Sera was nearly within grabbing distance when a beastly screech roared above her. A dragon. It swooped in, talons slashing. She dropped and rolled. The dragon took up position above the mage, its massive wings beating the air like a drum. It looked…real. It wasn’t one of those fiery forms of a dragon that some mages could summon, those illusions woven together by magic. The dragon felt like primeval earth, like forgotten magic and immortality. Its aura shook the very fabric of magic itself.

“It’s not real,” she told herself, even as she ducked to avoid the swipe of its mighty fist.

She was too slow. The dragon’s claws slashed her arm, sprinkling the ground with her blood. The frosty grass sizzled as the crimson drops hit it, her blood eating away at the ice—and then at the grass below. Sera could only stare at the blackened ground in shock.

“It’s just an illusion,” she said, less sure this time. She looked up at the dragon looping through the air. “All of it.”

Magic slammed into Sera, blasting her across the field. She smashed hard into a frozen stalagmite, then dropped. Ignoring the painful protests from pretty much every part of her body, she pushed off the ground.

Weather Wizard’s laughter echoed through the field, lingering in the air, heavy with magic and contempt. She couldn’t see him. She couldn’t see anything through that confounded blizzard he’d summoned. Nor could she see the dragon, but she could hear its dreadful, blood-curdling screeches. It sounded hungry.

Fear and anger blended inside of her, drawing her magic out of hiding. Her hand shot upward, and magic blasted out of her. Twirling as fast as a tornado, the funnel snapped out, cutting through the blizzard. Ropes of blue-green magic wrapped around the dragon’s legs, binding it. The beast roared and thrashed, but she held on. In one, rough tug, she plucked it from the sky.

The ground shook as the dragon crashed down. Light flashed, blinding Sera. She blinked back the purple blotches and looked down. The dragon was gone.

In his place was Kai. He lay sprawled on the ground, wounded. Blood gushed out of his body, pouring out all around him. She rushed to him. She pressed her hands to the biggest gash on his chest, trying to stop the bleeding. But it wouldn’t stop. None of them would stop. He was dying.

Magic slammed her down to the ground. Weather Wizard stepped through the blizzard’s icy veil, his raised hands glistening with liquid crystals. He blasted her again, even before she could move. Ice poured through her body—ice and pain. She stumbled to her knees, but the hammer of his magic pounded her down again. She reached out, taking Kai’s hand. They were both drenched in blood. They were both dead.

Get up!

Can’t, she told the voice. Hurts.

Sissy.

I killed Kai.

It’s not real, the voice told her. Look at the fairies.

For a moment, Sera could see them. They stood on either side of the field, chanting and swaying. Then they faded out. She looked at Kai. He’d grown transparent, if only slightly.

Move, badass! Move!

Sera pushed off her hands. As her feet hit the ground, Kai faded completely. She looked around for Weather Wizard. She didn’t see him anywhere. She could hear his sinister laughs through the whistle of the whirling blizzard, but the sound was just echoing everywhere, bouncing off the magic of the snow spell.

You know what you have to do.

Sera nodded. She stretched her hands out to her sides, slowly waving them upward until they met over her head. She clapped them together, then slapped them down against her thighs. Flames blasted out of her, swallowing the blizzard. The snowflakes fizzled away. Steam dripped from the air, thick and warm. Beneath her feet, the grass was black. Her spell had torched it.

The mage stepped through the mist, coils of magical purple-gold light slithering across his skin. Lightning tattoos. The wet air hissed and hummed. Magic buzzed against Sera’s skin. The mage’s magic was building to a crescendo.

Thunder boomed overhead, swirling the clouds into a thick stew. A storm was brewing. Weather Wizard reached up, extending his hands high into the air with dramatic flourish. Lightning shot down. As it hit his hands, he pushed them out, shooting the magic at Sera. She drew a circle in the air in front of her—a magic shield that sparkled like crushed pink diamonds. The mage’s lightning hit her shield, then bounced off, slamming hard into his chest. He flew back, tumbling head over heels in a crooked loop, then hit the ground with a magical, resounding thump. The impact knocked him out cold.

Sera lowered into her knees, reaching down. She dug her fingers into the blackened earth, reaching out with her magic-breaking power. The charred grass dissolved into black oil, the fairies’ magic fighting back. She pushed harder, ripping at the illusion without mercy. It let out a final, pitiful protest, then shattered, raining down all around her like the remains of a broken mirror.

Magic gurgled and hissed. The pit faded back in. Sera stood at one end; her opponent lay unconscious at the other. As the final strands of the illusion washed away, all the fairies fainted as one and fell to the ground.

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

Secrets and Fairy Dust

SERA WALKED OUT of the fighting pit, waiting until she was out of the cameras’ sight before allowing herself to limp. Her feet hurt. Her arms hurt. Every part of her hurt, most especially her head. The fairies’ illusion magic had given her a massive hangover that wouldn’t be going away anytime soon. Even the soft buzz of the hallway lamps drilled at her battered eardrums.

Kai was waiting in the hallway, a dark smudge against the brightly-lit background. Sera rubbed the Fairy Dust from her eyes. Her vision slowly cleared. The moment his face came into focus, she nearly ran right for him. But she held back.