Aiden gathered a sliver of Arcana and threw his hands forward. Two vortexes of freezing wind sent Adam tumbling head over heels away from him. Varothgar knelt forward and curled in on himself, a small sphere of blackflame protecting him from the chilled assault.

The two lightning serpents attempted to defend Madison with a desperate barrage of bolts. Their resistance lasted but a second, then they gave up on stopping the attack and wrapped around Madison before she too went flying after Adam.

Seeing the effects, Adam halted the attack and looked down at his hands, incredulous. While his strength and speed had doubled, he couldn’t even compare the effects of his Arcana. He hadn’t even used a real skill, yet he’d easy dispatched all three of them.

Varothgar was the first to recover, the flames on his head reduced to a pittance of what they were previously. He looked in the direction Adam had flown. “I tried to warn him.” He turned his attention back to Aiden, took a stance, and tilted his head uncertainly. “Do we continue?”

“That’s enough,” Aiden grunted and looked at the others. Many looked concerned, some intrigued, but they all waited for him to speak again.

His steely gaze focused on Ian and Isaac, easily the two weakest present. Josh stepped between the two of them. “My turn.”

“No.” His refusal brokered no argument. With two fingers, he pointed at both of them and gestured for them to come.

Anna scowled. “Just stop. What’s the point of fighting them? You’re doing nothing more than bullying them at this point. Is your goal to terrorize everyone weaker than you?”

He looked her way. “You can wait your turn.”

“Dude, what’s your deal?” Josh asked, brows creased in concern. “This isn’t like you.”

Aiden looked around at all of them. His chest ached as he thought of going to Valhalla, the mountainous task that was growing Blizzy for Halla’s Authority, and the seemingly impossible task of saving Khione.

“Just do as I say,” he growled through clenched teeth.

“Where is this coming from, man?” Josh questioned.

“I agree with the brute,” Leyla said, her open palm gently touching Aiden’s back.

Her attempt to be comforting failed and only reminded Aiden of how much he had to lose. The risk that would come with the freedom he seeked. None too gently, he shrugged her hand off his back. “We don’t have the time for this.”

“Yes, we absolutely do,” Josh said, Anna standing beside him in support. “Something’s bothering you.” He spread his hands and gestured at everyone, excluding Adam and Madison. “We’re all here to support you. That’s what we came for. If your reasoning for beating the snot out of Adam is because you want to show us how much weaker we are, we all knew that already. What is it you’re not telling us?”

“You wouldn’t understand,” Aiden bit out through clenched teeth.

Josh’s face turned beet red as his shirt tore and his fists clenched hard enough to cause a shrieking sound. “I wouldn’t understand, you say? Me? Of everyone here, you think I wouldn’t understand what you’re dealing with?”

Aiden glared back at Josh. His voice was laden in sarcasm, dripping with derision. “Oh, please, please tell me all about your insight into what’s bothering me then.”

From Aiden’s side, he heard James scoff. “This is worse than a reality tv show.” Aiden’s glare landed on James, but James grinned back as a black spark excitedly cracked the air around him. “I’m ready whenever you are. Any time, any place.”

Wrenching his gaze away from James, Aiden looked around at everyone around him. They looked at him with worry, concern, fear. When he looked back at Josh, he saw disappointment.

“You’re trying to carry the weight of the world on your own and won’t let any of us help you, no matter how much you stick your neck out there to help us. You crush yourself by thinking you have to do everything, thinking that we’re all too weak, that we can’t make our own choices.” Josh smacked his fists together. “That’s kind of a dick move, man, but if it’s a fight you’re looking for, you’ll realize we’re not as fragile as you think we are.”

Again, Aiden’s gaze wandered to each and every one of them. Madison stared at him with fear and loathing, as did Adam. Anna looked conflicted but on Josh’s side. Arkayan looked… amused.

Whipping around, Aiden looked at Leyla, hoping to find support from her. There was none to be found. “He isn’t wrong, Aiden.” She leaned closer, her lips only a breath from his ear. “We can run away from it all. The gods be damned, Halla and Valhalla be damned. Khione, Zion, all of it be damned. We can leave it all behind.”

“But your prophecy…”

“Damn the prophecy too.” She wrapped her arms around him and held him close. “All I want is you and me, for us to be okay together.” A moment passed in silence. “They want the same. You don’t recognize how much you have done for the people, how much they revere and respect you. What you’re doing now, do you think it’s truly for their sake?”

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He’d been trying to show them how dangerous things would be to try to convince them to stay behind. He knew that, but she had a point. Was this really the way? Was stooping down to Adam’s level to become a fearmonger really the way to go about things?

These were his friends, the people he fought to protect. If that was the case, why now did he try to hurt them to dissuade them?

He knew the answer deep down.

“I’m afraid,” Aiden whispered, clutching Leyla closer. “They’re not ready… I’m not ready.” He pulled away from her and looked at them again, his anger diminished to little more than a memory. It left behind a distinct heaviness, a weight of fear, anxiety, uncertainty—a feeling he’d had ever since receiving the quest to settle and protect Zion. They stood in opposition to him, lined up and ready to stand against him for his own good.

A small chuckle escaped. He’d truly looked down on them too much, held the idea of them needing him to be their savior so tightly. It had been his purpose, to protect those he cherished, the thing he used to push himself and grow more.

