The dragon was searching for me. The weight of its attention and hunger bore down on me like a tidal wave of power. The sheer enormity of its strength held me in place for long seconds until I finally broke free and ran across the cavern.
Before the dragon could find me, I slipped through the portal and into Hagar’s secret room inside the School. I opened my mouth to tell her to close the gate, right that second, but she interrupted me with a wagging finger.
“You attracted some attention.” She smirked and tapped a red light on top of a machine next to the portal. “Look how bright that warning beacon is. Your new friend must be awfully powerful.”
“Close the portal.” I tried, and failed, to mimic Hagar’s cool demeanor. She acted like there was no danger in the world she couldn’t handle. Not even a dragon I was sure would be headed our way any second. “Please.”
“You’re no fun,” she said. Before I could ask again, though, she flipped a switch on the machine and the portal vanished with an electric crackle and the stink of ozone. “All gone. You think that was an all-grown-up dragon?”
“I’d bet a crate of jinsei elixirs that it was.” The encounter had rattled me so badly my heart still pounded. Judging by the shadow, that creature had been immense, with a core powerful enough to match its physical form. It had to be at least two levels higher than me: a full-grown master dragon. “I hope it didn’t see us.”
“Something that powerful wouldn’t need to see you to identify your core,” Hagar said with a sadistic grin. “I guarantee that dragon recognized the only Eclipse Warrior in the world. I bet he comes to the School looking for your autograph.”
“Wouldn’t be the first time I’d signed an autograph.” I feigned a yawn, despite the horror that boiled inside me at the thought of whatever had been outside the cavern coming after me. I put that thought aside and focused on the more immediate concern. My stomach was growling. “Is it dinnertime?”
“Definitely,” Niddhogg said. “Let’s eat!”
“He eats almost as much as Eric.” Hagar paused outside the secret room to let Niddhogg get out of sight, then turned back to fiddle with the door’s lock. “New security measures. I wouldn’t try to break in here again if I were you.”
“Don’t pull another weeks-long vanishing act and I won’t have to resort to desperate measures to find you.” I poked Hagar with my elbow, then took off for the dining hall.
With everything that was going on—the Gauntlet, worries about the heretics’ attacks, the assessments, and the more advanced courses we were all taking—I didn’t see my friends as often as I’d have liked. If we got together more than twice a week, it was a miracle. I was relieved to see they’d all made it to dinner and had places waiting for Hagar and me. I hurried through the buffet line, snatched up plenty of protein and carbs, then forged a path through the crowded dining hall.
“The gang’s all here,” Eric said and clapped his hands. “Feels like it’s been forever since this happened.”
“At least since the hospital,” Abi agreed. “It’s good to see you all, my friends.”
“And it looks like something’s eating Jace,” Clem said. Her impish grin spread from dimple to dimple. “Go ahead, spill it.”
“I know how to beat the dragons,” I said. Nidhogg, who sat at the other end of the table between Eric and Abi, flapped his wings at that news.
“You’re sticking with that plan?” He grimaced. “It’s dangerous.”
“Don’t be such a pessimist, Nidd. So, how do we do it?” Clem asked. She stabbed an asparagus spear with her fork and bit off its tip. “The dragons are faster than we are, they’re stronger than we are, and they can breathe fire. Any one of those would be a problem. All three is a disaster waiting to happen.”
“Niddhogg’s not the only pessimist,” I teased Clem.
“I have faith in our fearless leader,” she teased right back, a faint blush rising in her cheeks.
“The dragons aren’t like us.” I leaned forward and lowered my voice. My friends leaned in, as well. They didn’t want to miss a single word of what I had to say. “They need jinsei to benefit from all three of those advantages you mentioned. Breathing fire? Jinsei. Enhanced speed? Jinsei. Ridiculous strength? Jinsei. Without sacred energy, they’re not nearly as powerful.”
“How do you know that?” Eric gave me a skeptical look. “My sensei never said anything about that during my training over the summer, and we talked about the dragon prizefighters more than once.”
“We spied on them.” Hagar grinned over her mug of coffee. “I think Jace is right. So does Niddhogg. They’re powerful fighters, don’t get me wrong. Until they run out of gas.”
“After they go through all the jinsei in their core, they need a solid thirty seconds to recharge,” I said. “That’s why the dragons practice in secret, and their combat arts are designed around explosive, overwhelming damage. If a battle goes on for very long, the tide turns against them.”
“This is only true of younglings,” Niddhogg pointed out. “You try this against a dragon who’s gone through its first molting, and you’ll be dead long before it runs out of jinsei. And the younglings are aware of their weakness. It won’t be easy to exploit it.”
“That’s a good point,” Abi said. “How do you plan on exhausting the dragons if we face them?”
“We can’t do it alone. Maybe if my core was at full strength, but not now.” I raised one hand before Clem could start in on me again. “We have to ask the other teams for help.”
“You’re asking every team to put their necks on the line,”
