Chapter 51 The Silver Captain pt2
“If I can?” Zaries barks a laugh and lunges.
I dance away from his blade, spinning on my tiptoes in the puddles.
“You’re just playing with me, aren't you?” Zaries asks, his voice low so only I can hear it.
“Maybe? Maybe I just want to see if you actually can kill me, or if it’s all talk.” I twirl around him, this duel becoming more like a dance between lovers by the moment. I slide the flat sides of my blades against his elbow, his ear lobe, and his hip. “Sometimes I think you forget that I was trained to fight just like you…”
“Well, I didn’t know that until I saw you signing up for the Trial,” Zaries hisses, taking a knee and jabbing his swords behind him blindly.
I yelp as he knicks my thigh, jumping quickly away from him.
Zaries laughs heartily as he rises and turns to face me. “Did you just yelp like a dog? That’s hilarious!”
I hiss as I assess my wound, backing away from him.
“Come on, don’t back away. We’re dancing, aren’t we? Come, dance this duel with me.”
The crowd cheers, the sound becoming louder and louder as Zaries gets closer. He flashes his blades artistically, parrying and lunging at me in such a way that it’s easy to dodge and slice back toward him. Soon, we’re both smiling ear to ear as our years of training begin to unfold. We move together like we’ve been sparring our entire lives, bending and dodging, bodies moving in time with one another.
Zaries lunges again, this time more powerfully, and I feel my back hit the thick pillar of spikes poking out of the ground.
I laugh as I realize he’s pressed me against the side and not a spike. “You missed your chance!” I laugh, mocking him.
He gives me a sly half-smile and rushes me.
Before I can react, Zaries has one sword to the back of my neck and the other jabbed up against my ribs. “I have you right where I want you,” he whispers, pressing so close to me that our bodies meld and our noses brush.
For one breathtaking moment, I think he’s about to kiss me right here in front of everyone. His dark eyes blaze as he stares into mine, his breathing heavy. One leg slips between my thighs, rubbing, the friction making me bite my bottom lip.
“I’ve got you right where I want you,” he breathes against my lips.
The memory of our kiss rises between us. Inflammatory. Incendiary.
Unforgettable.
“Zaries, end it!” Steel shouts, his voice snapping whatever moment was blooming between us.
I shove Zaries away, using the captain as a distraction, and slide under the spike to put some distance between us.
The captain’s armor flickers in and out of my line of sight as if camouflaging is so simple for him that it’s done without a thought. I blink, confused. Wasn’t his power melting and controlling metal?
I realize with a start that’s why I couldn’t see Zaries before; he wasn’t moving too fast, he was camouflaging himself!
Have you learned nothing from the other captains? My mentor chides, his voice sounding about as annoyed as I am.
Use what they have taught you and win! He may be able to blend in with his surroundings, but you? You can make the surroundings black as night. Stop toying with the prince and put him in his place. Below your boot!
“Hey, Zaries!” I shout. “Have you ever seen a wind tunnel?”
I feel him tense and draw in a sharp breath, but there’s no time for him to react. I call the winds I’ve learned to harness and turn them into a tornado that sucks his feet out from underneath him.
Zaries yelps in surprise as the wind wraps around his ankle like a rope and yanks him in the air. He spins around and around, the wind picking up dust and pebbles and pelting him with them on every rotation.
I grin in victory as I watch his camouflage fail, unable to keep up with the changing surroundings.
“Cheat!” Malachi roars, his red armor gleaming like blood over his massive chest as he storms towards me.
I can’t help the faint grin that crosses my face. I’ve beaten that brute once, I can do it again. I raise my hand in the air and make a fist. As I clench it and rip it down, lightning cracks and strikes the ground in front of the big bastard.
To say that watching him flail and fall backward brings me unending joy is putting it lightly. The crowd around us claps and laughs, making Malachi’s face burn with anger as he picks himself off the ground.
“You’re meant to be learning my skills, fodder! Not showing off powers you should not possess!” Steel’s voice is too close, too angry.
Startled, my grip on the elements falters. Zaries falls from the air and the lightning dissipates as if it was never there. A steel gauntlet closes around my throat from behind and tightens mercilessly.
I scream in pain as the slice of a blade cuts into my right thigh. Falling to my knees, I try to scramble away from my attacker, but there’s no one to be seen. Steel is attacking me himself, instead of Zaries. He’s invisible with his camo, even as I can feel him around me with all the hatred and ire in his soul pouring out of him.
“I can come behind you and cut you and you don’t even see me coming?” Steel hisses, his blades whistling as they slice through the air again. “How do you expect to fight dragons if you have no idea who and what’s in your own surroundings?”
I yelp as footsteps behind me stomp closer, then roll away right as Zaries’ double blades stab into the stones where I just was. They’re working against me, two against one, and I can’t see either of them!
Zaries chuckles, clearly thinking this is still a friendly battle. Does he not sense the malicious intent from Steel?
Stones crunch on my left and I fling myself to the right, calling up Bane’s shadows and cloaking myself in a dark mist.
Steel chuckles dryly. “You can’t hide forever…”
I feel Zaries’ emotions begin to change and for a moment his camo flickers and I see him slowly maneuver himself in a protective stance in front of me. “Something’s not right,” he whispers. “I think he’s actually trying to kill you.”
Fear grips my heart. Could this be what my mentor was referring to? Is Steel one of the captains who want me dead?