Page 54

I sprinted toward the celestial globe and ran up the staircase to the center ring.

The giant metal hoops were smooth and slippery, and my sandals had absolutely no grip. I would have to watch my step as I worked my way through the skeletal sphere.

My eyes darted for the first marker, scanning for divots or protrusions of any kind, but there were none to be seen.

I jogged around to the other side, the rings hovering around me like a giant ribcage. Finally, I spotted a diamond-shaped marker engraved into the golden surface. Upon further inspection, I noticed it was a sun rune.

I had no idea what I was supposed to do. Aedris had been sparse with his information, and I’d failed to ask the right questions. If my abilities weren’t suppressed, I would blast it with my Light. But my time to solve this sphere was running out. The sun was setting fast.

My fists balled in frustration, and a sharp pain flared in my hand.

My blood!

I placed my sliced palm on the symbol, praying to the spirits that it worked. I had no other ideas, but as soon as my blood touched the rune, Light entered the engraving in a shimmering blaze.

I let out a relieved sigh. Now that I knew what to do, I would have enough time to find and activate the markers before sunset.

Suddenly, the ring beneath me shifted, threatening to throw me off balance. I braced myself as the armillary sphere detached from the staircase and rose from the ground. It kept rising until it completely hovered in the air.

Then, the rings around me began to shift, and my stomach dropped as the hoops groaned and whirred to life.

I had no idea it moved! And Aedris had conveniently withheld that information.

The ring I stood on spun faster as it tilted up to begin its horizontal rotation. If I didn’t move, I would slide right off the sphere as it spun.

I bolted up, searching for the second rune. I scanned the map of the heavens with my heart in my throat. The crowd roared in my ears and clashed against the violent beat of my pulse.

My eyes darted frantically as the ring beneath me tilted more and more. The second marker flashed as it rotated by, but it was spinning vertically around me. I’d have to jump onto the ring as it descended into a horizontal turn, with only a split-second window to land the jump.

It didn’t escape my notice that Aedris hadn’t allowed me time to prepare. Or even change. I was wearing the worst outfit possible.

I quickly kicked off the slippery sandals and held the panels of my dress in my fists.

My muscles tightened in anticipation; one wrong step and I would plummet to the ground.

I inhaled a deep breath as the rings aligned, praying muscle memory from my track days kicked in.

I hadn’t known just how much I was running for my life back then.

And today would be no different, aside from the fact that I wasn’t running for my sole survival but for everyone else’s.

I knew what would happen without Aedris’ army, and it would be a massacre.

I pushed off my dominant leg and launched myself into the air. The moment of weightlessness struck terror into my soul. It seemed to last forever as I hovered high above the desert city.

It wasn’t until both of my feet landed on the precarious platform that I could breathe again.

I landed in a crouch and used the position to launch myself into a sprint.

There would be enough time to catch the third marker as it spun back around.

But suddenly, I was yanked back violently, my wrist taking the brunt of my fall.

I felt something snap, and I cried out in pain.

I went to stand, careful not to put pressure on my wrist, but I was yanked back again.

I shot my gaze backward.

When I’d jumped, the convergence of metal on metal caught my dress. The rings slowly pulled me towards the joint that would crush me to death.

I desperately clawed at the ground, scrambling to escape, but my fingertips found no purchase on the smooth metal surface.

The audience gasped in horror as I was sucked back by the train of my dress. Not wasting another second, I viciously tore at the fabric, ripping it past my knees. I was free, and the cloth vanished from sight as it was sucked through the hinge of the rotating gears.

I dashed to the second marker without thinking, only acting on the adrenaline pumping through my veins. It was a rune of the moon, and I quickly lit it as I had done the first. My blood touched the symbol, and it sparked to life as if it recognized me.

The rings picked up speed, and the sound of the spinning wheels whooshed around me like a wind turbine. My hair blew in my face as I shot up, searching for the next marker. It was above me and already circling to disappear out of sight.

I barely had enough time to catch the next ring as its axis changed. I jumped onto it without falling or catching my dress, and I grinned. I was finally getting the hang of it!

