22. 22
twenty-two
Sarah
His question throws me off, distracting me enough that I miss the flicker of his dark tail curling around me, sweeping beneath, and knocking me off balance. I try to recover, but the chamber tilts sideways before I can regain control.
Orion’s forearm wraps around my waist, and suddenly I’m spinning, momentum pulled by him in wide, intentional circles.
Is this a joke to him?
Heat coils in my chest, and my magic hums in response. My tail lashes back, the force ripping me free from his grasp, and I rise, darting above his head. With barely a breath to spare, I anchor a dagger in my hand and slash across the upper fin along his spine.
“Fuck,” he hisses, reaching over his shoulder to feel the damage.
“This isn’t a game to me, Orion,” I say, breath still catching in my throat. “I’m trying to prove a point.”
“So am I,” he replies, voice low and clipped.
He launches forward, tail driving him straight toward me.
But I’m ready. I shift to the side at the last second—just as Nyxalene had taught me, during a lesson Orion missed—his tail propels him forward, carrying him toward the far wall near the entryway.
“What the hell was that?” he calls over his shoulder.
“Just a trick I learned from your general, your majesty,” I say, bowing with an exaggerated grin. Laughter spills out of me, sharp and sudden, and I don’t bother to stop it.
When I turn to Nyxalene, I catch the curve of a smile forming on her face. That’s all that matters right now. Showing her I can do this.
I turn back to face Orion, but he’s gone.
Dammit, Sarah, you should know better than to remove your eyes from the target by now.
In his place, a sudden surge of water barrels toward me, fast and pulsing with force.
There’s no time to react. The current slams into me, lifting me off my path and throwing me straight into the dais.
My shoulders hit the upper steps with a loud crack.
Everything feels off-center. My mind and body scramble to align, but they don’t in time before Orion appears in front of me, his face mere inches from mine.
“She might have taught you a few tricks,” he whispers, “but nothing could have prepared you for the level of magic I just sent your way, Sarah.”
I grit my teeth. “Fine. If you have to rely on your magic to show your strength, Orion, just say so.”
His eyes widen, dropping to my lips, then flick up to my eyes. He carefully shakes his head, but a corner of his mouth lifts. “Is that a challenge, Snapdragon?”
I stumble for a response, as my pulse quickens at the way he says it. The nickname, his smile, but my brain scrambles to stay locked on the reason we’re even here.
“Yes,” I say, the word slipping out before I can think of anything sharper.
I break from his gaze, sliding out from beneath him, and move back toward the center of the sparring ring, gripping my daggers tighter than before.
My eyes don’t leave him. Every shift of his tail, every flick of movement—I track it.
He’s smart. More experienced, but I’m determined to win.
Not only to prove myself to Nyxalene, but so I can rub it in Orion’s smug face for the rest of the time I’m down here.
He swiftly follows me, not breaking eye contact either. We circle each other and I wait for him to make the first move.
“I don't know what game you think you're playing, but this isn't it,” Nyxalene snaps, eyes locked on me.
“You're not here to have fun. You're here to learn and prove you can survive a real fight.
Because next time, it won't be Orion standing across from you. Next time, it will be someone who will not hesitate to draw blood.” She turns her glance toward Orion, speaking more dryly, “And you. Maybe try not to encourage her while she is still supposed to be learning.”
Orion straightens, his demeanor shifting at her words. “You are correct, Nyx. My apologies.”
The teasing disappears, his shoulders square, his expression hardens, and the water around him tightens like a pulled string.
Even with my serpent form making me a foot taller than when I’m human, it’s nothing compared to Orion.
Right now, he feels massive—as if I’ve stepped into the path of a rising tsunami.
He’s not holding back anymore. And if I want to prove I belong in the next stage of training, I can’t either.
I stand my ground and take a deep breath, regaining my composure.
I hold each coral dagger loosely at my sides, never letting my eyes wander away from him.
Orion circles me again in slow, wide loops, his movements dripping with lethal restraint. I maintain my position, refusing to turn. My body remains facing the dais, my gaze lowered.
I close my eyes, letting the noise fall away.
A shift stirs the water to my northwest, subtle at first, like a tug from beneath the surface.
