Shaya looked at the weapons before her and considered which ones would let her best adapt to a series of unknown challenges. She also used those precious seconds to rest and recuperate as best she could. As the seconds ticked by, she dispelled her hesitation with a snort and grabbed a sword, a dagger, and a polehammer.

To conserve her strength, Shaya elected to open the door normally rather than kick it down and walked through, polehammer leveled to spear anything that attacked her. Three growls greeted her as she entered, followed by a conjured wolf lunging at her from the side.

Shaya spun, snapping the beak of her weapon into the creature’s flank and throwing it off course. Another wolf lunged at her, again from behind, and she stabbed it with the polehammer’s butt-spike. The third joined the fray before she could finish the first two off, letting them retreat and recover. In moments, she was forced onto the defensive as all three nipped at her with coordination.

The door slammed shut behind her, stranding her in the small room with the three wolves.

She whirled, using every end of her polehammer to ward off attacks and score glancing blows. It didn’t take long for the wolves to grow desperate and escalate their strategy. The most wounded of the three lunged at her and she swung towards it with all her might, crushing its ribs as it flew through the air.

The other wolves pounced.

Shaya dropped the polearm and drew her blades. The sword opened a gash on one wolf, but it still slammed into her leg. The other locked its jaws around her sword arm and bit down, hard. Shaya gritted her teeth against the pain and stabbed it repeatedly in the throat before it could rip through her arm.

She shook the dying wolf off her sword arm as the other bit down on her leg and pulled her to the ground. That ruined her attack, the sword glancing off its hide. It dragged her across the ground, staying away from her dagger, and she stabbed at it with the tip of her sword.

Shaya felt her own rage grow to match the wolf’s. With a roar of her own, she pulled her leg back as hard as she could. The wolf growled as it continued to shred her leg, but that just meant she dragged it closer with her maneuver.

Back within reach of her weapons.

The wolf’s growling cut off as her dagger and sword plunged into it.

Shaya glared down at the torn padded armour on her legs, thankful that the wolf hadn’t gotten hold of the leg the tiger had already shredded through. Her legs felt warm and wet, but the blood oozing from the bite marks hadn’t soaked through the many layers of cloth just yet.

She picked herself up, along with her equipment, and moved forward. The next room was cavernous, offering plenty of room to maneuver, but Shaya’s pleasure didn’t last. At the center of the room stood a horse-sized crab, mandibles rubbing together as its eyes locked onto her.

It rushed her without hesitation, massive claw lifting into the air.

Shaya dodged around its attacks and flinched as each slam cracked stone and each snip threatened to crush a limb. She conserved her energy, knowing that glancing blows would do nothing against its tough shell. It grew agitated, its attacks growing wilder, and eventually she found an opening.

She sidestepped a massive claw by a hand’s breadth and brought her polehammer down with all her might. There was a sickening crunch as the monster’s shell cracked open, exposing the tender meat within. Shaya dodged back as the creature lashed out in pain and anger.

Dropping her polehammer, she once again drew her sword and dagger. A few heartbeats of dancing around its attacks later, the creature slowed and grew defensive, keeping its massive claw back to guard its injured side. Shaya lunged in to bait out its other claw, spun around it, and whipped her dagger into one of its eyes.

It grew crazed once again and Shaya waited. It only took a moment for her opportunity to arise, and she exploited it without mercy. With two hands, she shot forward and plunged her longsword into the crack she had created. The monster crashed to the ground with an alien roar, buts its thrashing didn’t last as it evaporated back into the Aetherium.

Shaya grabbed her gear as the creature evaporated off it, but frowned as she looked at the broken haft of her polehammer. Barely a hatchet-length handle survived. Holding onto the broken weapon, she strode through the final door.

A tall man in full plate greeted her, golden, glowing eyes staring at her from behind a closed visor. Shaya noted with a smirk that the round room was about the size of one of the Five Rings’ dueling areas. That offered her some room to maneuver, but meant the battle would still be more intimate than she’d like... especially with her polehammer broken.

The angel saluted her with a longsword and settled into an aggressive stance, sword held high. Shaya, being an Amber mage, appreciated just how well a good defense enabled a good offense. She didn’t appreciate how little defense her gambeson offered in comparison. With a sigh, she drew her sword and dropped into a defensive stance.

