This was a mistake. Roof tops aren’t the safe approach, apparently.

Through the cracks forming in her splintering ward, Shaya’s Jade-enhanced senses picked up movement in the zone to her left. Between buildings, she caught glimpses of Azreon simply carrying his charge over both shoulders at a dead sprint, relying on his raw power to fuel his wards against attacks.

Shaya admitted a bit of grudging respect for his tactic, wishing her own magical might allowed her to do just that. As much as she felt superior to him for finding clever solutions, leveraging the resources at your disposal to their fullest just made sense. With a snort, she brought herself back to her own path as she leapt across a gap between rooftops, her Amethyst circle holding on by ragged threads of aether as more rooftop snipers got a bead on her.

She had to get off the rooftops, and she wouldn’t have time to pick a convenient landing zone.

Sorry knees...

With a grunt, she landed hard amidst a garden and blanched at the vegetation around her.

“Phaedra! Ward me against Jade!” She invoked, desperately tracing another shroud since she didn’t have the time for a full circle.

Vines wrapped around her leg before the spell finished, the ward unable to push back magic that was already within its protective radius. Shaya’s step faltered, so she forced herself to slow before she tripped and crushed her charge beneath her weight. Stopping meant being overwhelmed, especially since her wards didn’t protect her charge, so she needed to keep moving.

So she did. Slowly, one step at a time, she dragged the vines with her, making sure she never left herself vulnerable to be dragged off balance by them. While moving, she used her free hand to tear at the vines on her leg, ripping them off her with her physical strength. It was slow work, but each vine she pulled off meant a vine that couldn’t touch her again through her ward. But each second that past, the remaining vines wore her personal ward down as they tried to constrict around her.

She had no clever solutions for this one, she would just have to do what Basillo expected of his students: endure. Instead of worrying about it, she extended her senses out again and focused on what was coming next. The faint smell of ozone hit her nose, standing out amidst the overwhelming smells of freshly turned soil and loam.

Sapphire mage?

Probably someone really skilled with portals...

“Phaedra! Protect us from warping magics!” Shaya invoked, dismissing her mangled Amethyst circle to make the space for a large circle to protect against Sapphire magic.

The powerful spell took her several seconds to trace, then a few more to channel sufficient aether into. By that time, she had managed to stomp her way through the garden, thankful that the examiners were clearly instructed not to dog-pile the students when they were vulnerable. But she was equally frustrated, knowing that costing her time was still costing her marks.

Shaya burst into the next building and set Avaim down, needing a break from carrying him and thankful the Azurite’s command spell had worn off. Grabbing his hand in an iron grip, she looked across the way as a Sapphire mage spread her hands apart, a portal appearing between them. Beside her, a Ruby mage grinned as flames roiled between their hands, ready to erupt through a portal and hit Shaya.

Fractures formed in her wide circle, preventing the exit portal from opening. The Sapphire mage strained, trying to open another portal further away, but underestimated just how large Shaya had made her circular ward.

The problem that remained was that Shaya was still rushing toward the Ruby mage, who wouldn’t need a portal to blast her with fire in a moment. Without any objects to throw at him, Shaya dismissed her Jade shroud to quickly form a Ruby aegis, preparing to ram through the pair of mages in her path.

She braced the shield in front of her as the Ruby mage raised his hands, but Shaya’s eyes widened as he still threw the flames through the portal. Heat rushed at her from behind, despite the several meters away from her the portal had to open, and she quickly whipped Avaim in front of her while she rushed forward, keeping the aegis in front of them. Flames scorched her unprotected back and she gritted her teeth against the pain, blood boiling at the marks – and tunic – the pyromancer had cost her.

As she outpaced the range of his stream of fire, she let Avaim fall behind her again and braced herself for impact. The Sapphire mage wisely dived away from her, dropping the spell, and the pyromancer’s flames superheated Shaya’s aegis, splintering it in a heartbeat.

But it had lasted just long enough to let her crash into the Ruby mage, her weight and momentum slamming him into the door and causing him to drop the spell. Fueled by rage, she didn’t stop, crushing him against the door until it burst from the hinges and carried them back outside. She managed to temper her rage just enough to avoid stomping on him as she charged past.

“I’m scared!” Avaim whined, tugging against her as she tried to drag him forward, “I want to go back! I want to hide!”

Shaya wheeled to him and he flinched back from her. She quickly softened her expression and nodded, “I’m scared too, but real courage is facing that fear. I’ve protected you thus far, and I’m not going to let anyone hurt you.”

Shaya heard boots scraping against stone on a nearby roof and knew that this part of the exam was staged, testing her ability to control her charge for their own good. Avaim’s forced panic was costing her not only time in the exam, but also the advantage of her momentum. Enemies were moving into position while she wasted time with him.

“Believe in me, and believe in yourself,” she said, clapping him on the shoulder. The broken edges of her shattered aegis reminded her to dismiss it. “We’ll get through this, together.”

“No!” He shouted, “I don’t want to!”

Right then.

Shaya dragged him closer and hauled him over both her shoulders, much like Azreon had done to his charge.

“I’m sorry, but we don’t have time for this,” she said, on the move again, “this is for your own good.”

The next few minutes were a blur, the exam intensifying. The enemy mages were stronger in the final stretch and they worked together to foil her: Azurite mages making others invisible to let them avoid detection, Sapphire mages using portals or offering foresight to empower their allies, Ruby mages turning parts of buildings into molten rock, Jade mages slowing her down with lashing vines or walls of plant-life, and Amethyst mages assaulting her with spectral waves – or even a spectral blade in melee.

I need to brush up on my unarmed skills, Shaya thought, barely escaping the encounter against the spectral scythe, my years of brawling just aren’t cutting it anymore.

Physically and spiritually drained, Shaya stumbled onward. She set Avaim down, her freshly healed body protesting against the exertion. Her ribs ached again as she breathed heavily, the back of her head pounded from more than just aether burn, and bursting through so many doors without armour had re-opened dozens of gashes across her arms.

Without the ability to cast spells to help her endure pain, she had to release the Jade aether enhancing her senses - the enhanced sense of pain too much for her to bear. Even without the Jade, she heard high-pitched cackling and low squawking outside the building she was in.

“We’re not going to make it, are we?” Avaim whimpered, though his expression was growing apologetic and showed some concern for her state.

“We’re fine,” Shaya replied with confidence, wondering if it was her own or the sheer amount of Amber that she had channeled through her spirit in the past... several minutes? She wasn’t sure how long it had been since the exam had started. Perhaps more than half an hour, but certainly not a full hour? “We’re almost there, I’ll get you to safety, never fear.”

Phaedra reinforced her statement by folding her wings around them both, leaving behind a golden glitter as Shaya finished re-casting a circle of protection against Ruby aether. Still breathing heavily, she decided to take the extra minute to catch her breath and carefully recast a circle of protection against Jade as well, hoping that just those two spells would protect her from what she expected beyond the door.

“Shaya,” Avaim said, his weak façade fading, “are you okay? We can drop the act for a moment.”

“I’m fine,” she replied, cheeks reddening from how snippy she sounded, “Sorry, I appreciate the concern, but... Gods, it’s all anyone has been asking me since our last deployment. I was severely injured and I’m still recovering from the healing process.”

She held up her arms to show where the gashes from the Arctiger had reopened. “None of the enemies here caused this.”

Avaim shook his head, “Why didn’t you defer the exam?”

“...you can do that?”