Page 146 of Tailwind

‘Ah, fuck!’ I dived aside, failing a tuck and roll, and so grateful that Josie had told me to put my helmet on as my temple cracked against the ground.

‘Stop!’ – He chopped down, narrowly missing my feet as I scrambled back. – ‘Moving!’ He was throwing the sword down over and over, slicing the ground between my legs as I backed up against a column. Even at close range he was missing. Sloppy. Too angry to see straight.

I couldn’t help but smile – pissing off men was a specialty of mine.

‘Why did you decide to take the bribes, Thorne?’ I asked, knocking the sword back as it sliced towards my neck. ‘Were you already losing and decided to make some cash from it, or did you become this shit after being paid?’

The greatsword slammed into the column by my shoulder, cracking through inches of stone and into my pauldron. My armour dented and began to buckle from the continued exposure.

‘Maybe you were so afraid to fail that you stopped trying altogether?’

I kicked against him, shoving him back with one foot and bracing myself with the other, pushing myself away from the column.

‘Or maybe, Thorne,’ I said, short on breath, ‘maybe you’re just a washed-up piece of shit, past his prime and ready to toss out in favour of a new generation.’

He rushed forward. I brought up my axe to take the sword, but that’s not what hit me. His hand shot past the weapons and locked around my throat. We fell backwards against a broken wall, my armour stopping my spine from being crushed. My feet scrambled below me, my toes brushing the ground as I was raised up.

My axe fell from my hand as I instinctively brought it up to claw at my neck. Thorne cast his weapon aside too. With his free hand he released his faceplate, pushed it up, then did the same to mine. The whites of his eyes were shot with red, his pupils blown wide. A faint opalescent glow lit his irises.

Sweat dripped down his brow and spittle flew as he spoke.

‘Shut your whore mouth.’ He bit out every word. ‘It’s not money that’s ruined this sport, it’s trash like you.’ His hand tightened around my neck. There were no armour pieces to protect it.

The air making it through to my lungs was lessening. Darkness started to seep into the corners of my vision. I dug my fingers through his, desperately trying to speak.

‘Sou—’ I coughed, choking on my own closing windpipe.

He loosened his hand, leaning in closer. ‘Got something to say?’

‘Yeah,’ I heaved, gasping in precious air. ‘Sounds to me like you’re a sore loser.’

A vein throbbed on his temple. It was all the time I needed to jab my fingers forward, right into his eyes. Bach hadn’t taught me that one – it was a Cam special.

I slid to the ground, inhaling as much as I could. The two weapon hilts lay on the ground next to me. I kicked them away into the rubble of the destroyed wall. He was crouching, searching for them while pressing on his eyes.

I stood on shaking legs and readied myself for another round. As I watched Thorne through bleary eyes I couldn’t help but wonder if Cam would be proud. I was still letting my oxygen-starved thoughts roam free when people rushed in, shouting so much that I didn’t hear any of it. I raised my hands. There was no plausible deniability here.

They ignored me. Thorne was tackled to the ground by Volitant security – the same ones who had escorted me away after the interview. It felt like a lifetime ago. Now they held Thorne to the ground, putting his hands behind his back. They yelled to each other, pointing around the room.

Slowly, still unsure, I lowered my hands to my sides. It didn’t help that all my energy was gone, I didn’t even have it in me to stay standing for much longer.

‘Lena!’ Josie wobbled over. With my faceplate pushed up I didn’t have my visor to keep my vision steady.

She scooped an arm around me, tucking a hand under my armpit. I let myself go, drooping into her.

‘You did so well, Lena.’ She unhooked my helmet strap, freeing my airways further.

How did she know I needed that?

‘It’s over now. He’ll never fly again.’ We watched Volitant security drag Thorne away. ‘Between this and damaging the arcanite, he’ll never see daylight again either.’

My brain was grinding slowly. Thinking was like wading through mud. Like flying against the wind.

‘How …?’ I wanted to ask how she knew. Why Volitant came in and only took him away.

A man in bright yellow came over, frowning. A medic.

‘Your helmet,’ said Josie, squatting next to me after lowering me to the ground.