Every rider knew.

  The power a single second had. The difference it could make, the changes it could bring.

  And we had three of those. Three single seconds—three beats of time mighty enough to provide us with an advantage we craved. An edge we didn’t have, yet kept attempting to reach and grasp with desperate hands.

  My words to Styx right before the clock hit zero were clear.

  Fly as fast as you can

  Styx did just that.

  And more than once, I thought my arms would be ripped apart, while my body’s core felt like it was being set aflame. The force pushing me back was colossal, immensurable, as I leaned my body forward and held the reins as tightly as I could, using a strength I didn’t know I had.

  Then, something soared through the skies. Something flying past Styx and eye, a presence so mighty and overwhelming it took some of the black dragon’s balance. That was how I knew my three seconds were up. Because I saw the shadow of Alantra Harris passing by.

  I didn’t see her before…and I could barely see her now.

  This was the power of Ergos’ top student. Of the rider who was one of the best contenders for the StarWing race.

  Wasn’t it foolish? To chase after such an icon? A presence I couldn’t even see with my own eyes, someone who was so ahead of me I barely saw their silhouette. But wasn’t it foolish for a seven-year-old child to run away from home? To abandon everything and try to survive alone in the underground?

  Wasn’t it foolish for someone who never rode a dragon in their life to try to enroll in the best academy on the continent?

  And wasn’t it even more foolish for this same person to aim to win the StarWing race, to get a dragon egg? To aspire to become the king of the new generation?

  Youth’s beauty lies in its brazenness and naivety, a phrase I once read and somehow never forgot. Perhaps because I found it odd how someone could see beauty in reckless ignorance. Yet in that moment, I could relate to those words a bit more.

  As Styx slowed down, there was no time for my body to relax. The sophomores were already close, and while some of them were focused on getting to the finishing line, there were at least five dragons charging at us. Two wingless going straight in my direction.

  With a quick glance at the mirrors attached to my saddle, I spotted Elowen flying a few meters above me. And from afar, I could hear Ceres’ mount.

  There were three things I had learned, quite early on, during training with my peers.

  Ceres’ infant dragon did not know how to control his strength.

  Ceres’ infant dragon had quite an aggressive pattern.

  And finally—

  Elowen had been practicing archery since he was three. And his aptitude with a bow was frightening.

  I took two more vials from my pockets and threw them in the air. In a heartbeat, Elowen took aim and shot one arrow, breaking one of the vials with ineffable precision. As the elements reacted, an explosion broke the second vial, creating a dense and dark cloud—one charged with enough electricity to paralyze an adult dragon for a couple of seconds.

  The thunderous cloud grew in size almost with hunger, forcing the two wingless dragons to maneuver away. I didn’t have the time to thank Elowen, not when he was the next being targeted. Though I couldn’t see it, Cornelius’ roar echoed through the lane, followed by screeches filled with pain.

  Yet it took almost no time at all for the sophomores to be back at Styx’s tail. And even when my entire future at Ergos depended on me succeeding in this race, it was impossible not to admire their forms. Their fly patterns—something freer, wilder, more energetic.

  Things Jackal was used to seeing, and Vex was still falling behind.

  I glanced toward Ceres’ direction, there was a two-legged trying to charge her from below. Yet it just so happened it was also below Styx and me. After taking one of the last vials I had, I twisted my body to the side, taking one second for my eyes to adjust. Another to calculate their trajectory.

  In my mind, I could almost hear it. Jackal’s instructions, guiding riders to either their success or failure, as I threw the vial right in the two-legged dragon's face. I had no interest in seeing the ice spreading across their eyes, the creature’s guttural howl being more than enough to let me know I had done enough damage.

  Gripping the reins tighter, I did my best attempt at an ‘erratic flight’ to not make my maneuvers too obvious—too predictable, like they had been with Belenus Kairon. I glanced at the black crystal on my wrist.

  6th.

  It was safe to assume the first place was as good as taken, which left us with the last four spots. From second to fifth place. If two more sophomores crossed the finishing line, one of us three would be out.

  We need to change tactics, now.

  In three heartbeats, there was orange smoke escaping from my closed fist. I heard Elowen’s mount roar in recognition—she was quite perceptive, that one—and though I could not confirm if Ceres saw the signal or not, there was no time to spare.

  My eyes wandered.

  Just for a second.

  There.

  “We are doing it now!” I shouted at Styx, starting to maneuver to the left, toward one of the sophomores, while the black dragon boosted us forward.

  There was half a second of hesitation as my hand closed around the tool, my heart racing against my chest as if it was two seconds away from bursting. I could almost hear Belenus’ words to me.

  one stumble will be enough to kill you

  I pulled the trigger without thinking. Because at that moment, thinking would make me hesitate. Would make me fear and stumble. And I could not afford that.

  In one rapid motion, the grappling hook flew and tied itself in the dragon’s hind leg, the four-legged beast dragging me out of my mount as if I were a fish being pulled out by a whirlpool. A fish that could do nothing but let itself be taken away.