A buoyant force brushes against me, drawing a path I instinctively follow.
The current deepens, folding in on itself, pulsing harder.
A whirlpool builds around me, pressing in with strength and speed, then vanishes.
I frown, keeping my eyes shut, listening. Searching. Above me, a deep thrumming sound vibrates through the water.
I recognize it instantly: Orion. I should have known he’d come from above. But that’s not what throws me. Instead, something else swells in my mind. My magic hums the way it always does, calm and centered, like a voice just under my thoughts. But this . . . this is different. It’s louder. Sharper.
A wave of pride pushes into me, thick and energetic, and far too self-satisfied to be mine. I tense, unsure where it is coming from, or how I’m feeling things that don’t belong to me. And yet . . . It’s here.
I don’t get more than a second to dwell on it before instinct kicks in. I use the memory of the water’s earlier swirl, that slight current still lingering around me, and let it guide my escape. With a fluid twist, I glide just beyond the edge of Orion’s target zone.
He crashes downward a beat later, colliding with the sparring floor in a controlled but powerful strike.
At the same moment, my dagger slices forward, clean and precise, cutting across the place where his hips meet the line of his tail.
Orion runs a finger along the shallow cut at his side, then lifts his gaze to meet mine.
“Well done, Snapdragon.” He pushes off the sea stone floor and swims toward where Nyxalene waits, and glances back at me with a half-smile. “I would not have thought that you—”
“Were smart enough to realize you were trying to ambush me from above?” I say, arching a brow. “That’s what happens when you’re overly cocky.”
Orion opens his mouth, clearly ready with a retort, but Nyxalene cuts in before he can speak.
“It does not matter. She won from the start anyway.”
We both snap our heads toward her.
“What?” we say in unison, equally confused.
Nyxalene crosses her arms, her voice level. “You struck his dorsal fin and clipped the tip of it clean off, just minutes into the spar.” She tilts her head at me. “Congratulations, land-dweller. You are ready to be tested out of Current One.”
My thoughts stall. “Wait . . . what?”
I search her expression, trying to piece together what she means as the realization clicks.
Nyxalene lifts her chin slightly. “You already proved yourself when you sparred with me. Technically, that was the evaluation. This spar was about seeing whether everything I taught you held up against someone like Orion.” Her eyes flick toward him.
“Which it did. Though I do have suspicions about that, given he is our king and is supposed to be brutal in battle.” she pauses, the corner of her mouth twitching.
"Plus, consider it slight payback for laughing at me earlier. "
I can’t help the quiet snicker that escapes me, especially at the ease between the two of them. There’s history there, subtle but unmistakable.
With the Pearlguard shift change behind us and the sparring evaluation clearly over, I ask to be dismissed for the day, allowing Orion and Nyxalene to review the training together.
Based on Nyxalene’s comment about Orion being brutal in battle, I would wager she has more than a few things left to say to him, and my own thoughts drive me to wonder what she meant by them.
Neither of them stop me, and I don’t linger to offer parting words. I dart out of the chamber, needing space more than conversation.
In my room, I shift back into human form, the magic retreating, welcoming a familiar ache. I glance to the book resting on the edge of the bed—Understanding Your Magic. Orion's next lesson.
I pick it up, telling myself I'll read a few pages before sleep claims me for the night.
Maybe there's something inside that will help me better understand the power that moves within me, or at least some answers about the markings on my chest and arm.
Something that will prepare me for what comes next.
I change and crawl into bed, settling against the pillows, the book opening in my hands as I scan the first few lines.
The words blur together faster than I can absorb them, as exhaustion pulls me under.
Eventually, setting the book aside, I'm unable to fight the weight of my eyelids any longer My body sinks into the softness beneath me, every muscle spent, but my mind keeps pace—replaying words and Current One's challenge.
Not to mention, I keep seeing the cut I made along Orion’s hip, just a thin line, barely bleeding, and the astonishing pull that came with it. The urge to reach for him. To brush the blood away with my own hand. But not because I had to.
I wanted to.
The sparring quarters seem larger when empty, the silence stretching between the walls. A gray gloom settles over the space, as if the room itself is dreading this day too.