Seralyth found that she had to be honest with herself.

  She was impressed.

  In the space of a few brief minutes, the raw crater was no longer a wound in the earth, but had been wrought into a course of the highest professional standard, one designed not merely to measure strength or speed, but to weigh a being’s true capabilities beyond simple and convenient measures. The yawning chasm was reshaped and ordered into a vast labyrinth of standing monoliths, an arrangement so cunning that it overflowed with false corners, hidden snares, and forces set deliberately to oppose and harry any who passed within.

  These forces were no mere illusions or shadows.

  They were automatons. Drones, if one preferred the modern term, fashioned and sustained by a multitude of layered incantations, all upheld by the finest edge of magitech craft. They bore no especially fearsome aspect to the eye, their forms being nothing more than simple floating spheres, smooth and unadorned, betraying little of the danger bound within.

  "This will be a hit-and-run operation."

  By means of the wondrous 「 Transmission 」 incantation, the instructor’s words did not travel through air, but were carried straight into the minds of the cadets themselves. Such a feat was possible only through the empathy-wave arrays woven deep into the dragons’ innards facilities, an intricate lattice of arcane craft and living design.

  "The objective is to neutralize the target in the shortest time possible while under hostile protection. The moment enemy units register aggression, the operation enters a countdown. If more than one minute elapses from then, the target will be considered evacuated. Failure."

  The instructor spoke with a voice that was steady and clipped, precise in every syllable, yet it offered little comfort or encouragement to those who listened.

  "Discipline. Patience. Moderation. Bond cooperation." Each word was given its own weight, as though laid carefully upon a scale. "This operation simulates a strictly doctrinal live mission. I will emphasize this once. Force ceilings, energy conservation, and adherence to engagement windows are not recommendations. They’re the key to survival in combat."

  He allowed the silence to linger and stir among them for a moment before continuing.

  "We shall start in five minutes, system hours."

  Questions rose unspoken. Half-formed strategies took shape and collapsed again. Anxiety hid itself behind masks of confidence, while competitive projections bled into one another in tangled threads. Seralyth registered it all, but only for the briefest heartbeat, before she withdrew entirely, severing herself cleanly from the class empathy channel.

  Silence returned to her.

  She had no need of discussion, no circle of colleagues with whom to scheme or plan. Lyessa was a possibility, but even that connection felt incidental, like a loose thread she didn’t bother to pull.

  And in truth, no plan was required at all. The instructor had been explicit and precise. He wanted a deployment drawn straight from the manuals, clean and unquestioned.

  She had already decided that she wouldn’t give him that satisfaction.

  'Are you thinking the same as me?'

  A flood of sensation answered her, overwhelming in its force. Desire and ambition surged back at her, the very drive she had given to Saeryn now reflected in full and unrestrained measure.

  "Time’s up," the instructor announced. "Cadet Kaela Aesh. You will proceed first."

  A dragon fell from the void above, plunging down from the edge of space itself. To Seralyth’s eye, it was comparable to Saeryn, though perhaps a little larger in build. Its ethereal wings glimmered with a crimson glow, a sharp contrast to Saeryn’s darker purple sheen.

  "Start."

  If Seralyth were pressed to sum up Kaela’s performance in a single word, she would have called it doctrinal, and that to a fault. The cadet’s approach was predictable in the strictest sense, for she followed the standard tactics to their final letter. When opportunities presented themselves, there was little improvisation, and never any choice that favored initiative over safety. Much patience was required, as she waited for the automatons’ surveillance arrays to sweep the corridors of the labyrinth in carefully overlapping cones. Only when a true gap appeared did she permit herself to move.

  Despite the dragon’s considerable mass, it advanced with restraint, coiling low and slow through blind angles and forgotten spaces. The sheer size of the crater easily supported such stealth, and though there were moments when the unexpected stirred, Kaela chose to let time pass rather than risk escalation.

