The Curse's Breath

Chapter Forty

"Contest completed. Simulation over. Please stay in your current location."

Celni couldn't move if she wanted to. She was stuck, frozen in that spot, in that moment, forever.

She had killed him.

She had killed him.

She had killed him.

He was gone because of her.

His family wouldn't see him anymore. They wouldn't get to twine tails with him, fly with him, laugh with him.

She had killed accidentally before. The miners. But this was different. She had killed Ashnule with her bare hands. She had killed him, fully knowing what she was doing.

She had murdered him.

Celni knelt down beside Ashnule's body. Reaching out, she closed his eyelids. His scales felt rough beneath her fingertips. She trailed her touch down his snout. His mouth felt hot, still stinging with his scalding tone.

You had no choice. There was no other option, she tried to tell herself.

But what if there had been another option? Had she even bothered to look?

There was movement outside of the volcano. Reinej stepped into the dark lava tube, followed by a group of his soldiers. As her father walked toward her, the soldiers grouped around Ashnule. After a "one, two, three", they hefted his body onto their shoulders with a collective grunt. They marched out without anything further, like all Ashnule was now was a sack of meat. Celni watched them go. Ashnule's scarlet tail hung limply over the last soldier's back. And then they were gone. And so was he.

She felt a hand on her shoulder and looked over at her father. His eyes were bright, a smile underneath the hairs of his beard. "I knew you would be the one to do it," he said. "I'm so proud of you, Celni. My daughter." Reinej said that oddly, as if he had proved a point.

Anger riled up in her stomach, but Celni said nothing.

"You are finally ready to become the leader I knew you would be someday," Reinej continued, oblivious to her clenching her fists. "You have what it takes."

"If this is what it takes to be a leader, then I don't want to be one," she spat, pushing away from him. "I just murdered him! How could you make me do that?"

"I didn't make you do anything," he said, voice dangerously low. He grabbed her injured arm by the wrist. "I am tired of you fighting me, Celni. You will listen to me, and you will obey me. You will become a leader, whether you like it or not." He looked down at her blood stained arm and threw it back down. "Get that taken care of, and then come back to the Arena. I have an announcement to make." Reinej walked out of the lava tube, nothing but pride and confidence in his steps.

Pain bit at her arm, but nothing hurt more than the rage that pooled in her stomach. She wanted to yell at her father, at the world. What was the purpose of Ashnule's death? He died for what, a stupid contest? For entertainment? For her father to prove a point? It was ridiculous, it was cruel, it was so horrible it made her want to gag.

She stumbled out of the volcano. The lava had drained, leaving the air around her cold and dark. Celni gulped in the clear air, suddenly realizing how weak she felt. She didn't resist when someone came and took care of her. She was vaguely aware of them stitching and bandaging her arm before taking her back into the elevator.

Instant cheering exploded into the tight space of the elevator as the doors opened. The other soldiers in training gathered around her like insects drawn to a flame, shouting and whooping. Hyden and Dyfar instantly came beside her, supporting her weight. Celni craned her neck to look at the other elevator as it opened. Through the openings in the crowd, she saw Srenya being carried out. She was unconscious, claw marks scoring her chest and her right leg at an unnatural angle.