Valkyrie's Claim (Academy of Immortals 2)

My eyes are drawn to the box seat in the stands. Roland is there sitting beside Marshal. Marielle hangs onto Roland and I spot one of the twins in Marshal’s lap. A false grin is plastered on his handsome face. If there’s one thing the Knight knows what to do, it’s fake it. He’ll probably smile at the gods as they take his final breaths.

Marshal’s gaze is focused on the field below, and cheers draw my attention to the center of the field. Victorine walks out in a cloud. She taunts the crowd, announces that it’s time for the first solo challenge. Points to her cage. I narrow my eyes at the small animals inside. There’s something different about them. Something concrete.

What has her demented mind created?

From where I stand I see one of the animals bare its teeth. They are sharp, many, and complied in rows.

Maybe this is why Roland encouraged Agis to come. There’s been a shift in the game, and he wants us to witness it. Or at least that’s what I assume as the gaping hole opens across the field, allowing the challenger to walk onto the field, head covered in a dark hood. The person’s stature is small, and if they speak it’s drowned out by the sound of the ravenous crowd. The guard yanks off the hood at the same time Victorine opens the cage.

My heart skids to a stop when I see Elizabeth at the other end of the field, her hair a mess from the hood. Her eyes wide with confusion and terror. I watch as her expression transforms, watching the small, fluffy animals come racing toward her. They look sweet. Gentle, but under the cheers is the low growl of their hunger.

Panicked, Elizabeth looks around—probably for a weapon.

“Armin,” Rupert says from behind me. Where he came from, I’m not sure. “Do something.”

“I can’t move an illusion.”

His face is paler than normal. “I don’t think those are an illusion.”

The stakes just got higher.

“What if someone sees? What if Roland knows I can do this?”

“Hildi will never forgive any of us, or herself, if something happens to Elizabeth.”

With concentration, I allow a ripple under the surface of the field—large enough that it knocks the animals off balance. They stumble, giving Elizabeth a chance to jump up on the abandoned platform. I look up and see Victorine is now sitting next to Roland, sipping a goblet of wine.

“More,” he says.

Again, I use my powers, the ones that are developing faster now that I’m at the Academy. I trip a creature leaping toward the platform. I topple another as it hangs by its sharp nails. Elizabeth manages to kick one of the creatures off the stage. It yelps as it flies across the field. The dichotomy is strange. The animals are fuzzy and innocent-looking. Their teeth and claws are deadly.

On the ground they regroup, circling the stage.

“Fuck,” Rupert says, tugging at my sleeve. In the cage, ten new creatures have appeared. They waste no time charging toward the stage.

I take a deep breath and prepare to disrupt the challenge, but a figure emerges from the side of the field. My stomach sinks, along with my heart.

Hildi strides across the field, her sword, glinting in her hands.

“What is she doing here?” Rupert asks, voice rising. We both see Miya running after her. The bond pulls, ebbing between the four of us. I scan the crowd for Agis but see, and sense, nothing.

I look up above and see Victorine smiling. Marshal, on the other hand, the look on his face sends a chill down my spine.

“It’s time,” I say to Rupert, pushing through the crowd to the edge of the field.

He catches up. “For what?”

“To end this.”

39

Hildi

The energy of the crowd changes when they see that I’ve entered the arena. I ignore them, zeroing in on the animals attacking my friend. Elizabeth shrieks, doing what she can, but there are bloody wounds on her arms and legs.

The small animals are so consumed with attacking her tha

t they don’t see me coming. Not until it’s too late. By then, I’ve gutted one of the little monsters with my sword, impaling it in the back. I take the head off the next, slicing through its little, furry neck. Blood spatters, and I mutter a curse. Damn all the work I did the day before, scrubbing the floor.