Three Deadly Trials (Battle for The Dark King Book 1)

by VS Winters

  My lungs began squeezing in my chest, howling for the sweet flavor of oxygen as the racing water hurled me in every direction, including straight into hard stone. Just before I thought that I was going to lose consciousness, my head breached the surface. Wheezing to draw in as much air as I could, I forced my eyes open and took in my surroundings with wild panic. I was being pushed through a crude, topless hallway and directly into the core of the maze.

  I knew it to be the center because of the wide-open area, and the soft glisten of weapons skirting the walls. It spilled into the opening, depositing me in the middle of the room as the turbulent river slowed into two feet of dingy, standing water. Trying to regain my footing, I slipped, sending myself face-first beneath the dark, glassy surface. Quickly, I shoved my hands onto the floor to push against it, making another effort to stand.

  The second time, I succeeded in getting to my feet and allowed my breathing to regulate before venturing to the wall of weaponry. Understanding completely that I had no idea how to use any of them, I supposed they would give me a tiny bit more protection against the others. Gazing across the array, my sights settled on a gleaming silver short sword with a simplistic, leather-bound hilt. Water sloshed around my knees as I made my way to the underside of the weapon and reached a hand up to extract it from the chain.

  As soon as my fingers had encircled the handle, a fiery breeze, brought by the vibration of a menacing snarl, warmed my freezing, water-soaked back. The hair at my nape prickled, standing straight up as I slowly rotated my head to gaze over my shoulder. The water rippled around a shadowy mass that stood in the center of the room where I had been only minutes before. Hypnotizing bronze eyes stared directly at me. The shining spheres seemed to glow in the light of the few torches that hadn't been snuffed out by the waves.

  A shiver traveled down my backbone as I followed the creature with my eyes. It lowered into a crouch. With a single step, the beast moved closer, sending a fresh wave of water lapping up my thigh. This had to be the Manticore Rowan had spoken of. The thing had moved into the light, unveiling the tawny face of a large cat. Its mighty fringe was matted with filth and wet. Scars riddled its disfigured face that was now pulled into an angry snarl. My breath hitched in my chest as it took another step closer.

  Shredded wings that resembled bats were partially unfolded on the creature’s back, allowing enough space between them for me to see an enormous tailpiece of a scorpion. My blood went cold as I realized it was aimed at me. With a jerk of the sword, it came tumbling into my palm, and I spun to face the animal before it could fill my body with venom. A clicking growl spilled from the thing’s throat, sending a chill up my spine. Screaming internally, I reminded myself to pull it together and think of a plan.

  Deciding that there was no way that I would be able to take that thing down with the sword, I knew that I'd have to resort to my powers. Amidst a cautious downward glance, while taking a slow step sideways, an idea came to mind. If I could get to higher ground, I could give this cat a shock that it might not be able to walk away from. Scanning the room as quickly as possible, I saw that there were protruding ledges on the walls that were wide enough to place my feet on.

  "You're wet too, idiot." I snapped at myself while edging my way to the closest one. Placing my feet on it, I moved carefully as not to disturb the animal while wobbling and trying to keep my balance. It seemed ready to attack with its yellowing-teeth bared in a fury. I knew that if I sent out a bolt of lightning, I might be signing my own death contract as well as his.

  I can't produce electricity right now, but I might be able to manipulate the water to send this fucker as far away from me as possible. I began to rotate my fingers after dropping the sword onto the ledge behind my feet. Pulling the energy that I had somewhat learned to harness into my chest, I shifted it into my outstretched fingers. Ripples, the size of my arms began to form, darting out from my perch. "Yes! Do you want to go for a swim kitty cat?"

  The pupils of the monster dilated and its hind legs shifted into a position that would allow it to close the gap between us, ripping me to shreds in the process. I needed to do something and fast. My eyebrows drew together in concentration as I brought every emotion that I could to the surface, particularly what I felt about what Nija had revealed while trying to kill me. The water below started to swirl around the circular space, a gentle whirlpool dragging at the Manticore's tan fur.

