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Instead of leaving the flank open for a nonexistent packmate, he twisted his stance, sacrificed speed and kept his throat turned away from Jade's knives. Her first throw struck the padded shoulder while the second remained in her hand.

Her expression tightened. "That's wrong."

Halver lunged.

Jade ducked beneath the padded strike, rolled clear and came back to her feet facing him.

"Not wrong," I said. "Different."

Her jaw tightened, but she didn't have time to argue. Halver vanished behind an ash bank while Nykos moved far enough to regain sight.

"North side. Cutting toward the scout."

Jade looked north, and I saw the hesitation.

Nykos's information was accurate. The behavioral profile Jade knew was accurate. The problem was that both described what had been true rather than what was necessarily true now. Fresh ash gathered against the western wall as the simulated wind shifted again, and Jade watched it for several seconds before her eyes moved toward the gap Alex had opened when he broke formation.

Something changed in her expression.

"No."

Nykos glanced toward her.

"That was where he was, not where he's going." She stopped waiting for confirmation and pointed toward the western cut. "Corian, narrow that opening but don't close it. Nykos, make noise north and make it sound occupied. Alex, move out of center and away from the scout."

Alex looked toward her. "You want me to leave him?"

"You heard me."

For the first time all morning, Jade deliberately dismantled the structure I'd taught her instead of restoring it.

Alex moved wide while Nykos used telekinesis to send a loose piece of volcanic rock slamming into the northern wall. The impact echoed through the cut, followed by another farther along the ridge. I shaped the shield into the western opening, leaving enough room for something to pass while forcing it into a tighter line, and Jade stepped into the gap beside the scout herself.

I understood the plan just before Halver did.

The north sounded occupied. Alex, the most obvious mobile threat, had moved away from the casualty. The western cut remained open but unpleasant enough to discourage an animal behaving according to Jade's original profile. A natural Cinderhound might choose another route.

Halver knew we expected that.

He came through the west anyway.

Jade had expected that too.

"Now."

Alex reversed direction at full speed. Air burst behind him, carrying him over the final distance before Halver could turn. He drove into Halver's protected flank from the angle Jade had created while my shield closed behind the Cinderhound and removed the retreat.

Halver twisted toward Alex.

That exposed his throat.

Jade's knife stopped against the padded guard beneath his jaw.

The Illusion Master sounded the end tone.

Heat vanished first as the Fire Rift peeled away in layers. Volcanic ridges became padded walls, glowing cracks flattened into the dark floor channels and the smell of sulfur faded until ordinary training dust replaced it. Halver remained in Cinderhound form for several seconds, breathing hard while Jade kept the knife lightly against the padded throat guard, then smoke rolled across his body as the full shift released, his Cinderhound shape giving way until Halver knelt bare on the training floor.

Jade's knife slid back into its holster the instant Halver's human shape settled, but not before her eyes widened and color swept across her cheeks. She turned so quickly that her braid struck her shoulder, fixing her attention on the last traces of the illusion fading from the walls while Alex pulled the backpack from his shoulder and tossed it beside Halver's knee with the same casual ease he might have passed him a waterskin.