Page 373 of Axis of Fire

I exhaled silently.

What answer was he looking for?

I'd been taught to read people.

Usually, I was good at it.

Not today.

“I...” My voice caught for a moment. “I'm afraid of poison mages.”

The confession escaped before I could stop it.

“I don't want to share a room with one.”

I lowered my eyes.

“I was perfectly comfortable sharing a room with a fire mage.”

In the end, I left empty-handed.

Well...

Not entirely.

Draksen had sent me back with a single piece of advice.

“Perhaps this is the perfect opportunity to overcome that fear. Every fear we cling to only weighs us down.”

I chose a different approach.

When I returned, every one of my roommates believed we'd been caught breaking the rules by switching rooms without permission.

By the time I made it back to the arena, everyone who'd been sitting with us earlier had already returned to their seats.

Ria and Stasia were whispering to each other.

And for the first time in a long while, I found myself wishing I were part of that conversation.

The moment I sat down beside them, the two girls fell silent, turning their attention toward Draksen and the three other instructors gathered in the center of the arena.

“We've divided you into several groups,” the Headmaster announced. “The assignments were made primarily according to your magical affinities, though each group has been given one unique element.”

Standing beside him, Azriella snapped her fingers.

A translucent list appeared in the air before her.

“The first group: Seris Norths, Illariana Arden, Gianna Elern, Loretta McBee, and Taylor Forsten.”

I recognized every one of them.

I knew what kind of magic each of them possessed—

Except for the last.

Taylor Forsten was the blue-haired boy with the scorpion perched on his shoulder.

No one had explained what his magic actually was.