Page 37 of A Legacy of Stars (The Lost God Legacies)

37

STELLA

S tella sprinted down the narrow corridor of the ivy maze, gulping in humid air.

The magical cuff they’d given her could limit her summoning, but it had just occurred to her that she knew a spell that could help her avoid any magical booby traps.

The maze itself was a marvel. She had no idea how they’d managed to create the massive stone walls and keep it under wraps, but she probably shouldn’t have been surprised by anything about the tournament after fighting an Octobear in the first challenge.

She could tell by the pulse of her bond that she was gradually wandering closer to Teddy, but she tried not to let that distract her.

Rosie had insisted she put some dried lavender in her vest in case she needed to do a spell. Stella was relieved for that now, since she had foolishly assumed she’d have full access to her elemental summoning magic. She paused before a split in the maze and pulled out a few sprigs of lavender. Slowing her pace, she gripped the lavender buds in her palm and pulled up the spell in her mind.

Stella squeezed the lavender and whispered the incantation. “Grant me vision to light my way, so from this path, I won’t stray. Keep me calm throughout this fight, and bring that which is hidden into sight.”

A tingling power rushed from the lavender in her hand, through her body and up to her eyes. Stella blinked and opened her palm. The lavender had turned to dust, but it had done the job.

The spell cast the torchlit path in front of her in a pale purple haze. According to the memory she’d pulled the spell from, that haze should cling to anything magical in her path. With her clear sight, Stella continued at a faster clip. She took the left path at the next split and had to quickly double back when she reached a dead end a few turns later.

As she turned down the opposite hall, she stopped short. The lavender haze gathered around the wall in front of her. It all seemed to be tied to a faint line across the ground that looked almost like a magical trip wire at the end of the straightaway. If she could jump it, she could duck around the bend in the corridor just beyond it for cover.

Stella steeled herself with a breath and took a running leap. As she landed, footsteps pounded from the hallway she was about to step into.

She rounded the wall and narrowly ducked a flying punch from Rett. Stella used his momentum, bending lower to wrap an arm around his knee. She yanked his leg up.

He slammed down onto the ground back-first and Stella vaulted over him to continue down the long straightaway.

Rett grabbed her ankle. Her knees crashed to the ground, and she cursed.

The second that she was stunned by the pain, Rett struck. He grabbed the collar of her armor and hauled her down. They rolled several times until she came up on top of his chest.

She punched Rett hard in the face. His nose snapped beneath her fist with a loud crack, and blood poured down his chin.

“Two for two, Roach,” she taunted.

He roared in frustration and tossed her off of him. Her impulse was to run, but if she didn’t stand and fight, he’d catch her too quickly. She grabbed two blades from her vest just in time for him to charge at her with two daggers of his own.

She slashed across his leather armguards, her blades glancing off the magical metal cuff on his wrist. It was as if the sound reminded both of them that he had magic now.

“You stupid bitch. Why do you refuse to die?” the Roach snapped.

“Could ask you the same.” She kicked him in the stomach and grinned at the satisfying sound of air rushing out of his lungs.

The bond flashed with a bright flare of pain. Teddy. It was there and gone quickly. Panic drenched her in ice.

Rett’s cuff lit up and Stella braced herself, sheathing her left blade so she could clamp her hand around his wrist. If he wanted to use magic, she’d make sure he felt it, too. If he was summoning, he couldn’t be hurt by the power itself, but it wouldn’t protect him from the explosive blowback of releasing too much at once. It was a common mistake even for witches who’d had years of learning how to channel their elemental affinities.

Stella had seen Rett fight enough to know he was a “more is better” kind of fighter.

The moment she felt magic rise like a pressure drop popping her ears, she summoned her fire magic.

A huge fireball exploded between them, blowing them apart. Stella slammed into the ivy-covered wall behind her so hard that she felt her ribs crack.

The crowd cheered loudly, but she couldn’t tell if it was for her or someone else. It was disorienting being down below them.

She fell to her knees and glanced up at Rett. He lay in a heap, half-propped against the wall. His chest rose and fell slowly. Still alive. She could have closed the distance between them and killed him, but she needed to get to the center of the maze and now every breath was agony.

