Lucy’s POV
The burning sunlight seemed to be mocking me with the way it kept burning into my skin. Between it and the poisonous wolfsbane flowing through my veins, I was already in a disadvantageous position. If I lost, I wouldn’t be the only one suffering from it. People I loved would also be killed.
I couldn’t afford to fail. The clock was ticking inside my head, telling me-reminding me of all that I had to lose if I didn’t win.
Rosa was still on the ground, bleeding, but her eyes remained open. Such a wound wasn’t one that couldn’t be healed, but because the blade used to injure her was both silver and laced with wolfsbane, it meant that she was indeed in serious trouble if she didn’t manage to get help before she bled out.
“You know, you can still back out if you want. There is no shame in admitting defeat,” said the admiral, watching me with sinister eyes as we circled the clearing we had chosen as the fighting grounds. The rules of our duel were very simple; whomever admitted defeat first, lost. And since neither of us were likely to do that, it was simply a fight to the death, because death was a far better option for me than watching those that I loved suffer-even if it meant that I might be leaving them behind.
But no-I couldn’t dwell on such thoughts. I had to win. I had to win, for them. For Tessa. For Shaun. For Scott and Seth, and for Moongrowl. We had been imprisoned for far too long, and now, it was time to finally fight back.
Only a deep growl served as my response to her taunt. I took off the disgraceful head wear that all maids wore, and threw it to the ground. Then, I removed the other shirt over the dress I wore, which was going to make it easier to fight. I was already at a disadvantage, so I couldn’t make things harder for myself.
Behind me, Tessa was still held down by a guard. Even though my hearing wasn’t in peak condition, her sobs carried through the air and reached my ears, breaking my heart in two. That wasn’t all, in her exuberance, the admiral had also had Shaun brought out of her chambers as well, making sure that everything that mattered to me was right before my very own eyes.
The sight of his bruised and battered body tore me apart, and I had barely managed to keep standing when I saw him. Scars lined his arms and legs, and one of his eyes was swollen shut, since wolfsbane also affected our healing abilities. To further add to the disgrace of it all, she had stripped him completely bare, just as he was always naked in her chambers. Putting him on display for all who cared to see and watch.
“Are you ready to fail, slave?” the admiral said, watching me carefully. There was still a smile dancing on her lips; a sure confidence that shewas going to win without a doubt.
“I am not a slave,” I muttered underneath my breath. “I am not a slave.”
“But you serve me, woman. You belong to the Shadow Howl, and you will remain so until we give you the permission to find freedom,” she replied, having heard me regardless.
Since she was a Halfling herself, it only meant that although the battle was going to be hard, winning wasn’t impossible. If I was just able to outsmart her, I could gain the upper hand.
“Do you know that you talk too much?” I said, already getting impatient with her monologue. There were too many lives at stake for me to keep yapping. Rosa had to survive. She couldn’t die on me. “Let’s fight already!”
“Never have I met one so eager for death. But I understand, and I can’t blame you.” A guard stepped up to her with a large silver blade, the one she often used. It dripped with a liquid I was certain was made out of Wolfsbane as she held it up to the sun. “Time to die!”
Without even wasting another moment, she dashed in my direction, bringing down the blade in one swift sweep, aiming for my head. My vision shook for a moment due to the sudden rush of adrenaline, but I soon conquered it and managed to dodge out of the way. But unlike what I had expected, she followed up with my dodge immediately, striking at me again with a roar.
This one, I couldn’t avoid, and lifted my arms to shield my face. The blade cut deep into my flesh, instantly burning me as I stood. My eyes stung with tears, but I held down the urge to cry out and pushed back with the strength I had in me. The injury was already causing my power to fade, but I pushed on regardless, because I couldn’t fail.
I couldn’t afford to fail!
She drifted back, and toof a moment to look at me, with triumph written on her face as she considered my bleeding arm. “I expected you to scream.”
I pressed my lips together and straightened my stance, waiting for her to take the bait. She was the armed person, so it was better to even let her attack first so that I could try and read her patterns and better prepare for her attacks.
She came for me again, eyes wide with joy. She was deriving great pleasure from this unfair fight, and she loved it. I should have been given weapons, but I wasn’t, and unfortunately, I couldn’t wield silver because of what it was going to do to me.
“Just give up already,” she taunted. “You’re going to lose anyway. Let’s just stop things here okay?”
“Never!” I screamed, and kicked a cloud of dust in her direction. In this prison where I was a prisoner, I was going to get freedom for myself and for the people I cared about.
No matter what it took.