Page 377 of Axis of Fire

My gaze settled on my open palm, waiting for the tiny flame I'd summoned hundreds of times during my training with Airis.

Nothing.

Another slow breath.

I didn't want to give up.

But I already knew where this was heading.

“I guess today's just not my day,” I muttered, slipping my hands into the pockets of my loose trousers.

“To be fair,” Gianna chimed in before anyone else could speak, “Ria barely slept last night.”

No one had asked her to defend me.

With my head lowered, I walked back toward the others, too lost in my own thoughts to pay attention to the conversation unfolding around me.

What if I'd actually lost my fire?

What if the only thing left inside me were the dying embers of the magic tied to the World of Death?

I took another step.

Something slammed into me.

Hard.

The impact hurled me backward, sending me crashing into the opposite wall before I hit the floor.

“What the hell—”

The words died in my throat.

I looked up, ready to glare at whoever had done it—

And froze.

Something enormous burst from the floor in the center of the room.

Glowing.

Massive.

And unlike anything I'd ever seen.

It resembled a bear, yet its body was formed from some strange crystalline material I'd never encountered before.

For a split second, it reminded me of the constructs Miloran had created.

The creature split in two.

One of the bears swung its massive paw—

And a storm of razor-thin spikes shot straight toward me.

Instinct took over.

I threw my arms over my face.