Chapter 63: One of Us Stays

The advanced students gathered at the training grounds before sunrise, standing in pairs along a rope line while the instructor walked in front of them. He explained that each pair would enter a controlled course, and that only one student from each pair would receive the higher advancement score. Judging would cover wolf control, speed, strategy, combat, and adaptability, and every score would be individual.

Nobody needed him to spell out the obvious goal. Roxanne felt it settle over the line like weather, every pair suddenly sizing each other up. Elias stood beside her with his arms crossed and kept his eyes on the course when he spoke. "Try not to hold back," he said.

"I wasn’t planning to," Roxanne said. She meant it, and she could tell he had heard that.

The course began with a scent maze, and the instructor sent them in from opposite ends. Within a few minutes Roxanne understood the design, because every corridor she took bent toward the same checkpoints Elias was heading for. The layout allowed only one of them to reach each marker first. She took the first checkpoint by a few seconds, slipping through a gap he had passed over, and he took the second by reading a false wind current she had fallen for. After that they ran nearly side by side, close enough to hear each other breathing through the walls.

On the far side of the grounds, Kai stood with the other Moonstones at the edge of the viewing area. His shoulders had gone tight, and he took one step toward the fence before he stopped himself. Lucien spoke without turning his head. "This is Roxanne’s assessment," he said. "Let her have it."

Kai stayed where he was, though his hands stayed closed at his sides. He kept watching the course until Roxanne vanished behind the first wall.

Halfway through, the course changed. The scent maze gave way to an obstacle section built from raised platforms and rope bridges, and Roxanne was climbing toward the third checkpoint when she heard a crack behind her. Elias had reached a wooden platform just ahead of her, and part of the structure gave way beneath him, dropping a beam across his legs and pinning him against the frame. Dust hung in the air around him.

Roxanne stopped with her hand on the rail. The next checkpoint was twenty feet ahead, and beyond it lay the lead. The instructor stood on the observation deck watching them and made no move to call anything off, and she understood that he wasn’t going to. She turned around and climbed back down.

"Leave," Elias said when she reached him. His voice was strained but steady. "You’re ahead, so just go."

"You can complain after I get you out," Roxanne said. She was already bracing herself against the beam.

She checked the frame before pulling on anything, using what she had been taught over the past few weeks, and found the bolt holding the collapsed support in place. She used her shoulder for leverage, and when the weight finally shifted she dragged him clear. They landed hard on the platform, both of them coughing.

By the time they were on their feet, other pairs had passed them and were crossing the rope bridges overhead. Roxanne watched her lead disappear. She could lose this, and she knew exactly how far behind she was.

Elias rubbed his leg, frowning. He wasn’t angry at her but at what her choice had cost, and it showed in his voice. "Why did you do that?" he asked. "You had it."

"Because winning wasn’t worth leaving you there," Roxanne said. She said it plainly, as though answering a simple question, and it quieted him more than an argument would have.

Only one section remained, a long run through a field of hanging obstacles and marked doors. Elias limped for the first few steps and then straightened. "We finish together," he said. "Forget the scoring."

Roxanne glanced at him. "That isn’t what they want."

"I stopped caring what they want about ten minutes ago," Elias said. He held out his hand, and after a moment she took it as they started to run.

They used everything they had learned about each other. Roxanne caught the pattern in the doors first, that the correct ones always sat third after a marked post, and she signaled it with two fingers. Elias handled the physical barriers, hauling himself over walls and reaching back to pull her up when they were too high. They didn’t speak once, and they crossed the final checkpoint together with both hands on the marker.

The instructor was not pleased. He studied his clipboard for a long time, and his mouth was a thin line when he lowered it, because they had ignored the structure of the exercise. He couldn’t argue with what he had seen, though, and he said nothing.

The rankings went up that afternoon. Elias had the highest individual score in their pair, and Roxanne’s name sat just below his. She felt the loss land, brief and honest, before the instructor stepped forward to address the group.

"Roxanne also received the highest adaptability score of the entire class," he said. "Advanced training isn’t about producing students who can win every fight. It’s about producing students who know when the objective has changed."

Several of the others looked at her in surprise. Roxanne kept her eyes on the board, feeling something she couldn’t quite name, and it was worth more than first place would have been.

Elias found her afterward near the equipment shed. He looked uncomfortable, which she had never seen on him before. "I expected you to be another student leaning on the Moonstones," he admitted. "I was wrong about you."

Roxanne shrugged and picked up her bag. "You’ll survive."

He smiled properly this time, and it changed his whole face. Whatever had been a rivalry between them had turned into something steadier, and neither of them seemed inclined to say so aloud.

Kai was waiting by the fence when she crossed the field. He fell into step beside her with his hands in his pockets, clearly choosing his words. "You lost the individual score," he said. "Regret it?"

"No," Roxanne said, and she didn’t need to think about it. Kai nodded once.

"Good," he said, and after a few steps he added, "You made the right choice."

She looked at him sideways. "You sound like the instructor."

"He was right," Kai said. A quiet smile passed between them, and neither spoke again until they reached the dormitory path.

As the students were leaving, the instructor pinned the next week’s schedule to the board. Roxanne scanned it until she reached the last line, which read: ADVANCED TRAINING — OUTDOOR NIGHT EXERCISE. Beneath it, in smaller letters, it said: ALL SELECTED STUDENTS. NO PARTNERS.

She looked up at the darkening sky, where the first stars were coming out over the treeline. This time, everyone would have to rely entirely on themselves.