Page 58 of Royal Hunt
The blue fae snarled. “Tell me, great game master: what happens if the barrier between our world breaks?”
“The games are over. All contestants—”
The blue fae moved in a blur, grabbing two balls and hurling them as high as he could into the sky. He must have hit something because there was an explosion high above us, and the entire sky flickered and buzzed as if the sky were an enormous dome.
There was a moment of shocked silence, then everyone moved as one. The human spectators scattered, screaming as every contestant (whether human or fae) grabbed a ball and hurled it in any direction at the sky.
The second all the balls were gone, more appeared.
Maven gently lay Ellis on the ground and raced over to grab more balls. I got to him before his head touched the grass, laying it in my lap instead.
Above us, the sky groaned and flashed red and orange. Bright white lightning flashed then stayed, giving the sky the appearance of one large, glittering spider’s web that stretched far beyond the horizon. It sparked and shimmered as more balls were hoisted into the air. It was too high in the air for the humans to reach with the balls, but not for the heirs. Nor the fae.
The thousands of eyes flickered and vanished above us as the dome shook and wavered, whatever tether what was tying our world into theirs on the verge of breaking entirely.
“MORE!” screamed the blue fae. More balls appeared and were thrown. Humans and fae worked together, with the humans gently rolling over new balls as they appeared, and the stronger fae focusing on hurling them as high as they could. Each one made a fireball of an explosion as it contacted the barrier higher above us, causing the spider web cracked to flash white and lengthen, splintering off into more cracks.
The sky splintered and fractured above us. Lightning crackled in the sky, tearing it apart. It was horrific and terrifying, and also one of the most beautiful things I’d ever seen in my life. I wanted to laugh. Amongst the screams and shrieks of terror from the crowd and contestants alike, magick was bursting right in front of us in a kaleidoscope of color and light.
I put my hands up in the air like a small child trying to catch snowflakes, but instead of snow, it was pure bolts of magick.
BOOM.
The barrier fell and we were blasted off our feet. Sparks and colors rained around us, sizzling and scorching the ground where they fell. I winced in pain as one fell and seared a small brand into my forearm. I wasn’t so keen to touch raw magick anymore.
Someone was yelling. “It’s down! Go! GO!”
The world exploded in a ball of white so intense I squeezed my eyes shut. The screams modulated and pitched higher. Or was it me? Maybe I was screaming.
Heavy objects fell from the sky, but that didn’t make sense; it was thesky!What was up there that could possibly fall? I screamed and crouched over Ellis, trying to shield him the best I could. Then something heavy hit me on the back of my head, and all I saw was black.
Nineteen
Icame back to awareness as the sky finished falling.
The entire horizon above me shattered, sending what looked like bits of glass raining down on everyone. I screamed and covered my head, but nothing fell on me.
The fae prisoners cheered in victory and ran toward two prone figures that had appeared in front of us. Dimly, I realized it was Cassus and Ferar.
I couldn’t muster up much sympathy to help them.
They got to their feet shakily just as the surviving fae approached them, the humans not far behind. Maven helped an awake Ellis to his feet. Gregory stood above me, and offered his hand.
I accepted.
“What happened?” he asked.
“I’m not sure,” I said slowly, watching as Cassus swept his hands in a large motion. Either it was some unseen magick, or nothing happened. He bellowed in rage.
The prisoner fae hit him hard with an uppercut to his jaw, taking him down to the ground. Ferar lasted a bit longer, but not much. He fought and kicked, elbowing a few before he too fell, his movements slow and jerky.
Viana came to a stop beside me, her eyes wide. “They don’t have their magick. Their connection to it was severed. Just like the prisoners.”
“They’re going to kill both of them,” I said numbly, unsure if that upset me or not.
“Wrap them up in chains,” Viana called out, her voice piercing through the chaos. One of the fae prisoners ran back into the pit and returned with some chains from his initial supply grab.
Ferar and Cassus screamed and threatened everyone around them as they were quickly bound.
