Starrlings 1: House of Fire

chapter 88

A R I

She had never expected to make it all the way to New Hamilton riding Helvig, so now that she could see the magnificent waterfall plunging off the cliff, she felt some small sense of relief. Soon she would be with Katja and Sanna and Tom, and together with Lumi, they would stop Tai from enacting his plan.

But then she noticed the crashing waves, which were reaching up higher than the highest of tides, lapping against the cliffs. Rain was pounding down upon the arena, and it was as if the waves were coming up to meet it. As Ari got closer, she saw circling dragons above the arena, and vicious lions, their riders shining beacons of harsh light.

She urged Helvig to fly onwards, and was almost immediately stopped by two lions, blocking her path through the stormy sky. On each lion's back was a Garde, a starrling with light magic, and they both held up a stream of sharp light against Ari.

"I need to get through!" Ari yelled over the rain. "My friends are down there!"

But the Garde were distracted by a dragon hurtling towards them, and Helvig was able to swoop under their defenses and around towards the cliffside of the arena.

The arena was in chaos.

The rain poured down from above and the sea swelled up to meet it. Waves like huge tongues of white foam licked at the cliffs just below the arena. In the stands, the spectators had scattered and were scrambling up the narrow steps, trying to get out, as light lions descended from the skies above.

Helvig hesitated in the air, wings beating against the current, and Ari pushed her soaked hair out of her face as she scanned the King's Dais, but it looked like her friends were gone. Instead she saw King Matthias scrambling away from the arena to his waiting kinnfalcon. As the King escaped, Ari saw what it was in the arena that the King was fleeing from.

Locked in battle on the soaking wet pitch was an army of dragons, facing off against an army of the King's Garde. Lions locked jaws with dragons, and talons clawed at faces, while the starrlings astride their kinnlings fought with the sharpness of water against light.

And then, through the confusion of the rain and the flashes of light like steel, something made her freeze.

Her sister, in the crowd.

Bell's face stared up at her, brilliantly happy, her cheeks round with a smile, her hair in a perfect puff of black curls. She was larger than life, painted so realistically, and staring up into the sky, straight at Ari.

Ari squeezed her legs around Helvig and the wolf reacted, aiming now for the banner which held her sister's face. She pushed ahead, through the rain, past the Garde, who were too occupied with fighting against dragons to notice a girl on a wolf, and down onto the charging pitch.

Pythos Savvas was the one holding the banner.

Ari fell from Helvig's back and onto the pitch, scrambled on the wet surface, and then rushed forward at the Water Dancer. "That's my sister!" she yelled.

"Ariane!" Savvas said, turning to her. "You're here! I was petitioning the King for better rights for -"

But he was cut off, because Ari had reached him and had ripped the banner out of his hands. Rain was streaming down her face.

"How dare you!" she screamed. "How dare you use my sister's face! How dare you paint something so large you can see it from the sky!"

"Ariane, listen," Savvas said, gripping at the banner. He was taller and stronger than her, but Ari held on fiercely.

"Your sister died a hero," he said, his words packed with power. "She died campaigning for the rights of her people. Our people. And I cannot let her death be in vain. She lost her life too young. I never want to see that happen again."

"So you're attacking the championships?" Ari asked, glancing around her. All around her, dragons were fighting against lions, while the people without kinnlings tried to flee. As she watched, she saw a lion slash its paw across the face of a young man, who fell to the ground, bleeding, while the Garde moved past him.

"There was never an intention for an attack," Savvas said. "But then the Garde retaliated against us. This was supposed to be peaceful!"

But Ari could see water starrlings on dragons, fighting just as hard as the Garde. Even if this had been a peaceful protest, the results were anything but.

She gave a final vicious tug, and was rewarded by Savvas letting go of the banner. Ari almost fell back, but Helvig was there to stop her stumbling. She could feel the wolf against her back, guarding her, as if the wolf was her own kinnling.

"Ariane, listen," Savvas pleased. "There are so many children like her. Like you. Vastien kids, on the streets of New Hamilton. Whether they're water starrlings or ords, they're not given the right opportunities in Lombardia. They're attacked and discriminated against. You know it's true."

Ari clutched the banner in her arms, glaring up at Pythos. "You know nothing about me," she said. "You have no right to use my sister's face for your cause."

She spun and led Helvig away from Savvas, ignoring his yells. She ignored the rain, ignored the battles raging around her, and headed to the tunnel, from which the chargers emerged before their battles. The tunnel sloped down, and after a while Ari was out of the rain and the sounds of the fighting above was nothing but a distant echo. The dim solar lighting flickered eerily as she followed the tunnel deeper underground.

After a while, Helvig's ears perked up, and her pace increased, and Ari assumed that Katja must be close. They rounded a corner and found themselves in a long hall, lit unevenly with solar lamps, so that half the hall was cast in shadow.

"Ari!"

Katja must have felt the bond magic between her and Helvig, and turned to see Ari in the dark. Ari ran up to them, and was surprised when Katja pulled her into a hug.

"What happened? Where's Tai?" Katja asked.

"He escaped," Ari said. "He killed Zacharellis."

"He killed a teacher?" Sanna asked, shocked.

"Well he's apparently made a habit of killing plenty of innocent civilians up until this point, but if this shocks you the most, yes, he killed a teacher," Ari snapped.

Sanna raised her eyebrows.

"He must be down here somewhere," Katja said.

"He's here. I can feel him."

• Author's Note •

Don't forget to VOTE on this chapter, and every chapter! It's the kindest thing you can do for an author who's story you love :)

elle xx

INSTAGRAM | FACEBOOK | TWITTER

ellekirks