain pulsing but that felt beside the point as she stared down into its soulless eyes.

She knew that she could potentially break the wolf’s neck, the animal did hurt her and she knew that a bite like that would take ages to heal properly, if it did not get infected and killed her later on.

But this was not the work of an evil animal. This was the work of humans.

“We have a winner! Please everyone congratulate Noora, for she found the special item of the amethyst tooth which will further enrich her in the second task! The jury will now draw back for a moment before the final points will be given,“ a voice called over the jostling crowd.

The sounds rushed back in as her chest heaved and the wolf was suddenly eerily calm as if the tooth was bothering it all along, an unnatural abscess that needed to be removed for the animal to be at peace.

She chanced a glance upwards, to see that Sören had been heavily injured, a healer already at his side and putting his armin a sling, the wolf got a bite in his left calf and somehow broke his arm; the wolf was now being dragged away by royal guards, its jaw snapping multiple times.

Pika somehow managed to knock his wolf flat out, it was lying on the ground, its chest moving slowly, eyes closed.

Her stomach caved in as she saw Kekoa only a few steps away from her, his hands and arms soaked in blood, splatters of it covering his face like freckles. His eyes were focused on the wolf before him, tongue lolling out of its head, eyes staring into nothingness.

Bile rose in her stomach and she gagged as she realised that its head was not a part of its body any more, more than one testicle pouring out of its stomach, wound around each other like tangled necklaces.

When she met Kekoa’s gaze she only saw joyful glee at the pain of an innocent and tortured animal.

The wolves that were alive were dragged away by the guards, the royal family was finally ready to hold up their cards and Noora could not find herself to care.

Her pulsing hand was still clutching the amethyst and she found herself driving the edge of it into her skin as she watched Queen Euphemia and the high chief hold up signs with a four painted on them. Nikolai proceeded with a seven and only then did she realise that the same woman that gathered at the announcement in town sat on the chair beside Nikolai, holding a piece of paper up, the number ten painted on it with red paint.

It was dripping slightly like the blood that now crusted beneath Kekoa’s nails.

The crowd was shouting protests at the ten points and the only thing Noora did was turn around and leave the arena, the crystal tooth embedded into her palm.

Chapter 25

Nikolai

“Wolves? Who came up with that atrocity?” Nikolai’s voice boomed through the hallway, the guards flinching slightly at his tone but nobody dared to answer the raging king. Besides one person. “I did.”

Nikolai turned to see his mother approaching confidently, her skirt gathered in her hands, her head held high as if she did not just watch the most horrific slaughter fest produced right in front of her eyes.

“You.” Nikolai let out a bitter laugh. “I cannot say I am surprised. Only you would come up with such a horrific idea as to torture animals for weeks. Starving them for days to turn them aggressive enough to attack. And then condition them with the scent of the participants to make them think it was them torturing the wolves.”

His mother’s lips twitched as if she was somehow proud of him figuring out her antics. Bile rose again in his stomach and he carefully pushed it back, just like he did when he saw that wolf take a bite out of Noora’s hand. He flew out of his chair in an instant, ready to call the tournament off for whatever reason but then berated himself for that stupid thought.

“I knew you would figure it out eventually. What? Did you really think I would come up with some lousy tasks where they shoot apples with bows or have to swim through a lake? You know me better than that.” She stepped up to him, her cold hand dusting over his cheek.

He held back a shudder and nodded. “Yes, I do know you.”

She sighed as if she was still disappointed with him and frankly, Nikolai did not care. Not this time.

Somehow he knew that his mother only crafted this task to hurt Noora—for whatever reason was unclear. Witches felt differently towards nature and animals, there were rules they had to endure and even though he did not know how much Noora followed these rules, he somehow guessed that she would not condone this task.

“Are you worried it will scare her off?” his mother asked now and he turned away, her hand dropping off his cheek. He hated how well she could read him.

“Don’t be ridiculous. It has nothing to do with her, I just wonder if we could have not taken a different approach than torturing animals for entertainment. That is not the kind of leader I want to be.”

“You have no choice what leader you are, Nikolai. You are the king the people need you to be and if that means we have to torture a few animals then so it be. I would kill countless animals to ensure your and this kingdom’s safety.”

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