To the left of Marcus stood High Master Jameson of the Inferno College. Her lips were pulled thin into her usual look of general discontent. As if she could feel Allyra’s eyes on her, High Master Jameson’s icy blue gaze snapped to her, forcing Allyra to look away quickly. She barely managed to suppress a shudder that spread down her back like a crack through glass. High Master Jameson’s eyes were disconcertingly like her daughter’s, and the last time Allyra had looked into Rosalie’s eyes had been in the moment when she’d driven one of the Tiger Swords through Rosalie’s shoulder, deep into the rock beneath. It had been during the Second Trial, in the moments after Rosalie had thrown the knife that killed Pierre. Allyra couldn’t help but remember the roar of the Tigers in her ears and the brutal lust for blood that had surged through her. In that moment, she had been a hair’s breadth away from taking a life.
Allyra shook the memory from her mind and turned her attention to the final member of the Council—High Master Perez of the Water College. She was a small woman and perhaps the youngest of the Council members though it was hard to discern whether that distinction lay with High Master Perez or High Master Zhuang. Of all the Council members, High Master Perez was the hardest to read, her impassive face giving nothing away.
And standing in the center, in the position of most prominence, was Marcus, the Elemental High Master. Stern, menacing, and tall, he loomed over them all like a bird of prey surveying its territory.
If the Council was the highest authority of the Gifted, then Marcus was the highest authority of the Council. Despite the power and prestige of his position, Marcus was nonetheless a pretender to the throne. He was an Inferno occupying a position meant for an Elemental. The only reason he was able to occupy the position was because no Elemental had been born since the Betrayal. That moment of infamy, when the Elemental High Master of the time had led the entire generation of Elementals into the Between to destroy the Veil that stood as a protection between worlds.
At least that was how history remembered the story.
Alex hadn’t believed it. He believed that the truth lay hidden in history and her affinity for the past would finally uncover the truth of the Betrayal. Allyra’s father hadn’t believed the story either. It was why he’d joined the Rising and why he’d gone into the Between in an attempt to discover the truth. It was a quest that had ultimately cost him his life. It was now left to her to finally bring the truth to light. She would do whatever it took to do so.
Marcus cleared his throat and started to speak.
“Welcome to The Five Finals,” he said with what appeared to be an attempt at a kindly smile. “To be here, you’ve all proven yourselves as some of the strongest and bravest amongst the Gifted.”
It was an uncharacteristically gentle start to one of Marcus’s speeches. Allyra had become more accustomed to warnings of pain and death.
“Every one of you are winners or runners-up of one of the Trials held at the Great Colleges over the past five years. It is an impressive achievement. So much so that you might imagine yourself to be invincible.” Marcus paused and the smile slipped from his face. “But take a look around you. Every person seated in this room would have achieved as much as, or more than, you. The Trials are designed to identify the most powerful of the Gifted, but The Five Finals will find the survivors.
“The Trials would’ve tested you, but The Five Finals will only test you further. They are filled with nothing but pain and suffering. And if you can’t find the strength in yourself to survive, you’ll find The Five Finals to be filled with death.”
Allyra hid a small smile. This was more like the type of speech that Marcus was known to give. But after all the threats of imprisonment and death he’d subjected her to over the course of the Elemental Trials, his words had lost some of their impact.
Marcus continued, "The Five Finals will consist of five individual tests, each one taking place at one of the Great Colleges. Each one is designed to test you to breaking point. There will be no intervention. No help. If you can’t survive, then you will be left to die.”
He paused and Allyra glanced briefly around her, but there was no trace of fear on faces of her fellow Competitors.
“Of the twenty-five pairs that sit here today, only one will be declared the winner. For each Final, you will be ranked on two aspects: survival and speed. The First Final will eliminate ten pairs. The Second Final, another seven pairs. Following the Third Final, all but two pairs will be eliminated and after the Fourth Final, a single pair will be allowed to proceed to the Fifth Final. Should that pair pass the Fifth Final at the Elemental College, they will be declared the winners.
“The winners will need to survive all five Finals or no winner will be declared. The Five Finals are not meant to be easy and it should come as no surprise that we have not declared a winner for the past three Five Finals.”
The serious part of his speech over, Marcus’s face broke into a smile again. “But I don’t want take anything away from your achievements. Each of you should be congratulated for
