Not everyone could cross the chasm.
And maybe that was the Empyrean Flame’s final lesson. Leaders had to make hard choices.
“We can’t all get across,” I said quietly to Trulissinangoth.
“I didn’t come all this way to sacrifice my team,” the dragon team’s leader snarled.
“We don’t have a choice,” I said. “The two of us have to use all the remaining pillars to reach the other side.”
“Yes,” Trulissinangoth muttered. “I see that. I also see that we’ll have to pass through the opposing teams to reach our goal. How do you think that’s going to work?”
“You’re the one who keeps spoiling for a fight. Here’s your chance.” I raised my voice so the rest of our team could hear me. “Everyone, hold still. Don’t touch any of the pillars.”
My team looked quizzically at me, but Clem gave me a long, slow nod. She understood what was about to happen, and she didn’t like it. She also understood we had no other options.
Trulissinangoth and I stretched our serpents out to reach the symbols farthest from us. We glided ahead, then touched another set of pillars, and another. Each additional movement we made was shorter than the last, but we were making progress. By the time we’d gone through five sets of pillars, we were nearly within range of the enemy teams.
Things were about to get serious.
Tochi and Aesgir had watched us make progress across and had decided on a different tactic for their team. They barked orders in languages I didn’t understand, and two pairs of fighters from their teams glided forward.
Directly into my path.
“I hope you’re as tough as you think you are,” I told Trulissinangoth.
“Tougher than you can imagine,” she said, laughing. “No one can stop me from my goal.”
There were only three sets of pillars left within our reach. We picked those farthest away, and my pillar slid into range of a member of the Bright Lodge.
He howled and drove his fusion blade, a long spear with a broad head, at my chest. The strike was powered by jinsei that burned bright in his channels, and his aim was true. Though he only had an adept-level core, the fighter had natural advantages of size and strength.
The blow was too powerful for me to deflect without getting knocked off my pillar. And there was no room on the tiny stone platform for me to dodge. The best I could do was twist my body to one side and trust that the jinsei in my own channels, fed by a steady trickle of power from the serum I’d ingested, would be enough to save me.
The blade’s head scraped across my ribs, opening a shallow cut through my skin. The Bright Lodge warrior hadn’t expected that maneuver, and he was overcommitted to the attack. His weapon’s momentum twisted his body sharply, and he threw his arms out to balance himself before he could plunge to his doom.
On my right side, Trulissinangoth defended herself with a series of expert blocks that deflected the enormous ax wielded by a young woman from the Jinsei Institute. The dragon had summoned her fusion blade, and the two warriors’ attacks came nonstop as they struggled to break through one another’s defenses.
And then Trulissinangoth switched tactics. Her hand shot out and grabbed the haft of the woman’s ax. Before the human could wrench her weapon away, the dragon lashed out with an open palm strike that slammed into her chest. The blow shattered the woman’s sternum and ribs, and blood spurted from her open mouth.
Stunned, the adept tumbled into the darkness below.
For a long, shocked moment, no one moved.
Tochi cried out in rage. He and his team triggered the symbols with their serpents, eager to avenge the death of their comrade.
But the Bright Lodge members didn’t join him. Without his allies’ aid, Tochi’s platform wouldn’t move.
“She killed her,” Tochi shouted at Aesgir. “That was never in our agreement. We were promised safety!”
“She should not have gotten in my way,” Trulissinangoth shouted back.
My opponent took advantage of my distraction and struck again. This time, he activated a technique that transformed his blade into a blurred outline that darted and dipped toward me with unexpected and unpredictable speed and trajectory. I blocked a flurry of attacks, only to realize I’d walked into a trap. Every defense depleted my stamina and strength.
The next time the spear came in, I didn’t block the attack. I caught the bladed head in both hands. The Bright Lodge competitor was strong, but he was unprepared for this maneuver, and his spear gave me leverage. With a shout, I turned in place and yanked him off his platform. We spun in a drunken circle, and momentum carried me around to face Trulissinangoth.
She squawked in surprise when the horn-helmed warrior slammed into her back.
With a grunt, the dragon stepped forward onto the platform that had once held the Jinsei Institute’s fighter. The pillar wobbled beneath her weight, but didn’t fall.
The Bright Lodge warrior landed where Trulissinangoth had stood a moment before, off-balance, and let his fusion blade dissipate.
Before he could right himself and raise another defense, Trulissinangoth lashed out with a spinning backhand that cracked across his jaw like thunder. The helmet spun off and his head whipped to the side. Dazed and badly wounded, the Bright Lodge team member started to fall.
My heart lurched in my chest. None of these people would have raised a finger to help me, but competing to the death for the Empyrean Flame’s benefit made me sick. There was no need for any of us to die.
My serpent lashed out and caught the horned warrior around the shoulders and stopped his fall. He regained his feet, wobbly, but stable enough for me to let him go.
“Let’s just get across,” I shouted to Trulissinangoth. “We gain nothing by killing other students. It’s over. You won.”
“Agreed,” the dragon said.
The Bright Lodge warrior I’d just saved turned his