But that was all a lie. Ever since he’d come to Midrath, he’d been afraid and threw himself at one thing or another without stopping. Only the gauntlet had given him relief, being away from the responsibilities of the reputation and roles he’d personally taken the burden of.

He hadn’t trusted them to be capable, didn’t trust them not to get themselves killed. And his choice to raid the Valkyr Town still stung, made him question every choice; made him question whether he could rely on anybody else.

“There’s still so much to do. I’m tired,” he muttered, looking each of them in the eyes. “I don’t want to fight anymore, but there’s still so much to be done.”

“You don’t have to do it alone though,” Ian said, stepping forward. He’d grown so much since they’d come to Midrath. No longer as shy, carrying himself with far more confidence. “Let us carry some of the burden.”

“You don’t understand,” Aiden repeated, his voice resigned.

Josh approached Aiden and gave him a friendly smack on the shoulder. “Then all you have to do is open up a bit and help us understand.” He gestured to the others. “Surely, between the lot of us, we can figure something out. But we can’t do that if we don’t even know what we’re facing.”

“They aren’t wrong,” Arkayan chimed in. “To defeat Xenith and obtain Valhalla’s Authority, you know as well as I do that you can’t do it alone.”

“I’m well aware. That’s the problem.” Aiden looked back at Arkayan. “The rules of Xenith’s gauntlet have been explained.”

Arkayan scowled and looked in the direction of the quarry housing the Osh’Tika’Varu. “The Guardian, I presume?”

“What’s he talking about?” Josh asked and looked between the two of them. He sighed. “Now would be a good time to start explaining a thing or two about what’s going on instead of keeping us in the dark.”

When Aiden hesitated to speak, Arkayan took the opportunity to answer in his stead. “Each Authority has conditions to obtain. These conditions can only be manipulated so much from their original default, the essence of the concept they were created with. The one Xenith controls follows the core principles of the Valkyr and reflects their warrior spirit.”

“The Valkyr had us fight each other for entertainment,” Adam grunted as he limped his way over from where he’d landed. “Battle is in their blood, in the core of their being. That surprises nobody here. It’s to be expected, even. So what’s the deal?”

“If it were singular combat, do you think you could beat Xenith?” James asked Adam, grinning knowingly. Adam’s eyes darted toward Aiden fearfully. His lips pursed in a thin line. “Didn’t think so.” He focused on Aiden. “So what are the conditions? Surely, with your growth, you could become strong enough—”

“He already told us himself,” Anna muttered, looking at them all. “This whole time we’ve been here, he already told us. He doesn’t trust how strong we are, not himself. Why is that? Why is he so worried we might be hurt?”

“Just spit it out already if you know,” Adam growled.

Anna looked toward Arkayan and Aiden. “The holder of the Authority can’t fight?”

“That’s one of the rules,” Arkayan confirmed.

“So to fight, both sides would need a representative to fight for them. Or a team…” she finished quietly.

“Just have someone else be the challenger, then have Aiden wipe the floor with them all then,” Isaac suggested, speaking up for what seemed like the first time. “Simple enough.”

“He can’t. Only an Authority holder can challenge another Authority holder’s claim,” Arkayan continued with his helpful streak.

“Know it all,” Madison grumbled from beside Adam, her eyes regularly shifting toward Aiden as if to keep tabs on him.

“So,” Josh started, raising a finger as for each question, “how many fighters is each side allowed to have? Is it team combat or solo combat? What kind of environment are we looking at? And how likely is it that any of us can win?”

“To make things simple, it’s like the gladiator arenas,” Aiden answered before Arkayan could. “Each side chooses ten fighters. Once a fighter enters the arena, they can’t leave until all the other side’s fighters are dead or they are dead. As for how strong they are, I… don’t know. I’ve fought the Valkyr’s elites and the representatives they sent to aid the Rhexians. They aren’t anything most of you here can’t handle, but we’re talking about going to Valhalla and challenging Xenith personally. These aren’t going to be just any Valkyr.”

“It’ll be like her own personally trained army,” Anna added, pursing her lips.

“Arkayan, do you know who here would win in a fight against one of Xenith’s champions?” James asked.

The Shadowborn Royal in question pointed at five people: Aiden first, then James, Anna next, Josh, and lastly Leyla. “Aiden, James, and Leyla are good for two. However, as this is a ten versus ten format, you would all die. None of the others would even challenge Xenith’s champions, unfortunately.”

Adam stepped past the others and moved toward Arkayan, but James quickly blocked his way. Adam raised his hands passively and looked around James. “Then what about you?”

Silence.

Everyone waited for Arkayan’s answer, but none came. The silence grew longer. Aiden grew curious. “Why does it take so long for you to answer?”

“Do you wish for the truth?” Arkayan asked, his eyes meeting Aiden’s. “I am not confident the truth is something you can handle, nor are you ready for it.”

“Tell me anyway,” Aiden said. “I’ll be the one to figure out if I can handle it or not.”

Arkayan took several long seconds to respond, then shook his head. “No. I will not tell you, nor shall I participate in your fight.”

The Shadowborn Royal rose slowly and, with a flick of his wrist, darkness descended. When it faded, Arkayan had disappeared.