  With a wide swoop of my hand, I succeeded in hastening the momentum of my current and flipping the creature onto its side. I strained forward to make a larger sweeping movement through the air, observing cautiously as the thing clawed at the water, trying to regain its footing. The whirling water below rose in level as I worked, sloshing against my boots, the faster that the current passed. With a decisive push, I hurled my hands forward, catching myself just before tipping into the dangerous pool. My feet held fast as I continued forming a wave that consumed one-fourth of the water from my side of the chamber. My wrist was stinging, indicating the downfall of another contestant, but I knew that I couldn't focus on that.

  With another push, I drove the wave away from me. My hands trembled at the weight of the spell as my tide consumed the giant cat and drove it up and over at least three walls. It wasn't much, but I wasn't in the same room as that thing anymore. With a tilt of my head, I strained my ears over the splashes of water that had begun settling back into place. The Manticore was bellowing, offering me some hope that its pitiful wings wouldn't be enough to lift it into the air and back to me.

  Jumping down into the water that was swelling back into that side of the room, I froze as the sound of my worst fear fluttered overhead.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  I jerked my face up to see Nija nose-diving at me.

  She slammed me into the ground with such force that I felt my head bounce off of the stone beneath the water. I gasped and clapped a hand around her wrist as she brought me back up with surprising strength. Thinking swiftly, I slid the blade in my other hand across the top of her forearms.

  Nija shrieked and yanked her hands up to her temples, permitting me to scramble to my feet and prepare a spell. Our faces illuminated with soft, orange light as the flames swept across my knuckles. Nija looked more monstrous than ever, licking the blood from her arms with a forked tongue before smiling at me and tucking her wings against her back.

  "I'm going to kill you, Witch. Just like I killed your little Siren friend."

  "You?" I said, pausing mid-step. My face revealed the horror I felt, which made Nija's smile widen. Not that I was surprised that she had done it, but because she was openly admitting to it. I wondered if the sound barrier worked both ways or if the crowd had heard her confession. When nobody came to collect her, I settled on my first thought.

  "Yes, I couldn't let her run off and expose what I had done." She ran at me, easily knocking the sword from my hand and wrapping her fist around my throat. My powers were weakened from the wave, she sensed it, and her grip tightened to the point that I couldn't breathe anymore. I retrieved the memory of my first time using spells against a Demon. Upon pushing my flaming hand onto her face, Nija only threw her head back and released a sinister cackle.

  "Stupid witch," She snickered and glared into my eyes. "I'm a Demon, born of fire--"

  I shifted the power to a burst of lightning, giving both of us a good zap that blew us apart. It hadn't been the best idea, but it was the only thing that I could come up with. The electric shock wasn't strong enough to carry through the water, thankfully, or we would have both been dead. I climbed to my feet, my chest heaving and skin tingling while Nija did the same. She cleaned a line of blood from her nose and crinkled it at me in a fury.

  "You're running out of energy, witch. And I will gladly pull the life from your weakened body. When I'm finished with you, I will take the Prince as my husband. He will make a nice puppet. Just as his pathetic father was to my own kind."

  "The only pathetic one here, Nija," I gasped between words, f
eeling my knees shake as they threatened to give out entirely, "is you. Why not just let things be? End the war and become powerful that way. Why do you have to be so destructive?"

  With another lunge she was upon me, holding me in the air as she thrust her wings to lift the two of us high above the ground. I had no weapon and no energy left to fight back. The best I could do was bare my teeth and try to rip her hands from my throat with my nails. It didn't help, Nija held tight, hovering above the structure with me at her mercy. Her lips moved close to mine and she blew out a thick, indigo mist, sending a tingle across my flesh. I felt the protection spell waver and crumble off of my body.

