Total pages in book: 247
Estimated words: 235897 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1179(@200wpm)___ 944(@250wpm)___ 786(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 235897 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1179(@200wpm)___ 944(@250wpm)___ 786(@300wpm)
“I’ve tried. She doesn’t want help,” Imogen remarks, finishing another perfect rune.
“Maybe she doesn’t want help from you,” Quinn says, her tone overly sweet.
True.
“Odd, considering I’m one of the best out here,” Imogen replies with just as much sugar. She, Cat, Quinn, and Sloane are our strongest, with Baylor and Maren coming in a close second. Bodhi’s right up there with Cat, but he’s missed afternoons the last two days, not that I’m one to judge. And I have to admit, it’s fun to see an area where Dain doesn’t head the class, either.
“Which might be the issue.” Quinn swings her gaze to mine. “It’s hard to take advice from someone who’s been doing them for so long that they come as second nature.”
“It is,” I agree. Marked ones have been studying for years. By the time they reach the quadrant, they already know the patterns; they just need the magic. “I’d love your thoughts.”
Quinn tucks her blond curls behind her ears, then reaches for my disk. “I don’t remember you struggling this badly before. What’s different?”
“I’ve always used Andarna’s power,” I admit softly. “Tairn’s is too strong to break pliable threads from.”
“Sounds right. It’s not like Melgren is running around tempering runes with Codagh’s power.” She sets the disk down. “Maybe you need to manhandle it. Really snap the angles instead of bending. Don’t coax it into the shape you want—try a more assertive approach. Aggressive, even. Get rough when you break the edges, pull hard when tying the knots.” She mimics the motions.
“Harder. Rougher. I can do that.” I nod, then reach into my Archives and yank a strand of Tairn’s power loose.
“I’m sure you can, considering who you’re sleeping with,” Ridoc teases.
I roll my eyes and do as Quinn suggested, forcing the power into shape and tying the knots with a pull that’s almost brutal. When I temper the rune into the disk, it’s not perfect, but it’s not the worst, either. “Thank you.”
“No problem.” She grins, then slides back toward Imogen. “They’re going to be hopelessly lost when we leave them in July.”
“Going to be?” Imogen scoffs.
When Professor Trissa makes her way to our side of the circle, she gives Imogen a nod of approval, then Quinn, and then pauses over my disk. “It will do in a pinch.”
It’s the highest praise she’s given me this trip.
An hour later, Felix walks up from across the field, his flight jacket draped over his arm.
My stomach sinks. Using strands of Tairn’s power is one thing, but wielding feels like another.
“Let’s go,” he says to me, motioning down the field. “Trissa, I’ll have her for the rest of the afternoon.”
Oh joy. I rise to my feet and brush the grass off the backs of my legs.
“Felix, do you think now is the time to push her?” Trissa asks, addressing the very question everyone is thinking but no one has dared to ask.
“I think now is better than a battlefield,” he counters, already walking away. “Come on, Sorrengail,” he adds. “You may have lost your little irid, but you still have Tairn.”
“I’ll hold on to your disks,” Rhi assures me.
“Thank you.” I grab my flight jacket and pack, then catch up with Felix. “I didn’t lose her. She left.” Not sure why, but the wording makes a difference.
“All the more reason to practice.” He strides toward his Red Swordtail. “If the irids aren’t coming to save us, then you’d better be ready. All it takes is another Jack Barlowe and they won’t just be approaching Draithus—we’ll have venin at our front door.”
Right. The wards protect us, but they’re not infallible. And I have to stop looking for miracles. Leothan fired the wardstone. All I can control now is me.
“I’m not going to coddle you like others when war knocks at our doorstep. None of this training matters if you can’t follow orders,” he lectures. “Your inability to do so during the attack nearly cost civilians their lives when those wyvern bodies came crashing through the walls.” His brow furrows in disappointment. “Your squad leader has already been spoken to. You were correct to engage farther from the battlements but should have immediately returned to your post and intercepted those wyvern instead of gambling your lives at the temple.”
“There were civilians at risk.” My spine stiffens.
He pauses. “Did you ever consider that they wouldn’t have been were you not there?”
I blink as my throat constricts. “Because she’s hunting me.”
He nods, then continues toward our dragons, leaving me scurrying after him. “Your squad needs to learn some boundaries. You are not just any cadet, and they have to realize they cannot go chasing after you when you make mistakes, be that here or through the isles. Between you taking unnecessary risks and Riorson leaving his post for you, we would have lost, had the irid not fired the wardstone.”