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She charged forward, but I moved faster, reaching down for another star. I assessed the distance between me and my blade and sword. Too far. And a throwing star wouldn’t end her life. I still had my knives, but I needed something more, something bigger.

My mind raced through the three ways to kill an akadim. Cut off their head, stab their heart, or…. I eyed the flames above me, the torches circling the stadium. I swung my arm back, my eyes on the torchlight, and threw the star at the flame, its magic singing out to me as it soared.

The star sliced cleanly through the wooden stake, and firelight fell into the arena as the stake landed right in my hand.

I gripped the wood like a stave, as Rhyan ran and brandished his sword. Before he reached her, I took off, pressing my heels into the ground, bending at the knees, and leaping forward, catapulting myself until I was flying through the air.

Haleika’s red eyes widened with fear, her expression crumbling just like it used to when she’d been human. I slammed into her chest, grabbed hold of her tunic with one hand, and staked the firelight through her heart with the other.

Haleika roared in pain, the flames licking and dancing across her chest. I swung my legs back and forth, picking up enough momentum to kick her and propel myself away. I hit the ground with a sharp thud. Rhyan was at my side in an instant, helping me to my feet, his arms wrapping around me as he pulled me away from Haleika, now running toward us, fire spreading through her body and black smoke misting into the falling snow above her head.

She sank to her knees. I’d hit her heart but not deep enough to kill her. The flames would do the rest, but they weren’t moving fast enough. She was suffering. Greatly. And with her akadim strength, the process would likely last for an agonizing length of time. She dropped to the ground, to the snow, but the fires were spreading.

“Is this enough?” Rhyan yelled. “Was that enough for you?” he roared at the Emperor.

Tears burned in my eyes, my actions catching up to me now that the threat had been stopped. The surge of energy, power, and strength I’d felt, that I’d needed and called up to protect Rhyan, was quickly ebbing, leaving me feeling entirely drained. My eyesight was going in and out of focus, my heart pounding too fast, exhaustion overwhelming me.

The Emperor leaned forward in his seat, his brows furrowed in disgust as he held out his hand, shifted his fingers into a fist, and pointed his thumb up.

I’d passed. I’d done it.

And I felt like total and utter shit.

My heart squeezed. A new pain erupted inside as the exhaustion finally swept through me. I felt my eyes beginning to close, and I sank to my knees, no longer having the strength to stand.

It was like I’d gone through Rhyan’s kashonim ten times over. But I hadn’t. He’d been bound; his magic had been cut off from me. I couldn’t make sense of where the energy and strength had come from.

Haleika roared, her arms flailing and covered in flames.

“Lyr,” Rhyan stared down at me. “Are you…?”

“Help her,” I croaked. “End it.”

His nostrils flared, jaw tightening as he nodded once and ran forward, sword drawn before he leaped. He spun across Haleika’s front, his body far enough from the flames to keep from being burned, as his sword sliced through her neck.

His black boots crashed into the reddened snow at the same moment her head hit the ground.

I clutched my chest. It was done. I’d survived. We’d survived.

That was the moment the arena exploded.

“Ka Batavia kills its own people!” someone shouted.

“Murderers.”

“Justice for Haleika Grey!”

“Fuck Harren Batavia.”

Something shot forth from the stands and landed by my foot. A black rock. I picked it up. The sigil of the Emartis stared back at me as another rock fell.

“Shekar arkasva. Shekar arkasva. Shekar arkasva!”

“LYR!” Rhyan screamed, running back to my side. His arms wrapped around my waist as he began hauling me away from the center of the arena.

I collapsed into Rhyan’s arms. I couldn’t hold myself up. There was no energy left inside me, no strength. I felt like I’d used a lifetime of power in minutes. The shouts continued, and more rocks were thrown, some only narrowly missing me by a few inches.

“Lyr,” he said. “Lyr! Gods!”