Page 17 of Shadebound
Earth magic rippled across his muscles, roots bursting from the ground at his command. He leant in with a smirk and spat, “Don’t waste your little girl magic—leave the real work to the big boys and die already.”
Draven yanked the sword off the ground and swung it in a wide arc, forcing the man to parry and buy me a moment. Iseized two slender, serrated knives from the table—perfect for slipping between defences and carving pretty patterns in flesh—and melted into the shadows at his flank. When he launched a spike of earth magic at Draven, I appeared again, driving both blades into his side.
As he staggered, blood spurting and splashing against my cheeks, I laughed. “See you later, big boy.”
Two dozen combatants roared on, blades clashing and spells exploding in a blistering ballet of violence. Draven and I moved to stand back-to-back, weapons raised, scanning the bedlam: a fire wielder launching spinning infernos, the siren collapsing foes with tidal walls, and an angel duellist diving like a falcon. Bodies collided in showers of sparks, magic crackled, and screams and cheers blended into deafening chaos.
I had goosebumps. Lots and lots of delightful goosebumps.
To my right, Zayden lunged into the fray, grabbing a red-eyed girl with fangs who screamed almost as loud as a banshee. She snapped her vampire teeth at his throat, but he just snarled. And with a single, terrible twist of his hand, he used his advanced shifter strength to crush her spine. Her bones cracked like dry wood, and he tore her apart—ripping limb from limb as blood spattered across the sand. I watched, pulse pounding, and couldn’t suppress a dark thrill at the glorious carnage.
This wasn’t a trial. It was a fucking bloodsport I couldn’t understand the point of.
The rules didn’t matter. There were no referees, teachers stepping in, no magical barriers to keep anyone safe. It was raw, wild, vicious. A dozen different powers colliding at once, bodies slamming together. Hundreds of voices lost in the cacophony of roars and magic.
I saw a girl with obsidian wings be thrown into the stands, crushing watchers. Only for her to fly back down a second later and impale another student with twin daggers. The siren createda slick wave that sent three opponents skidding violently into a wall, bones crunching on impact. The air shimmered with heat as a fire user launched a spinning wheel of flame that disintegrated someone’s shield mid-cast, catching their clothes and setting them ablaze.
They rolled on the ground, screaming.
Nobody cared.
A boy with glowing runes carved into his arms cast what looked like a chain of lightning across the pit, and it arced wildly between bodies, making one student seize and collapse. Another lunged on all fours in his werewolf form, claws swiping at a girl who vanished in a blink. Only for her to reappear behind him with a cruel grin and a blade that sang through his throat with too much ease. Somewhere to my right, a chunk of stone erupted upward like a spike, flinging another student into the seats above.
He was pulled apart by the people who watched. Their hands yanked at his clothes and flesh until he was limp.
Everywhere I looked, magic crackled, hissed, roared, the heat stinging my skin. The ground shook beneath us as if it were alive. The air smelt of nothing but fear and blood.
I ducked low as a chunk of ice sailed past my ear, embedding itself in the wall behind me with a jagged crunch. My heart pounded so hard I could feel it in my teeth, and every part of me buzzed—not with fear, but something fiercer.
Wilder.
Exhilaration.
I wasn’t scared. Not exactly. I wasalive. In the worst way possible. This place wanted me dead, and I could feel every inch of my body ready to push back. To show them why this was all just child’s play.
But Draven—Dravenwas next to me, ducking and dodging. Not at all enjoying the bedlam in the same manner. I watchedas he was almost clipped by a stray burst of fire. My instincts locked onto him like a tether, every breath focussed on keeping him standing.
With a huff of effort, I threw up an almost invisible barrier of shadows behind us. It was just in time to block a barrage of ice shards that looked like glass but burned like acid. I willed the darkness to coil tighter, feeling each jagged edge shatter against the void I’d created. But still keeping it almost invisible to the watchers in the crowd.
Then Draven spun, sword flashing in swift, brutal arcs. His blade sliced through the air and, with a final downward chop, decapitated the ice fairy who’d lunged for him. She was viciously beautiful—sharp-pointed ears jutting from icy blue hair, skin tinged the pale hue of frost, and tiny wings dusted with sparkles. Yet I found her far prettier when her head tumbled across the sand, wings fluttering in a final, eerie dance.
My admiration was shortened when Draven stumbled beside me as he tried to get to safety again. And I felt it before I saw it—a flare of cold, wrong magic.
I spun to my left, shadows silently screaming at me.
Icy blue flames roared toward my brother, curling like a whip aimed for his chest. They hissed with a frozen crackle, each shard of icy fire slicing the air. They were a breath away from burning through bone and flesh. Their wielder was too far for me to use my blades. Or even think of secrecy with shadows.
“Jinx!” Zayden’s voice, sharp with panic, reached me like a lifeline I was too far gone to reach. “Don’t!”
I didn’t think. I justmoved.
My shadows exploded outward like a shockwave, swallowing the flames whole. I glanced up in time to see Zayden’s wolfish jaw drop, a low whistle cutting through the din as he stared at the unleashed darkness. Before I could thinkof his earlier warning, my shadows lashed toward the danger’s source. Towards the sneering man from before.
My shadows didn’t stop. They sought out the man who’d called my family linefilth.
They didn’t hold back as they wrapped around him like living blades, slicing through flesh and sinew in a single motion. His limbs were rent from his torso before he hit the ground, and the wet snap of ribs echoed in the stunned hush that fell. Dark tendrils fused with his broken form, devouring him in ravenous silence—no beastly shape, just pure, gleeful consumption. When it was over, only a spray of blood and twisted entrails marked where he’d stood. His rune-covered cuff sat in the pile of the man he once was.
The arena fell utterly silent. Then, a single gasp echoed from the stands, and I could almost hear my heartbeat thudding between the stillness. But my magic could not stop.
