Xander

Vedran lunges at my flank, and I whip out of the way before he can sink his teeth into my skin. He’s silent, as always, a pale ghost against the sand of the training area. I dart left, then right, aiming to scrape a blunted claw over his underbelly. My pulse pounds. Impulses fire into actions before I can finish the thought. For a single moment, everything in my body makes sense.

I make contact with thin skin, and he yelps, tumbling away.

“Point Xander,” I say through the mind-link.

“Disembowelment,” he replies. “That’s new.”

“You know me too well.” I trot over to him and lean my shoulder...