huge hole. The fiend continued firing off its magic. Theo’s hooves slipped on the quartz, and he almost fell down in a desperate attempt to escape— though in the circular arena, there was nowhere to go.
As the fiend chased Theo around the room, Odette watched in terror. When the fiend lunged out with its giant teeth, Odette gave a cry. She flung out her hand, to bloom a shield around Theo to protect him.
But the fiend shattered through her illusion, breaking it like glass and sending pieces of her shield everywhere. One of them flew across the room, and Odette cried out as she fell to her knees. Blood spurted from a fresh cut underneath her eye.
Not even Odette’s shields could stop it. Odette tried more spells— she created miniature shields, like bubbles, and fired them off at the fiend in a powerful beam. Yet her bubble beam merely smashed against the fiend’s side and bounced off. Members of the Alicorn Court had to duck aside as Odette’s bubbles burst against the quartz columns, exploding like bombs.
Nothing worked. The fiend was just too strong. The monster lashed out with its claws and struck Theo in the side. Theo gave a whinny of pain as a gash opened up on his stomach, and on his flank. Blood droplets coated the floor, and my hands immediately went to my mouth. Theo hadn’t been mortally wounded, but one more hit like that, and he would be.
Theo spun around to face the fiend, jabbing out with his horn. The fiend hissed and backed away, though it didn’t stop the attack. It paused for only a moment before letting out a roar that knocked Theo down. Theo scrambled to get back on his hooves, and only narrowly got away before the fiend’s claws gutted him from the inside out.
“Odette!” Theo screamed. He was backed against the corner, pawing out with his hooves frantically as he tried to keep the monster off of him. The fiend gave an ugly, guttural laugh that scared me to my core. That thing— it wasn’t animal. It was evil.
Tears were streaming down Odette’s cheeks as she realized Theo was pinned. Without hesitation, Odette took a bite out of the apple. She chewed, and quickly swallowed.
It was then the monster stopped charging. It gave a shriek and collapsed onto the floor, twitching in pain. Theo saw an opening— he plunged forward with his horn, stabbing it into the monster’s front.
The fiend gave a roar of agony as Theo’s horn pierced its heart. The alicorn drew back his horn, and it was dripping black with the fiend’s blood. The fiend snarled a few times before its breaths grew quick, and then, the monster’s eyes rolled back in its head as it died.
I let out a whoosh of breath that almost made me lightheaded. Once the fiend died, it disappeared as quickly as it’d come— it vanished on the spot, leaving only the trail of its black blood behind.
“Theo!” Odette dropped the bitten apple and ran forward. He saw her coming, and transformed back into a man— she caught him before he collapsed on the floor.
“Are you all right?” Odette screeched. Theo was holding his side. Blood was dripping from his fingers and soaking through his clothes.
“I’m… okay,” Theo gasped. “Give it a few minutes for the wound to close up.”
Carefully, Odette moved Theo’s hand aside and lifted his sweater. Before our eyes, the wound the fiend had given him began to mend together. The skin stitched tightly, stopping the bleeding. Theo still moved gingerly, like he was in pain. His shifter healing abilities had been all that had saved him. If the fiend had cut any deeper, he’d be a goner.
“What did the apple taste like?” Theo grabbed Odette’s shoulders, observing her worryingly. “Was there anything bad?”
Odette shook her head. “No! It tasted normal!”
Theo glanced back at the table. He relaxed as he saw the two other apples had vanished.
They’d gotten lucky. Odette had eaten the right one. Theo pulled Odette to his front and held her, form shaking like he’d been terrified she could be poisoned. Odette’s blue eyes swam as she hugged Theo, staring out in disbelief.
Odette then turned from Theo, and walked toward the box which held the alicorn stone. She yanked at the top of the box, but it didn’t open. Odette glanced upward to the Alicorn Court, yet the council made no move to give her any direction.
“What happened? Did they fail the test?” Alexei asked.