Children of Sun and Peace

Chapter 81. - Not Today

The booming voices of the crowd in the arena were impossible to ignore as Freya sharpened the last of her hidden daggers and put it back inside her sleeve where it belonged. Her stomach was doing cartwheels at the mere thought of what was ahead of them, but for the past hour she was silent, trying to find some sense of calm in preparing her weapons.

"Five minutes, guys," an attendant approached her and Az, who was silently sitting in the corner up until then. He looked lethal with all his gear and mask on. And he was. Still none of them were invincible. Not even him. What if Malakai had an ace of his own up his sleeve? What if things went wrong tonight?

"You worry," Az said as he got up and crossed the distance between them, offering her a hand.

"I really like the new house Az. I want to make memories in it," Freya whispered as she took his hand and stood up, facing him.

"We will. I promise," he leaned his forehead against hers.

"You better keep that promise or not even the Moon Goddess will help you," she replied and he chuckled at her words.

"Do you remember what we talked about, winter rose? What I need you to be tonight?" he asked. Freya nodded slightly, just enough for him to see. It was nobody else's business anyway. In response he kissed her in ways only he knew how. As if all the things he couldn't or maybe didn't know how to say were conveyed in that kiss. In the most intimate way possible.

"It's time," the attendant spoke again and then the heavy gate began to open. Az took Freya's hand in his, walking into the arena with their fingers entwined and the crowd went even wilder. On the opposite side Malakai and Isabella stood side by side. In the corner of her eyes, Freya watched Az smirk. Whether he really was that confident or just wanted to throw Malakai off, she wasn't sure, but it worked, because there was a slight flinch from Malakai in response.

"We fight together, we steal together, we kill together and we die together. But not today," Az spoke down the bond to all of them, tapping into his alpha powers. And then the horns sounded to start the match.

Unlike all their previous battles, this one didn't start with a waiting game. Malakai and Isabella were all too aware that this couldn't be one on one. And Freya knew it too. They needed her to get Az to stand down. Only then they could even think of demanding he take the fight back into the arena only and the curse he had Ezra use won't affect their family. So, before the horn even stopped blowing, they both launched at Freya, their only interest in Az was to separate him from her. It was bold and incredibly stupid move, but the only one they really had left.

One second, that was about the time they had to subdue Freya if they wanted this to work. Because one second was all they would get to do anything with their backs turned on Az. But they tried it anyway. And Freya lost her footing quickly, ending up under their collective weight and with Isabella's claw piercing the weak spot on the side of her armor and straight into her rib. The searing pain felt paralyzing, but at least Freya knew it was a bone and not her lung that took the hit. This didn't start the best. She reached for Isabella's hand, trying to instinctively pry her claw away from her wound.

Az was quickly on Malakai's back, tearing him off of Freya in one swift move and practically throwing him against one of the barricades which separated the audience from the two fighting couples. There was a quiet rage on his face, one Freya grew to recognize over the past few months. It was one of the reasons Az was naturally feared. His anger didn't come with growls and screams, it came with silence. An eerie, unnatural silence he could somehow command without even trying. Not just his own, but everything and everyone around him also.

And in that eerie silence, where every single person in the arena went quiet as they watched Azazeal throw Malakai several feet and into the barricade, Isabella didn't waste any time before she stranded Freya in her hold, a likely poisoned dagger on her throat.

"Got you, bitch," she hissed into Freya's ear and Freya wanted nothing else but to spit in her face. Malakai in the meantime got back on his feet and charged at Az. It was clear the two were occupied and it was up to Freya to get out of this one.

"Yeah, you got me. So why not just finish it? I mean all you gotta do is slit my throat, right?" Freya chuckled, suppressing all her fear and pain deep within. She had to be what Azazeal made her to be. She promised after all. "Oh wait, you can't, can you? How many of your close ones did the curse get?" Freya carried on teasing.

"Shut the fuck up," Isabella growled.

"Or what? You'll kill me?" Freya teased, but her eyes were firmly on her mate who was having a very physical fight with Malakai just a few feet away from them.

"Oh I will. The moment Malakai gets that asshole of yours to call off his witch friends, you are dead," Isabella replied and pressed the blade a little more against Freya's skin.

"You really don't realize that this is all a trap, do you?" Freya chuckled. She needed just a few seconds more. She could feel it, Isabella's body growing rigid behind her. Just a little longer.

"What?!" Isabella managed to whisper before her legs betrayed her and she fell to her knees. Freya let out a sigh of relief on the inside before she used her speed to turn the tables. Quickly she was on top of Isabella, holding her hidden dagger to her throat instead.

"See this dagger? When I grabbed you, I used it to scratch you. Not much, just enough to get the poison into your system before your wound healed over like it was never there. It paralyzes you temporarily, but then again, temporarily is all I need," Freya was the one to whisper to Isabella this time.

"Ella!" Malakai shouted, stopping his fight with Azazeal. There was fear in his voice. True fear. Freya knew it of course. She felt it herself once. It made even a man like Malakai and the woman pinned beneath her relatable. And the crowd went silent again, watching as Az just stood back, not making a single move to stop Malakai, who was about to run at Freya. What was he planning? Was Freya just supposed to kill Isabella? And if she did, was she supposed to then fight Malakai also? She watched the very angry Delila heir run towards her and was about to slit Isabella's throat so she could fight him, when Az' voice cut through the clearing.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," he said so casually, that even with his busted lip, bloody knuckles and the setting they were in, it seemed like nothing was at stake. But Malakai knew what this meant. And by now, Freya did too. She watched her opponent freeze in his tracks and turn around.

"I mean you could, but then you wouldn't get to this antidote in time," Az carried on as he threw a vial with black liquid into the air and then caught it effortlessly in his hand with extended claws. And in that moment Freya understood. Az gave Malakai a choice. Try to save his mate by attacking Freya or walk straight towards his death at Azazeal's hand for a chance to save everyone he cared about. It was the cruelest choice. And the worst part about it? It didn't matter what he chose. Because regardless of how it looked, Az was not one to give him an exit.

Malakai looked down for a second as if contemplating his options. He stood there, halfway between Az and Freya, looking so defeated. "Okay, I'll play your game. But I want you to promise me you'll let her go," he finally looked up at Az.

"Malakai, no!" Isabella sobbed weakly, even her vocal cords being affected by the poison.

"I promise," Azazeal smirked.