Page 83 of Terragnata and the Heir of the Earth

UNWELCOME IMPOSTER

The horses reared while the hoard of warriors whistled and cried out in high-pitched battle calls. The king and the prince led the charge, galloping around the Convallis, descending through winding dirt ledges that swirled down the pit like the lining of a funnel. While Cas could not offer details of the beginning, I knew the first horn meant time to pay attention. The spectators would descend until they had a bird’s-eye view of the arena, each stopping in a designated viewing spot. The contestants, who were mixed amongst them, would go all the way down. How the observers could see anything in the sprawling arena miles below, I had no clue.

Ahead of me, Tey stood on her galloping horse, balancing effortlessly with her arms spread wide, her black hair tightly bound on her head as it had been the evening before. In one swift motion, she sprung up and into the pit in a backward dive, shifting mid-fall into a soaring bearded vulture with a ten-foot wingspan—a Lammergeier. The bird dove until I could see her no more.

To my relief, the rest of the contestants did not turn into a flock of birds flying away. That didn’t mean their shifts weren’t useful—they could have been conserving energy.

I entered the descending spiral and saw the prince and the king as small dots far below me. The procession became primitive. Warriors shrieked and beat their chests. Horses galloped with no fear down the narrow ledge, nostrils flaring. I lost sight of Cleo, Brita, and Livia, but Xinlan’s white bobbing head remained in the corner of my eye.

After several revolutions, Romeo became skittish. He bucked and reared and I tightened my thighs to hold on.

“Woahh, boy, settle,” I murmured, keeping my breath steady despite my heart pounding.

He continued to spook, and I got the disturbing feeling he would jump off the side of the cliff. “Romeo, settle,” I soothed, patting his neck, attempting to hide my anxiety from the animal, knowing it would only worsen things. My heart betrayed me, thundering so loud in my chest I wondered if the Rexi could hear it.

Further down the sloping path, I saw Xinlan’s white hair sailing into the pit, her painted stallion beneath her. So my instinct was right—Romeo was about to leap. I attempted to throw myself from the beast in hopes I would not drag him to his death.

I moved too slow. A moment later, I fell through the air, strapped to a horse that jumped to his certain death.

I looked back to see the Rexi’s blank face, devoid of all emotion, dark eyes pulsing. Her mouth formed a word, but I could not hear it—my heart had stilled, and everything went quiet as we fell through the open sky. Romeo whinnied and thrust his head up, confused and panicked. I wrapped my arms around the horse’s neck in an iron grip, my face tickled by his mane as we made revolution after revolution, somersaulting.

“It’s okay, boy,” I whispered, pressing my eyelids together, praying it would be. I shoved down the nausea building in my gut and envisioned my window, a portal through which I could take us both to safety, to the grass meadow that looked like a spec on the ground.

The portal pulsed strongly in my mind’s eye, and I reached out to it. There was a whoosh feeling—the impact of still air, and in an instant, we were through. I held onto the beast for dear life, praying he would not collapse and crush me. But he did not, for my portal was gentle enough, and he only stumbled, disoriented by the ordeal.

I let out a small sound of relief mixed with triumph. I looked around, allowing Romeo to regain his footing while I swallowed the bile that built in my throat. We’d landed on a grassy plain, no other contestants around. But a whizzing noise pulled my attention up to see the rapidly approaching figures of Xinlan and her painted horse.

I kicked Romeo into a run to remove us from their fall path. I looked up and locked eyes with Xinlan, desperation and fear marking her face. I didn’t think this time; I portaled to her without hesitation, grabbed her in less than a second, and then portaled safely to the ground in another. I landed with her in my arms, my bent legs absorbing the impact, several yards away from where her mount met his unfortunate end. I winced at the gruesomeness, its blood and flesh painted on the Earth, and a brief pang of regret struck me for saving her rather than the innocent animal. If it weren’t for the restrictions of the fickle magic, limiting me to transport only one other living thing, I would have at least tried to save them both.

Xinlan looked at me with awe and confusion. “For the flour sack,” I mumbled, shocked at not only my decision to portal, but the speed of it. Not as fast at Fayzien’s, but faster than I’d ever portaled before. Before she could react to thank me or stab me, Iran, leaping onto Romeo’s back, urging him to a gallop into the trees.

My first stepafter entering the forested arena was to find proper food and shelter; Cas’s words rang in my ears. Three challenges over approximately three days, no break. The victor would be whoever won the most events—and was still breathing at the end. I swallowed hard, the reality of the situation hitting me. I fought the urge to look at my hands, to wonder how I would handle it, how I would feel if…

If I looked down to see them covered in blood.

I shook the morbid thought from my head, shifting my mind elsewhere.How could any of the spectators see us?We landed so far down I could barely make out the point at which we’d entered. The Convallis was fathomless and thickly wooded. More like a pit than an arena. Fabricated though it was—trees I did not think could easily grow this deep in a rocky hole—the smells and vibrations of the dense forest tempted me to flex my element magic. A part of me considered it, for it would disqualify me. Since not only my innate power but also the natural environment of the arena fueled my Earth magic, they deemed it an unfair advantage over the non-Witch contestants. And since this was theFaeSkøl, I had to play by Fae rules. But just as Fae could shift, I was permitted to portal. And just as Fae could use their natural magic, I could spell.

It would be a justifiable enough explanation for my loss, not being able to resist the Earth. And the king would be pleased. But my moment of weakness passed. I would not loosen my grip on control. Not because I intended to win, though. Regardless ofGia and Jana’s safety, I had no intention of winning and being forced into a marriage I’d yet to accept.

I smiled, remembering Cas’s offhand comment about how the Fae detested tied outcomes—how they viewed them as producing not two victors but two losers of a draw.

The king said I had to give up the win, but he did not say I had to allow a victor. It would have to be a draw.

The first challengeinstruction arrived close to sunset. I crouched around a small fire, the smoke bound by a simple containing spell, eating roasted roots that took me no time to find, even without my Earth magic. It comforted me to know that my years as a human clung to me. As if I always had something to fall back on.

Romeo remained alert, and I thanked Cas for such a reliable steed. Maybe it was better I hadn’t flung myself from him in the end. His presence made me feel a little less alone.

He began hacking, and I got up to check on him. He’d been grazing before—perhaps he choked on some fibrous roughage. But when I opened his mouth, a thick, crumpled piece of parchment fell into my hand. I removed it, and he snuffed in gratitude.

It read:

Welcome, contestant of the thirty-third Skøl in recorded history. Viribrum thanks you for your service, for your dedication to the Fae people. Today, six of you will compete in the Contest of Beauty. This is the first test of your worthiness of the kingdom.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but what makes the beholder register beauty? Is it the color of their experiences, or the rhythm of the times?

There is a creature intended for each of you in the arena, six in total, and you must seek it out. You must capture it and make it see your beauty. If you succeed, you will have won its heart.

The first to do so will win this event. The last to do so, and those who fail to do so before sundown tomorrow, will be disqualified. Remember, contestant, you may eliminate your competitors at any time.

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