Page 44 of Phixmery

Evera laughs from where she’s being held. “Cresida has told me all about you. You don’t have the nerve to kill us.” She smirks. “You’re just the village whore, doing all their grunt work. You might as well have been living in the pigs’ trough.”

I smirk back. Her words may cause a reaction later, but I’m too pissed to care right now. “Maybe I won’t kill you… not right now, but I know something I can do to you that’s worse.” I pull the knife I’ve been carrying on this trial, and with precise movements I lop off the point of one of Cresida’s ears before doing the same to Evera.

Blood streams down the side of their faces as their screams pierce the night. I pick up their bloodied ear points and burn them: a disgrace that happens when you brutally offend a fae, one that will make it hard for anyone to trust them. For these females, that’s almost worse than death.

Evera manages to get out of the earth hold when I release my magick from it and then she frees Cresida.

“When we arrive back at Phixmery, I will be asking for you to be removed from our Squad, Cadet Gannon.” I turn to the others in my squad behind me. “Does anyone else have a problem with that?”

A murmur of ‘no’s flutter through the air. Even Cresida’s squad is peering at her with looks of disdain.

Suddenly a loud roar, followed by two more, shakes the ground as three ogres come stumbling into our clearing. The puke-green, wart-covered skin blends into the surrounding foliage as their fangs drip with saliva, and wooden, spiked clubs bristle in their hands. Fates, these things are massive—the largest being at least three of me tall.

They charge us and we scramble to get weapons. I summon my flames, Bracken and Lennox adding to my fire as we surround them, stopping them from advancing. The ogres bellow with unbridled rage as they swing their clubs at the flames. Thankfully from what I remember, these beasts aren’t the brightest, but they won’t hesitate to rip you limb from limb before eating your flesh right off the bone.

We use the elements and our weapons to fight them off while our Szellemi fae distracts them with illusions of smaller beasts running around their legs. With a short sword in my hand, I strike my flint and summon a flame to my off-hand, attacking from a distance but keeping myself protected. The shorter, stocky one swings its club and bashes a cadet upside the head with a sickening crunch. The male’s body falls haphazardly to the ground, his limbs twisted unnaturally.

The fight doesn’t last long, and by the time they’re dead, I’m drained emotionally and physically, just wanting to get clean and slip into a warm bed with Nero snuggled up next to me.

Nero.

I glance around and see he’s still in the arms of Ember, who looks a little peeved she had to sit out of the fight because I entrusted her with my familiar. My legs are moving towards them with energy I don’t possess. “I’m so sorry. Thank you for watching him. I should have grabbed him when the fight started,” I ramble off to her as I scoop my feathered friend into my arms.

She waves me off. “I wouldn’t have been too much help against them. If you didn’t notice, the Vopn Fö cadets were patrolling the boundary to make sure nothing else snuck up on us while you guys handled those.” She nods towards the dead beasts that are currently being dragged away, deeper into the woods. “Watching Nero for you after what just happened was an honor, Ravina. I’m grateful you allowed me to do that for you because I know you don’t trust easily. Fates, I’m the same way. But I’m here for you, however you need me… as long as you stop trying to push us away,” she teases.

My lips roll between my teeth as I nod. “I’m doing my best, and there’s things you can’t know about me, but I promise I’m done pushing you all away. You’ve grown under my skin like an infection,” I tease back, trying to lighten the mood as I hold Nero even closer to me.

“Rav, I love you, but I can’t breathe. I think I’ve had enough of not breathing for one day,” Nero caws, nipping my finger where our bonding mark lies.

“Shit,” I murmur, loosening my grip a bit.

Ember nudges my shoulder. “The best infection you’ve ever had.”

Chuckles escape us as we look over the mess of our campsite. A frown pulls at my lips as I notice the lack of bickering. “Where are the Banshees?” I ask Ember, Roz and the twins as we all stand near the fire together.

They all glance around, and even with the warm flickering light that’s casting shadows around the small clearing, everyone is accounted for—including Squad Six—except for Zoella Spade, Cresida and Evera.

Roz shakes his head. “They probably ran off. Let them. Lennox and I will take the next watch. Try to get some sleep. We will make sure no one disturbs you and Nero. And if all goes as planned, tomorrow night we will all be sleeping in our own beds. With real food,” he cries clutching his stomach, making our two groups laugh as everyone tries to get comfortable.

Ember and Melissandre take either side of me, giving Nero soft pets and wishing him goodnight before succumbing to their dreams.

But I don’t sleep.

I can’t. Not after what transpired. Not with those three lurking somewhere in the forest, most likely waiting for their moment to strike again. Something tells me these next couple months before The Choosing are going to be a lot of sleepless nights and making sure we make it out alive.

THE NEXT DAY I’m all but dragging my feet as we trek up the Dreki mountains, taking the same path we did to arrive. A few fae questioned me about my new-found earth element, but I think I managed to play it off like I had no idea, and it was just as much of a shock for me as it was to them. Ember keeps giving me knowing looks, so I don’t suppose I fooled her, but she doesn’t push. She never does. Which only makes me feel worse.

I get lost in my head, dreaming of a world where I don’t have to hide as I watch Nero play with a lark. The two birds teasing, flying and chasing each other seem to be our source of entertainment on this last leg of the trial.

The path becomes familiar as we reach the forest we first came through to get to Phixmery during the first trial.

“Brings back memories, huh?” Bracken asks as he slides up next to me. “I’m sorry for leaving you that day and snapping at you. And for all the times I didn’t stand up for you at home. I can understand why you wouldn’t want me around.”

An exasperated sigh leaves me. “I get it, why be friends with the outcast null, when you want to be popular—”

“But you’re not a null—”

“I do forgive you Bracken, only because I don’t want to hold on to all this hate. But you’ve stood on the sidelines for far too long. I can’ttrustyou. Do you understand?” I glance at him and his face drops as he nods.

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