“No!” Allyra screamed and launched herself back towards Pierre. But she was a second too slow, and she heard the blade thud dully into his back and shock spread over his freckled face. Pierre crumbled to the ground.
Allyra didn’t stop to think. Rage filled her, burning though every part of her like a wildfire from hell. Without conscious thought, the Tiger swords appeared in her hands, their desire for blood feeding her own.
Rosalie’s eyes widened in surprise at the sudden appearance of the blades in Allyra’s hands. Not that it mattered – Rosalie wouldn’t remember this for long.
As fast and well trained as Rosalie was, she was no match against an Elemental, even one as inexperienced as Allyra.
Watching Rosalie in training, Allyra had noted how Rosalie didn’t always maintain proper balance, tending to keep her feet too close together and her center of gravity too high. Allyra intended to take full advantage of this fact. She charged Rosalie, and at the last possible moment, she feigned left and pushed Rosalie to the ground from behind. In a matter of moments, she had Rosalie pinned to the ground.
Allyra raised the Tiger Sword high over her head, her fingers tightening around the hilt of the sword. Rosalie screamed and begged for her life, tears marring her pretty, vapid face. But wrath was thundering too loudly in her ears for Allyra to hear any of it.
She drove the sword down and watched Rosalie’s pale blue eyes widen in shock. As the sword moved down, time seemed to slow down and another voice bled, unbidden into her consciousness. It was her own voice, repeating the same words she’d said to Eva in the Fist Trial.
You can’t take it back. Once someone is dead, you’ll always have their blood on your hands. You’ll lose a part of yourself that you might never recover.
There’d been truth and conviction in those words. Someone who believed in them absolutely had spoken them.
Had she really changed so much?
Was she ready to take a life?
At the last second she pulled the Tiger Sword to the side, enough that it missed Rosalie’s heart and sliced instead through her shoulder. Allyra drove it down hard, forcing the Tiger Sword through Rosalie’s shoulder and into the hard rock beneath.
Allyra’s breaths were harsh and raw, drowning out Rosalie’s panicked wails. No one would’ve known if she killed Rosalie. Once she stepped into the light and out of these tunnels, she wouldn’t even remember herself. It was the perfect invitation to kill, with the knowledge that your slate would be wiped clean. Rosalie had taken full advantage of it, not hesitating in killing Pierre. But Allyra had confronted the darkness living within her, and for the moment she’d managed to push it away.
Allyra stumbled over to Pierre, leaving Rosalie pinned to the ground with the Tiger Sword, her screams having faded to pleading whimpers. Pierre was still breathing, but each breath came as a gurgle, harsh and desperate, spraying out tiny droplets of blood.
Taking his hand, Allyra tried to pull him up. If she could just get him through to the light, they might be able to help him, so save him. But even as she struggled to heft him into a sitting position, the life drained out of his eyes and the warmth left his brown eyes, leaving behind nothing but emptiness. With trembling fingers, she searched for a pulse, but found nothing but stillness.
“No. No, no, no.” Allyra sobbed and cradled his head. “Please, please come back.”
She didn’t know how long she sat with Pierre’s body, or how long she was consumed by shock. But by the time she wobbled back to her feet, his blood had dried on her hands, and his skin was cool to the touch. Rosalie’s whimpers had long faded into silence. Allyra forced herself back to Rosalie’s side to look for a pulse, gripping her wrist with distaste, and found it beating steadily.
Allyra turned away, looking back towards the light. The Tiger Sword disappeared from Rosalie’s shoulder and reemerged in her hand before writhing back into the slivery tattoo around her wrist. She wiped the tears from her face, squared her shoulders and prepared to walk back into the light.
Did Alex know the cost?
With his Gift for the future had he known what he was asking of her?
When she’d made him the promise to win, she hadn’t consider what it might cost. She hadn’t considered how it would feel to lie to Jamie, she hadn’t considered how it would feel to have someone’s blood dry on her skin.
It hadn’t just been naïve; it had been both stupid and ignorant.
The Council looked up as she walked though. Marcus’ face was expressionless, High Master Zhuang looked troubled as he took in the blood on her hands. While High Masters Radebe and Perez smiled at her in a misguided attempt at reassurance. High Master Jameson looked as if she might actually combust with fury.
It was as if a sheet had been dropped over her recent memory as she stepped out the tunnel and into the light. Her memory was gone, but not her emotions. She still felt sad and angry, but couldn’t remember why.
A strange sense of relief washed over her. She knew instinctively that she didn’t want the memories, that they would cause her nothing but pain.
But the relief lasted for mere seconds before the memories came rushing back. She experienced it as if she was watching a film.
Rosalie throwing her blade.
The knife thudding into Pierre’s back.
The life draining out of him.
Her Gift for past – it wouldn’t allow her to forget.
Maybe
