“You were from the camps,” Marissa said. “Now you’re from privilege. Let me ask you something. How many students attend the School of Swords and Serpents?”
“A little over three hundred,” Clem answered instantly. “With another hundred or two from the sixth and seventh years on top of that. It’s hard to say, because those students are always out and about on research and field trips.”
All the other team leaders nodded, as if that had made Marissa’s point for her.
“What difference does that make?” I asked. “The size of the school doesn’t mean anything. It’s the best academy not because it has a ton of students, but because it only accepts the best.”
“It’s also funded by taxes taken from the rest of us,” Marissa explained. “The Heron Blade Academy has twenty-five students. We have three teachers. Our school is a single classroom.”
“The Dojo of Opal Radiance has fifteen students,” Jang chimed in. “It’s in a tiny office in the heart of Hong Kong.”
“And the rest of you come from small schools, too?” I addressed the question to Achilles. There was no way the Battle Hall of Atlantis was that small.
“Didn’t you just say it wasn’t the size of the school that mattered?” Achilles shot back. “What we’re trying to tell you, Jace, is that not all of us are happy with the status quo. Some of us would welcome a change. And, maybe, the dragons are the ones who will give us that change.”
“You’re going to throw the competition.” My hands were so tight on the chair’s arms that they creaked. “Rhône’s calling the shots for your schools.”
All the other team leaders nodded. Tochi’s eyes were clouded with uncertainty, and he flicked his gaze from me to Clem to the floor and then back again. I had no idea what he was trying to tell me, and I didn’t care. I’d just learned that most of the students entrusted with defending humanity were traitors.
It made a sick sort of sense. The people at the top of the Empyreal food chain weren’t ever going to let go of the reins of power they held over the rest of us. As the heretics became more outspoken and waged more successful attacks, the Temple of the Grand Design was losing its hold on the political landscape. The Inquisition and its oracles had seen a dark change in their fates, so they’d cut a deal with the dragons. Atlantis would come out of this just fine, and they’d likely promised their allies the same.
And the School of Swords and Serpents would suffer because we hadn’t gotten in line to sell out the rest of the world to the dragons.
“Whatever the Scaled Council told you, it’s a lie,” I insisted. “As soon as dragons are in charge, they’ll turn on you.”
“When you’re already on the bottom,” Marissa said, “the only way to go is up. Brother Rhône told us all about the agreement he’s made with the dragons. Our school’s masters have agreed that his plan is sound. This is a done deal. When the new challenge begins, you won’t be there to compete. And the rest of us won’t stop the dragons from winning.”
“So just go home,” I said. “I’ve already admitted I can’t beat the dragons by myself. What does it matter if the rest of you are even here if you’re not going to fight?”
“Appearances,” Achilles said through a smug smile. “The world needs to see us try. They need to believe that the dragons won because they are the best suited for this job. Which they are. We just can’t take any chances of someone like you getting lucky and upsetting the plan.”
“I’m just here to kill dragons,” Aesgir said. “Maybe I won’t win, but I will kill one of them. Its horns will go on my wall.”
“They don’t even have horns,” I said. “They’re younglings. They won’t be full dragons for years. Killing a kid from Shambala won’t prove anything.”
“It will prove I’ve killed a dragon,” the horned man said. “And that is all that I came here to do.”
“Wait,” Clem said emphatically. “What you’re saying betrays everything that we stand for. Students of the academies are supposed to protect humanity.”
“This is protecting humanity,” Marissa said sharply. “There are rebels in the streets. The Flame’s temples are attacked. While you sit here in this school, the rest of us have to deal with the fallout from that. The heretics will destroy everything if they aren’t stopped. They’ll unravel the entire Design and then where will we be?”
“Free,” I nearly shouted. “If the Design isn’t strong enough to save you from the heretics, what makes you think the dragons can?”
“Withdraw from the challenge,” Jang demanded. “Save your honor. Explain that your wounded core makes it impossible for you to continue. You’ll be allowed to remain at the School and complete your training. You may even be rewarded for your wisdom.”
“I’ll get word to the Church’s leaders.” I was grasping at straws. “I’ll go over the Inquisition. Someone has to stop this.”
“Don’t be a fool,” Achilles sneered. “The factions within the Church that want this to succeed will choke your message before it reaches anyone who will care. Nothing you say will make any difference. Your fate has been decided, Jace. Fighting it will only make you look like a fool as well as a loser.”
“I’m not giving up.” I bolted up from the table and slammed my fist onto its black lacquered surface. “The rest of you can roll over for the dragons, but I won’t. I will be at the third challenge. And I’m going to win.”
The rest of the team leaders stood as well. They looked at me with a mixture of pity and anger. Marissa even had some sympathy in her eyes when she spoke.
“I know you think you can defeat any enemy, that
