Loveless/ a POWERLESS fanfiction story

Chapter 46: Blair

Two beating hearts, one labored start

One open wound, wasted and drawn

"Plagues, what is going on?" A familiar voice cuts through the thick haze of my thoughts like a blade.

My eyes snap open, and the first thing I see is the endless sky. The sunlight stabs at my vision, and my head pounds as if someone is hammering against my temples. I flex my fingers, then move my arms, and with a sharp motion, I push myself into a sitting position. The ground beneath my palms is cold and damp. Looking around, I see Braxton sitting beside me. A painful thought flickers through my mind: we're meant to fight until only one of us remains alive.

"Are you ok?" he asks, his voice muffled, as if filtered through cloth.

I nod but immediately notice a third figure.

Kai Azer.

Our eyes meet, and I regret that Braxton didn't finish him off last night.

My stomach churns with disgust and... rage.

"We were left with this," Kai says, pulling a crumpled piece of paper from his pocket and tossing it carelessly onto the ground.

I smirk, pick it up, and read the words aloud in a steady voice:

Welcome to Trial number two,
We think a little teamwork is due.
You have twelve hours to reach the top,
To beat the other team, you must climb nonstop.

"You've got to be kidding me," Andy's voice comes from behind me. She's propped up on her hands, her face streaked with dust, her eyes blazing with indignation.

"I'm sorry," I say, genuinely surprised, "we're supposed to work together?"

But it's obvious.

The King loves his games. He knows how to make the pieces on his board move precisely as he wants them to.

Last night, he pitted Braxton against Kai in a cruel fаrce, offering Braxton the illusion of vengeance. I can picture it: Braxton must have fought fiercely, while Kai toyed with him, effortlessly wielding Braxton's power and ultimately emerging victorious. One man torn apart by the same feelings I feel now when I look at Kai's smug face; the other reveling in his victory, drinking himself into oblivion afterward.

The King orchestrated this moment, just as he orchestrated my fight with Paedyn Gray.

Now he's thrown us all together, knowing I can't openly turn on Kai in front of all these Sights. Not under the eyes of the entire kingdom. I can't attack a royal son without bringing the full weight of his—my—power.

So Braxton and I must now work side by side with the prince, suppressing the urge to end his life ourselves.

Kai rises and tilts his head back to gauge the sun. I follow his gaze, trying to estimate the time. It's already noon—far later than we should have woken.

"We're losing daylight," Kai says. "Let's get a move on."

We begin the ascent. Each of us was drugged and dragged here against our will during the night—again. Our heads pound, our mouths are parched from dehydration, and hunger gnaws at our insides—again. For now, we walk in silence, listening only to the sounds of nature and the muffled thud of our footsteps. Everything feels too loud, too vivid.