  Only at the very end did inevitability assert its claim. There was no method by which the target could be neutralized without alerting the hostile forces. Even then, Kaela’s combat remained bound to doctrine. Formations were maintained, actions were premeditated, and the automatons’ siege was dismantled with careful, methodical precision.

  Only then did she neutralize the target itself.

  It was a display that was efficient and undeniably competent, yet dull to behold. Seralyth recognized the valor within it, but she also saw its limits. In her effort to preserve covertness and conserve energy, Kaela had even forsaken the use of biochemical weapons. That choice allowed her to pass through most of the course unseen, but Seralyth couldn’t help but wonder whether the price had truly been worth paying.

  "2:11:37," the instructor announced at last. His tone was flat and evaluative. "An acceptable result."

  After that, more cadets were given their chance. None proved capable of surpassing the record Kaela had set. Their strategies varied in surface detail, yet the Imperium’s calculating doctrine was present in all of them. Even those who made use of their dragons’ biochemical weapons did so within prescribed bounds, whether through controlled arcs of bombardment or scales deliberately shed to serve as mines.

  Naturally, there were some who attempted more reckless approaches. They met with failure, unable to breach the automatons’ defenses before the countdown ran its course.

  Seralyth watched it all with only vague attention.

  Lyessa alone stood apart, her name drawing the princess’ focus without conscious effort. It was clear that her acquaintance possessed no overwhelming talent or raw strength, yet she worked every motion and every routine again and again, honing them until they reached the utmost efficiency.

  She completed the course with a time of 2:41:04.

  After that, still more cadets took their turns. At last, when only one remained, when she herself stood as the final candidate due to her position at the very bottom of the previous exam’s ranking, Seralyth was granted permission to let Saeryn plunge into the chasm.

  'Hold. Hoooold. You can do it, Saeryn.'

  Had anyone been close enough, they would have seen how Saeryn’s long, serpentine body trembled with sheer thermal output. The extreme readings were, of course, detected by the researchers’ observational arrays, but Rynna quietly buried them beneath a sea of other pop-ups and notices.

  "Cadet Seralyth Aerendyl. Start."

  The instructor’s voice cut in, sharp and final.

  Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.

  Then the entire crater was bathed in light as a tremendous explosion tore through it.

  Saeryn, having patiently accumulated its biochemical energy, released it all at once in a single sweeping ray of ionized destruction.

  The barriers raised to protect the observers’ section responded in the same instant, intercepting the stray arcs of lightning that would otherwise have struck them.

  The labyrinth, the traps, the automatons, all that lay in a straight line between dragon and target were erased, reduced to nothing so completely that their former presence became little more than an afterthought.

  Exactly as intended.

  'Go!'

  Through the thick haze of lunar dust thrown up by the impact, Saeryn surged forward at incredible speed. Seralyth had layered the 「 Haste 」 incantation upon the dragon, enough to allow it to rush through the course with unrestrained abandon.

  'I'll define the trajectories, fire at will!'

  Saeryn’s wings unfurled even as it sped onward. From them burst an uncountable number of ionized plasma missiles. Guided by Seralyth’s orientation, they hammered the automatons as they emerged from the sides. Even those few that managed to resist or evade the barrage succeeded only in landing a single clean strike before the dragon had already flashed past them.

  Neither half of the bonded pair felt discouraged by the damage they took. Neither gave any thought to moderation.

  'No batting. Just snap it with your teeth!'

  The princess cried out urgently through the resonance, catching the dragon’s wild intent just in time. With a sullen compliance, Saeryn obeyed, snapping its jaws shut around the target.

  All the while, the audience struggled to comprehend what they had witnessed. In truth, most of them had barely seen anything at all, as dust and smoke from the explosions obscured much of the encounter. It was only when Saeryn rose back into the skies, fragments of the automaton falling from its maw, that they realized the course had already ended.

  Every gaze turned toward the instructor as he checked the time displayed upon his screen.

  "... 0:57:91."

