Lightning Bringer: (Lighting Seeker Book 2)

Blood Red

The choice was made for her. Vale's hand moved on its own, closing on Fox's windpipe in a moment of pure uncontrolled rage. A loud crack filled the air as bone broke under metal fingers. Tissue dissolving under a waterfall. Fox gasped once and then fell into the water, dead.

Vale dashed across the water, catching Reign as she fell. "Reign!" Vale ripped the fabric away from Reign's stomach and bit back countless swears. I can't fix this. This is beyond anything I can do... The arrow had sunk deep into Reign's stomach. 

"Vale," Reign said, staring into Vale's face with her big blue eyes. "It's okay." 

"No. I'll..." Vale's hands shook. "I just need..." Her brain stopped working. She couldn't fix it. 

"Vale." Reign gripped Vale's shaking fingers. "I'm sorry for being so terrible to you... for calling your hair ghastly." 

Vale shook her head, holding back tears. "No. It's fine. It was pretty bad." 

Reign squeezed her hands harder. "Forgive me." 

Tears streamed down Vale's face. Of all the people Vale wished she could have saved from this terrible competition, Reign was at the top of that list. "There is nothing to forgive," Vale choked out, past the lump in her throat.

"You saved me... twice," Reign's breathing grew unsteady.

 "You saved me that first night too, remember? You saw what that dance did to me. And now... you saved me again." 

Reign blinked up at her, eyes glassy. "Find my family. The Fortem family... Tell them what happened. Tell them I was brave when it counted... at the end." Vale nodded. 

Reign's eyes took on a flash of determination as she fought to stay focused. "Tell my boyfriend... Amare Fidelis, tell him I love him and I'm sorry... I didn't say yes to his proposal the first time he asked..." Reign's eyes filled with tears. "I shouldn't have been so afraid." 

Vale gripped Reign's fingers tightly. "I promise." 

Reign closed her eyes, seeming to relax. "And promise me... that you won't let him change you..." Her eyes flickered open. "Don't let Kebar win, Lightning Seeker." 

Vale's eyes went wide. "How...?" 

"I heard—" Reign coughed, blood dribbling down her chin. "—Kebar call you that when we first got here." She smiled up at Vale. "You have more friends..." She took in a painful breath. "...than you can possibly know." 

Vale shook her head. "I've never felt more alone." 

Reign squeezed their hands tighter. "That's his goal. You'll just have to win before he breaks you." 

"I don't know if I can," Vale admitted. "I'm not built for this." 

Reign closed her eyes for their final time. "No one is. That's why we grow... become better... even when it hurts." Then Reign went still in her arms, life vanishing in her final breath. 

Vale closed her eyes, and clung to Reign, terrified of being left alone. Tears streaming down her face, Vale took Reign up in her arms and placed her gently in the water. She watched as Reign floated away, vanishing downstream, her blond hair catching in the light, setting the river on fire with her golden strands before being snuffed out of sight by shadow.

...

Something seemed to break inside of Vale. She repeated Reign's request in her heart over and over as she moved through the jungle, carving out a place for each person Vale had promised to find.

 Tell the Fortem family... Tell Amare Fidelis. Fortem Family. Amare Fidelis. Fortem. Amare. 

Her steps were loud, jarring. She no longer cared who she came across. Between Reign's sudden departure and her revenge on Fox, Vale couldn't escape the feeling of impending doom that had begun to nip at her as she moved. How many are left?

She continued to hear screams as night fell. Finding shelter in a thick set of underbrush. Vale stayed silent, doing her best to push away the image of Reign in her arms, the sound of Fox's bones breaking under her hand. 

A girl came scrambling in her direction, pleading as she ran. "Please, just let me go! I don't want to fight!" Several girls chased, their voices raised in laughter. 

"That's not how this game works!" 

Vale was on her feet in an instant. She pulled the feeling girl to the ground and held a finger to her lips. Then standing to her feet, Vale turned back towards the sound of laughter, her fingers itching for a fight as the girls approached. 

Vale jumped onto the first one, slamming her with such force, that she heard a bone break. She screamed in pain and fell to the ground. Vale grabbed the second one and broke her arm before she could turn to run. Staring at third, who was just a trembling shadow, Vale growled. "Pick up your friends, and leave."

To no one's surprise, the girl turned, and ran, leaving her injured party behind. Vale watched the shadow grow small and blend into the night. Then she turned back to the girl behind her, but no longer saw her on the ground. Instead, she had made her way behind the two injured, pulled out a knife, and slashed their throats, blood hitting Vale in the process.

Vale stared at the girl, mouth wide, suddenly registering who she was. The girl in the blood-red dress. The girl who had danced with Sky, who had kissed him. Who's hair, and dress matched Sky's hair and tie perfectly. The one who understood sign and knew him since they were both children. The one who had apparently been promised by Kebar that Sky would be hers. Vale had just helped her no only survive, but kill two people. 

The girl's blond hair fell into her face as she offered a nod of thanks to Vale before turning and dashing off in the opposite direction. 

Vale stumbled to the ground, at her breaking point when a sudden loud voice filled the forest. "Well done! You have competed and survived The Hunt." Relief suddenly flooded through Vale, followed a pang of soul-crushing guilt. Eighty dead. 

A bright light filled the sky off to the east. "Head towards that light. When you arrive, a ship will be waiting to bring you back to the Devinus castle. Well done ladies. You all should be very proud." Vale leaned forward and retched. 

A hand came to rest gently on her lower back, startling her. Vale was too tired and broken to move. "It's just me," a familiar voice said. "We don't have much time."