Page 194 of A Kingdom of Wild and Power
The dining hall doors suddenly swung open behind them. Willow and Alma stepped out, both looking unsettled.
‘What’s wrong?’ Brynasked, his brow furrowing.
Alma did not pause to answer. She hurried straight towards a group of waiting valkyrians, already issuing sharp commands.
Willow stopped beside them. Her eyes were wide now, alert in a way that made Bryn’s stomach tighten.
‘It seems, gentlemen,’ she said calmly, ‘that the end has come sooner than I expected.’
She glanced towards the distant walls ofVelunthar.
‘The witches have arrived.’
The city of Aruna was first forged as a place of exile, a destination reserved for the desert’s criminals, where justice was served in blood. Those sent there were cast into the arena, forced to fight for freedom. Should they survive, their sins were washed away, their names restored as though the desert itself had chosen to forgive them. And yet, not all who entered its gates were condemned. Some came willingly. They sought the arena not out of desperation, but out of some burning desire to prove their strength. To gamble one’s life for glory… to stand beneath a scorching sun and fight for validation…
What a foolish, senseless way to die.
Tabitha Wysteria
Alina checked each of her weapons carefully after dressing in her phoenixian fighting garb. She had wanted to wear Dunayan clothing for the fight, but Mareena had pointed out that such a choice would likely work against her rather than in her favour. For once, Alina had listened.
Mareena soon appeared down the corridor.
It was a long stone hallway that circled the arena, where fighters and workers alike waited before entering the sands, or prepared the beasts destined for the brutal spectacle beyond.
Alina could scarcely believe that her battle against Sarenwas about to begin. She had expected nerves, some trembling anticipation perhaps, but instead she felt only a fierce impatience. She wanted to step into that arena and take Saren’s head from her shoulders.
Mareena reached for the staff resting against the stone wall and examined it with careful attention.
‘Make sure you only use it if you truly need to,’ she said.
‘I won’t need it.’
Mareena gave her a long, measured look. ‘Do not be overconfident, Alina.’ She returned the staff to its place against the wall and stepped closer, inspecting every piece of Alina’s armour and clothing to ensure it sat perfectly.
‘I might die today,’ Alina said suddenly.
The words slipped from her before she had time to consider them. Yet the truth of them lingered heavily in the air. She intended to kill Saren, but it was entirely possible the fight might end in her own death as well.
That couldnothappen.
She still had to find Hagan.
She still had to kill him.
Only then, only when everything else was done, would she allow death to claim her.
‘You will not die today,’ Mareena said firmly, her red eyes meeting Alina’s.
‘You don’t know that.’
Mareena paused, her hands tightening gently on Alina’s arms, not with fear, but with quiet reassurance.
‘I do know,’ she said. ‘You are Alina Acheron. The Fire Princess. You will not fall today.’
Alina nodded, though somewhere deep within her the doubt still lingered. Her mother had once foreseen her becoming the next phoenixian queen, and Alina clung to that prophecy withstubborn resolve. If it was true, it meant she survived whatever trials lay ahead.
Kai appeared in the corridor with Dawn beside him. He gave Alina a firm pat on the back before pressing a brief kiss to her cheek.
