Tatiana raised a cup of tea to her lips and sipped the liquid. Beside her, Naffur rubbed his chin as he stared at the darkness staining the horizon. Even from here, both could feel the hairs on their arms standing on end as they looked at the display. “So… let’s adjust our heading?”

“Yes, I suppose we will have to,” Tatiana sighed because they were already behind schedule. Below them, the tireless legs of Kharon carried the Wandering City forward across the dense rain forest. This area bristled with high-Level monsters, so several powerful Order Ducis agents were on high alert constantly, reading to prevent any from flying up around and attacking the meandering trail of skyislands that followed the city.

And the journey South had been rather difficult for the first part of their journey; that was why all of Tatiana’s carefully arranged timetables were currently thrown in disarray. Yet not everyone shared he anxiousness. Even as fire-breathing toucans and gem-scaled boas managed to infiltrate the city, the students of Kharon Academy were extremely carefree. They used Scrawl-covered bits of wood to whip through the air, whooping and laughing right above some of the brutal defensive battles that were being fought, both by the Order Ducis and the city’s other brass defenders.

A group even went exploring the surrounding jungle and returned several hours late, wandering back to the city gearing up for search and rescue, wondering what everyone was doing.

Yet several days ago, the situation had changed. Dark clouds arrived on the horizon and her instincts were quite sure that Randidly was responsible. Immediately afterward, a flood of monsters rushed for them, not to attack Kharon but to get as far as possible from that growing maelstrom of oblivion. Then, after several hours of watching the monsters rush away, the exodus had stopped.

Now the jungle was ominously silent. More appropriate for exploration, but even the students seemed unnerved by those massive black clouds churning in the distance.

“Circle further West then?” Naffur grunted.

Tatiana opened her mouth to respond in the affirmative, but a brilliant lime green beam of energy ripped up from the storm clouds in the distance. The beam released so much light that it carved a place on Tatiana’s retinas for several blink-filled seconds. The clouds were obliterated and the beam expanded to become a sea of golden-green flames that raced across the sky.

“...quite a bit further West, I think.” Tatiana shook her head, even while she was inwardly quite impressed by how much power Randidly wielded.

As she turned away from the window to set down her cup of tea, she paused. Streams of moss spirits flowed up and out toward that burning sky in a wide convoy. However, considering she had meetings with the Founding Day planning board and then with the stubborn Alonso Trey, Tatiana didn’t have the spare attention to investigate the moss spirits.

At the very least, she trusted them more than some of Kharon’s youth.

So several hours later, as Tatiana had on a nightgown and was curling up with a recently released semi-fictionalized account of the System’s arrival, the lurching movement of the city underneath her caught her completely off guard. The book tumbled from her grasp, then was immediately snatched out of the air as her System enhanced Stats caught up with what was happening.

She could feel Kharon vibrating beneath her in a way she didn’t recognize.

Wrapping a thicker wool robe around herself, Tatiana hurried up to her balcony and then hopped up onto the roof. She peered around, fearing a new monster attack. However, his insight into the wellbeing of Kharon gave her no warnings.

She quickly located the most eye-catching sight in the night sky; the moss spirits returned to Kharon in just as massive a group as they had left. The only difference was-

“Well, shit.” Tatiana’s eyes widened. “They are bringing back some of the energy he released? Then-”

Kharon lurched and swayed again. Tatiana moved quickly, heading toward the edge of the city. When that didn’t give her the view she needed, she picked the lid off a trashcan and used her fingers to inscribe her own Scrawl onto it. Her bathroom fluttering around her, Tatiana flew upward and joined a few score other curious individuals who watched the moss spirits gleeful return.

Tatiana pressed her lips together as she looked down at the legs of Kharon, now covered in emerald and gold flames. The moss spirits danced, pleased with themselves as the city accelerated, the sudden surge of power almost doubling its speed. Well… maybe this will help us get back on schedule.

*****

Her golden hair flowed down and framed the soft and pale skin of her face. The hair was pulled back into a loose braid, but the point was just to frame her femininity on her own terms. Her eyes were bright and blue as she considered the result of several hours worth of determined focus.

As one small rebellion against her father, she had chosen an elegant black dress and sapphire necklace combo. Her skin looked almost unhealthily pale due to the consuming darkness of the dress. She imagined that she was an unexpected surprise away from swooning and fainting. It likely wouldn’t fool anyone into thinking she was weak, but the sickly pallor felt oddly reassuring.

Claudette still had time to kill; she unwound her braid and rummaged in her desk. She raised a brush and ran it through her hair. She displayed a workmanlike disregard for her comfort as she ripped her way through the few tangles that had appeared in her long hair. After remaking the braid, she turned her attention to her nails, using her image to apply a frosted blue covering. Her breath fogged as it left her mouth, but she made minute adjustments until she was satisfied with the result.

Then a message arrived, jolting her from her self-hypnosis.

Will the competition start immediately?

