Page 36 of A Legacy of Stars (The Lost God Legacies)

36

TEDDY

T he blindfold was just loose enough that Teddy could make out his boots when he looked down. Gravel crunched beneath his feet as two guards escorted him into starting position for the final challenge. The night was hot and oppressively humid—like every summer night in Olney—and the low light made it hard to tell what sort of environment he was in. Beneath his leather armor, his shirt was already damp with sweat.

The noise of the crowd was muted in a way that suggested he might be in a pit again. He shuddered as the sense memory of the first challenge came back to him in a rush—the cold water on his skin and the panic that tore through him when he’d realized his armor was stuck.

A soft, calming sensation swelled in his chest.

Stella must have sensed his panic and was trying to calm him down. He took a deep breath and tried to narrow the funnel of their connection so she wouldn’t feel so much from him. He didn’t want to distract her from what was sure to be the most violent challenge yet.

He stumbled over a rock but was steadied by the guard on his right.

“Godsforsaken blindfold,” he grumbled .

Just like the first challenge, this one had started with him being blindfolded and dragged helplessly through a series of twists and turns. Teddy had no idea where he was, but without sight, his other senses were sharper. He could smell the overpowering sandalwood scent of the hunter on his right and the hint of onion on the breath of the guard to his left.

“Stay here. You’ll hear the rules read off in a few moments, once the other competitors are in place,” the hunter on his left said.

The two of them retreated, leaving Teddy alone with his swirling thoughts.

“I’m not your peace. I can’t love you the way you deserve to be loved. When I win tomorrow, I’m not going to ask for Arden’s hand. I’m going to ask for the bond to be broken so we can both be free of this.”

Stella was so calm when she spoke those devastating words—like she’d already grieved the loss and was whispering the message to his ghost. It was the most rational she’d ever been, and Teddy was so angry at her for being steady when he felt so out of control. Stella wanted him, but not enough.

He couldn’t even blame her. He didn’t want this life. It would have been cruel to cage her alongside him—but gods, if he didn’t wish he was selfish enough to do so.

Olney was Stella’s home. He saw the way she cared for her siblings, the way Leo and Rosie looked up to her, the way her parents poured their love into her and how that had made her such a brave and kind woman.

Teddy had never known someone like that—had never let himself be known. She had studied him in the practiced way a warrior studied an adversary. But she hadn’t wounded him on the field of battle. She’d unearthed the most tender part of his heart and made sure to hurt him there—in the way only a lover could.

And now it was over. He didn’t know what to say about it or how to move forward. Instead, he kept turning the memory over and over, waiting for it to hurt less.

He needed to think of something— anything else. Patting his pockets, he took inventory of the herbs he’d stocked up on in case he needed a spell. The magic challenge, like each of the others, had varied historically. Some gods tried to level the playing field between those who summoned and those who couldn’t. Those were the years when the final challenge was most entertaining and violent. Endros seemed the type who was out for blood and Teddy doubted he would give Teddy and Stella an edge.

The number of competitors had dwindled from sixteen to nine, and the final challenge typically produced the most desperation and bloodshed. He had no doubt that this event would follow that pattern, and that made him even more worried for Stella. She’d been able to hurt someone else to protect him, but not to protect herself.

Teddy had become so accustomed to the constant swirling pulse from the bond in his chest; thinking about losing it left him bereft. Would Stella really wish it away if she won? Would he?

He imagined the bond like a thread connecting the two of them and gave a gentle tug on it the way Rainer had taught him. A moment later, Stella’s responding tug echoed back to him. She was somewhere straight in front of him. Just sensing her there at the other end of the connection was a relief.

Footsteps approached from behind Teddy.

“Your Grace, my name is Tani. I’m one of the tournament priestesses. We need your assistance for this final challenge. I cannot tell you why, but I need you to channel your storm magic into this bracelet.” She took his hand and placed a cold metal cuff on his palm.

That was unexpected. Teddy’s magical advantage over half the competition would be depleted. However, being granted magic and understanding how to wield it were entirely different things.

That settled the churning in his gut.

He called up his storm magic and, instead of using it to generate a storm in the sky, he sent it directly into the enchanted metal.

The priestess took the cuff he’d filled and replaced it with an empty one. It wasn’t difficult work. Teddy had been channeling storms since he was ten years old. It was like calling a soft melody that played on the wind and feeding it into the enchanted bracelet .

He repeated the same steps twice more, blindly trading the filled magical bands for empty ones each time.

“Are all the other witches having to create so many?” he asked.

The priestess shifted, and Teddy heard the cuffs click together. “We need to get each of you witches to make the same amount so that each non-magic-wielding competitor will have the element of surprise. This way they could end up with any of the cuffs and you won’t know by process of elimination which they have.”

Dixon’s primary affinity was fire magic. Stella’s was also fire, but they could ask her for memory. According to what Stella had told him at the beginning of the tournament, Katerina Shank was a water witch. The only affinity Teddy wouldn’t need to worry about was earth magic.

Tani placed one last cuff in his hand, but it was already pulsing with magic.

“I don’t need this. I have my own magic.”

The priestess closed his hand around the cuff. “You do. Your magic will be limited to what fits in this cuff, just like all the other competitors. You may encounter obstacles that play to any affinity.”

Teddy didn’t like the sound of that. Not only would he have to be mindful of his fellow combatants, but he needed to use his magic wisely, and at any moment he could be hit with power he was unable to deflect.

“Endros thanks you for your contribution to his historic tournament.” The priestess’s tone was full of reverence. “A bell will ring, preceding an announcement in a few moments, and once you hear your task, a second bell will ring, signaling the start of the challenge. Only then may you remove your blindfold.”

Teddy frowned and listened to her footsteps retreat.

