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Altair was fast. No, he was something more than that. Nearly invisible as he swung at me, his fist connecting so hard with my chest that I vomited and began choking on the absent air. He didn’t care. He didn’t sympathize. He capitalized, like any good little core boy would.
A knee collided with my chin, making my teeth click together and my head whip back so quickly my neck stung. I cried out from the pain, knowing it would be lost in the sounds of battle. But I didn’t need to be heard, because Talon was already there, tackling Altair by the waist and bringing him to the grass below, tearing off his mask in the process.
Talon landed a heavy punch to Altair’s nose, but he lost his balance when the snake tipped them to the side. In a moment Altair was above Talon, throwing one, two, three, four punches into his mask before grabbing it and throwing it to the side. Talon’s face became coated in thick, red blood as Altair continued, but he didn’t stop trying to fight back, his hands clawing at his former best friend.
I got to my feet just as Altair shoved his forearm into Talon’s throat, cutting off his airway. Stumbling forward, I leapt onto Altair’s back, clawing off his mask and slamming my fists into his head. His chest. Anywhere. Anything to get him off Talon.
Altair stood up, gripping my wrists and forcing me to hang off his back. Then, he slammed his boot into Talon’s face. “Stay down!”
Using my legs, I began kicking at Altair, hoping I could get him to the ground again and find some way to keep him down. Altair didn’t seem to notice my fight, simply sliding his hands up my arms and gripping them tightly before bending forward. I flew over his head, my body flipping and back slamming into the grass. Air once again evaded me, my ears ringing, black spots dancing across my vision.
In the distance, someone was saying something to me. A group of people. They called my name.
Altair’s hands, palms so large and fingers so long that they overlapped, squeezed my throat as he straddled me. But I wasn’t done fighting, I couldn’t be.
Tucking my knees up, I shoved my legs into him, using his surprise to kick my boot into his face just as he had to Talon. His head reared back, my hit sending him to the ground. But I didn’t count on him staying there.
Despite the pain, which started in my eyes and throbbed all the way across my body, I rolled and forced myself to stand.
A battle was raging all around us, and yet all I could see was Altair as he got to his feet. The only sound that met my still ringing ears was a strange chuckle, and maybe a faint call of my name from someone else. All I could feel was his piercing gaze.
“You’ve done good, Tershetta. Far better than many worthy shaytan. You can go knowing that.” He moved closer, his body seemingly ready for the kill as it tensed. “And, for what it’s worth, I’ll take care of your family. They can get off haya and livea comfortable life. Maybe your sister can even find somebody. I’ll tell them you were a hero.”
“Don’t you dare talk about my family, you filthy snake!” I attempted to scream, the garbled words feeling like shattered glass slicing down my throat.
This time, he was far more precise. When I swung my chains, he dodged them with ease, twisting away from my following kick and then once again forcing me to the ground. When he kicked my chest, I knew I was done. Even if he, for some reason, spared me, I was certain I couldn’t possibly breathe again.
Altair practically fell on top of me, his knees lower than before to prevent my legs from slipping out as he pulled off my mask too. With a sigh, he bent low, our noses nearly touching. For a split second, his eyes went from mine down to my lips. Was he checking if I was still breathing? Would he rip out my teeth? Something worse?
“Little Void,” he whispered, the cold bite of a blade stinging my neck, “I—”
A shrill yell began, the scream so loud it made Altair reach up and cover his ears. I wanted to do the same, but my entire body suddenly felt like it was on fire. The burning was everywhere, and soon it was accompanied by a blinding light. It surrounded me, holding me tightly, and the voices grew louder, the words indecipherable.
All at once, I began to feel a sort of pulse beneath the ground, like something was alive within the layers of earth. For some reason, my instinct was to tug, a shattered scream tearing apart my throat as the feeling came rushing toward me.
I was consumed by it, filled until I was bursting at the seams by what felt like magic. It writhed inside of me, making my body fling around, the pain a reminder that I was alive.
And, while I knew so little about it, I understood exactly what was happening even before the light burst free of my chest andshot like a beam into the sky. My eyes watched as every visible star brightened in time with the great quake of the planet. A shuddering began, and I heard Zura scream for me moments before Azazel Altair appeared above me. His face a mix of surprise and devastation.
“Hello, Nova Tershetta,”the stars cooed into my mind.
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Azazel
“Today Pri told me she doesn’t like men. She said she was terrified that I’d hate her, but that she needed me to know since Father decided we’d one day marry. Truth be told, it does hurt. I’m pretty sure no other woman will ever truly love me. But I won’t make her marry me, not at the expense of her happiness. I guess I’ll just be alone instead. Forever.”
-From the journal of Azazel Altair, 9249 AS
“Planet nine-three-four fell days earlier than we anticipated. Should I move up the graduation?” Captain Zade asked Father, her eyes never leaving Tershetta’s unmoving form. They had tied her up to a chair in the interrogation chamber when I brought her back, and now we all were attempting to plan what would follow.
“Yes, that is likely the best course of action. It seems we will have need for more elites seeing as we now have the ability to sense magic once more.” Father’s tone was stiff, but it didn’t portray the fury I knew he felt inside. He was good at faking it, even amongst his peers he had been raised around. “How many of the remaining graduates were on the final execution list?”
“Including the akhata?” Captain Zade asked, the question pointless when she knew the answer. There was no killing Tershetta now. “Eight.”
“All eight will graduate.” Father’s voice became distant, his eyes unblinking as he stared at the unconscious trainee before him. At the future general of the shaytan forces.
“Allof them?” Captain Zade sounded baffled, her words breathy. I tried to remain quiet, to avoid her attention, but stars if I didn’t want to huff out in annoyance.
