Page 21 of Death’s Kiss (The Order of the Tide Raiders #1)

I am admittedly overly eager to watch Captain Agni’s trial, but not just because I hope to watch him meet the end he so deserves firsthand. It seems a shame to have met one of the only other elementals in the entire world and never to have even seen them wield.

Olsson has brought with him only one of his twin tenebrous broadswords, which is intriguing considering I’m positive they would consider the pair as a single weapon. He doesn’t even draw it. Instead, he faces the oncoming storm with only those unique blue flames at his fingertips.

Corvina gasps from down the line of captains as the monstrous spirit prowls out of its enclosure.

The creature is crafted of black tumultuous clouds that writhe and curl in wisps of gray smoke while flashes of golden light spark menacingly from within.

Agni doesn’t wait for the creature to notice him.

He raises his hand and shoots up a flaming ball of azure fire like a flare gun.

His spirit isn’t nearly as sporadic as the others. It’s rather strategic in its movements .

The savage clouds around it condense into the size of a small ship, and its rippling hide emulates the color of hell itself.

Eyes like the inside of a wrathful volcano narrow on the harrowing male waiting at the end of the groyne.

The beast flicks its smoky whip of a tail and blasts a shot of aureate lightning straight for Captain Agni.

This kelpie has been waiting.

Screams erupt from the crowd above as Olsson drops flat against the ground, narrowly avoiding the lightning strike.

After its power has ceased, the kelpie bellows while rearing its terrible head with a chuff before beginning to sprint across the bay like its brethren.

Agni rolls to the side of the groyne, remaining flat against the wooden planks as the spirit hurtles across the waters.

The kelpie isn’t using its power, like it’s saving the lightning just for him.

The tempest pulses with pent-up energy while making circles around the restless bay. Then the demonic storm makes another pass, closer this time. Agni blasts a condensed ball of flames at the beast before rolling off the groyne entirely and down into the bay.

I’m shocked by his move. To willingly go into the water near a kelpie is idiotic at best.

The tempest roars out in outrage at the fire, having just barely missed its hide.

My brow furrows while studying Agni’s movements as I try to decipher what on Pontus his strategy is.

He surfaces at different points around the bay, striking the kelpie with his power before vanishing beneath the waves again.

There’s no attempt at subtlety. If anything, he goes out of his way to announce his location with a loud splash or a shout in the tempest’s direction.

“What is he doing ?” Vash mutters from beside me.

“I think he’s trying to lure it,” I answer in a hushed voice. “But I’m not sure why.”

The Southern captain’s actions seem to be riling up his kelpie.

Shadows coil off its shifting form, momentarily parting to expose the fierce golden light surging within.

Across the bay, Agni emerges once more, unleashing another wave of fire.

The flames streak past the kelpie, barely clipping the edge of its flickering tail.

A guttural, otherworldly cry rips from the creature as it rears up, its body trembling with fury.

The sound is unbearable, so sharp and unnatural it feels like it’s splitting my head open from the inside out.

All seven of us captains bark out curses with our hands firmly planted on either side of our heads.

The terrible shriek eventually relents, and the tempest begins mutilating the bay waters while sprinting in the direction of where Agni last appeared.

The massive creature makes it over to where the southern captain was last spotted, only for him to re-emerge at the opposite end of the bay, now well past the red buoy. There are shouts of confusion and concern from the crowd overhead as Agni continues like this back and forth across the bay.

The kelpie is all but consumed with wrath as the charade ensues.

When he finally emerges again at the now fully closed sea wall edge, I start putting together the pieces of his plan.

He blasts an additional ball of fire, and this time it’s angled straight above his head like another flare signal.

The kelpie hears it and streaks off across the waves in a fit of rage.

Auric-hued lightning writhes inside of it, just begging for release.

“ Move ! What are you doing?” Corvina shouts as Olsson continues treading water.

The kelpie is only meters from him at best.

He’s still there when the hellish spirit rises up on his hind legs again and the golden energy inside explodes from it with another mind-numbing shriek.

Corvina sucks in a sharp breath of terror, and she’s far from alone.

