Page 178 of Feralheart

I’d felt what had happened through the bond. We’d flown into a place where the rules of the air had been revoked. His unease came through clearly. There were places here where his wings wouldn’t work. They were invisible, and we’d fall.

I quickly explained to the others.

“Stay close,” I barked after.

The platforms ahead split into three paths. Left led to a wide, well-lit bridge between two clusters, the surfaces smooth and inviting. The center area dropped away into a pale haze. The right side curved upward at an awkward, narrow angle toward platforms that looked half-formed, their edges rough.

Left was obviously the right path to take.

Aristus pulled right, his confidence coming through the bond in the same way he’d warned me on entry.

This way only, he pretty much said.

“Your Highness.” Blair’s voice echoed from behind. “The left path is clear. We should go that way.”

“We go right,” I said.

Vella was already moving left, her dragon responding to her cues. Alys hesitated at the split, looking between us.

“Right,” I said again. “Alys, right.”

She swung right.

Vella didn’t.

“Remember, I co-lead this team.” She shot the others quick glances. “You don’t need to follow his rule all the time.”

Heartsbrim hit a dead area between one wingbeat and the next, his wings finding nothing. Vella’s screams punctuated the dragon and rider’s drop. The platforms below dissolved into a void, showing nothing beneath them. Heartsbrim’s wings caught and hauled them back up in an uneven spiral, Vella’s hands locked on the reins so hard the leather creaked.

The left path gleamed once more.

Vella’s face lost all color.

We all swung right.

My shoulder throbbed, my grip on Aristus’s spike the only thing keeping me in the saddle. Listening to him had saved our lives, but if I told them that, they wouldn’t see it like I did. They’d see weakness.

We flew deeper into the challenge.

The platforms grew denser, the pathways more complex. Mirrored surfaces reflected our dragons, our faces, and our worst selves back at us in fractured pieces.

We entered a space where the air felt too heavy to breathe and shouted words arrived delayed. My own voice echoed back oddly.

“Stay together,” I called.

“Fall apart,” came back.

Aristus’s unease spiked. He struggled to navigate in a place where nothing made sense.

“Left!” Vella’s voice rang out, full of confidence. “The path left is clear. I can see it.”

I looked left but saw nothing but empty space.

But Vella’s voice held absolute conviction. She’d trained as a strategist, and she’d studied trial records, preparing for scenarios exactly like this. I was certain this was why she’d been assigned to my team in the first place.

She sounded so sure.

Aristus pulled right, harder this time.