Her opponent attacked and Shaya danced once again. She parried with her sword and attacked with her hammer when she could, but the splintered haft just didn’t let her get enough leverage to land solid blows against her armoured opponent. With how few openings her skilled opponent allowed, she knew it wouldn’t be of much use.

I can outlast him... let the heavy armour tire him out as he comes after me. Shaya thought, breathing heavily with pain and exhaustion as her previous battles caught up to her despite the adrenaline. Maybe if I hadn’t already gone through eight other scenarios, there’s no way that‘s an option now.

I need to end this with a few decisive actions, and I’m going to need to hit this guy hard with something that gives me more leverage...

She dodged out of the way of another heavy strike and put some distance between them. As her opponent spun towards her, she threw the remains of her polehammer at his face. He deflected it with his sword, but Shaya lunged at him, switching the grip on her sword to grab it by the blade. With his weapon to the side, she brought the guard of her sword down on his head as hard as she could like a warhammer.

The angel reacted faster than she hoped, intercepting the strike so that it glanced off his helm. She bore down on him regardless, committed to the tactic now. With her sword guard, she hooked onto his blade and kept it down and to the side, letting her close in.

The large angel was taken off-guard, unused to others closing against his normally superior strength. But Shaya was no mere human.

And she felt her anger burning within her.

With a roar, she hooked one of her legs behind his and pushed him to the ground. They fell to the ground grappling, their swords pinned between them. Shaya tried to straddle him and failed, the angel bucking his legs wildly to prevent her from consolidating the upper hand.

They wrestled, the angel managing to roll atop her. Shaya wheezed from the weight and her vision went dark. Her anger snapped her back and she shoved him off. The angel worked desperately to free his sword from between them, trying to bring the sharp edge toward her exposed face where it might do him some good.

Shaya dropped her sword and did what she could to keep her opponent’s in check with the freed-up hand. With her other, she drew her dagger. They struggled for a brief eternity. She managed to roll atop him again. Before he realized what she had planned, Shaya punched her knife through the angel’s visor and into his eye.

Not letting herself rest just in case the exam’s timer didn’t end until she exited the room, Shaya pushed herself up, stumbled up some cursed stairs, and through the door. When she didn’t see a finish line or anything else to demarcate an additional end zone, she let herself slump to the ground and just breathe.

Seconds later, a pair of doors opened down the row. Shaya’s eyes popped open as Bri and Ral exited their buildings. Bri and Ral looked about as beaten down as Shaya was, but they managed to stumble to her before collapsing.

“Damn,” Bri said, nose wrinkling, “I could’ve sworn I was going to beat you at this one.”

“I haven’t been here for very long,” Shaya smiled and raised two fingers that were almost touching, “You were this close.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Bri rolled her eyes. “It looks like I came out in better shape than you, at least.”

Shaya winced as Bri prodded her wounded leg.

“Rude.” Shaya turned her attention to Ral, who politely smiled at their banter. “I think we still kicked ass, and I’m sure the marks are by brackets and not competitive anyway.”

Ral nodded, “All of our training has paid off, I think.”

“It’s almost a shame you’re so skilled at psychometry,” Shaya chuckled, “you’re already really skilled with weapons.”

“Thank you.” Ral’s smile grew into its usual knife-thin line. “As good as we are, I would hesitate to compare ourselves to the veterans and masters I can draw skills from, however.”

“Humility isn’t one of Shaya’s virtues, alas.”

“Alas,” Shaya mirrored with mock sincerity, “I lacked the religious upbringing that has turned you two into upstanding, humble citizens of the Empire.”

“And yet you managed to nab one of Astoria’s saints as your esper. That just doesn't seem fair to me,” Bri added with a grin.

Ral suppressed a wince at the joke.

“That’s the problem with you Astorians,” Shaya retorted with a smile, not caring at how awkward the joke could be perceived, “always thinking the world is fair, when really it’s all about who you know.”

Bri snorted and rose to her feet, offering a hand to each of her friends. ”Come on, let’s get out of here and get some food and healing in us before our next exam.”