The crowd let out another collective gasp, and I barely turned around in time to see a ring flying right at me. I ducked, narrowly missing being decapitated.

This was a steel trap of death!

I sprinted towards the third marker, my body veering to hug the innermost lane of the ring. I dropped to the ground and quickly lit the marker, this one engraved with a series of planets.

The rings began to spin faster and faster, and terror sat in my throat like a stone. I removed the heavy thought, needing to be as light on my feet as possible. The sun was setting by the second, the bright light lessening as it curved back behind the earth, but I still had one last marker to find.

I ran around the ring, searching for the final marker. I couldn’t see it anywhere. I jumped to another shifting platform, and there it was! Placed on the center orb of the armillary sphere.

I raced against the sun for the final rune.

I waited for the ring to pass and timed my jump, but with a gust of wind and the axis shifting, I lost my center of balance and slipped off the edge of the ring.

My fingers barely caught the smooth lip as my legs dangled beneath me, and I swore I heard someone scream my name.

My arms were on fire as my legs searched for a foothold that wasn’t there. The wind rushed around me and threatened to sweep me off the celestial globe. My wrist screamed out in pain, but I couldn’t let go. I wouldn’t survive a fall from this height.

With trembling arms and a shaking wrist, I screamed as I pulled myself up. I wanted to lay back and kiss the ring, but I didn’t have time. My body shook with adrenaline as I darted up and sprinted to the final marker.

As I placed my bloody palm on the final rune, silver-white light surged through the structure, alighting the whole armillary sphere in runes. A mixture of silver and gold light shot out of the globe in a beam of intertwining moonlight and sunshine.

I made it. I won!

My chest heaved as relief coursed through me, and the sphere stopped spinning. It lowered to the ground and halted in a plume of dust.

As I made my way down the staircase, clutching the railing for support, Aedris appeared through the sand, striding confidently toward me. He didn’t look furious or upset. He looked happy.

“You lost,” he said with a smug grin.

“No, I didn’t,” I shot back, exhaustion threatening to overcome me. “I lit all the markers before the sunset.”

“Your heel hit the shadow, I’m afraid. You have failed, Alcreon Light Bearer,” he said, walking toward me. “Though you did put on an impressive show.”

“Wait. No. That’s not?—”

“You are mine now,” he said, pulling a gold collar from his robes. He must have had that all along! He’d never meant for me to win, and now he would collar me like a dog. “This is just for precaution. It is imbued with the power of our deal.”

Two of his guards snatched me off the staircase and held me before the king. Their fingers dug into my flesh and bruised my skin.

Aedris stepped up to me and brushed my hair away from my neck. “You will be my greatest treasure—a celestial light collared for me to command in whatever way I choose.” He encircled the choker around my throat, and the cold bite of the metal raised the hairs on the back of my neck .

Familiar voices erupted in fury.

I slammed my eyes shut as disgust bubbled inside of me. “We had a deal,” I gritted out as he latched the collar around my neck.

“We did,” he said, and I could hear the grin in his voice. “And you were foolish enough to pledge your body to me. There are so many possibilities. I’m not sure where to begin.”

A small smile spread on my face, and my eyes flashed open. “I pledged myself to the true ruler of Hara’dune. And that’s not you, is it?”

Aedris’ hands fumbled as the latch wouldn’t take. It was not him to whom I pledged myself, and when he realized what I’d done, his eyes widened in outrage. “How dare you utter such accusations!”

I raised my voice for all to hear. “Rayal is the true descendant of the throne. And you stole it from her. She is the rightful queen of Hara’dune.”

The crowd emitted a unified gasp, looking to their leader.

“That is not true,” he answered, the veins in his forehead looking like they were about to explode. “I wear the crown!” He acted like a petulant child unable to play with his favorite toy. “You have defied the great king of Hara’dune and are therefore sentenced to a life of labor in the sand pits.”

Elves shouted from the crowd. “Usurper!”

“False King!”

“Liar!”

“Tyrant!”

Aedris’ eyes widened in terror. “Guards! Attack the treasonists!”

Terror clogged up my throat, but I’d done what I could. These elves knew who their true ruler was. And in a unified fury, they charged the sundial.