Then he turned his face skyward, and power pulsed through the grounds as Katama let out an echoing roar.
Whatever this test was… I could already feel it wasn’t just about magic compatibility.
It was about control. And how far each of us would go to keep it.
Katama soared above Remy in a flash of pale-green firelight, her wings stretched wide, catching the rising thermals like she owned the sky. The sun hit the shimmer of her hide just right, casting a pearlescent sheen across the Ascension Grounds as she circled once, twice—then hovered.
Tarell’s red Swordtail followed, his dragon sleek and angular, with streaks of crimson that glowed like heated metal across his wings. The beast let out a high-pitched warble as it tucked in close, tail twitching with anticipation. Miya’s brown Swift darted into position moments later, her dragon fast and quiet, its wings a blur as it flanked Katama’s side with surgical precision.
Remy took a step forward, boots scraping the stone.
His eyes closed.
And his entire body… shimmered.
It started at his fingertips. A slow unraveling, like mist being spun from flesh. His edges blurred, his hair lifting in an unseen wind as his form went dim.Ethereal. Not quite there.It wasn’t invisibility. He was still visible, but barely. As if he stood between two realities, not fully part of either.
Phantom Step,I thought.But layered with something else.
I wondered if this washow he slipped through wards? Through locked doors?
Then Tarell stepped forward. The air around him cracked like thunder, and red sparks flared at his fists. They spread over his arms like molten veins before lashing outward in jagged arcs. A kinetic burst that rippled through the air and struck a training dummy across the field. It exploded in a shower of charred wood and dust.
He didn’t pause. Just turned smoothly, grounding the magic again as if his body was a living forge.
Miya came last. Her fingers flexed at her sides, and from her palm came a slighthum. The wind shifted slightly, and suddenly thin blades of air sliced through three weighted targets hurled toward her from the side. Air magic.But not just wind… pressure.She was compressing the space around her strikes, creating razor-sharp currents.
Together, the three formed a tight, perfect triangle.
Remy with untouchable mist.
Tarell with explosive force.
Miya with precision from a distance.
They moved in unison.
Remy would phase forward like a wraith, Tarell following behind to break anything in his path, and Miya covered them both from the flanks, her blades of air sharp enough to deter even the most determined foe. It was flawless. Fluid.
I’d never seen magic so beautifully interwoven.
It was what a bonded squad was supposed to look like.
And for the first time in a long time… I didn’t just feel impressed.
I felt worried.
Because whatever their past sins, Warborn wasn’t just dangerous.
They were ready.
Major Ledor’s voice rang out across the Ascension Grounds, crisp and commanding.
“Rebec. Rockel. Brooks. You’re up.”
I stepped forward, heart already kicking into a faster rhythm as the major’s eyes locked on mine. He didn’t blink, didn’t soften.
“You will call the wind, Ashe. Naia—calm it. Direct it. And Tae…” He turned to Tae with a smirk that made my stomach tighten, “Force Cadet Cochne to his knees with your mind. You must all be connected. Working as one.”
