Page 70 of House Ignis

It tightened.

Horror slid down my spine as Styx began dragging him toward the fountain.

"Aether!" I screamed.

He snapped one tentacle in half with a savage twist, roaring fire again—white-hot and furious. Flames consumed Styx's slick hide—

And still it fought on.

That was wrong.

Water magic weakens under sustained flame.

I forced myself upright and looked at Zorian.

The current around him pulsed.

Not flowing.

Pulsing.

His aura had widened—water spiraling further from his body than it had any right to. The pressure inside the shield shifted, subtle but unmistakable. The wards shimmered again, recalibrating to the strain.

His eyes weren't just blue anymore.

They were overbright.

Veins at his temples flickered faintly beneath damp skin.

Heightened.

My stomach dropped.

He wasn't just channeling.

He was forcing more through his core than he should be capable of.

First-years weren't supposed to sustain that kind of draw.

Illegal.

"He's heightening," I breathed, fury slicing through the cold in my veins. "He's drawing illegally."

Aether's growl was low and savage. "Then he will pay for it."

Across the arena, Zorian smiled.

And pulled harder.

A geyser of water detonated beneath my feet, launching me skyward.

I twisted midair, fire blazing in my palms, and hurled a spinning ring of flame down toward him—a burning cage meant to trap him inside.

He walked straight through it.

Water shimmered around his body, dense and rippling. Ice formed over his boots and climbed his calves in jagged armor.

Steam slid off him harmlessly as the flames bent away, distorting like they had struck something heavier than air.