Ember pulled up her hood, watching as her breath left a fist-sized cloud in the air. The forest was dark and still, but when she activated her infrared vision, she saw the red and yellow traces of small animals hiding in the brush. The cold cut through her training pants and jacket, stinging her eyes and wiping away the last traces of sleep.

She felt for the fang knife and canteen around her waist before stepping away from the protection of the banyan’s hanging roots. A crack drew her attention to a tall buck, who regarded her aloofly before going back to foraging. Slightly spooked, she walked briskly around the main building in search of Elliot.

Three men were stretching against a nearby tree, their silhouettes visible only by the moonlight. Ember easily identified the prefect’s large frame, finding herself both relieved and a little disappointed that she wouldn’t be training with him one-on-one.

“Here she is,” Elliot said as he spotted her, thumping her back hard enough to expel the air from her lungs. “Gentlemen, this is Ember, the newest member of our dorm.”

The two other Linnaeans reached out to greet her, and she recognized the first as the snake who had approached her in the common room. “I’m Marcus,” he said, “reticulated python.” Ember gripped his hand, fighting not to grimace as his fingers crushed hers. He was strong—overwhelmingly so, and seemingly eager to demonstrate it.

The other reptile pushed Marcus aside, reaching out to greet Ember more gently. He was shorter and more compact, with a smattering of black and orange scales. “Amir, Gila monster. You’re the girl that defeated the margay, aren’t you?”

Ember nodded, bringing her knee to her chest to stretch her hamstring. “It’s good to meet both of you.”

“Is everyone ready?” Elliot asked, folding his muscular arms over his chest. “We can talk after we train.”

“Yes, sir,” Marcus said facetiously, earning an eye roll from the prefect.

“All right, then. We’ll start with a five-mile run.”

Ember steeled herself as the three men lined up. At Elliot’s count, they took off like projectiles launched from a catapult. “Holy shit,” she breathed, doubling her pace to catch up with them.

Running had been part of Ember’s routine since she had started training, but never like this. The men set a breakneck pace, striding over shadowed roots and underbrush with hardly a reduction in speed. Their footfalls were surprisingly light and no louder than the noise of the forest fauna.

Ember was highly aware of every part of her body as she ran. She scanned the forest floor for hazards, knowing that a misplaced foot would send her crashing into the soil, unable to catch up. She kept her breaths even, fearful of tiring too quickly. Each time the men did pull ahead, she tracked them with her infrared vision while searching for a shortcut by which to rejoin them.

Afraid of becoming lost and losing face, Ember pushed herself far past the brink of exhaustion. A burning sensation traveled from her legs to her chest, and each wave of pain became more difficult to weather. But it wasn’t until the last third of the run that the gap between her and the other reptiles widened beyond repair. Even so, she kept running even after their heat signatures disappeared by following their trail in the underbrush.

She returned to the reptile dorm just a few minutes after the men. Her brain registered Marcus and Amir recovering and Elliot doing push-ups, before finally, mercifully, she let herself collapse into the dirt.

The exertion caught up to her at all at once. Her body was liquid fire, and she bent over, retching. She gasped, desperate for oxygen. Relief came bit by bit, agonizingly slowly, and she wiped her watery eyes with the back of her hand. At the same time, an antithetical sensation of euphoria began to bloom within her chest. Shit, I… I really did it.

Elliot sat back, checking his watch. “Good work, Ember. Thirty-three minutes, just two minutes behind Amir.” She managed a lopsided smile, grateful that he wasn’t coddling her.

“I have short legs,” Amir protested. “Besides, if you ask me, reptiles aren’t meant for long-distance running.”

Elliot shook his head. “That’s exactly why we do it. It’s as much about fortitude here,” he gestured to his head, “as it is about physical ability. Besides, how do you plan to outlast a wolf in a match if you lose your breath after a light jog?”

Ember’s eyes widened. Light… light jog?!

“Gila, come up here,” Elliot finished, his eyes glimmering. “Let’s spar.”

Amir obliged with a grumble, but Ember saw the way his whole body awakened with Elliot’s words. You’re all so damn battle-hungry, she thought, holding her stomach as she felt another retch coming on. Still, as they squared up, she found herself scooting forward for a better view.

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The first thing Ember noticed was how utterly relaxed the two reptiles were. Though they watched each other with sharp eyes, there was no tension in their shoulders as they exchanged the first strikes. Elliot let Amir take the offensive, blocking his swing with his forearm and eliciting a bam that reverberated through the forest. They moved quickly and fluidly, with clean technique and unexpected combinations.

Ember watched the spar breathlessly. The fighters came together and apart with astonishing speed, their hits heavy enough to make the nearby trees shed their needles. Elliot anticipated Amir’s every move, countering just enough to conserve energy. Not once did he lose his composure, even when Amir’s paddle-like tail swung past him, snapping a branch off of a young tree.