  There was a strain in his voice that hadn’t been there before.

  "However. The cadet has violated the course’s intended regulations."

  That was true enough. Seralyth knew precisely what she had done.

  But what of it?

  Why should she allow the institute to press her bond into a shape that suited doctrine alone?

  Why should she restrain herself, merely to secure a better grade?

  She required no reassurance. She sought no approval.

  She would shape this power according to her own will.

  'And yours too, of course.'

  Saeryn’s mental snicker answered her. That much went without saying.

  "Accounting for incurred penalties, Cadet Seralyth Aerendyl’s adjusted time is three minutes, fifty-seven point nine-one."

  Last in the ranking once more.

  Yet this time, she didn’t feel defeated.

  "Instructor, permission to speak." A voice, vaguely familiar, entered the empathic channel.

  "Granted. Cadet Kaela."

  "I formally recommend Cadet Seralyth Aerendyl’s disqualification. Her success relied on exploiting test constraints in a manner that wouldn’t translate to any viable field operation."

  Only then did Seralyth fully believe Lyessa’s earlier words, that even the smallest infraction against the institute’s doctrine would awaken this woman’s hostility.

  "Your assessment regarding risk and instability is noted. However, there are no procedural grounds for disqualification."

  "Instructor–"

  "That will be enough."

  "Uh huh. Wait a minute." Before the exchange could grow any sharper, a bright and bubbly voice cut in.

  "Ah. Professor Rynna." The instructor released a slow breath. "Do you have something to add?"

  "Yes. Quite a lot, actually. Starting with the assumption that this wouldn’t work in real combat."

  "Centuries of operational data–"

  "Centuries of standard bonds," Rynna interrupted without apology. "You can’t extrapolate failure from a sample that excludes the variable in question."

  Silence followed her words.

  "And what do you propose?" the instructor asked at last.

  "A controlled mock engagement. Saeryn against a doctrinal counterpart."

  "... That carries unacceptable risk."

  "Then impose limits. No biochemical weaponry. No incantations. If she loses under those constraints, I’ll concede that the inverted bond can’t scale beyond current doctrine."

  "Instructor," Kaela said, pressing forward, "I volunteer."

  The instructor paused, then turned his attention fully to the princess. "Cadet Seralyth. Do you accept these terms?"

  "Of course."

  "Very well. Biochemical weaponry and incantations are prohibited. Any violation will be treated as an attempt on life under military statute."

  "Understood."

  "Naturally."

  ???

  There was no call for any elaborate making ready before the mock battle was set in motion. A short span of time was granted to Seralyth and to Kaela alike, enough for breath to steady and for weariness to ease, and no more than that was afforded.

  Before long, their dragons were aloft above the crater’s wide mouth. With a stretch of several kilometres laid between them, they faced one another across the hollow, gazes locked in a taut and watchful rivalry that hung in the thin air.

  It was no easy thing to tell whether that sharp and bristling expression had its birth in the dragons themselves, or whether it flowed outward from the hearts and minds of the pilots who guided them.

  'Saeryn. Let me lead this one. I know well enough how to bring low someone who clings too closely to doctrine.'

  The answer lay in the unexpected.

  If one were struck from a quarter unaccounted for, in a fashion no lesson or drill had prepared them to foresee, then all the fine pages of their textbooks would offer no means of turning the tide once it had shifted.

  Saeryn, warmed and emboldened by Seralyth’s assurance, gave a low, resonant grunt across the bond they shared. In the end, the dragon laid aside its own roaming instincts and bent them to her will.

  The tautness of the moment was broken by the instructor’s voice.

  "Remember the rules," he said, and there was a weary breath in the words. "Begin."

  At once, Saeryn lunged forward. Its long form drew tight and true, transformed into something like a living missile, intent on crashing bodily against Kaela’s dragon. Yet the opposing pair did not falter or fall into disorder. Holding to a practiced stance, the dragon shifted its vectors with calm precision, setting itself to receive the charge.