He peeked out the bottom of his blindfold. Dim torchlight illuminated the bottom of an ivy-covered wall to his right. Teddy walked over to it and pressed his hand against it. There was hard stone behind the ivy. He could tell by the way his footsteps echoed that the space wasn’t entirely open. There was another wall or door somewhere a few feet in front of him .

Teddy strained to hear anything. He could barely make out the crowd noise from the other side of the wall, or perhaps above it. It was hard to tell.

A loud bell clanged and shattered the night air. Applause rose from all sides, somewhere up above Teddy’s head. He could tell by the way the noise ricocheted that the surrounding structure was more intricate than a wide-open arena. The week-long second challenge had offered the time they needed to construct a new nightmare.

“Greetings, competitors, and congratulations on making it to the final challenge.” Endros’s voice sent a chill through Teddy’s blood. It seemed to be coming from everywhere at once. “This magical challenge will push you to your limits and test your ability to use a limited amount of magic wisely. Bear in mind that strategy is required to win.”

Teddy shifted from foot to foot, trying to shake the nervousness from his limbs.

“Your final task is simple,” Endros said. “When the next bell sounds, you may remove your blindfolds. You all stand in a maze, equidistant from the center. Whoever gets to the center of the maze first will be declared the winner. You will encounter magical obstacles of any of the elements, but you will only have access to the limited amount of magic in the cuff you’ve been provided. If you burn through it all and need it later, you’ll be out of luck. And as a reminder, you may fight each other during an active competition. Best of luck and may the most worthy competitor win.”

A hush fell over the crowd and Teddy’s heart pounded, sweat rising on his lower back.

The bell sounded and Teddy sprang into motion. He slid the blindfold off as he started to jog. A few feet in front of him, the maze wall turned, and Teddy followed it. He wanted to sprint, but he needed to be on the lookout for magical traps.

The crowd roared from their perch along the outer walls of the maze. Teddy tried to ignore the audience and keep moving forward.

The corridor ahead of him split into multiple routes. He paused and started down the right pathway. It curved farther to the right, then the left. He made the next turn left and ran into a dead end.

Teddy cursed and retraced his steps, taking the left pathway instead. He made a mental map of where he’d gone so far to keep track of his progress.

The first sounds of steel on steel rang out from somewhere deeper in the maze, but his bond with Stella was steady, just a humming baseline of anxious urgency.

He rounded a corner, and a stone beneath his foot pressed down with a loud click. Calling on his magic was a reflex. He pulled it up just in time to catch a bolt of lightning that shot out of the side wall and deflect it into the wall a few feet behind him. The stone shattered and shards sprayed in all directions.

His arms stopped most of the shrapnel, but when he touched his stinging temple, his hand came away bloody.

Lucky break that it was a storm trap. He stood there for a moment, panting and staring at the scorched, crumbling stone the bolt had left behind.

When he turned, he continued through the maze more cautiously. Every corridor looked like the last and every second spent doing anything but all-out sprinting to the center of the maze felt like risking not only his life and future, but Stella’s.

Footsteps rapidly approaching from his left gave Teddy pause. He crouched low and waited. The second the assailant came around the corner, Teddy drove his shoulder into their gut. It was like slamming into a wall. Their opposing momentum knocked them both back a step.

Christophe Wallthrew was a beast—six feet of broad muscle with a chip on his shoulder, known for using his fists over any other weapon. Teddy ducked the first punch from one of Christophe’s meaty fists, but the second caught him in his ribs. The blow knocked the wind out of Teddy. He gasped in an aching breath just in time for Christophe to pound into his back with a two-fisted blow.

Teddy fell to his hands and knees, rolling to the side to narrowly avoid a knee to the face. He leaped to his feet, ignoring the searing ache in his side and the snap of his spine cracking back into place as he came to standing.

As long as he tried to fight Christophe this way, he would lose. Teddy called magic from his cuff and shot a bolt of lightning into his opponent’s chest.

Christophe flew backward into the wall. His body shook and twitched violently until Teddy dropped the magic.

A blur of movement to his right caught his eye as Katerina Shank darted by.

“Shit!” Teddy turned to give chase when a body barreled into him and sent him sprawling.

The pain of his knees hitting the gravel stunned him. He stayed on the ground, assessing his battered body. He looked up in time to see Jeneva Lampry, the huntmaster’s daughter, disappear down the corridor after Katerina.

It took every bit of Teddy’s willpower to launch himself back to his feet. Instead of giving chase, he took the path they hadn’t, praying it would be a shorter journey to the center.

He ran as fast as he could. Keeping a mental inventory of the twists and turns in the narrow corridors was becoming more difficult with the distraction of his labored breathing, his probably broken ribs, and the fact that every turn looked the same. The ivy cloaked any identifying features on the walls, and more than once, he wondered if he was just being led in circles.

As he jogged down a long straightaway, the crowd noise escalated. He was getting close. He could feel it. That, or he’d been made delusional by pain.

He rounded a corner at the same time Dixon darted out of the corridor across from him. The crowd roared and Teddy couldn’t tell if it was in reaction to the two of them clashing or something else in the maze.

“You’re so close!” It was Alexandra’s voice that cut through all the noise and the rush of blood in Teddy’s ears.

The sound filled Teddy with a raw, animal desperation.

Dixon’s face whipped toward the crowd. He’d heard it too. Before Dixon could take a step forward, Teddy tackled him to the ground and punched him in the face. Dixon’s head snapped back, and Teddy doubled down. He threaded his hand into Dixon’s dark hair and slammed his head into the ground again.

Teddy didn’t wait to see if it had been enough to kill Dixon. He was so close to the finish.

He pushed to his feet and breathlessly stumbled onward.