  I have ten seconds.

  As the launcher brought me closer and closer to the sophomore’s dragon, as it pulled the cord back inside, the winged beast and their rider had no interest in having me as a free rider. Everything they could do to make sure I would, at least, plunge to a shameful defeat, was done. After so many upside-down maneuvers, dives, swirls, and spirals, I started doubting my stomach was still inside me.

  Seven.

  Before the hook fell off or the dragon succeeded in throwing me away, I grabbed my second launcher, taking at least two seconds for my eyes to recognize anything around me as the entire world blurred into a mass of shapeless chaos.

  Then I saw a pair of yellow wings.

  Five.

  This time, as I pulled the trigger, the grappling hook did not attach itself to the beast’s legs. It actually entered the dragon’s flesh, making them let out a piercing roar. Bile rose up my throat as I was once again pulled toward the creature, the acid burning its way so much it almost made my eyes tear up.

  Four.

  I swallowed it.

  Three.

  Right as the sophomore and their mount started going for the insane maneuvers to make me fall, I glanced behind me. Then I swung as hard as I could forward, letting go of the cords.

  Falling.

  One.

  Considering the amount of pain that coursed through my body as I landed on top of Styx, the dragon had used more than a few boosts. It almost hurt to breathe, yet I could pay attention to that later. At that moment, we had a race to finish.

  And I could almost see the finish line.

  Though I wanted Styx to go fast again, I knew I wouldn’t be able to hold on—not after what I had just did. So even if Styx was tired, even if my entire body hurt, we both had to endure it.

  “Get us there.”

  Styx complied within a heartbeat.

  Though it was not nearly as fast as he went before, with the air boost and the quick maneuvers to avoid some of the sophomores' charges, I knew for a fact the moment I let go of those reins, I would not be able to hold them back again.

  Ahead of us, one sophomore crossed the finish line.

  I gritted my teeth.

  Elowen and Ceres were right behind, and soon enough Cornelius took the charge. Around us, there were at least six more riders, closing in faster by the second. Yet before I could despair completely, I caught Elowen’s sign.

  There was no time to put up my goggles, so I simply closed my eyes as hard as I could as a burst of pure light came from the female dragon.

  “I’m trusting you, now!”

  Styx understood me without any further explanation, guiding us through that last distance. Even after I opened my eyes, all I could see was brightness.

  I did not see us crossing the finish line. All I felt was the wind blowing at my ears with force, my muscles burning, my body aching. Then, silence. Stillness.

  When I realized Styx had already landed, it took me more than a few blinks to force that brightness away, my sight returning to me in its own sweet time. We were in the middle of a glade, the grass cut short in order to proudly show Ergos’ coat-of-arms marked on the ground.

  Across from me, Alantra stood beside her red mount with poise. An elegant, almost delicate, demure surrounding the woman as she waited in silence. However, this time, her eyes gazed right into my own.

  I averted my eyes without a second thought, ignoring all other students as I climbed down off Styx. The moment my feet touched the ground, my legs began to melt and stagger, forcing me to hold on to the black dragon.

  “If you were trying to impress me in order to join the advanced class, you failed.” Professor Bel’s voice reached my ears as a distant echo at first, too much adrenaline rushing through my veins. “Your little stunt was reckless bravado at best, and at its worst, it could have cost you the race.”

  There was nothing I could tell from Belenus’ expression alone, not even when the man stopped beside me.

  “As if I risk my spot to impress you.” I wondered if my voice sounded as breathless as I felt, as exhausted and on edge as I was.

  Belenus did not laugh, did not smile, did not chuckle.

  My legs became even weaker.

  “The four of you, come here.”

  I didn’t know what the black crystal on my wrist would show. Somehow, I lacked the courage to look.

  In less than a minute, Elowen and Ceres were beside me, alongside the fourth student of the reinforcement class. The one I never bothered to recall their name. Perhaps they could’ve been useful, perhaps they could’ve offered me a good “friendship”. Yet they were never interested enough to offer anything, and neither was I.

  And in this world, having connections was the very thing that could keep someone alive before they drowned.

  A light to shine on a path, in the blackest void.

  “Since watching this child’s play of yours was as boring as it sounds, I’ll just get this over with.”

  On my right, I saw Ceres’ body turn into ice. Elowen’s hands were shaking, his eyes staring at the ground as if he wanted to open a hole to fall into.

  I couldn’t hear my heartbeat anymore.

  And when Belenus Kairon spoke, his voice was not judgmental. Neither was it mocking, much less arrogant. Yet in the end, it wouldn’t matter if the man’s words were kind or cruel—nothing would change the meaning behind them.

  Nothing would change the fact that, out of the 23 students accepted from the waiting list who enrolled in Ergos’s Reinforcement Class, after all those arduous months of sleepless nights, absurd demands, and painful scrutiny—

  Only two students passed.