Page 45 of The Last Syphon

Her smile plummeted. “What? Why?”

“The trials are dangerous. People have died. The scenarios they come up with are designed to mirror that which you might encounter in the real realm. Some Shielders haven’t been skilled enough to not only protect themselves, but also their Charge. As a Chosen, your life is tied to that of your Guardian. The High Council will not risk your deaths.”

Blowing out an irritated breath, Inara grumbled. “Well, that fucking sucks.” It was probably for the best. She could become quite competitive when bragging rights were on the line. Still…Inara was far too curious about the entire thing to drop it just like that.

She turned an evil smile to her best friend. “Wanna go down and watch?”

CHAPTER NINE

The heat from the hot sun bore down on her as Inara made her way from the palace and across the dirt field. Felix was at her side, as usual, with Princess Phaedra also choosing to accompany them, though she was unsure why.

She had her suspicions, and unfortunately would have to wait a little more to have them confirmed.

Fraener circled lazily in the air, their soul-link humming brightly between them, the connection growing stronger and stronger with each passing second.

So much had happened in such a short amount of time. Inara wondered if she would ever get the chance to really process it, to really take the time to digest it all. Another part of her realised that might never actually happen. Everything seemed to be moving a mile a minute with no indication of slowing down.

Less than twenty-four hours ago, she had been home, her biggest concern wondering how she was going to come up with Gideon’s next payment. And now, here she was, in the heart of Arelia with a dragon flying overhead.

Her dragon.

It was a good thing Inara worked best when she winged it. Made it a lot easier to adjust.

“This is all so crazy,” Felix commented, his gaze whipping from place to place, admiring the beauty of it all. Inara couldn’t blame him. She could stand there and stare at it for hours.

The dirt field was sequestered on all sides by tall, towering fortresses as high as the eye could see. They didn’t help block out the sun, unfortunately, much to Inara’s dismay.

“But an awesome kind of crazy, right? I mean, did you ever think we would be here? In Arelia? Amongst all this grandeur? It’s the adventure we’ve always dreamed of.”

“True. Could do without the constant threat of death, though.”

She threw him a wink. “It wouldn’t be a real adventure without that, would it?”

“May I ask what it is we are doing?” the princess asked curiously. Kronan was behind her every step of the way, only taking his eyes off her to scan the surrounding area. His hypervigilance somewhat confused Inara.

Why be on such alert in their own home?

“Yeah, Inara. What are we doing?” Felix parroted, a smirk on his lips.

“I just want to watch,” she said evasively.

“You’re not a voyeur. You don’t watch.”

“Okay, I want to judge. Ya happy?”

He beamed. “Yep.”

“Judge what?” the princess asked.

“Not what. Who. She wants to evaluate the other Shielders. See if they’re better than her. See if there’s anything she can learn from them.”

Kronan snorted, shaking his head slightly.

“I hate to disappoint you, but Larissa is not the type of person to share knowledge. More the type to take than give. She would rather die than have someone gain the upper hand on her⁠—”

“Watch out!”

Inara looked up. Magic rushed up through her body and exploded out of her in the shape of a sphere, snapping into existence around Felix, Princess Phaedra, Kronan, and herself. The arrows hurtling towards them smashed against her impeccably timed shield and fell to the ground with thunks.