  "I want what the rest of my people do. To snuff out the revolting Seelie Court." Her pointed teeth flashed, every word falling from her lips dripping with venom. "They are a blemish on this Realm, one that has held power for far too long. They pushed my people into the Demonlands so that we didn't spoil their pure world. Your Coven could have followed us, but your stupid mother wouldn't give in. So, you and your kind are enemies in the eyes of my people. And they will all die, just as you are about to."

  She released her grip, allowing me to slip from her wet fingers and fall through the air. My back slapped against the water, and Nija was close behind. Just as I sank below the surface, she placed a boot at my throat to make sure that I stayed there. Fighting against her strength, I began to feel completely dejected as water flooded into my lungs and ears. My sight grew darker as my mind started to become hazy. Death was upon me. I could feel it breathing down my neck.

  My body went slack and I gave in to my fate as Nija shoved her boot even harder against my throat. I had expended all of my energy. There was nothing left to pull from. Flashes of my father's eyes crossed my mind. Ava and her infectious smile. I was at peace, with them there to guide me. Memories flooded into me, and I felt like I was floating, the weight of Nija's foot no longer pressing me down. My mind didn't register that I actually was floating and the strong hands as they pulled me from the water. Sounds of roaring applause were barely audible over the pounding in my ears. Something heavy slammed into my back, forcing some of the water from my lungs and out of my mouth and nose.

  "Breathe, Eden!" Rowan shouted, but his voice in my ears was only a dull murmur. Another slam to the back forced even more water to get expelled from my lungs, allowing me to take in a deep gulp of air. The entire world was spinning. I couldn't force my blurred vision to focus on anything, and my legs were too weak to hold me. Panic set in, forcing a familiar trickle of power to bleed through me. Just as it did, everything started to come into focus. I could make out Rowan's face, tight with worry, and Nija struggling to recover after being thrown into a wall.

  Rowan exhaled an immense sigh of relief as I regarded the water at my feet that began diminishing. He picked me up and set me against a wall before turning back to Nija, his hand in the air, forcing her to her knees. I watched as he brought his hand into a tight fist and she crumpled to the floor before shimmering away. A burning on my wrist told me that she had been defeated as if the image of it hadn't shown already. Rowan hurried back to me, lifting me in his powerful arms.

  I couldn't resist the heaviness in my eyelids and body any longer and gave into the darkness as the spectators erupted into chaos.

  When I came to, Rowan was standing over me. His face had never looked more beautiful nor frightened. I sat up suddenly, feeling amazingly intact. His eyes grew as I grinned at him.

  "Did I win, or did you?" I croaked. Apparently, healing didn't save me from getting a sore throat. It probably came from that disgusting water. Who knows what was in it? Rowan pulled me into a tight embrace, and I relished in the warmth of his body, feeling more comfortable than I ever had in my life.

  "You did, Eden." He said with a laugh in his voice. "Nija was going to kill you, I had to step in. I'm so sorry. We were unaware that she could dispel the protection charms. You nearly drowned…"

  "I'm alright," I said and felt a little disappointed when his grip fell loose and he drew his arms back to his sides. I noticed that I was in his room again, this time, not without an audience. With a glance down, I was relieved to see that, this time, I wasn't naked. Though, I wasn't in the armor any longer either. It had been replaced with a pale, moon-colored shirt that fell to my thighs. One of his, I realized with a blush.

  "Can we speak, alone?" I asked Rowan, giving him a sideways glance. He nodded and shooed the group of women away, most of whom I'd never seen before. Once he had returned to my side, I could see the sadness and something more in his eyes.

  "We won't have long." He said and sat beside me on the bed, twisting his torso so that he was facing me.

  "Rowan…" I paused, working to think of what to say to him. He used the silence to speak for himself. Taking one of my hands, he placed something in it and curled his fingers around mine. Continuing to hold my hand, he looked into my eyes, the twinge of that extra something still lying deep within his.