  The force of their meeting sent shockwaves racing outward, strong enough to hurl fine lunar dust up and away, scattering it like pale smoke against the dark vault of the heavens.

  At Seralyth’s urging, Saeryn twisted its length about the body of its foe. To the eye, it might have called to mind two vast serpents winding and constricting one another, were it not for the ethereal wings that clipped and brushed against scaled hides as they struggled.

  Neither beast bore claws fit for rending, and so the contest narrowed to an unbroken struggle of jaws and teeth, each striving to find a hold upon the other. Saeryn’s movements came in strange and shifting patterns, difficult for Kaela and her bonded dragon to anticipate, and though they could blunt the worst of the harm, they couldn’t wholly escape it.

  It became plain soon enough that Kaela’s intent was to hold fast and endure, to gain time while remaining on the defensive. By contrast, Seralyth’s chosen course consumed Saeryn’s thermal energy and strength at an alarming pace. The strain of it promised that exhaustion would claim them far sooner than it would their opponents.

  As though the truth of this puzzle dawned upon her all at once, Seralyth pressed Saeryn to pull away. Kaela, however, wouldn’t grant such release, and with a swift countermove the roles of attacker and defender were turned about.

  'Saeryn, with me!'

  In that moment, the nature of their bond was revealed in full.

  Where one bonded pair must weigh thought before deed, Seralyth’s mind lay bound directly to draconic instinct.

  Where one bonded pair must labor to bring their resonances into harmony, Saeryn’s answered as though the two were already a single will.

  There was no pause between intention and motion.

  There was no distance left between human and dragon.

  Saeryn surged upward, slipping free of the assault and climbing hard toward the heights. It soared, while the opposing dragon labored to follow, its pursuit falling just behind.

  'Wait...'

  They passed through a faint and yielding membrane, a subtle boundary that marked the division between the moon’s habitable reaches and the regions beyond that couldn’t sustain life.

  'Just a little more...'

  Still more. Saeryn drove on, nearing the outermost reaches of the astral body’s exosphere, pressing toward the thin edge where the gases thinned to almost nothing and the great silence of space began.

  Behind them, their foe closed the distance. Its jaws gaped wide, a breath’s span from snapping shut upon Saeryn’s trailing tail.

  'Now!'

  In a single, flawless motion, smooth as poured metal, Saeryn drew its long, serpentine body into a tight curl. The upward rush was broken as the dragon folded in upon itself.

  Then it snapped downward.

  The climb was undone, reversed into a deliberate and controlled fall, with all the gathered momentum turning back upon itself. Kaela perceived the change a fraction too late. Her training demanded certainty, and in that demand her bond faltered.

  Saeryn did not falter.

  The tail came down with its full gathered speed.

  'Batting!'

  Seralyth’s voice rang wild within the bond, unsteady not from fear but from Saeryn’s own fierce exultation. The dragon’s thrill was so strong that even a distant observer might have felt it, as it watched its opponent driven downward, tumbling through the moon’s boundaries and plunging toward the ground below.

  The impact shook the earth when it came.

  Saeryn didn't hesitate. It followed at once, diving after the falling dragon and slamming it bodily into the crater floor. Its jaws closed upon the other’s neck, not with lethal intent, but with the firm and final purpose of forcing submission.

  What followed was silence, restraint, and subdued response.

  Neither the fellow cadets, nor the gathered researchers, nor even the instructor greeted the outcome with cheers or triumph. Of all who watched, only Rynna bore a look of satisfaction, a keen and calculating light glinting in her eyes.

  Seralyth herself seemed unmoved by it all. This result had been expected. From her, and from Saeryn.

  "Thereafter," the instructor said at last, formally marking the end, "Cadet Seralyth Aerendyl will no longer be evaluated under standard parameters. Professor Rynna shall assume responsibility for adjusting the expectations accordingly."

  And with that pronouncement, the match was over.