I'm likely the only one in the entire stadium who remains utterly silent as a thousand bolts of resplendent energy race for Captain Agni’s heart.

Unfortunately, my dreams are dashed in the next moment.

Too fast for my eyes to break down the movements, Olsson snatches both hands out of the water and grabs onto the lightning aimed directly at his chest. I have to grip the sides of my jaw to keep it from hanging open as he steals the bolt of power from the beast and throws it back like a lasso around the kelpie’s head.

The tempest bucks and rears, yanking him from the waters.

Agni uses it as leverage and swings himself skillfully onto its back.

What.

The.

Fuck.

The second he takes his seat, the storm spirit goes mad.

It shoots out across the bay like a black comet, thrashing and rolling in a raging cyclone of movement.

Impossibly, Agni holds onto the lasso of charged energy the entire time.

It looks as if he’d been born to ride kelpie’s.

The tempest only attempts diving below the surface once and almost immediately roars up to the dark sky with a thunderous cry before resurfacing.

“What was that?” Vash demands, his arms crossed before his chest and his brow furrowed in deep concentration regarding our competition.

“He heated up the bay,” I reply, almost spitting the words in regards to Agni’s cruel genius.

Vash turns slightly to where I still grip my jaw in one hand, my mouth an angry line.

I meet his questioning eyes with a huff.

“Each time Captain Agni resurfaced, he taunted the beast before diving back down again.

He was using the distraction and time under the waters to heat up the bay. Now the kelpie can't drag him below.”

Vash nods as understanding glitters in the gold flecks of his irises.

We continue judging silently as the violent kelpie rips around the waters faster than any of the others. The crackling golden light tells us Agni is somehow managing to hold on. My adrenaline spikes as they race past. If he were to fall off at these speeds, they’ll be picking him up in pieces.

The rippling light begins to stretch and elongate from somewhere inside the raging storm, and I know Agni’s next move.

He’s forming a bridle of its own power in order to tame the beast. From the looks of it, he’s almost there.

The kelpie is slowing in speed, and I can just about glimpse the staggering male on its back. All he’s missing is the mouthpiece.

There’s a hush in the captain's common area as we watch Agni lean down close to the tempest's head. Lightning is taut between his hands as he makes to secure the last piece of the bridle. He’s up on his knees with his arms extending carefully as the beast makes a completely unforeseen move.

The demonic cyclone corkscrews at the very last second.

The unpredictable maneuver sends Captain Agni crashing right into the wooden pier. Its pent-up lightning sputters throughout his person as he goes. A heartbeat later reveals Olsson’s body lying limp among broken boards and razor-sharp rocks.

Gasps and cries ring out from the stands overhead.

Crimson spills down his face and chest, swirling through the water in dark, winding tendrils.

Corvina rushes out of the common area with a hand over her mouth and a hysterical sob in her throat.

I assume she’s going to get their grand preceptor, but for what reason I'm not sure. Even Saubarag can’t interfere in the trials, not once they’ve begun.

The storm spirit has become corporal again while creeping closer to where the southern captain's broken body lies. Power pulses within the beast as it bows its terrifying head down to graze the captain’s obsidian hair.

At first, I mistake its movements for simple curiosity.

But then that potent spark coils up bright inside, and realization steals the air from my lungs.

I now know, without a doubt, that kelpie is about to kill Captain Agni.

My mouth hooks up in one corner.

I cannot believe my luck.

The wild creature makes for a death blow, but Agni reacts in the final heartbeat.

His hand emerges from the crimson waters in a lash of scorching blue fire.

It carves across the kelpie’s form in brutal efficiency just before he rolls away.

A split second later, a jagged bolt of lightning channels into the exact spot where the southern captain had been lying.

The kelpie’s bellow warps into a piercing cry of anguish .

Agni doesn't waste a moment.

He’s back up on the creatures in a matter of seconds.

Despite the blood soaking him, Agni's work is swift.

Fire surges between his fingers, weaving around the spirit like a net before he drives the final burst straight into its open jaws, cutting off its tormented cries.

The moment the fire-bridle locks into place, the kelpie goes eerily still.

A very odd, hair-raising noise begins forming in its chest.