Kaelith,I whispered in my mind.
No response.
Kaelith, please. I don’t know what’s real anymore.
Still nothing.
I curled in on myself, shaking.I failed. I’ve already failed her.
No,came the voice, as sharp and fierce as a lightning strike.
Kaelith?I gasped.But you can’t be here?
You really think that fool of a major knows what dragons can and can’t do?Her voice was velvet and fire.I’ve been waiting for you to ask. Now get up.
But the mirrors?—
Are liars.Her growl echoed through me.You do not serve them. You serve the truth. And the truth is—we are bound, Ashlyn. My choice. My power. My rider.
I rose shakily to my feet. The mirrors hissed, shimmered, shifted,but the images faltered.
“You left me,” I said aloud to one. “But that’s not Kaelith. Not really.”
I turned to the next.
“I made the wrong choice, but in this world, I won’t.”
Another.
“I’m not perfect. I’m scared. But I would never abandon her.”
The mirrors began to crack. One by one, fractures spiderwebbed through them, light pouring out in thin gold lines.
And then… silence.
The glass shattered.
I stood alone in a circle of dust and broken illusion.
Kaelith’s voice coiled around my heart.There you are.
And this time, I knew exactly who I was.
The sunlight hit my face like a blessing as I stepped out of the chamber, heart still hammering but steadier now. The taste of magic lingered on my tongue, sharp and metallic, but I was standing—I had passed.
Major Ledor stood with his arms crossed, face unreadable. But there was something in his eyes… a glimmer beneath all the stoicism. Pride. Just a flicker, like he hadn’t been sure I’d make it out. Like he needed to see someone prove it could be done.
Then his expression flattened again, and he turned to the next name on his list. “You are next, Cadet Cochne.”
Perin, all smug bravado and that sneer he seemed born with, stepped forward as if he expected the trial to tremble before him.
But a palace guard broke from the shadows and approached the major in a rush. He leaned in close and whispered something too low for me to catch, but the effect was immediate. The major’s jaw clenched, a muscle ticking just beneath the surface.
He nodded once, curt. The guard stepped away.
Major Ledor’s voice rang out, sharp and stiff. “It seems the prince regent has decided that Iron Fang can wait to complete the Mirror of Scales.”
Murmurs rippled across the gathered riders, like wind disturbing a still pond. Even members of Iron Fang shifted awkwardly, exchanging uncomfortable glances. One of them glanced toward Perin, but he didn’t look back. He only crossed his arms, like he’d won something.