The crowd roared again as Stella continued toward what she hoped was the center of the maze. She had to be close.

A hand shot out from around the corner and gripped the neck of her leathers .

Suddenly, she was flying.

Stella brought her left arm up in time to break some of the impact, but her temple cracked against the stone wall and her vision went temporarily dark.

She forced her heavy eyelids open and rolled out of the way of a vicious kick.

Drew. She’d been literally thrown out of the way by Drew the Crew and now the massive brute was bearing down on her.

She should have known. He, Christophe, and Dixon always followed where Rett went. She was impressed with their uncanny ability to find each other in the maze.

She scrambled away from another kick. Drew bent, hauled her up to her feet, and slammed her back into the wall. Fiery agony burned through her broken ribs.

Stella gasped for air.

Drew’s scarred hands closed around her throat, choking off the air she desperately needed. Her whole body was alive with agony.

“You scarred me for life, you stupid bitch,” he said, squeezing his rough hands tighter.

She pushed against his eyes, but he didn’t relent. She scratched her fingernails down his face. He cursed, but still held on.

Stella’s vision went dark. Her broken ribs ached with the frenzied need for air.

She slammed her hand against Drew’s mouth and he bit down on it. Stella forced herself to hold it there through the pain. She funneled her magic through her cuff and shot a fireball directly into his open mouth.

Drew’s eyes went wide, and he stumbled back, choking on a soundless scream. Stella rubbed her throat and drew in deep, gasping breaths as her vision sharpened again.

She immediately looked away, listening to the horrifying sound of Drew trying to breathe through his fire-ravaged throat. It was a gruesome way to kill someone, but she was dazed and panicked, and it was the only idea she’d had in the moment.

She’d been stopped too many times already. It seemed the maze was designed to lead the competitors toward each other. But every second that slipped by brought her one second closer to being stuck with this bond and never being able to escape Teddy.

Stella ran blindly through the next few turns. The crowd shouted and clapped and she was certain she had to be close to the center. She rounded another corner and noticed the charred remnants of a fire trap that had already been sprung.

She turned left at the next split in the ivy walls and crashed directly into Fionn.

“Fuck,” she grunted.

He immediately threw up his hands and went on the offensive, hitting her with a complicated combination of footwork and brutal punches. She’d learned this particular Novumi fighting style from Isla and Queen Jessamin, but it had been a long time since she’d practiced and her movements were slow. The lack of practice, the broken ribs, and the head injury made her feel off-kilter. Her movements were sharp, the fighting pattern trained into her body so that she struck on instinct, but she was only fast enough to deflect his moves, not to counter them.

His fist connected with her eye, and she ignored the blistering pain to hit him in the chin.

“You really need to work on your form. Left side is the weak side, princess,” Fionn said, sliding a dagger along her side to prove the point.

Stella was pissed, pained, and tired of being hit. As he took a step toward her, she grabbed a blade from her vest and jammed it into his groin. He stumbled back and she kicked the hilt so it dug in deeper. He wouldn’t be able to remove it until he could get medical attention.

“ Your weakness is between your legs. Just like every other man,” she said, elbowing past him.

Fionn grunted something that sounded like a laugh. “You’re not wrong.” He grinned and turned to limp in the opposite direction. Stella couldn’t tell if he was disoriented or just messing with her.

“You’re going the wrong way,” she said.

He glanced at her over his shoulder and winked in that handsome, roguish way of his. “I know exactly what I’m doing. Good luck, princess. Sorry about the shiner.”

She only took a second to watch him go before sprinting down the straightaway and turning left, then right, then left again. The crowd noise crescendoed as she moved and she had the distinct feeling they were cheering specifically because she was close.

Two paths stretched before her. She took one step toward the left option, and the crowd quieted. She paused and backtracked to the right, and the crowd went wild.

Stella put herself at the crowd’s mercy and followed the curve around to the right. The corridor widened into a straightaway and she could finally see a larger open space up ahead with white marble floors. It had to be the center.

Her heart leapt into her throat as she dashed toward the opening at the same time a figure cloaked in shadow hurtled from the doorway directly across from her.

As she crossed the threshold into the center of the maze, her joy morphed into shock and then relief because she was standing face-to-face with Teddy, and they had entered the room at the exact same moment.