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The giant’s eyes followed the arc of my movements through the air towards him, surprised and amused at the same time. He lifted one of his enormous hands, as though to try and swat me out of the air, but instead my blade sliced through his thumb.

The giant wailed, the sound almost splitting my ear drums, as I landed hard on the ground behind him. The sound of the thumb falling was like the thud of a felled tree.

The giant was stumbling, clutching his bleeding hand, dark red rivulets flowing onto the mossy floor around us. I seized the chance and charged at him, slicing through the tendon in the back of his left leg.

Another bellow from the giant, and he started forward, in the direction Nesryn had run. I heard Nesryn scream, at the same time the giant did, his enormous round head turning in that direction.

He began to amble towards Nesryn’s distressed cries, and I pushed myself forward, using Arankos like a crutch. My arm was still bleeding profusely, and I felt so dizzy I could barely see.

But I had to save her.

“Hey!” I called. “Hey you! You come back here!”

The giant didn’t even pause.

“Hey!” I dropped my sword to pick up a rock my foot had nudged against, and hurled it at the back of his head. “Hey, you come back here and face me!”

The giant continued to amble forwards, towards where Nesryn had screamed.

“Hey!” I scooped down to pick up my sword, almost unable to straighten back up as my vision went gray.

Elara, it’s going to kill you. Rook’s voice was full of anguish as it sounded in my mind. But I couldn’t stop. I couldn’t hide. There was no choice.

“Hey, you moronic, overgrown fuck!” I summoned the last of my strength, hauling my sword along with me as I broke into a run. My body screamed at me to stop, pain shooting through me so sharp it took my breath away.

But as I launched myself at the giant, it finally turned towards me. With a scream, I wrapped both my hands around the hilt of my sword, pointing the tip of the blade straight down.

The giant didn’t have time to react, taking a small stumbling step backwards, but not far enough to escape my reach. I landed on its swollen chest, and sank my sword right into the base of its throat.

There was a loud popping sound, followed by bubbling, bright red blood, and the giant stumbled sideways. I held fast as the crowd erupted into cheers, and felt Rook’s relief flood my body.

I’d killed it. It was going to die.

It crashed to its knees, and I bit through the pain radiating through my arm to keep a hold of the sword. I looked over my shoulder at Theron, who was leaning on the bannister of the royal box. His expression was one of pure shock, his wings dropped low at his back. He hadn’t scared me.

“I won.” I knew he couldn’t hear me. It didn’t matter. I couldn’t help but laugh through my pain. “Iwon.”

I wasn’t sure for a moment what had happened. There was a rush of wind and suddenly all feeling left my body. My vision went white, and I was falling to the ground.

The giant had crushed me between its hands. I looked up at its black eyes as everything seemed to slow down, as it watched me plummet down, down, down. The crowd erupted in surprised shouts, but Rook’s voice drowned out everything. He screamed and raged as the wind rushed past my ears, and I only knew I’d hit the ground because that rushing stopped.

It was as though my body was no more. There was just a haze of white, and Rook telling me I couldn’t die. My vision failed me. Then there was nothing.

Chapter33

Rook

In the time it took Elara to fall from the Giant’s throat to the ground, I wished for death precisely three times.

I begged whatever gods were out there to extinguish my life right along with hers.

I pleaded for them to let her dying heart consume mine and drag me to Nav with her.

I bargained for the strength to break free of my chains and snap Theron’s neck, even if it meant leaving her at the Gates of Nav and languishing forever in whatever state a cursed soul found itself after death.

Because I was absolutely certain, as I watched her fall, that she was dead.

She hit the ground, limbs spread from her body, head tilted at a sickening angle. I was bellowing, screaming at the guards to release me. I fought against the chains binding me until the steel tore into my skin and my arms bled.