Perin turned to face me. The sneer on his face was smug, his eyes burning with that quiet, poisonous arrogance I remembered too well.
He knew exactly what he was doing.
HeknewI wasn’t anchored.
And judging by the ease with which he moved, the quiet confidence, the glint in his eye—he was.
I swallowed hard.
As a Tendon Reaver, his magic didn’t need full contact to be dangerous. He could tear the strength from your limbs with abrush. Snap muscles. Shred your control. And now that Coldrath had accepted him fully?
He had more ways than ever to kill me slowly.
I mounted Kaelith with shaking hands and secured the rope around her neck. Her body vibrated with power beneath me, a silent storm waiting to break—but still no voice in my mind. Still no comfort.
She crouched low.
On the other side of the grounds, Perin mounted Coldrath in one fluid motion, not even glancing at me now. He didn’t need to.
He thought he’d won.
Major Kaler raised his voice over the wind. “Riders, to your towers. Prospect Rebec, you will take the Northeast. Cadet Cochne, you will start at the Northwest.”
My gut twisted. The major knew Perin was anchored, and he had still allowed this duel.
Zander’s eyes found mine across the courtyard. He gave the smallest nod.
I nudged Kaelith’s side lightly, and she surged forward, wings flaring wide as we lifted into the air.
The Northeast Tower loomed ahead, cold and tall, the wind howling around its peak. I landed hard on the platform and turned Kaelith toward the open skies.
Opposite us, Perin landed atop the opposite spire, sitting tall in his saddle.
We waited.
The sky stretched between us like a blade about to fall.
The horn ripped through the air, loud and final.
Kaelith launched into the sky like a bolt of amethyst lightning, wings snapping wide with enough force to rattle the tower beneath us. The wind howled against my face as we soaredupward, straight into the open blue where Perin and Coldrath came streaking toward us like a red arrow loosed from a bow.
They were fast.
Too fast.
Zander hadn’t been exaggerating. Coldrath flew like a Swift, darting through the air with impossibly tight turns and quick descents. But Kaelith wasn’t built for finesse.
She was built to dominate.
We climbed higher. Perin twisted to our left, trying to gain position, but Kaelith shifted her wings, folding them briefly before flaring out again, rolling beneath Coldrath with ease. She didn’t need my commands. She moved like she was born for this.
And she was.
Outmaneuver him,I begged silently.
And she did.
Twice she pulled ahead, circling above to cut him off before he could regain altitude. When Coldrath tried to rise again, Kaelith slammed a wall of pressure down on the current, forcing him lower. But Perin didn’t panic. He just grinned.
