Raven Girl

Chapter 40

Elias had heard Regina shouting something, but the words were muffled over the roaring in his ears. Nadine was fighting him viciously, preventing him from killing Gylfi and finally getting freedom. He didn't want to fight her, but she was being brutal. She wanted him dead, and he had to defend himself. He had been a little infatuated with her. Kissing her had set his heart free from the cage Zara had trapped it in, long ago.

Now she was his enemy.

Elias knew he would win. He knew he would be able to kill both of them, as he had faced much worse. But they were both fighting so valiantly that it would be a shame to end their lives.

Their swords clashed, and they tested their strength against each other. Nadine bared her teeth. Tendrils of her hair stuck up in spikes or clung to her face with sweat, making her look insane.

They heard a pistol go off – once, twice, three times. Elias stiffened.

Something hit the point where their swords met, and the blades were ripped from their hands by its force. A bullet. Elias turned. Regina was lowering the pistol, her face white.

So. She had betrayed him, too.

Nadine wasn't wasting any time – she dragged knives from her belt. Elias did the same, and darted away from her next attack.

He had forgotten about Gylfi. The pirate slipped past his defences and stabbed Elias, right in the gunshot wound he'd got from the shrikes. Elias felt the scar tissue split. His vision fragmented into black and white. The wound tore open.

He collapsed, the cry bursting from his mouth the kind he never thought he'd make. He wrenched the dagger out and pressed both hands against the wound, shaking. Blood flowed over his fingers. The injury had nearly killed him the first time. Now, unless he thought fast, he was dead.

Gylfi had turned on Nadine again, now Elias was out the way, and he scrambled away from their fight. Every move sent agony shuddering through him.

*

Regina holstered her pistol. She had to find another way to break up the fight. A guard dressed in black – one of Kostin's elite – emerged onto the path beside her. She dodged his outstretched hands, using his bulk against him, and swiftly shoved him over the wall. He fell with a cry, and she didn't stop to see if he was dead before running back into the corridor. Her father was going to alert all the guards. She had to do this quickly.

She pushed her way out of the arena, into the Palace gardens, and blew the dragon whistle she had kept with her all this time. Nothing happened and she gritted her teeth.

Something black flapped towards her with a croak. Laughing, amazed, Regina lifted her arm and let it land on her.

"Kutkh!" She stroked his head and he snapped his beak at her. "How on earth did you get here?" The last time she'd seen him was in Jötunheim, as they were preparing to sail into Knife's Edge. "Kutkh, is Ares alive?" She hadn't expected any kind of reply, but Kutkh took flight. Regina raced after him, weaving her way through shrubs and flowerbeds. Every step away from her friends hurt – she had no idea how long they would last before one of them died.

Kutkh led her down old, crumbling steps and into a dim room. Regina gasped at the shelves and shelves of bottles filling it. "Is this... dragon blood?" She remembered Nadine telling them about how Ares had healed her broken leg with saliva. Did blood have the same property?

Bile rose in her throat. How many dragons had Kostin captured, then bled dry for this blood? What was he planning on using it for?

Regina took a bottle and stuffed it in her pocket. She felt sick. When she emerged from the room again, Kutkh on her shoulder, she blew the whistle.