Empire of Flame and Thorns (Flame and Thorns #1)

Chapter 33

CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

B lack storm clouds gather around Draven as he advances on me. Thunder rumbles from them, in tune with the anger that seems to roll off his muscular body. He flexes his right hand as he locks a commanding stare on me.

“Azaroth’s flame,” he curses, his voice coming out more like a growl. “What the hell are you doing?”

I jerk back, stunned by his anger. Recovering, I give my head a quick shake and then draw my eyebrows down in a scowl. “What am I doing?”

“I let you out of my sight for half a day, and I come back to find you fighting a wolfbear ! Are you out of your mind?”

“I wasn’t fighting it. I was trying to survive .”

“Then you should have run from it. Not faced it down like some kind of lunatic.”

“I was running from it. But in case you didn’t know, the average person cannot actually outrun a wolfbear.” I blink as the rest of his words finally catch up with me. Narrowing my eyes, I watch him as he comes to a halt right in front of me. “Wait… What do you mean let you out of my sight ? Were you watching me?”

He draws up short, seeming startled by the question for a second. Then he crosses his arms over his chest and scowls down at me as if I’m stupid. “Of course I was. I’m one of the people in charge of making sure that the trial runs smoothly.” Suspicion creeps into his eyes. “Which begs the question, what the hell are you doing all the way out here?”

“I was trying to find my way back.”

“Why would you be…” He trails off as his gaze darts down to my hand. Shock crackles across his features, and when he snaps his gaze back up to my face, his eyes are wide with disbelief. “You. You have one of the rings?”

Crossing my arms over my chest defensively, I drag my eyebrows down deeper and glower at him. “No need to sound so surprised.”

“Of course I am. I saw Alistair, Isera, and Trevor follow Lavendera to the stone altar. How the hell did you manage to find it?”

I stew in annoyed silence before admitting, “Fenriel’s hawk found it. And I followed Fenriel.”

“How? You’re not skilled enough to track someone through the woods.”

“Wow. Your faith in my skills really is touching.”

“Just answer the question.”

“Fenriel is the only contestant who ever feels excited. So I tracked him by that emotion.”

Surprise pulses across Draven’s unnecessarily handsome features. And for a moment, he almost looks… impressed . Then ruthless authority slams back down over his features, and he snaps his fingers at me before holding out his palm. “Alright, hand it over.”

My eyebrows shoot up.

He narrows his eyes, and his voice drops lower and darker as threats lace his tone. “Give me the ring, Selena.”

I scoff. “Is that an order?”

“Did it sound like a suggestion?”

Uncrossing my arms, I hold up my right hand with the back of my hand towards Draven and my fingers straight. A faint hint of red light from the setting sun glints in the smooth gold ring. Draven raises his eyebrows expectantly and shoots a pointed look down at his open palm.

I flash him a smile dripping with challenge. “You want it?” I flip him off. “Come and get it.”

He jerks back, looking stunned. But I don’t stop to watch it. Instead, I whirl around and sprint towards the dense wall of vines and trees across the clearing.

I figured that the same tactic I had planned for the wolfbear will work on Draven too. The space between the trees is so narrow that I will be able to squeeze through it. But Draven, even without his wings, is much broader and bulkier than me. He will never be able to follow me through it.

An insane burst of excitement rushes through me as I dash towards the tree line. Behind me, Draven lets out a curse. Then the black storm clouds that hung around him start expanding.

My heart jerks as the clouds spread rapidly across the clearing, further darkening the already gloomy area. Winds whirl across the grass, snatching at my clothes and hair. I hurtle across the ground.

Right as I reach the dense wall of trees, a gust of wind slams into them, making them rattle. I twist sideways to slip through the narrow gap, and while doing so, I also cast a quick glance behind me.

Draven isn’t running after me.

Instead, he is simply striding across the ground as if he has all the time in the world. His steps are confident. Powerful. And there is a slight smirk on his lips. As if there isn’t a single shred of doubt in his mind that he will catch me.

We’ll see about that.

Squeezing through the gap between the first row of trees, I twist my body and slide sideways towards the next one. There is no way that Draven will be able to follow me. Twisting and slipping, I make it about four full strides into the mass of vines and thin tree trunks.

Then a bolt of lightning cracks into the trees.

I suck in a sharp breath and whip my head towards the entrance to the tree wall. The thin trunks at the front groan. Then crack. Then topple outwards.

My pulse thrums in my ears as I watch the outmost row fall aside right in the spot where I slipped in earlier. A moment later, Draven strides in. Storm clouds swirl around him like black smoke. Through the tangle of vines, his eyes find mine. A wicked grin spreads across his face.

“Shit,” I breathe.

