𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟏𝟗

" 𝘚𝘩𝘦'𝘴 𝘣𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘱 "

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╰┈˚ · ° .   ɪᴛ ᴡᴀꜱ ᴛɪᴍᴇ ꜰᴏʀ ꜰᴇʏʀᴇ'ꜱ ꜰɪʀꜱᴛ ᴛᴀꜱᴋ.

A torch-lit cavern formed the massive arena.

A wooden platform erected above the crowd. Atop it sat Amarantha and Tamlin and before it, the exposed labyrinth of tunnels and trenches running along the floor.

The crowd was along the banks as a group of six males stood around the platform.

All the High Lords of Prythian.

Maiven was escorted by two guards on her side. Both red-skinned and brutal. They stopped just in front of Amarantha.

The human girl was dressed in her League's uniform made of leather and fabric. Her numerous knives located in their respective places, her hunting knife on her right thigh and her sword sheathed on her left side.

Her hood was raised on her head concealing her golden-brown hair that was styled in a braid and the veil was lifted to cover up her face.

Just her eyes were visible. Gray and cold and inexpressive.

"Maiven! I'm glad that you made it before your sister" Amarantha spoke "Don't worry she will be here soon. Go and stand behind with the others so you can have the best view. I hope you'll enjoy the show" She said with a cunning smirk

Maiven didn't wait a second more and walked past Amarantha and Tamlin. She passed by the six High Lord, each one of them studying her with careful looks. She didn't even bother to acknowledge any of them. Not even Rhysand.

She took the most far away spot trying to stay away from everyone. She still had a good view of the arena and Maiven didn't know if that was a good or a bad thing.

She didn't know what task this was going to be. She was afraid that her sister was going to die and she couldn't do anything about it other than look from above.

Maiven believed in Feyre, she really did, but there were things, that not even with all her faith in her sister, Mai thought she could win against.

They were both just humans.

Minutes passed before Feyre too was escorted in the arena.

Her armed guards hauled her toward a wooden platform making her fall on her knees.

She rose on trembling legs, her eyes taking in the people on the platform. Amarantha, Tamlin, the High Lords.

And lastly she noticed Maiven. The younger twin was the first to break eye contact.

She couldn't look at her.

Amarantha had only to raise a hand and the roaring crowd silenced.

"Well, Feyre," the Faerie Queen said "Your first task is here. Let us see how deep that human affection of yours runs. I took the liberty of learning a few things about you," Amarantha drawled. "It was only fair, you know. I think you'll like this task," She said. She waved a hand, and the Attor stepped forward to part the crowd, clearing the way to the lip of a trench. "Go ahead. Look."

Feyre obeyed. Hands slammed into her back, and she cried out before she was falling down. The Attor reached forward and jerked her up with a bone-hard grip. Laughter echoed through the chamber as Feyre dangled from the Attor's claws, its powerful wing-beats booming across the arena. It swooped down into the trench and dropped her on her feet.

"Rhysand tells me you're a huntress. Hunt this." Amarantha said, flickering her fingers in her direction."Release it," She called

A grate groaned, and then a slithering, swift-moving noise filled the chamber.

The crowd quieted to a murmur, silent enough to hear a guttural kind of grumble.

Amarantha clicked her tongue "Run," she whispered.

Then it appeared. It was a giant worm, or what might have once been a worm had its front end not become an enormous mouth filled with ring after ring of razor-sharp teeth. Its pinkish brown body surging and twisting with horrific ease. These trenches were its lair.

And Feyre was the dinner.

Feyre started to run away from it. Sliding and slipping on the reeking mud, she hurtled down the length of the trench.

She kidded to a halt to squeeze herself through a gap in the walls. As she made to pull herself through the walls grabbed her back.

She clawed at the mud, twisting, tearing at anything to pull her through. Grabbing onto the wall, she pulled and pulled. Suddenly she was released and she fell through the crack, sprawling in the mud.

Maiven noticed how it followed her. It wasn't by its sight but by the scent.

It's blind

Feyre continued to run and pass through the gaps within the walls. The weird worm stopped every time she passed one, confirming her thought on its blindness.

As she ran, Feyre looked through the crowd.

They were all looking at the Wyrm giving away its position.

Feyre's eyes traveled to the wooden platform and Maiven knew that she too had understood. Her eyes landed on Maiven. Her twin.

Behind her veil maiven smirked and gave her barely noticeable nod.

Feyre continued to run, but she was still too surprised by her discovery and didn't notice the enormous pit in front of her, making her fall straight into it.

Come on, Fey.

"Feyre," Amarantha called. "You're ruining everyone's fun! Come out!"

"What's it doing? What's it planning?" one of the faeries hissed as everyone watched Feyre jamming bones into the wall creating a ladder with them.

She started to climb but quickly stepped back into the pit.

