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I frown. "What?" I ask.

"Nothing."

"You're staring."

"No."

"You absolutely are." I raise my eyebrows.

"I'm observing."

I blink. "That's what Nyra says when she's staring." From behind me: "I heard that." Rhyven's expression remains perfectly blank. "You were looking at me strangely."

"I look at everyone strangely."

Cassian snorts. He's not wrong. Professor Kaelis calls the next student. I return to my group. But as I walk away I glance back once. Rhyven still has one hand resting against Vyrael. His attention is on the dragon. Vyrael's attention is on me. Just for a moment. Then his eye closes. And I decide for my own sanity that ancient dragons are simply strange.

I am wrong about the day being over. Obviously.

Because apparently the Council believes exhaustion builds character. At sunset the training field changes.

Smoke canisters appear. Wooden barricades are moved into position. Healers take stations near the edges. Six dragons spread across the grounds.

Students stare. Professor Kaelis smiles for the first time all day. I immediately distrust it. "Final examination." Groans erupt. "Save your energy."

He says. "You'll need it."

The rules are simple. Reach the opposite side of the field. Retrieve a marked casualty. Return. Maintain formation. Respond to Rider signals. Do not interfere with any dragon. Do not abandon anyone. Simple.

Except...The dragons will move.

The horn sounds. Chaos erupts. Smoke floods the field. A dragon launches overhead. The force of its wings nearly knocks three students sideways. Someone screams. "DOWN!" We duck. Another dragon lands twenty yards ahead. The earth shakes. Our formation breaks. "LEFT!" I shout. The wolf beside me responds immediately. Nyra grabs Cassian's sleeve before he steps into the landing path.

We move. Fast. Together. A tail sweeps behind us.

This time... I see it before it moves. "SPACE!"

Everyone spreads. The tail passes harmlessly between us. We close formation again.

Magic erupts across the field. Not attacks. Simulations. Light. Noise. Heat. Confusion. Everything Professor Aldren warned us about yesterday. A dragon roars somewhere through the smoke. My body reacts before my mind does. I turn toward it. One second. That's all. One second of distraction. "Vaelith!" Rhyven's voice. I snap forward. A Rider signal. Two fingers down. Move low.

I duck. A dragon passes overhead. Close. Too close. Its wing cuts through the smoke above us. My heart pounds. I keep moving.

We reach the casualty. A weighted training dummy. Of course. Cassian grabs one side. The wolf takes the other. "Move!" We retreat. Smoke burns my eyes. Dragons roar. Students shout. Professors correct.

Riders signal. For several impossible minutes the Academy disappears. There is only battlefield.

Then the final horn. Everything stops. Smoke drifts slowly across the grass. Students collapse wherever they stand. I bend forward. Hands on my knees. Breathing hard. Cassian drops onto his back. "I'm dead."

Nyra stands over him. "No."

"I am."

"You passed."

"Spiritually dead."

"Acceptable."