With alarm blaring in my skull, I lurch into motion again. Squeezing between the next set of trunks, I move as fast as I can. But the ground in here isn’t made of grass or soil or even firm roots. Instead, it’s made up entirely of those thin vine-like trunks. They’re hard, and slippery, and they produce strange clanging noises when I step on them. Like a hollow wooden tube when you strike it. But most importantly, they’re round . So every time I step on one, my foot slides sideways towards where that thin tree meets the one next to it.

I twist my ankle several times as I scramble across the slippery ground.

Lightning cracks into the trees right behind. I suck in rapid breaths as wooden groaning and crashes follow it. My heart thumps in my chest. I spin around while weaving through the next gap.

A hand locks around my wrist.

My stomach lurches as I’m yanked backwards.

Air explodes from my lungs in a huff as I slam right into a rock-hard chest.

Tilting my head back, I’m met by Draven’s smirking face.

“Did you really think that would work?” he taunts.

Reality snaps back into me, and I try to yank my wrist out of his grip. His fingers remain firmly locked around it while he reaches up with his other hand. Panic shoots through me as he reaches for the gold ring on my finger.

In a burst of desperation, I yank out the knife from my thigh holster and swing it towards him.

He jerks back in shock, loosening his grip on my wrist, as the blade slashes through the air right in front of his face. Using that moment to my advantage, I rip my wrist out of his grip and lurch forward, aiming to slip past him and dart back out into the clearing.

I’ve barely managed to make it two strides past him when something heavy slams into my back.

A yelp slips from my lips as Draven and I crash to the ground. The round wooden trunks that make up the ground dig into my hipbone as I land on my side next to Draven. Scrambling furiously, I try to get my limbs free and crawl away.

Hands appear on my hips before I can get my own hands and knees underneath me. Another startled noise rips from my lungs as Draven yanks me back and flips me around. My back hits the ground with a thud, followed a second later by Draven’s knees landing on either side of my hips as he straddles me. The force of our bodies hitting those strange trunks makes that hollow clanging noise echo around us again.

I try to swing the knife at Draven’s face again, but this time, he’s ready for it. Grabbing my wrist mid-air, he holds my hand steady as he yanks the blade out of my grip. In one fluid motion, he spins the knife in his hand and then presses it against my throat.

Drawing in a sharp breath, I stop struggling underneath him.

“Azaroth’s flame,” he curses, and shoots me an exasperated scowl. “You nearly took my eye out. Who knew you were so violent?”

I huff. “You’re one to talk.”

Amusement flickers in his eyes for the briefest of moments. Then that expression of complete and utter authority descends on his features again. While holding my gaze with commanding eyes, he nods towards my hand. “Alright, you know how this goes.”

I curl my hand into a fist, feeling the cold metal ring dig into my skin. Desperation rips through my chest.

“Why are you even doing this?” I ask. It comes out almost like a shout. And it’s far more high-pitched and breathless than I had planned for it to be. “I made it through all of the other trials. I got the ring. Why can’t you just let me win?”

He holds my gaze with serious eyes, and I can tell that he means every word when he says, “Because you don’t deserve it.”

I slam my fist into the ground in frustration. “Look, I’m sorry about throwing the drink at you. If I had?—”

“I don’t care,” he cuts me off, his voice as merciless as his eyes. “You could beg and plead and bargain with me all night, but it still wouldn’t make a difference.” Cold steel kisses my skin as he slides the knife up higher, pressing the flat of the blade underneath my chin. “Hand it over. Now.”

My heart slams against my ribs as I stare up into his unyielding eyes. And in that moment, I know that I have no other choice.

So I heave a deep sigh and then take off the ring. While holding his hard stare, I drop it in his waiting palm. He slips the ring into one of the pouches along his belt.

“Good.” A small smirk tugs at his lips. “You’re finally learning to obey my orders.”

I narrow my eyes and level a glare full of challenge on him. “This isn’t over.”

I might have been forced to hand it over right now because he has me pinned to the ground underneath him with a blade at my throat. But as soon as he turns his back on me so that he can’t see my eyes, I’m going to manipulate his emotions and make him give it back to me.

“Yes, it is,” he replies, and slides my knife into one of his own holsters. “Because now, I’m going to fly away from here and drop the ring somewhere else. And you’re going to go back to the city and accept that you have lost.”

“I will never accept that I have lost. I swear by your god and mine, I’m going to fight with everything?—”

A white bolt of lightning slams into the ground right next to me. It’s so forceful that the ground shakes.

I gasp, the sound cutting my threat short. The air around me taste of ozone.

“Listen to me,” Draven presses out between clenched teeth before I can recover. “You?—”

Wooden groaning noises suddenly come from right underneath me.

Both Draven and I whip our heads towards it.

But before either of us can so much as open our mouth, a loud crack cuts through the dark evening air.

My stomach lurches as the hollow wooden trunks beneath us give way.

And we plummet into a dark abyss.