Page 36 of Death’s Kiss (The Order of the Tide Raiders #1)
T he platform of limestone beneath our feet comes to a shuddering halt in the middle of an entirely enclosed arena. The roaring sound emanating from every direction is shouting and cheering, pouring out of a seriously packed stadium. One I don’t recognize in the slightest.
I whirl around to scan the amphitheater of tide raiders packed in around us like sardines. There’s noticeably more of them today than at the last Pillar Trial. The TideLords must have brought several captains and their crews to watch, but—how would they watch?
The announcer, whom I've yet to meet and whose voice grates even harder on my nerves each time I hear it, starts up his overly excited banter. “And there you have it! The first team to emerge from the second pillar trial, ‘Lunar Partners’. Let's check in with our remaining group.”
The crowd erupts in cheers and whistles as a projected image soars high overhead.
It reminds me of the carto-sphere Preceptor Beldham uses in our Theory of War class, except much larger.
I squint and tilt my head back, finding it difficult to discern the exact image projected beneath it, but then I hear it.
“Alright, what do you think it is then, east?” Brisa’s unmistakable steely voice snaps, reverberating around the large arena.
I cupped a hand over my mouth while watching Dhara glower in the space above us.
The four captains of the east and west continue bickering over a riddle engrained at their feet in a chamber identical to the one we just escaped from.
Heat flares up my backside and spreads across my neck as I realize, with no small amount of horror, that this crowd of raiders, the TideLords, even our own cardinals, have been watching the entire thing.
While thinking through our last few hours and every miniscule moment of embarrassment, anxiety begins swelling up inside.
Blood pounds harder inside my pulse until my angst-fueled rumination makes it to the labyrinth of tide pools, at which point I freeze.
My eyes dart to where Captain Agni stands next to Corvina, as far away from us northern captains as physically possible.
His gaze locks with mine, and for one single absolutely ludicrous moment, I think I catch panic flashing through his eyes. A panic that seems to mirror my own disturbed line of thought.
His face is certainly paler than before; even his nostrils flare once as if in alarm. But no more than a heartbeat later, and the embers of his gaze have burned away all traces of emotion I might have mistook for anything other than hostility. I’m sure it was just in my head to begin with.
It was an illusion. Get it together, Boreas.
I school my features into a perfected mask of icy indifference and force myself to watch the second group projected above as they complete their final riddle.
The other four captains, like us, rise from below the floor. I note how the limestone floor breaks away, allowing their circular dais to push through. They look just as dumbstruck as I’d felt when blinking away the shocking light after spending so long, so far beneath the ground .
“—technology recovered from the sunken province. This riveting trial was truly spectacular to behold thanks to the incredible microscopic recording devices. With those lights being motion activated, we can be assured our judges did not miss a single moment in this challenge.”
I blanch, keeping my eyes as far away from Agni as possible.
The blue and green pinpricks illuminating our path weren’t stars or some natural cavern fluorescence. They were planted there to observe us in the trial. How could I be such an idiot as to assume otherwise? I resist the urge to swear.
Agitation floods me, not knowing what was seen or how much was heard. A feeling of shame and confusion, tinged with a hint of horror, churns my stomach at the thought of anyone ever discovering what I did in that illusion.
The foreign feeling is so distracting that I almost miss the arrival of the seventh TideLord as their group re-enters the raiders' stadium, their presence demanding a respectful silence.
His golden hair's sheen catches my eye against the dark violet color of his uniform.
He wears a cape similar to TideLord Nero's, but it appears to be made of some sort of soft chain metal.
It follows his deep amethyst uniform in a resplendent silver cloak.
When the seventh TideLord turns to stand on the other side of Nero, I’m surprised by his youth. As the newest Lord, it shouldn’t faze me; he’s only ten years older than myself. He’s also the most recent raider among us to have gained entry to The Vault.
I bite my lip in anticipation as his sea-green eyes sweep across us captains for the first time.
Impossibly, they linger noticeably longest on my own.