She started to break bones creating sharp points before one by one, she stuck them into the muddy floor beneath the pit opening until the whole area, save for one small spot, was filled with white lances.

Feyre dashed to the bone ladder and just like that, she heaved herself out of the pit mouth.

She grabbed a fistful of the reeking mud and smeared it across her face, her hair, her neck, her clothes, until every inch of her was covered.

"What's it doing?" the green-faced faerie whined again.

"She's building a trap." Rhysand replied

"But the Middengard—"

"Relies on its scent to see" Maiven explained "And Feyre just became invisible."

Her eyes twinkled as she took her sister still covering herself with more mud.

Feyre eased around a bend, craning her neck. Too covered in its scent to smell her, the worm continued feasting, stretching its bulbous form upward as one of the faeries dangled what looked like a hairy arm. The worm gnashed its teeth, and the blue faeries cackled as they dropped the arm into its waiting mouth.

She recoiled around the bend and raised the bone-sword she'd made drewing the jagged edge of the bone across her palm, splitting open her flesh. Blood welled, bright and shining as rubies.

The crowd had gone silent.

Feyre leaned around the bend again to see the worm. It was gone.

"TO YOUR LEFT!" Lucien's voice bellowed across the chamber.

Feyre bolted, getting a few feet before the wall behind her exploded, mud spraying as the worm burst through, a mass of shredding teeth just inches away.

She was already running towards the trap, so fast that the trenches were a blur of reddish brown.

The mouth of the pit now loomed in front of her. She leaped inside aiming for the spot that she had chosen.

She scrambled out of the way, as far into the darkness of the worm's den as she could get. She grabbed another bone and whirled when the worm plummeted into the pit.

It hit the earth and lashed its massive body to the side and then, a wet, crunching noise filled the air

And the worm didn't move.

Feyre edged around the worm and slowly climbed out of the pit, still holding the bone-sword in her hand.

Silently, she stumbled back through the labyrinth till she reached the front of the wooden platform.

"Well," Amarantha said with a little smirk. "I suppose anyone could have done that."

Feyre took a few running steps and hurled the bone at her with all her remaining strength.

It embedded itself in the mud at her feet, splattering filth onto her white gown, and remained there, quivering.

The faeries gasped again, and Amarantha stared at the wobbling bone before touching the mud on her bodice. She smiled slowly. "Naughty," she tsked. "I suppose you'll be happy to learn most of my court lost a good deal of money tonight," she said, picking up a piece of parchment. "Let's see," Amarantha went on, reading the paper "Yes, I'd say almost my entire court bet on you dying within the first minute; some said you'd last five, and"—she turned over the paper—"and just one person said you would win."

Maiven turned her head towards Rhysand. Sensing her stare, the High Lord looked towards her. Mai raised an eyebrow, she knew it was him. Rhysand rolled his eyes at the girl before focusing again on Amarantha and Feyre.

Under her veil the assassin tried to suppress her grin as she glanced one last time at the High Lord. That grin quickly faded as she scanned Feyre's body.

She was hurt and covered in filthy mud. Her wounds were for sure going to get infected.

Feyre didn't fight as the Attor hauled her out of the trenches, dumping her at the foot of the platform before flying off.

"Take her away. I tire of her mundane face." She clenched the arms of her throne hard enough that the whites of her knuckles showed. "Rhysand, come here."

The guards didn't waste a second to haul Feyre away without giving a chance for the twins to even look at each other.

Maiven's head tilted slightly as she watched Amarantha and Rhysand walk away too.

Mai knew that Rhysand had other motives to be, as everyone seemed to call him, Amarantha's whore. She wasn't so naive.

Worry. That was what she was feeling as she looked at them. And she didn't know why.

He had helped her the night before but for sure it wasn't enough to make her worry about him. It wasn't enough to make her care about him.

And then, anger.

But it wasn't hers.

It was faint and lasted just for a couple of seconds. She even thought that she had imagined it if it wasn't for the even fainter smell that reached her nostril.

Salt and citrus. Rhysand's scent.

The guards escorted Maiven back to her cell.

She was too confused. But the state in which her twin sister had left the arena ate away any other thought.

She knew that Feyre needed someone to heal her or she would likely not survive to do her second task.

✎

˗ˏˋ 𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫'𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐞 ˊˎ˗

Hello everyone! New chapter!

This is Feyre's first task so Mai doesn't do much but there are a few interesting things. At the end she feels an echo of anger and at the same time, Rhysand's scent. (Btw it's his canon scent) What do you all think about it? Oh I'm so curious!!

Anyways thank you for reading this and if you'd like, please, let me know what you thought of this chapter with a comment and a star.

𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐲 𝐬𝐚𝐟𝐞 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐞!

– 𝐋𝐨𝐥𝐚 ☾