Keryn led her on a wild chase, weaving in and around several battling cadets. Her wings spread wide, Sasha glided easily past the obstacles, as she narrowed the savage’s lead. By the time she reached a comfortable distance to try shooting her with the pistol, there was a considerable gap between Sasha and her friends.
When it was wide enough, Keryn spun and flew backward without looking where she went. To Sasha’s surprise, Keryn raised empty hands, closing them into fists before extending the middle finger on each.
As the Avalon watched, her pistol momentarily forgotten, the tanned skin and colorful tattoos on Keryn’s skin began to run. Flesh hung loosely on her skull before being slowly absorbed like water into the oily, black skin beneath. Keryn’s features disappeared, replaced by a Lithid’s blank, oval face.
Even without a face, Sasha could tell the Lithid was smiling and mocking her. She howled in rage at being tricked, as she raised her pistol.
Keryn and Iana dived behind Sasha’s friends, as they lagged behind. In their eagerness to catch up to the Avalon, they failed to pay attention to threats around them. Before they knew there was danger, Keryn body-slammed the back of an Uligart female, driving her knife deep into her. Over her shoulder, Iana placed two well-aimed shots at another Avalon and froze her in place. Before the third friend could react, Keryn leaped from her perch on the paralyzed Uligart, spun in midair, and fired down, as the last of Sasha’s friends tried to track the Wyndgaart’s movements. The laser blasts struck the girl’s shoulders simultaneously, while Iana’s shots hit her fully in the chest. Stunned, her suit seized, as her two companions plummeted to the net.
Beyond Keryn and Iana, they heard laser fire and looked away from the three they just defeated in time to see Malyster fall toward the gossamer webbing after being shot and eliminated by a vengeful Sasha.
Keryn knew she should’ve felt remorse over having him eliminated after he served as bait, yet she didn’t. Malyster was useful and put her in a position to exact her revenge against the Avalon. She would feel guilty only if she fell to the net, not Sasha, and there was no way she’d let that happen.
Turning in the air, Sasha saw the two hovering nearby. Even from a great distance, the hatred on her face was apparent. Screaming obscenities that were barely audible over the gulf separating them, Sasha launched herself toward Keryn and Iana.
Iana dropped into a fighting stance, but Keryn placed a firm hand on her shoulder.
“Watch if you want,” Keryn said, “but Sasha’s mine.”
Dejected, Iana sheathed her knife and flew a safe distance away to observe. If necessary, she would intercede before Keryn was eliminated.
Once Iana was clear, Keryn launched herself at the charging Avalon, eager to meet her halfway. Her breath was quick and rough in her throat, as adrenalin coursed through her system. With their jetpacks at full throttle, the pair quickly closed the distance.
When they met in the middle, their blades flashed. In the span of one breath, each expertly sliced and parried before separating.
Behind Keryn, Sasha moaned softly, as her left leg seized from a well-placed strike. Keryn’s celebration was cut short, though, when she felt tightness in her knife arm. Her suit constricted across her bicep. Rolling pain washed over her elbow and forearm before finally paralyzing her hand. Her arm disabled, the limb was squeezed tightly against her side.
“You aren’t good enough to beat me, Savage!” Sasha masked the pain in her stiff leg.
Keryn turned toward her, her sore arm quickly going numb from lack of blood. Already, Sasha came at her. Snarling, Keryn turned and fled with Sasha in pursuit. Barrel rolling to one side, Keryn narrowly dodged red laser fire. Unrelenting, Sasha fired volley after volley, each barely missing Keryn, as she used fellow cadets as shields and obstacles. Keryn felt frustration building in her chest, as she fled.
Not yet, the Voice whispered. Give it a second longer.
For once, she was glad for at least one reassuring voice amid the sea of cynics. Behind her, she heard a break in the laser attacks, as Sasha adjusted for a better shot.
She didn't need the Voice to tell her it was time. Tucking her good arm to her side, she tipped her body and dropped into a steep dive. As she cut fluidly through the air, Keryn opened a sizeable lead on Sasha before the Avalon realized what happened.
Tucking her wings to her sides, she dropped from the sky, following Keryn toward the quickly rising net. More adept at flight, the Avalon sliced easily through the air and gained on Keryn.
At the last moment, Keryn arched her back and pulled her body upward, barely avoiding the grasping web. Still above her, Sasha had more reaction time, as Keryn shot past her in a steady climb. Extending her wings, Sasha halted her momentum and launched herself skyward to chase the Wyndgaart.
“Did you honestly think it would be that easy, Savage?” Sasha shouted, her words stolen by the wind rushing past her face. “Did you think an Avalon would be stupid enough to be caught in the web? Give it up, Savage! You’ll never beat me!”
Keryn’s ears popped from the rapid climb. Though seemingly far away, she heard Sasha’s mocking calls. Desire for revenge burned strongly in her chest, threatening to consume.
Confident she was high enough, Keryn smiled softly and whispered, “You haven’t seen me be savage yet.”
Cutting off her pack in midflight, momentum carried her upward a few more feet before gravity took hold. Arching in the air, she flipped at the pinnacle of her climb before plummeting right toward the unsuspecting Avalon.
Still rising, Sasha had no time to react, as Keryn dropped toward her like a stone. They slammed into each other in midair. Keryn drove a knee into Sasha’s shoulder, twisting her wing and dislocating it from her shoulder blade. Screaming in pain, Sasha tried to twist free, but Keryn used her paralyzed arm to lock herself around the Avalon.
With Sasha’s wing collapsed, her frail body couldn't support both their weight, even with her jetpack. Together, they tumbled toward the quickly rising lake.
Snaking her good arm free from Sasha’s squirming limbs and wings, Keryn planted her pistol barrel firmly against Sasha’s back. Pulling her close, she braced her feet against Sasha’s hip and whispered in her ear, “I’ll take savagery over thinly veiled civility any day.” She squeezed the trigger.
Sasha shook violently, as her suit tightened around her. Unhooking her paralyzed arm from Sasha’s chest, Keryn kicked off with both legs, activated her jetpack, and broke free of their embrace. Hovering in midair, she watched with deep satisfaction, as she sent the Avalon spinning end over end into the net.
Elated, Keryn flew back to rejoin Iana and revel in her personal victory.
Keryn floated on her back in the water, letting the buoyant suit keep her afloat, as she stared up at the bright, early afternoon sky. Clouds danced overhead, caught in the cool breeze blowing down from the mountains. Even the cold water was comforting, as she lay in the lake, each lapping wave carrying a sense of contentment.
She and Iana hadn’t finished first. It hadn’t taken much time after Keryn eliminated Sasha for others to realize what the pair did and form their own teams. Keryn and Iana were eliminated from the last twenty cadets, but even elimination couldn’t steal her happiness.
In the air, she found two things she thought she lost-purpose and confidence. She knew without any doubt that coming to the Academy was the right decision. Her fears and concerns were gone. She convinced even her naysayers and heard words of encouragement from the Voice for the first time since refusing Initiation. In the end, she realized the Voice truly wanted her to succeed at whatever she did.
More important to her was the confidence she felt. It took nearly twelve cadets working together to eliminate her and Iana. Once, she would’ve felt pity, as if the larger group picked on them for being different. She knew now that so many cadets attacked, because they respected her and her abilities.