I groaned, pulling myself up into a sitting position onto my bed. The ceiling creaked, and the sound of rushing footsteps sounded from above. There were shouts, and the sound of blades crashing together clanged through the hallway and into my bedroom. I jolted up from bed, grabbed a couple of fighting knives from my dresser, and ran through the hallway and up the steps that led to the deck of the ship.
I abruptly stopped once I reached the deck; shock and fear paralyzed me. On the deck, there were people fighting; some I recognised, others I did not. I felt my power thrum and pulse within me; it told me that the guests were from a different world. It pulsed again, but harder this time. It seemed to say, aha! I have found you. Let’s fight. Let’s fight. Let’s fight. Something from the strangers was aggravating my powers. What could it be?
The strangers wore dark fighting gear that seemed to absorb the light from the setting sun. The first people I saw were Rowan and an extremely tall, handsome man with purple eyes, short, dark hair, and enormous wings that protruded from his back, fighting against each other. They were both smiling at one another. Rowan, knife in hand, lunged towards the dark-haired man, cutting his arm. The dark-haired man silently swore, quietly twisting to see the cut on his arm. The dark-haired man turned back towards Rowan, and lept. I quickly turned my head, so I would not have to see the outcome of that fight.
Beside Rowan and the dark-haired man, Aelin was going against a beautiful blond-haired woman with blood-red lips and brown eyes. They each lept towards each other, their faces each a mask of concentration.
Then, there was Lorcan and the most beautiful man I had ever seen fighting. The man had dark, layered hair that covered his ears, hazel eyes, and beautiful wings, similar to the ones the dark-haired man had. His face was a hard mask of stone, he wore a beautiful metal fighting suit that hugged his each and every curve, and had red diamonds on his palms and on his chest -- a total of seven.
Next to them were Aedion and another dark-haired winged man fighting, except this man’s hair reached his shoulders. He also had hazel eyes, beautiful wings, and those red diamonds on his chest and palms -- a total of seven as well.
Elide and Manon were both going against a woman with freckles, crystal-blue eyes, and gold hair. She did not have wings like the others; instead, she had gorgeous black tattoos on her forearms that continued underneath her black fighting leathers.
As I stepped out onto the deck, a tall woman with short, black hair that reached her chin with alert, silver eyes walked towards me. She stared me down the whole way, as if she were the lion and I was her prey. I lifted my chin up higher, and slowly took one of my fighting knives out of my suit pocket, watching the woman the whole time. She slowly stopped a couple of feet away from me, and lunged. I stepped out of the way, her fighting knife whizzing past my face. She stumbled forward, straightened up, and turned back to me, her face a mask of feral rage. I lept out towards her, a growl escaping from my lips. She dodged the swing, but was too slow. I cut her arm with my knife, but she didn’t even pay any attention to the wound. She bared her teeth, and growled at me. She lunged at me again, but this time, I was too slow. Her knife cut across my upper chest, creating a deep wound. I screamed. I fell to my knees, dropped my knife, and looked up at her, baring my teeth. Blood dripped from the wound and fell onto my legs.
I was not going to let her defeat me. My magic burst from my fingertips, and I tipped my head up to the sky. I rose onto my feet, my eyes closed. I smiled, dropped my head, and opened my eyes. I summoned water from the ocean, and had it brought up to the deck. The enormous water droplets twisted and moved, forming into water lions. Two of them appeared by my side, guarding me. The dark-haired woman just smiled. I summoned more water, but this time, turned it into wolves, jaguars, and snow leopards. They all formed a circle around me, and growled. The dark-haired woman just kept on smiling.
My water animals started grabbing the attention of others. The people on the deck paused their fighting and watched.
I brought up more water from the ocean, and this time, I turned it into a wyvern. The wyvern roared, and my smile grew. I ordered the animals to attack her one by one. The lion on my right attacked first, and the dark-haired woman swiftly bent onto her knees to dodge the attack. The lion -- now behind her -- growled, and the dark-haired woman smiled. I sent the lion on my left to attack her, and she faced it, fighting knife in hand. It lept towards her, but she forgot about the lion behind her. The lion from the back attacked at the same time, and this time, it drowned her with water. Water entered her lungs, and she fell onto her knees, choking. The choke turned to a laugh, and when she looked up at me, she was smiling with delight.
She rose to her feet, drenched in water, and her hands started moving in a circular motion in the air. My heart started beating faster. In a flash, both of my lions vanished with a cry of pain. “What did you do to them?” I growled. “WHAT DID YOU DO?”
“Magic,” she purred. At that same moment, she snapped her fingers, and my jaguars, wolves, snow leopards, and wyvern vanished into thin air. In the corner of my eye, the man with the shoulder-length hair stopped fighting, and stared worriedly at the dark-haired woman fighting me.
“Amren,” he growled, “watch it.”
All she -- Amren -- did was smile. Her silver eyes twinkled. She was turning into a beast. I quickly put up an invisible shield around me to protect myself from whatever she was trying to do to me. Amren brought up her hands in front of her, and an invisible wave slammed against my shield. Her smile grew. A small bark of pain went through my back as my wings appeared. I heard someone gasp. I smiled. Flame appeared at the base of my shield, surrounding me. The flames grew taller and taller, until they reached my face. I summoned water as I raised my arms from my sides, and a falcon appeared out of nowhere. It soared through the sky, and dumped water on Amren. This cut her off-guard, just enough for me to send an invisible wave towards her. It hit her, and she fell to the ground. She swore under her breath.
Amren rose to her feet, and bared her teeth. I sent another falcon above her, and it landed on her, soaking her with water. She choked as water entered her lungs. I sent another invisible wave towards her, and she fell onto her back on the deck, screaming in pain.
The blond-haired woman with the blood-red lips screamed, “Amren!” She vanished in a flash, and appeared beside Amren, on her knees. Stop, my power told me. Don’t hurt her anymore. I stopped, dropped my shield, and turned off the flames. Amren was still choking, lying soaked on the ground. My wings wrapped around me, shielding me from her and the other strangers. I walked towards Amren and the blond-haired woman, and stopped when I was right above them. The blond-haired woman looked up at me, worry coating her face. My stomach twisted. I knelt down, and stretched my arms out, so that they were right on top of Amren’s torso.
“This won’t hurt,” I softly said. “I am going to heal you.” I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and willed my power to go through my fingertips and into Amren’s body. Heal, I told it. Heal. When I opened my eyes, Amren and Mor were both looking at me, wide-eyed, shock masking their faces. Everything was silent. No one was breathing. I quickly looked up from Amren, and saw that everyone was staring at me, their faces tight.
When I looked back down at Amren, something in my powers gave out. I was getting weak. Something in my body was changing, though I couldn’t tell. My face started to twist, and my body started to give out. My powers flickered, then died out. My wings vanished.
By Alexa Gantt
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