Claudette paused in her application of makeup at the message from Randidly. She read it over again, feeling her stomach becoming increasingly queasy. The ramifications hummed at the edge of vision. She suddenly felt very alone in her room. She had avoided thinking beyond the present because of how important today would be, but to receive this message now-

It shouldn’t, Claudette tried to remain reasonable, even as she wanted to scream into her pillow. She was careful not to clench her fist, ruining the work she had done on her nails. Undoubtedly father will want to flaunt his accomplishment and engage in some conversation before things become more serious.

There was a brief pause before Randidly responded again. I made a breakthrough that I didn’t expect. A big one. I think it should be enough for us to hold our own, as long as we can take our opponents by surprise. But I’m exhausted from the process. I’ll need a few hours to nap so that I’m at my peak condition. But I’ll be there, Claudette. Is there anything else I need to know?

She sucked a breath between her teeth. Make sure you bring the invitation I gave you. It functions as a timed-entrance ticket to Alymian; that’s where the first part of the party is being held.

Okay.

Her breathing was getting faster and she squeezed her eyes shut. But something else occurred to her as she looked down at her perfectly manicured nails. Oh, also, this is a formal occasion, despite the fact it will all end in battle. So make sure you look the part. It might be petty, but father is a stickler for things like that.

To this, Randidly didn’t respond. After a few minutes, Claudette decided it was best just to hope that he had immediately fallen asleep and was recovering at this very moment. And in stark contrast to the nerves she felt, a new emotion rose in her body.

A warm, hopeful breeze swirled at the edges of her mood. What sort of breakthrough could he have made that would make Randidly believe they could hold their own? A big one, he had said. What would it take for even Randidly Ghosthound, whose monstrous growth left Claudette stunned, to be surprised?

Claudette fussed with her necklace, then reached up to touch her hair before forcefully stopping herself and squeezing her hands on her lap. In her heart, she could feel the desolate blade Clarent crooning softly to comfort her, although the only way it could express itself was by corrupting and destroying. Mentally, she ran her awareness along the sharp edge of that blade and felt how deadly it could be.

She had grown.

But today was the day of her party. The day that would determine the rest of her life. They had made so many preparations, but she felt no different than she had before, not truly, compared to the domineering determination of her father. Her head felt hollow. Her fingers felt so frail and thin as they twisted back and forth, like paper cranes wrestling with one another.

She stood up abruptly, shimmying to adjust the fit of her dress before walking to a basin on the far wall of her room and splashing her face with water. We have done so much more than I expected. And now we just need to rely on our training. What does Randidly always say? We will succeed because failure means death.

A knock at the door brought Claudette’s head whipping around. Her heart constricted, but that knock was not the knock of her father. She brought up a soft towel to dab at the remnant moisture on her cheeks, checked her teeth for any lipstick marks, and then turned around. However, her walk to the door became smooth and languid; she felt the frigid edges of the storm that had decimated the Lizakh running through her veins.

Even she was somewhat impressed by how calm and poised she seemed when she opened the door to a familiar face. “Ah, Neshamah, you arrived early.”

Neshamah Rex looked quite stunning with a sleek, glittering silver dress. She looked down at herself and then shrugged. “Yes, well. Although I don’t think any of our targets will bother monitoring us, there isn’t any need to keep our alliance a secret. I think it’s best for us all to go together. Yust should be along shortly. And then when our fourth conspirer is here, we will make quite the foursome, eh? Unless he’s already waiting within?”

“Unfortunately,” Claudette shook her head slightly. “It looks like Randidly will be slightly late. So the three of us will have to proceed first.”

The disappointment that Claudette expected flashed across Neshamah’s face; the woman clearly wanted more time with Randidly. But what she hadn’t expected was the follow-up eye roll. “That man is quite the diva. Does he want to make a dramatic entrance at the eleventh hour to come to our rescue?”

“I made him promise it wouldn’t be a minute past the ninth,” Claudette replied, feeling the tightness in her chest alleviate somewhat. Although she was manipulating her body down to the smallest detail, she believed her smile was suitably stretched between acceptance and tension. “Did you remember to bring your invitation?”

Neshamah nodded, then flicked her wrist and produced two. “I even brought along Yust’s because you can never trust a Pinnacle Seeker to arrive on time-”

“I heard that,” A deep voice rumbled from the hallway. The tiger-headed Colm Yust walked up and leaned against Claudette’s doorframe, wearing a burnt-orange suit that brought out the liveliness in the fur that covered his face. “You realize that the myth that Pinnacle Seekers are always late was started by the NLC in the Fifth Cohort to justify the discrimination, right?”

For a moment, there was a strained silence as Yust looked intently at Neshamah and the woman lifted her chin stubbornly in response. Then Claudette cleared her throat. “I’m sure both of you would love to discuss the history of the Nexus, but right now we have a party to attend.”

“What about the Ghosthound?” Yust tilted her head to the side.

Some of the casual ease with which Claudette was operating began to flake away. She bit her lip. “He will be a little bit late… but that just means he will miss the speeches portion of the party.”

“Lucky bastard,” Neshamah muttered.