Tsu Jang had to understand that letting the dragons win was not an option. They’d overthrow centuries of human rule and turn us all into serfs beneath their claws. The fact that the leader from the Dojo of Opal Radiance would even entertain such an idea rankled me.
“The dragons won’t show mercy to anyone,” I said. “They hate us. They ruled this planet for far longer than humans have existed. To them, we’re a mote of dust in history’s eye. A momentary irritation to be swept aside when they resume their reign as guardians of the Flame.”
“What is it you think we should do?” the bare-chested man asked. “I’m Achilles Torov, by the way.”
“We have to work together,” I said.
“Work with you?” Achilles scoffed. “You really think that’s going to happen? We should be training with our teams right now, not wasting our time with this meeting. I thought you’d come here with something real to offer us, but you just want us to help you win the Gauntlet.”
“No,” I said. “I don’t care if my team wins. But if we don’t work together, the dragons will definitely win.”
“Achilles is right,” Marissa said. “This feels like a trap. I don’t know why I expected any more from an Eclipse Warrior. Your kind betrayed us all once, and it appears you are no better.”
I didn’t know where all this hostility was coming from, but I didn’t like it. I’d come with a good-faith offering of information that the rest of the teams could use. If we worked together, we could beat the dragons. But if we kept fighting each other, we were all dead.
“I don’t know what you’ve heard about me, or who you get your information from,” I said, “but I’m not your enemy. If it wasn’t for me, the whole world would be overrun by hungry spirits right now.”
“That’s what he told us you’d say,” Jang scoffed. “Jace Warin, hero of the world. But we know the truth, and we won’t be swayed by your lies.”
Someone had been talking to the other teams about me. The urge to lunge across the table and wring the answers out of Jang surged inside me.
Clem glanced my way nervously and gave me a short shake of her head. That told me more than I wanted to know. My eyes felt heavy, and I knew the black glow of my anger was on the verge of breaking through.
Unlike my initiates, these team leaders wouldn’t be moved by fear. I had to give them something else.
“Fine,” I said. “If you don’t want to work with me, you can at least work together. The dragons are strong, but there’s a short window of time when you can hit them—”
Tochi’s ax fell off the table and onto the carpet with a loud thump.
“Oh,” he said, “sorry, pardon me. My ax. It’s so big, you know. Let me just pick it up.”
He looked straight at me the whole time he talkedand gave me a quick smile when he’d replaced his ax on the table.
I had no idea what that was all about.
“I knew this would be a waste of time,” Marissa snapped. “We’d all hoped you’d come to your senses and had requested this meeting to tell us you would withdraw from the challenge. Inquisitor Rhône thought you might quit when you didn’t receive your reward from the last challenge. I’ll have to inform him you’ve decided to pursue your foolish hope of winning the Gauntlet.”
My eyes narrowed at the sound of the Rhône’s name. I should have known he’d come here with darker designs than snatching the hollows for the Church. My hands tightened into fists, knuckles crackling with the urge to throttle him.
“Why would Elushinithoc allow Rhône to keep our rewards from us?” The dragons hated the Church. It made no sense for them to help the inquisitor.
“Because,” Aesgir sneered, “you can’t win this, Jace. You won’t even make it to the third challenge.”
A dark, threatening tone coiled under Aesgir’s words like a snake about to strike. A tingle of power passed through the medallion stitched across my sternum. Surely they weren’t about to attack me.
“Oh, I’ll be at the end,” I said. “But I wonder how the rest of you will fare without my team to help you. None of you is as strong as we are. The dragons will kill you all if you go up against them.”
“I very much doubt that,” Marissa said with a venomous smile. “Much more powerful people than any of us have already decided how this will play out.”
“What are you talking about?” I snapped. “The dragons won’t let anyone decide their path for them. If the five of you have an agreement, fine. Let me tell you how to beat the dragons. I don’t care who wins this thing as long as it’s not them.”
“You see,” Achilles said quietly, “that is where you fail, Jace. You don’t understand the way things are beyond the glorious halls of the School of Swords and Serpents. All this luxury has made you soft and weak.”
The implication that I was some sort of privileged Empyreal who’d lived my life swaddled in luxury didn’t sit well with me. I stared at the table, my hands clenched on the arms of my chair, eyes burning with black fire. I didn’t care if they knew I was mad. They’d already made up their mind about me.
“If you think I’m some coddled rich kid, you’re crazy,” I said. “I was born in the labor camps. Were any of you? Achilles, you’re from Atlantis.”
It was no secret that the Atlanteans were the wealthiest of all Empyreals. Secluded on their island kingdom, surrounded by the trappings of the Grand Design’s church, none of
