I caught my breath and turned, just in time to see Jax and Ferrula back-to-back. He deflected a blow from a heavy baton while Ferrula ducked under the swing and swept the attacker’s legs out from under him. Jax grinned down at the man. “Told you she was faster.”
The grounds were chaos, coordinated chaos, but I could feel something shift beneath the surface.
They’re testing us,I thought.Not just how we fight, but how we work together.
And we were winning. Not flawlessly. But with purpose. With precision. With unity.
The palace guards started falling back one by one, panting, bruised, and clearly shaken.
Major Ledor raised his hand again, and a whistle cut through the air once more.
“Enough,” he commanded.
Silence fell, broken only by the heavy breathing of both guards and riders.
He looked across the grounds, his eyes focused. “That is what I wanted to see. Your strengths. Your weaknesses. Your cohesion.”
He paused. Then added, “And your loyalty.”
Zander’s expression darkened beside me. Because that last word—that wasn’t about the trial.
That was about Theron.
The major raised his arm. “All guards return to the castle.”
They filed out one by one, but two stopped near Ferrula as if they had dropped something.
Her head snapped to the side.
The first guard’s blade sliced through the air where her skull had been a breath before. She twisted away, her body dropped down, instinct and reflex saving her from the killing blow. But none of us had seen the second guard.
He was behind her.
Sword drawn. Intent clear.
I opened my mouth to scream, but I didn’t have to.
Tae’s hand shot out like a strike of lightning, fingers spread wide, eyes glowing with a golden hue I’d only ever seen when he was fighting for his life.
“No!” His power screamed through the air.
And the guard obeyed.
His knees hit the ground with a violent thud, the sword tumbling from his fingers as his body collapsed into the dirt—unmoving, unconscious, maybe worse.
Tae’s eyes rolled back, and he dropped a heartbeat later.
“Tae!” Ferrula caught his body before it slammed into the stone. She cradled him against her chest as we all rushed toward them, our boots echoing across the scorched grounds.
“Shit,” Jax muttered, falling to his knees beside them, one hand resting lightly on Tae’s shoulder. “You idiot. You beautiful idiot.”
Ferrula’s face was pale, freckles stark against her skin. “He saved me. He just—gods, he saved me.”
Meri was already moving, her hand glowing with that soft healer’s light. “He’ll be okay,” she said quickly, checking Tae’s pulse. “He just burned too hot, too fast. His magic pulled everything he had.”
“He stopped a man mid-strike,” Naia whispered behind me, her voice shaking. “He didn’t even hesitate.”
I looked at the man still lying face down in the dirt, not dead, but barely breathing. That hadn’t been simple influence. Tae hadn’t just whispered into his mind.