  "Eden, I think that you should return home. Take care of your sister and your father. The healing that you exhibited after your fight with Nija was nothing short of remarkable. My own healers don't possess the kind of power that you used to mend your body. It should be sufficient in aiding your father's health."

  "You want me to leave?" I said in disbelief, ignoring what he had just said about healing myself. I wanted to shake him, to force him to reveal whatever it was that he was hiding. His gaze lowered to my hand as his thumb swept across it in a comforting caress. "But, I won, doesn't that mean--"

  "The wedding is set for midday tomorrow. I am giving you an out, Eden. Take it. Return to your loved ones. You will be safe there. Nija is back with her people, but...I broke our contract and she wants you dead."

  "So, you are sending me away, just like that?" I jerked my hand from his and scooted to the opposite side of the bed. Rocking my head in utter disbelief, I stared through the tall glass of the windows at the darkened sky that had become littered with stars. I'd never taken the time to admire the beauty of this place, and I felt like I would never have the opportunity again. "Is it because I told you that I'm an Empath?"

  "Yes," Rowan answered after a few minutes of thinking on it. My heart squeezed in my chest.

  "Guess what happened between us was just--" hot tears rolled down my cheeks as the words crossed through my mind and rolled off of my tongue, "a transaction. Like what you had with Nija."

  "Not in the least," Rowan pushed himself behind me, wrapping his arms around my waist as he placed a soft kiss upon my shoulder and pressed his forehead onto my temple. My body wanted to relax into him, to feel what I felt for him the night before. It all seemed so far away, but I wanted him to pull my arms above my head, to rip my clothes off with his teeth, and to give me all of himself. However, that wasn't reality. The truth was that he was throwing me away for something that was out of my understanding or control.

  "I'll go," I whispered, pushing the sobs threatening my voice away. Rowan's arms tightened for a few blissful seconds. I drew in a long breath through my nose, inhaling his lush, woody aroma. It sent a new flood of tears dispersing across my face and onto my chest. A thumb swept across the stream softly, clearing the sorrow from my face. Permitting my head to fall into Rowan's palm, I wanted to stay there with him, to keep us in that moment forever.

  "Thank you." He said in a rough voice. I could hear the pain in it. "Eden, I--" He swallowed hard and sighed, his breath warming my nape. "I love you."

  I considered responding to him. The words cut deep. Why would he tell me something like that after telling me he didn't want me? Maybe saying something would have changed things. But a bigger part of me told me that it wouldn't, so I lay there in silence, allowing each aching moment to pass between us without a word. How could he love me and not want to fight to keep me? He was right though, either way, I needed to see my family.

  "I won't force you to respond, as much as I wish that you would. The word that you searched for the first time you w
ere here was Brruntek. It will open the portal."

  It was over too soon as he pulled away and stood up, going to the door to allow his people in once again. I repeated the word in my head over and over as the ones around me that I didn't even care to look at chatted about wedding details and my new room. A Fae woman, Elven, by the look of her, pulled me to my feet and hustled me out of the room.

  "You shouldn't be with your partner until the wedding night." She smiled pleasantly and led me several doors down to my new room. It looked almost identical to Rowan's but just slightly smaller. Somehow, it was still much bigger than my first room in the castle. Guessing that I had been upgraded due to the Trials being over, I let myself fall into the fluffy bed. The woman tried to prod me for details about my appearance preferences until realizing I wasn't in the mood to talk about it.

  As soon as she had taken her leave, I allowed myself to cry until I fell asleep, my arms curled around my legs like the sad child I had been the night of losing my mother.

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  It was the morning of my wedding, and I had been outfitted by a foursome of Fae women.

  The fluid ivory gown that I had been put into was flawless. My toned shoulders were complemented by the thick straps which were glittering with tiny diamonds that trailed down to my waist, where a long, silver belt hung loosely. The bodice of the dress was tight-fitting, and the skirt fell into a short train behind me. Another long piece of cloth, fastened with a diamond-encrusted clasp at my throat, settled over my shoulders and down the length of the skirt.