Asterin’s sides hurt from laughing so much. She couldn’t remember the last time—if ever—she laughed so hard, or enjoyed another’s camaraderie like this. For once, she held no regrets about the choice she made. Though a voice in the back of her head warned her there was no telling what lay ahead in the future.

For now, though, she allowed herself to enjoy this quick respite as Harland dealt out another hand.

“You’re crazy!”

Two cadets argued with each other in the middle of the room, much to the surprise of everyone in their vicinity. Asterin recalled them ranking quite low, possessing little to no magickal capability keep them afloat. And their physical matches didn’t go quite well either. They were, as much as she hated to think about it, hopeless.

Murmurs erupted around the room. Asterin could catch a few words, ‘escape,’ ‘foolish,’ ‘suicidal…’ None of it painted a pretty picture.

“We will die either way.” The more riled-up of the two broke away from someone trying to calm her down. “I’d at least like to under my own terms.”

Androsa’s words echoed in Asterin’s mind.

No… not again…

“Maybe we shouldn’t, Arianne,” the other tried, her voice soft. “There is no telling if our deaths are completely certain by staying here.”

Arianne shook her head. “No. I will not serve them. Not for that bastard’s gambling debt. I had no choice in coming here, but this? I can make a choice for this.”

“How will you even get off the Isle?” Her friend continued to try for reason, but Arianne seemed to have long since stopped listening.

Before anyone could stop them, Arianne grabbed the other and dragged her to the doors of the barn.

Everyone shot up from their seats, even Asterin, following the two to the doors, all attempting to keep the two from doing something absolutely absurd.

Raibyn reached the front of the group first, her fingers light touching the grey of their robes. But it was too late.

All of the cadets waited in heavy silence as two of their comrades dashed into the night—grey specks in an endless expanse of darkness.

A central rule of their stay in the bars that went unsaid during their first week of the Isles had now been broken for the first time. Once the moon hung high in the sky and the void lights hid away, no one should exit the barn; otherwise, it would be assumed that the cadets were trying to abandon their placement. To do so would not only be dishonorable, but cowardly—both were attributes that the Corps held in the highest form of contempt.

A chill ran down Asterin’s spine the further the two cadets ran. They had to be reaching the edge of the Isle, that much Asterin was sure of.

Maybe the Valkyr will let them—

Zip! A flash of silver. Arianne’s friend fell against her, pulling her down. Arianne shrugged her off and sprinted even faster to the edge.

This time the unmistakable shape of a spear arced through the air, lodging itself through Arianne’s middle. She stumbled forward at the impact, tumbling until she was out of sight—most likely falling off of the edge and down to the Surface below.

The rest of the cadets only stare. None of them, not even those who loved to gossip, could find anything to say.

Asterin traced the speak back to where it had been thrown from and found several Void Lights now lit in a path between them and the Iridescent Tower.

A few figures floated in the air between the Isles. The most familiar of them all was the one whose extravagant wings kept her afloat. As always, they were beautiful to see, but the look of pure anguish lit on Rialis’ face as she turned to their direction had Asterin scrambling away and back to her cot—the other cadets following suit.

No one came to check in on them afterwards. Not that anyone expected them to. The fear had been placed, that is all that mattered to the Valkyr. Now it was up to the cadets to decide what to do moving forward.

Surpassing her expectations, not a single one of Asterin’s fellow cadets decided to try to go out in a blaze like those two. Instead, they resumed their gossiping after a few minutes of awkward silence, and Dox joined her in sitting on her cot.

“Trina was right, you know,” the Sandu said, glancing over at Asterin as she leaned back on her elbows—looking far more comfortable in Asterin’s cot than she herself was.

“Who?”

“The smaller girl who got killed by that arrow.” Dox cocked her head to the side. “There are no certainties here. And I am serious about offering you help to stay in the ring a bit longer. We all are.” She motioned to the group who were already watching them. One hiss from Nienna had them all looking away again, however.

Maybe Asterin would entertain her a bit longer. What would be the harm in that.

“And why would you do that for me?”

“I would not exactly say it’s for you. We all get something out of it. The possibility of making it to my squad together.”

Asterin raised an eyebrow at that. “Your squad?”

Dox nodded. “I think we have all agreed I am a shoe-in for the captaincy—it usually goes to the winner of the Tournament. At least that is how it went in past years.

“Maybe by some curse of the Divines I will end up as a sergeant, which is the runner-up, but I would rather go out like those two than have such a low title.” She leaned a bit in Asterin’s direction, her eyes alight with ambition. “But Captain Rialis broke her code of not choosing recruits to bring you in. There must be a reason, and I’m sure you will show me… with some fine tuning.”

Asterin rolled her eyes. However, this new knowledge of some code of ethics Rialis held made her a bit curious. Maybe she could get it out of her later…

“So, what do you say?” Dox held a hand in her direction for the second time that night.

Allies made better than enemies, and Asterin couldn’t ignore the warmth that lingered from their game earlier. Before she could regret her decision, Asterin reached out and shook Dox’s hand—callous against her soft palms.

“I’ll put my fate in your hands, Captain.”

Dox grinned at her. “Maybe you’ll end up being my Sergeant.”

Something about that left an uneasy feeling in Asterin’s stomach, though she couldn’t pinpoint why.

The moment Dox turned away from her, Asterin’s pocket warmed. She jumped a bit before remembering people’s gazes still lingered. Laying down and turning away, Asterin reached into her pocket and pulled out a scrap piece of paper with terrible scrawling lines on it.

Meet me outside the barn once everyone is asleep — CR