“But I want to see Azreon’s furious face when he sees that we beat him,” Shaya whined as Bri pulled her up.

A door opened a moment later and Shaya’s wish came true.

+++++

“Good work.” Bari nodded her antlered head as Shaya approached the hilltop where the professor surveyed her students completing their exams.

Shaya dismounted and patted Marengo’s head, the horse covered in sweat just like she was. The Jhagsdale whinnied and tossed his head happily at the attention. Well earned, given how well he performed for her during the exam they just finished.

“You wanted to chat?” Shaya said, turning to her professor.

“You have a way with animals and moving fast,” Bari commented, her eyes on a student still working through the exam, “I’m a little surprised, given the time you spent in Kelahk.”

“I loved riding when I was young.” Shaya explained, following the older woman’s eyes to where Ral weaved their mount through various obstacles while shooting a bow at targets – a few of their shots hitting bullseyes. “Mom, er, Devi, was more than happy to take me riding wherever we traveled, using whatever local animals were safe for children to ride.”

Bari’s attention moved to another student and Shaya’s gaze followed. In the distance, Azreon tossed his bow aside and drew a lance from a sheathe on his horse. The horse picked up speed and Shaya knew that Azreon put his spurs to it harder than was necessary. Despite disagreeing with his methods, she couldn’t deny that the vicious noble was a capable cavalier – his horse snapped to execute each command without hesitation. His lance punched through an armoured target and he drew his sword, still favouring a straight sword despite being on horseback.

“I never did get the riding raptor she promised me,” Shaya said, the sight of Azreon reminding her of what the Empire had taken from her and leaving a bitter taste in her mouth, “I’m not sure if she meant to keep the promise or just made it to shut me up, given how much I wanted to ride a raptor when I was a child.”

“She was right not to let you,” Bari said, turning to Shaya with sympathy in her eyes, “raptors and other exotic mounts are for experienced riders only, even within Sillanir.”

“I know.”

“And for what’s it worth, I never knew Devi to make promises she didn’t keep,” Bari smiled, turning back to watch another student.

This time Shaya’s eyes fell on Bri. Her girlfriend had bonded to her new mount quickly despite the typical temperament of Jhagsdales, though her maneuvers weren’t as smooth as they had been with the steed she lost in Sillanir. There were certainly disadvantages to relying on strong bonds over brute force, at times. Despite that, Bri navigated her steed through a thicket of ‘spearmen’ and hacked through the targets with her long sword until she emerged on the other side.

“So, what did you actually want to talk about Bari?” Shaya asked, eyes still on her girlfriend as she slowed her steed now that the exam was over. “I know you’re not the biggest fan of reminiscing.”

“Actually, I do owe Devi a few favours,” Bari said with a chuckle “so I’m happy to pass those along to you.”

“You’re getting me a raptor, eh?”

“I think you’re good to skip the raptor actually.” Bari pulled out a sheaf of papers and handed them to Shaya. “I want you to take my Flying Cavalry course next semester.”

“But, that’s a second-year course.” Shaya blinked, looking down at the papers. At a glance, they appeared to be an exception document, already filled out and signed by Bari. “Oh wow, you think I’m ready for it already?”

“I don’t do paperwork for fun, Shaya.” Bari shuddered at the thought. “Yes, I think you have the reflexes to make an excellent pilot. Hells, your heart might even be pure enough to ride a pegasus, though we’ll cover different mounts in the course.”

“Thank you...” Shaya said, blushing. “I actually don’t know what else to say.”

“No thanks needed, you have a promising future, Shaya. Those of us who can see that will be more than happy to encourage it.” Bari gave her a toothy smile. “Just don’t hug me. And get that paperwork submitted to the Registrar soon so they can process it in time, I’ll never forgive you if you make me do more paperwork to justify the paperwork I’ve already done.”

“Yes ma’am!”

“And go relax, you don’t want to go into your duel as wound up as you are.”

“You say that like it’s easy.”

Bari nodded down the hill, where Bri dismounted and cast her eyes about – clearly looking for Shaya. “Listen to the Jade and just appreciate the moment, Shaya.”

Shaya nodded with a smile, “When you put it that way, I suppose I can do that.”