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Kai eagerly meets Corvus at the edge of the half-melted lake. The dark waters lap at the ice shore in soft drawls like the sound of the sea in a shell. Finn sticks by my side, Raine on my other.
“He’s always so happy,” Raine complains and Finn barks out a laugh.
“That’s exactly what I think constantly, but you know what I realized?” Finn looks from me to Raine. I raise a brow. “He’s not happy at all. He just wants to cheer up everyone else. Does his contagious smile not reach into you and make you less sad?”
I watch Kai as he smiles brightly and hugs his comrade. Corvus’s annoyed face softens considerably and the warmth Kai shows him reaches inside me too.
“Yeah, it does,” I mumble.
Raine chuckles and adds: “Maybe that’s why I can’t stand the motherfucker.”
Arthur starts the class by informing us that we’ll be racing around the mountain range today. The teams that place first will have an advantage in the upcoming second exam.
I listen, but focus more on the bridge leading to the Nova House.
Edgar stands at its center; his lone figure looks bleak. It’s much too far to see his facial features, but his white cloak waves in the northern wind. He hasn’t come to class since the fight we had weeks ago. Arthur’s been privately tutoring him. No amount of requests have brought Edgar from his room.
“Is he going to join us today?” I ask half-mindedly.
Finn follows my gaze and looks away abruptly as if merely looking at my brother makes him sick. “Gods, I fucking hope not.”
Raine doesn’t bother saying anything but the firm of his lips tells me he hopes not as well.
“Anyone who still can’t produce a Shadow, I highly recommend learning to do so. You will die in the second exam without it,” Arthur says loudly. The air is thick with fear. So many students have already been pulled from Alkrose, mainly Dvars and Tauri, for not being sufficient. Gods know where they were sent—to the frontlines, Fernestia, or to Dr. Cein.
I shudder at the thought of the unknown leader of the Shadows.
As we listen to Arthur drawl on about Shadows, another group of students come in through the valley, trudging wearily to the front doors. They’ve been coming in smaller groups each time, a bleak reminder of what the world outside of Alkrose holds for us. The five of us watch in silence, then flinch in unison as the destruction instructor opens the magnificent doors.
Elias stalks out past the tired new recruits. My stomach instantly flutters at the sight of him. His cold eyes flick to me only for a second before he turns his attention back to Arthur. He takes his position next to him and nods.
Finn glances at me like I have any clue why he’s here. I shrug.
“Elias will be observing today. Anyone he deems unfit for the second exam will proceed directly to the battlefront. Anyone who tries to escape will be exterminated.” Arthur’s brows pull together with disgust. I hate that he has to be a part of all this, that any of them do, but Arthur feels it so much more. It shows in every crevice of his face.
Elias remains emotionless and keeps his gaze on the Dvars students. Only a handful of them have managed to summon their Shadows at all, let alone ride them.
My jaw clenches tightly and I feel sick.
Raine threads his fingers through mine and looks down at me. “Fate has already decided for them. Don’t hold onto it.”
I bite into my lower lip, hating how everyone accepts this like sheep.
Our Shadows, all out of our bodies, make the front of Alkrose look like a black hole. Mist and threads of ebony smoke twirl around us as we prepare for the race.
Well, besides Finn’s phoenix. Its flames are bright and burn red, orange, and magenta through the sky. I look up at him with so much awe, wishing for a moment that I could be as beautiful and different as he is.
Raine rolls his shoulders back and I watch intently. I’ve yet to see his Shadow’s physical form, but from what Elias has been hinting, it’s pretty damn impressive. A pool of black smoke sheds from Raine’s back and shapes into wings as if they’re his own. I let a gasp out and watch as he takes to the sky and ascends higher and higher. His Shadow engulfs him, shifting and solidifying in areas. White bones poke from the smoke mass, and in one hard beat of its wings, his Shadow lifts its head and reveals its huge skull.
“Fucking show-off,” Kai complains beside me.
It looks like a dragon. The ribs shape its center and the knobby spine is similar to Amser’s. Raine sits at the crook of the Shadow’s neck, looking like a mere speck from down here. The Shadow has four long, crooked horns that shine with ivory points. He’s a sight to behold.
Amser’s form may be small in comparison to Raine’s dragon and Finn’s phoenix, but it is fast and nimble. I swallow hard as I look into the air. A few others can fly—Corvus with his monstrous raven and other winged beasts beside him.
This isn’t a race, not really. It’s a screening.
My eyes feel dry as I focus and level my breathing. Edgar steps out from behind us and startles me. Amser growls at him but he hardly pays me or my Shadow any mind. His emerald-green eyes flick up to me and send chills down my spine.
