POV: Ayla

The clearing is the same one we have used since the first lessons. The grass is shorter now. The air carries the thin edge of the coming season. I stand in the center with my hands open and the memory of the corridor still present under my skin—the blade, the directed force, the way the power answered without waiting for a counted breath.

The Mage faces me with the same unhurried attention she always brings. Caius, Ryker, and Zane remain at the edge of the trees. They are not here to interfere. They are here because the last time the power rose under real threat, it rose to...