Page 307 of House Ignis

The crowd's chant through the dome was a rhythmic thumping now. TOGETHER. TOGETHER.

Suddenly, the wall to our right groaned and slid open, revealing another corridor. But we weren't alone.

Another team—second-years from Eldrethine—stumbled out, their faces covered in soot and blood.

They saw us, saw the panthers, and for a split second, their eyes widened in pure terror.

"The Princess," one of them choked out, raising a shaking hand to conjure a shield of stone.

“Not just the Princess.” Asher’s voice came from the shadows behind me, cold enough to freeze the blood in their veins. “That’s my fucking future wife. Show some respect.”

The Gauntlet shifted again, the floor beneath all of us beginning to tilt.

"Run or fight," I challenged, my eyes burning with a fire that had nothing to do with my magic. "Decide fast."

The second-year from Eldrethine didn’t wait to decide. He roared, slamming his palms into the floor to send a ripple of jagged stone spikes toward us.

"My turn," Asher hummed.

He didn't move an inch. Instead, his shadows exploded from his back like wings, sweeping forward to swallow the stone spikes whole, crushing them into pebbles before they could even reach our boots. The darkness didn't stop there; it snaked across the ground, wrapping around the Eldrethine wielder's ankles and hoisting him into the air.

"Wait!" his partner shrieked, a girl with Tideris silver hair, raising a wall of water to shield them.

"We don't have time for 'wait'," I snapped.

I felt the Gauntlet groan—the walls were already beginning to contract, the stone grinding together with a sound that set my teeth on edge.

"Aether! Zya!"

The panthers launched. Aether was a blur of black muscle, slamming into the water shield with enough force to shatter the girl's concentration.

Zya circled around, a black ghost in my periphery, her silver eyes flashing as her low snarl echoed off the narrowing walls.

The drones hovered closer, the crowd’s roar through the dome sounding like a heartbeat.

THUMP-THUMP. THUMP-THUMP.

“Drop them, Asher,” I commanded. “The wall is closing.”

He flicked his wrist, and the shadows slammed the Eldrethine male back into his partner.

They scrambled backward into the corridor they’d come from just as the stone slab crashed down, sealing them off.

"That was too close," I panted, the fire in my palms flickering.

The effort of the day was already starting to pull at the edges of my strength, the familiar warning heat stirring deep in my abdomen.

Asher was at my side in a heartbeat, his hand anchoring mine. The bond flared—dark, steady, and life-giving.

He didn't say a word, but his silver eyes searched mine, looking for the crack in my armor.

"I'm fine," I lied, my voice rasping.

“You’re a terrible liar, princess,” his voice purred in my mind, even as he pulled me forward. “But we’re halfway to the center. Don’t you dare go out now.”

The Gauntlet groaned, a deep, grinding sound that signaled it was losing its patience.

The walls didn’t just shift anymore; they slammed together, pulverizing the stone and any mechanical traps caught in the middle.