“Thank you for providing us with advance notice of the Gauntlet,” Cruzal said and bowed to the dragon. “Please convey our acceptance of the terms to the Council, honored Emissary.”
A wicked smile curled Elushinithoc’s lips, and his ears twitched and stood upright alongside his head. He returned Cruzal’s bow with a graceful twist of his spine, then straightened and held his arms out wide.
“You are blessed, children of men,” the massive creature intoned. “Whosoever completes the Gauntlet will be rewarded beyond their wildest dreams by the Empyrean Flame. Prepare yourselves. We certainly have.”
And with that, the dragon spiraled up into the sky, a golden corkscrew that revolved around and around until it disappeared through the clouds.
The Debate
ABI CAUGHT UP TO CLEM, Eric, and me not far from the School’s administration wing. He looked as shocked as we all felt.
“That was insanity,” he said. “A dragon. In the School.”
“I’m a dragon.” Niddhogg spat a narrow tongue of flame toward the ceiling. His furiously flapping wings scattered the fire, though, somewhat spoiling the effect. The dragon dropped back behind us to sulk.
“Oh, good, you’re here,” Clem said to Niddhogg. “Help us talk Jace out of getting himself killed.”
“No one’s talking me out of anything,” I said. “I have to do this.”
“At full strength, there’s no doubt that you’re the man,” Eric said. “But you’re hurt.”
We’d reached the door to the headmistress’s office, and I banged on the heavy wooden barrier.
“It’s Jace Warin,” I called. “We need to talk.”
“Clem’s right,” Abi said. “Your core could delaminate at any time. The Gauntlet will run for the whole school year. It seems unwise to delay any possible treatment for so long.”
“Everyone told me I’d never amount to anything with my hollow core,” I said. “And they were all wrong.”
“This isn’t the place for us,” Hahen said to Niddhogg. “Leave the mortals to their decision.”
“Jace needs me,” the tiny dragon grumbled.
“Come. With. Me.” Hahen leaped off my shoulder, grabbed the dragon’s tail, and pulled him down the hallway.
My friends chuckled at the rat spirit’s antics. I had bigger things on my mind, though.
I raised my fist to bang on the door again, and it swung open to reveal Elder Brand.
“Speak of the devil.” Brand stepped back to let us into Cruzal’s office.
The headmistress certainly worked in style. The office was big enough to hold fifty people with space left over for a full buffet. A heavy desk twice the size of my bed squatted in the far-right corner, mounded high with papers. The other side of the room held a seating area with a variety of comfortable-looking chairs and sofas. Most of those looked like sturdy antiques that had been well used during their long lives. Bookshelves lined the walls, filled to overflowing with heavy tomes and sheaves of loose papers stuffed into every available space. The thick carpet and low ceiling seemed to dampen the conversation taking place in the seating area.
So I walked over to make myself heard.
Cruzal, Hirani, and Hagar stopped their conversation at my approach and fixed me with pleasant, frozen smiles. Hagar tilted a mug of coffee in my direction.
“No,” Cruzal said. “You will not be on the School’s team.”
“Yes, I will.” I crossed my arms and perched on the arm of Hagar’s chair. “I’m the only Disciple-level student you’ve got. You need me.”
“She knows,” Brand said.
“That doesn’t change anything,” I shot back. “There’s no other student here with my raw power or unique talents. We can’t let the dragons win this.”
My friends watched me challenge the most powerful person in the School’s administration with expressions of horror and amazement. Clem looked like she wanted to say something but didn’t want to add fuel to the argument’s fire. She chewed on the inside of her lip and gave me a slow shake of her head as if willing me to just shut up.
“If I put you on the team and your injury flares up midway through the Gauntlet, we don’t know what might happen to you,” Cruzal said softly. “You could die, Jace. I can’t endanger one of my students like that.”
My thoughts raced. Logically, Cruzal was right. My wounded core, no matter how powerful it was, could be a terrible liability if it crashed and burned before I won the Gauntlet. And Cruzal wasn’t only motivated by her concern for me. She needed me to train the hollows. The investments, she’d called them. She was unlikely to budge on that, so I’d have to go around her and convince the other two to get me on the School’s team.
“Where’s Elder Sanrin?” I asked Brand.
“Busy.” The way Brand said that single word told me he wouldn’t be giving us any more information on that front. There must have been more trouble with the heretics. “Hirani and I speak on his behalf.”
“Then tell her,” I pleaded with the elder. “I’m the best chance the School has to win this thing.”
“You’ve got heart, kid.” Brand raked his fingers through his wavy black hair and tugged at his sideburns. “And that might be enough. If I had to pick anyone from this school, I’d have to go with you. There’s no other student who has a chance against the dragons. And I hate myself for saying that.”
A reluctant endorsement still counted. I’d take it.
“Hirani.” I leaned in close and put my hand on her wrist. “Please. I need to do this.”
The elder fixed me with dark eyes so deep they swallowed the rest of the world. Her attention didn’t merely brush across my core, it held it in place and studied it like an entomologist with a butterfly pinned to a board. Hirani pored through my mind as well, her technique laying
