Despite their age, none of the team members had cores above the adept level. They were formidable, but they were still beatable. Their auras held aspects of excitement and anxiety, along with a few bright spots of actual fear. Their fierce expressions couldn’t hide their nervousness.
The competitors summoned their fusion blades and brandished the broad-headed spears. I was surprised to see they all wielded the same type of weapon. Maybe that had something to do with their training. They let out a fierce battle cry, then stood at attention while the rest of us politely applauded.
“I’m surprised to see them here,” Clem shouted over the clapping. “The Yzlanti Empire closed its borders decades ago.”
“They’ve always been close with the Scaled Council,” Hagar shouted back. “And it’s not every day we have to worry about dragons overthrowing the balance of power. I’d have been more surprised if they didn’t send a team.”
That was all news to me. I should have paid closer attention in the History of Empyreal Society course my initiate year. That would have been a lot easier if I hadn’t had one of the five sacred sages leaning on me and another one trying to kill me.
“Our next team of hopefuls comes to us from the renowned Dojo of Opal Radiance.” Another flash of light and smoke accompanied the dragon’s announcement. An all-female team wearing identical white robes embroidered with metallic thread strode through the crowd, hands raised over their heads like rock stars coming on stage to open a show. The threads in their robes gleamed with an inner light, and swirls of colored jinsei darted around their heads like sprites. “Our youngest team is well known for their showmanship and youthful vigor. What they lack in experience they make up for in enthusiasm and rigorous training.”
The dragon didn’t do a very good job of hiding the sarcasm in his voice on that last sentence. The young women on the stage looked like they couldn’t have been much older than initiates. Their cores, though, were adept level just like the Heron Blade Academy’s team. The Dojo’s candidates also looked more confident and self-assured than the first team had. The girls didn’t pose or shout, nor did they brandish their weapons. Instead, they stood confidently, hands clasped in front of them, eyes serene as they took in their surroundings. They were young, but they were also sure of their skills.
Sometimes, as I’d proven, that was enough.
The dragon introduced three more teams in quick succession. First came an impressive all-male squad of bare-chested fighters from the Battle Hall of Atlantis. They were followed by a boisterous squad of men and women from the Jinsei Institute of the Jade Kingdom wielding enormous axes. The final group, students from the Bright Lodge of Frostmir, appeared from a cloud of gray smoke, their heads and faces concealed by enormous helmets that leaked golden fire from the horns curling up from their sides.
There was a lull after the last human team was announced, and Elushinithoc closed his eyes. That seemed to be the signal for the gathered students to start chattering, and I took immediate advantage of it.
“We can take all of them,” I told Clem and Hagar. “I didn’t see anyone above adept level, and the Bright Lodge had three initiates with them.”
“We shouldn’t be thinking like that,” Clem said with a shake of her head. “All the human teams must work together to beat the dragons.”
“If the schools could work together, we wouldn’t be in this mess in the first place,” Hagar said. “Atlantis hardly ever speaks to the rest of us, and the Yzlanti killed the last emissary anyone sent to treat with them. The Jade Kingdom and Frostmir both think they’re better than the rest of us and won’t dirty their hands by shaking with anyone else.”
“That kind of thinking is why the dragons want to take control,” Clem complained.
Before I could add my two cents to that argument, Elushinithoc roused himself to announce the final team in a voice so loud it left my ears ringing.
“And, finally, from the Sacred Monastery of Shambala, home of the great dragon sages, seat of the Scaled Council, I present to you, our final team, the Indomitable Dragons of Light!” The dragon’s voice rolled over us like a crashing wave. There was no smoke this time, only a burst of fiery light that filled my vision with dancing blind spots.
When my vision cleared, the dragons who’d brushed past me in the hallway stood on the stage, looking larger-than-life. They all had disciple-level cores and were at least seven feet tall. Their serpentine tails cracked against the stage as they paced back and forth like caged tigers eyeballing their next meals.
Their obvious leader, a female dragon with golden scales and curved horns wrapped in leather cords, glared at the crowd. A dark smile spread across her face and revealed rows of neat black teeth that gleamed like obsidian. Her face could have been human were it not for those teeth and the patches of scales at her temples and cheeks. She looked ready to fight all of us at the same time, and I wasn’t sure she wouldn’t win.
“How are we going to defeat that?” Clem asked.
I didn’t have an answer.
As I watched the dragons parade before us, I wondered if I’d made a terrible mistake.
The Preparation
THE INSTANT THE DRAGON’S presentation had finished, I grabbed Hagar and Clem and dragged them toward the exit. Our training sessions with Brand and Professor Song had prepared us for a lot, but there were still so many things we didn’t know. My team needed a last-minute meeting with the clan elders before the fight to fill in as many of the gaps in our knowledge as possible.
And there was the matter of a certain surgical procedure