As Elliot dodged a cutting kick to the thigh, Amir circled behind him. He twisted over one shoulder, attempting to take advantage of the alligator’s blind spot with a spinning back-fist.

Elliot turned at the last moment, his yellow eyes burning with an intensity that made Ember shiver. One hand snapped out, grabbing Amir’s forearm and throwing him effortlessly over his shoulder. Amir gripped Elliot’s clothes as he slammed into the ground, dragging the prefect down with him.

Where Ember had expected the fight to end, it became even more fearsome. The fighters’ bodies blurred together as they fought to gain the upper hand. Their speed and the dim light made it so that Ember only caught snapshots of what was happening: Amir’s legs wrapped around Elliot’s neck, crushing his skull; Elliot heaving himself to his feet, throwing the smaller man to the ground; the lizard tackling the prefect again, followed by a series of increasingly unbelievable submission holds.

“Elliot is toying with him,” Marcus said, startling Ember. He, too, was watching the fight with interest. “Hell, that bastard can bite through steel.”

“What are they doing?” Ember asked, watching as Elliot trapped Amir’s arm around the elbow, applying enough pressure to make him grunt.

“Grappling,” the python said as if it was obvious. At the same time, Elliot pushed harder, forcing Amir to tap out. The lizard flopped back, catching his breath, and Elliot dusted himself off. As Marcus had suggested, he hardly seemed fazed.

“I’m… going… to beat you… one of these days,” Amir panted.

“I’ll wait,” Elliot replied. “Ember, what did you think?”

“Honestly, I’ve never seen that type of close combat,” she admitted.

“Who’s your instructor?”

“Mr. Badger, for the intro class.”

“Ah,” Elliot said, “that’s why. Beginners usually focus on their stances, basic strikes, and confidence. Grappling is a more advanced style well-suited to us.”

As Ember started to ask a question, Marcus poked her bicep, surprising her. “Reptiles, especially snakes, have muscular frames. If you can’t win on your feet, taking a striker to the ground is the best way to cripple them.”

“It’s also how you can get close enough to inject your venom,” Amir chimed in.

“Come here,” Elliot said, pulling Ember to her feet. “Let me show you the guillotine choke.”

***

“This place gives me the creeps,” Carn said, closing the door to Ember’s room behind him. “Did you see how that snake looked at me?”

“Sorry,” Ember grimaced. “I don’t think mammals come around here often.”

“For good reason,” Carn shuddered, pulling open his algebra textbook to take notes.

Naz patted his shoulder. “On the bright side, you must smell quite appetizing.”

Carn responded with a dirty look, and Ember looked away, reminded of the incident with Charlie. Though it had been nearly a week since the division one match, the tension between her and the fox had gone unaddressed.

“Ember, can you show me how to solve this problem?” Carn asked, pointing to a logarithmic equation. “I tried converting it to exponential form, but I think I overcomplicated it.”

Ember looked over his shoulder, quickly becoming engrossed in the math. “Yeah, you need to use Euler’s number here. Let me show you,” she said, whipping out a quill and scribbling down a series of steps.

The hours passed quickly as the three Linnaeans studied. It was Naz who called it quits first, slamming her book shut with a thud and stretching her arms above her head. “We are agonizingly close,” she said, grimacing dramatically. “Just one more week until we’re free, and then we’re off for nearly a month. I can hardly wait for the Solstice Festival!”

“The what?” Ember asked, setting down her notebook.

Both Carn and Naz turned to look at her in horror. “That’s it,” Carn said, “we’ve failed as friends.”

“The winter solstice is one of our biggest holidays,” Naz explained. “The festival takes place over the course of three days, with different events on each day. The last is a masquerade for couples, though it’s also acceptable to go with friends.”

“It’s a wild celebration,” Carn said, raising an eyebrow suggestively. “Every Linnaean looks forward to it.”

Ember laid back against the wall, bemused. “Are you two bringing someone?”

“Maybe I’ll meet someone at the masquerade,” Naz said. “Just for the night.”

“I was going to invite Charlie,” Carn said.

The room fell silent, and Ember buried her face in her hands. It wasn’t clear if he meant romantically or platonically, but either way, she wasn’t entirely surprised—unlike on the mainland, Linaneans took mates as they chose, regardless of sex. But it would hardly be ideal if the avian she almost mauled was Carn’s only romantic prospect.

She scooted next to Carn. “I’ll apologize to him if he’s willing,” she said. “I’m on a higher dose of the treatment now, and my advisor is confident something like that will never happen again.”

“I’ll ask him,” Carn said, his expression softening slightly. “I know it wasn’t really your fault.”

Ember breathed a sigh of relief, wrapping one arm around him in a firm hug. “Thank you. Just let me know when, and I’ll be there.”

Naz clapped her hands together with a mischievous look in her eye. “If all is well, let’s go get something to eat. I, personally, have a hankering for chicken.”