The hilt of his broadsword peaks out from his side, and I feel a flutter in my chest when studying the sea serpent wrapped wickedly around its handle. Vash coughs pointedly from beside me, and I tear my eyes at last from TideLord Blaine Dolion, leader of the leviathans.
I refrain from sticking out my tongue at Captain Larceon’s knowing smirk.
Crossing my arms in annoyance, I turn uncomfortably in my still-wet clothing and wait for the scoring to begin.
I don't have to wait for long before Raider Dornon bustles down from the ladder leading up to the surrounding stadium with an air of excitement.
"Captains,” he calls, walking the wooden path between our platforms.
Squinting at the familiar salt-stained wood, I don't hear our officiants' next words. I’m too focused on inspecting the crowd standing on iron rows bolted into the side of a mountainous rock until I finally realize where we are.
It's just been so modified that I didn't recognize it until noticing the walkway beneath Dornon's feet.
The walkway that is actually a dock.
“Giant’s Crook” I breathe, turning to Vash, whose attention is on the officiant. He turns questioning eyes on me and I hiss, “We’re in giant’s crook—the wharf .” His eyebrows knit together while scanning the area with new interest and then recognition alights his eyes.
“Our TideLords will start with the first team to finish the pillar task, our captains from the Cardinal North and South Orders.”
I’m promptly anchored back to the TideLords before us.
If I had paid attention to Raider Dornon, then I would’ve already heard that they were scoring us as a team this time around.
The tallies begin with Olsson and Corvina.
I watch with a set jaw as Lord Kufko, ‘The Clawmaster’, gives the southern captains an eight to kick off the results.
Lord Bombay pulls another eight. His alligator-tooth earring shines under the orb lights, and I have to suppress a shudder at the memory it invokes from our affinity measuring.
TideLord Raimbaut sports a cloak of blinding azure and barely glances down before showing his score of nine.
Lord Tiamet smirks as she reveals her score of seven.
Lord Kurage’s clothing doesn’t glow quite as spectacularly with the lights around him today but I glimpse a sheen of blue-ish purple upon his gloves when lifting up another eight.
I’m starting to wonder which route the southern captains took when TideLord Nero draws the first ten of today’s scores. The raiders around us begin cheering in deafening succession while anger burns bright inside my chest. TideLord Dolion ends their results with the lowest score yet, a four .
I don’t bother biting back my grin.
Vash and I stand side by side, hands clasped behind our backs, waiting for the TideLords to tip the scales of our fate.
Astoundingly, Lord Kufko starts us off with another nine, and my shoulders release a bit of tension as I give him a grateful smile.
I nod in thanks at the seven that Lord Bombay offers and swallow the painful feeling of hope when Lord Raimbaut grants an eight.
Lord Tiamat's face is amused when revealing another eight, while Lord Kurage’s face remains hidden behind the black mask covering it from the nose down as he extends a seven.
I have no idea why I’m surprised by the three TideLord Nero gives. Yet it takes everything in me not to physically slump with the awful realization that Captain Agni will now be ahead of me.
Even if, by some miracle, TideLord Dolion were to—
A ten ?
My blinks are rapid when gawking at the last TideLord’s score raised high above us all. I don’t quite believe what I’m seeing. A quick glance over reveals the same look of disbelief on Vash.
I meet TideLord Dolion’s sea-green eyes again, and he winks at me with a small, handsome grin.
I’m not positive whether or not Vash actually pulled me from that pool because this is too good to be true.
I’m so stunned that all I can do is smile back and hope that the heat in my cheeks isn't visible from this distance.
Someone scoffs loudly after a moment, and I remove my gaze from the Lord only to find Captain Agni blatantly sneering in my direction.
Corvina leans forward to whisper something to him, but I don't catch it.
He snorts a laugh, and I turn away. For the duration of these pillars, I'm determined to ignore him as completely as possible.
The eastern captains manage to score a forty-eight while the west receives a total of fifty.
Brisa now has the jackass known as Olsson Agni to deal with as they tie in ranking at ninety-six.
My new, official, third-place title and personal score of ninety-four leave me with an unsavory taste in my mouth.