“Well, I have good news, soldiers. This will be the last one. After this, we will unleash my weapon and take down your would-be oppressors.”
A cheer went up from the soldiers. And Cyrene was careful to mimic this movements. Even as disgust settled in her stomach.
Would-be oppressors. Sure, Malysa. Whatever lie you have to tell.
“Merrick, unleash the Voldere.”
Merrick lowered himself into a smooth bow. The Nokkin almost looked normal, human. He’d fooled so many for so long. No one would guess that he was empty inside. Just a magic-stealing monster underneath it all. A dark swath of nothingness.
Still, he flicked his hands, and gates on either side of the pits grated open.
Then slowly, two creatures appeared.
Cyrene had never seen anything like them. Like these Voldere.
They were at least nine feet tall with leathery skin as black as night. Their eyes were bright red, cut into slits like a dragon. And, to make matters worse, they had bat-like wings tucked tight against their bodies. The Voldere stalked forward with the cunning of something sentient. Clearly not foot soldiers like the Indres or meant for stealth like the Braj. This was something else entirely.
They sent a shiver down her spine.
This was why Fenix had told her to come. These things were the creatures that she needed to kill. She could not let them be unleashed on her army. Not if there were more than just the two slowly circling each other like trained predators. Not newly formed beasts.
“Begin,” Malysa said with a smirk.
And they did.
The Voldere launched across the pit at each other. Talons snapped into place on their hands and feet as they lashed out. The first was a bit smaller but moved with more agility. The second might have the brute force, but it was also clearly intelligent. Not outmatched by its smaller counterpart. It actually feinted right before doing a somersault and bringing the talons on its feet across the smaller Voldere’s back.
The room was silent.
The guards were not cheering on this fight as they might have done in a sparring ring.
This was not for sport.
It was a test.
The final test.
The smaller Voldere screeched an inhuman noise as black blood spewed onto the pit floor. It adjusted its course and whirled on its large opponent.
Vengeance was in its eyes. Not just anger that it had been hurt, but actual vengeance. It was smart enough to know the stakes. And it had to win to move forward.
In some ways, this was no different than her dragon tournament. Kill or be killed. Do or die. And somehow, these creatures had that same mentality. Not just survival or instinct, but also intelligence.
She chewed on her bottom lip as the fight continued. As the smaller came back sharper and angrier and tore the larger beast’s thick skin to ribbons. Until the layers peeled back from the muscular flesh beneath. Until black blood coated the sandy, bone-strewn floor. And even then, it wasn’t enough. It had to use its claws to dig into the meaty part of the Voldere’s neck, and it severed the spinal cord. It didn’t stop until the head was detached from the body.
Then it spread those terrifying wings and beat one, two, three times until it hovered over the pit below and bellowed its triumph. It took the head and threw it up onto the viewing platform right before Malysa’s feet.
All she did was smile.
“Winner.”
Then she casually tipped her head, and the captain of the guard threw one of the soldiers into the pit.
He went down, screaming, “I didn’t do it. I swear. I didn’t do it.”
Then the Voldere was upon him, shredding him so much easier than the fallen foe. Like a fish with a filet knife. His screams were abruptly cut off as the creature began to feast on the soldier. A clear explanation for why the floor was covered in bones.
“Thank you so much for that,” Malysa said to her soldiers. “Before you go, I want you all to know that we have an honored guest among us tonight.”
Cyrene stiffened. Oh no.
“The Domina Cyrene.”
50
The Voldere
“Cyrene, step forward,” Malysa taunted.
Cyrene took a deep breath. There was nothing she could do. She had been caught. She didn’t know how, but Malysa had known all along. This demonstration was probably just a way to suss her out. And she had walked right into it.
The important thing here was just to get to Fenix and get out. If she could get close enough to him, then she could still salvage this.
“Cyrene, darling, it’s not nice to keep us waiting.”
She breathed out slowly and then pushed through the guards in front of her. A wave of shock rose up through the ranks of the soldiers. She didn’t turn back to see Ace’s face. She could guess what he was thinking. After he’d been kind enough to befriend her.
“There you are,” Malysa said cheerfully.
Cyrene strode past the rows of soldiers to face off with her enemy. “Hello, Malysa.”
“Good to see you. It’s been a while. Not since that old woman in Bienco. She did have a kind heart, didn’t she?”
Cyrene wouldn’t be baited. “She did. Until you murdered her.”
Malysa waved her hand. “Now, I think you have something that belongs to me.”
She tipped her head at Merrick, and he moved forward.
Cyrene narrowed her eyes at him. “If you try to touch my magic, I will end you.”
A smirk crossed his features. “I always did enjoy that mouth of yours.”
“And I enjoyed killing your kind,” she snarled.
“Get this over with Merrick,” Malysa snapped impatiently.
Merrick ran his hands down her uniform. She waited for him to use his Nokkin powers to feed on her magic, but he held back. It must have been Malysa’s presence that stopped him.
He removed the coin from her pocket and handed it to Malysa. “This is all that was on her.”
“You think I’m stupid enough to bring the diamond here with me?” Cyrene indignantly taunted right back.
“You were stupid enough to come here,” Malysa said. “Your arrogance never surprises me.”
“That’s something, coming from you.”
Malysa just indulgently smiled at her. “Well, now that you’re here, we can commence the finale. I knew that you’d come here of your own accord.” She patted Fenix’s shoulder. “Thanks to my good friend Fenix here, you came just like I’d known you would.”
Cyrene’s eyes moved to Fenix. He pleaded with her in that moment. He hadn’t wanted to do it. He hadn’t meant to. It was a trap. She had always known it would be. That was why she hadn’t had any intention of doing anything but rescuing him.
Which…if she got close enough now, then maybe she still could.
“You think I came of my own accord?” Cyrene asked, stepping forward as if she didn’t have a care in the world. “I don’t think you can really count it as me coming to you if you had to trick me into doing it.”
“Semantics,” Malysa argued.
She dug her hand into her pocket and rolled her eyes. “I’m not here for you, Malysa. I’m not here to join your stupid guard. You have these soldiers brainwashed into thinking that you’re doing them a favor, but they know that you’re evil. Everyone can sense it on you. No one worships someone that they fear.”