Page 81 of House of the Iron Reaper

Is something wrong?

Slowly, one by one and then, like tumbling sand, all together, the crowd looks up. And so do I.

I shield my eyes against the glaring sun to see the scene above me. Two dragons, fully transformed, beat their wings to hover in the air above the arena. Between them, caught in an enchanted net, is the doomkin. A creature akin to a crab, twice the size of either dragon, and made of shimmering crystal.

The dragons release it in tandem, tugging open the net and letting the doomkin drop. It sinks like a stone through the air.

Boom.

The doomkin lands hard against the sandbrick, rumbling the arena. It would have splintered the ground if not for the enchantment. I only barely remain on my feet, stumbling backwards. A cloud of sand billows over me and I wave it away irritably, coughing.

The crystal crab gleams with a pearlescent sheen under the sun. It raises its claws with a high-pitched chitter. I eye them warily—the edges are sharp as knives.

Before the sand cloud has even settled, the doomkin skitters towards me and slams its pincer down.

“Shit!” I yelp, just barely diving out of the way.

Its claw bounces back off the enchanted ground with enough force I know it would absolutely have killed me. I snap into action and start running.

The crab follows me, using its many legs to chase me faster than something its size should be able to. Fuck. It lunges forward to grab me with its claw, slicing the air, and I narrowly avoid it, spinning to the side with enough force to send me tumbling into the ground.

I look up and see—

Deimos, dropping as though his strings were cut.

The glint of crystal.

I roll to the side with a gasp as its claw slams against the spot I had been half a second earlier. I push myself back onto my feet and take off at a sprint. Faster. Faster.

The crab scurries after me. I glance over my shoulder and duck as its claw lunges at me, slicing the air with the ring of crystal blades scraping against each other. My heart is in my throat and the sand shifts beneath my feet. I stumble again.

The doomkin catches me.

I avoid the sharp side of its claws, air rushing past me as I dodge to the side, but the rounded edge slams into me. I fling my arms up in defence.

Pain explodes from wrist to elbow and I cry out, tumbling down. I hug my left arm into my body, teeth gritted, and try to find my feet again. The doomkin gives me no respite—as I would not give it, if our positions were reversed. With a screeching chitter, it reaches out a claw to snap me in half.

I hug my broken arm into my body, teeth gritted, and use all my energy to dive out of the way. It clips me on the back of my calf in a burst of searing pain but I do not look back. Instead of fleeing, I roll towards it, landing in a crouch underneath the beast.

It skitters above me, screeching, but I stay low under it and follow where it goes. The crab slams the ground with a claw in frustration.

What do I do? What the fuck do I do?

I flex the fingers of my injured arm and find them working just fine. I breathe out in relief. It hurts like fuck but it isn’t broken.

Of course it isn’t broken.

I am made of fucking dragon glass and that means I do not break.

I slow my breathing. In. Out. In. Out. The crab jerks to the side suddenly and I roll to keep myself under it. In. Out. In. Out. I land neatly in a crouch. The roar of the crowd dulls into quiet. In. Out. In. Out.

Acid nips beneath my skin. Not overly painful but almost pleasant, like the sting of a biting into sour fruit. The doomkin surges forward and I follow it, scurrying underneath. For so long, my world was the sharp edge of stilted conversation, the scream of pushing my body beyond what I think it can do and into what it can do, the blade of my House’s expectations at my throat.

In. Out. In. Out.

My mind goes quiet. I know, now, there are softer things in the world. The peace of companionable silence between friends, the feel of laughter bubbling in my chest, the way Deyanara’s lips feel against my own and her curls between my fingers.

The doomkin lurches and my body follows it on instinct, my mind clear as glass.