Relia followed her friends from the street into the hotel lobby. The air conditioning seemed to blast them from all sides, and it felt amazing after all that time in the tropical heat. Dragons didn’t normally believe in air conditioning, but they’d made an exception here. Probably because of all the foreigners.

How did she know this hotel was dragon-owned? The decor, of course. Golden chandeliers hung from the high-vaulted ceilings while golden fountains shot water against a backdrop of golden curtains. Even the blue carpet shone with flecks of gold.

These last few days had been like driving through a mana storm, but she could finally see the end. Their packs hung pleasantly heavy on their shoulders, filled with the last items on Kyzar’s list. They’d also gathered the ingredients for her new pill the day before, and Kalden had stayed behind to finish that.

At first, Kalden had wanted Relia to stay behind instead, insisting that he could stay up late to make her pill.

“Your mark could fade any time,” he’d said during their rooftop training session. “That puts everyone in danger.”

“We’ve been over this.” Relia sighed and gestured to her forehead. “My master didn’t build these to last. They could all fade at anytime.”

“You said we’d feel them fading,” Kalden replied. “You said we’d have at least a few hours’ notice.”

“I said probably. No guarantees.”

“She’s got a point,” Akari said. “What if we need to fight our way out? Two Apprentices are better than one.”

“Exactly!” Relia patted the box inside her purse. “I can take this in a pinch, but there’s no putting these marks back once they fade.”

Her condition grew worse over the next two days, but that had its advantages. If things were always sugar and rainbows, then one sudden crystal growth could catch her flatfooted. Now, she spent a good portion of her day in a meditative trance, constantly aware of the subtlest changes in her mana. This meant she could break down most crystals before they even formed.

Of course, her internal battle was as real as any other, and the effort took her full concentration. Still, she’d faced this same challenge before. Last time, she’d still been a Foundation, younger than Akari and Kalden were now. She was far stronger now.

Their route took them through the hotel lobby and into the parking ramp where Hector’s car waited. They’d resorted to driving that ever since their skirmish on the ferry two days ago. Fights were common enough in Tureko, but pale foreigners like her drew more attention.

Plus, those kids had definitely seen Relia’s mark fade. No way they’d kept that to themselves.

Unfortunately, driving took twice as long as riding the ferry. The roads were packed tight on this side of the river, and parking spots were rarer than Grandmasters. Everyone thought of Creta as a poor nation, but they had far more cars here than Koreldon City.

To make matters worse, the bridge guards never let anyone through. Instead, her group had to leave Liberta’s side of the city every morning, circle around on the outskirts, then re-enter from Unida’s side.

“I’m gonna use the bathroom real quick,” Relia said once they’d loaded their packs into Hector’s trunk. She probably could have waited, but muscle failure didn’t mix well with a full bladder. Better to play it safe.

“I’ll go too,” Akari said.

Hector hopped into the driver’s seat and started the engine while Relia and Akari doubled back toward the lobby. The bathroom was dimly lit and far less ostentatious than the rest of the hotel. A stone wall divided the stalls from the sinks, and several potted palm trees loomed in the corners.

A prickling sensation spread up her left arm as they stepped inside. Numbness followed, starting from her jaw and spreading down to her fingers.

No big deal. Relia closed her eyes and focused on her channels, trying to find the source of the growing crystal. She found it near her spine a second later. These were the most dangerous—a crystal there could mean full-on paralysis. Still, she stayed calm, feeling the patterns inside the crystal itself. All her mana crystals had the same pattern, and her soul had bonded with that pattern long ago.

Akari stood beside her, braced to catch Relia’s if she fell. The other girl’s eyes betrayed her concern, but she said nothing. They all knew she needed to focus at times like this.

Relia started to break down the crystal, pulling its energy into her soul. No sooner had she begun than another prickling sensation began in her right leg. Two at once? That complicated things. She should probably sit down …

A pair of toilets flushed beyond the stone wall, and several voices spoke in Cadrian.

Oh, joy. She did not need more distractions right now.

Relia took several steps to her left, making room around the sinks for the newcomers.

Two Apprentice women stepped around the wall—a dragon and a human. They both wore the forest green uniforms of the Dragonlord’s army with steel Missile rods hanging from their hips.

Focus, Relia told herself. Sweat broke out across her body, and she leaned against the wall for support.

The two women broke off their conversation when they noticed Relia.

“Miss?” The dragon stepped forward, her reptilian voice surprisingly gentle. “Are you alright?”

“I’m okay.” Relia forced out a smile. Pins and needles spread through her right leg, and her foot went numb inside her boot. If her mark faded again—

No. Stay calm. Stress would move her mana even faster. More mana meant more fuel for the crystals.

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“She’s sick.” Akari grabbed Relia’s arm and tried to pull her toward the private side of the bathroom. They only made it two steps before two more soldiers appeared in the walkway, blocking their path.

The prickling in her leg turned to a sharp stab of pain. Relia had dealt with hundreds of cuts and broken bones during her training, but this was worse. It always came with a sense of wrongness, like an agonizing itch she couldn’t scratch.

“She needs her medicine.” Akari gave her a pointed look, unzipping the top of her purse.

She was right, of course. Kalden was making her a new pill today. It would be fine.

Boots echoed against the tile floor as the dragon woman stepped forward.

“May I see that?” she asked.

Akari had barely retrieved the box before the soldier snatched it from her hands. Blue light flooded the room as she opened it, and a surge of panic raced through Relia’s channels. She’d spent the past few weeks guarding that pill with her life, and now it sat in a stranger’s hands.

In that moment, Relia realized how this must have looked. She and Akari were underdressed for a fancy hotel like this, and they probably looked like drug addicts who’d come here for privacy. Her pill shared the same ingredients as many combat enhancements, and even her symptoms looked suspicious.

“What is it?” the dragon asked.

Akari told them the truth, but her voice sounded distant as Relia struggled to focus on the crystals. She’d been exercising self-control these past few weeks, waiting for the last moment to get the most from her pill. Who’d have thought she might wait too long?

“The condition hardens her mana?” The woman blinked at Relia with her yellow reptilian eyes. “Never heard of a thing like that.”

“It’s rare,” Akari continued. “Her parents were soulshine addicts. This was the side effect.”

Relia nodded along, too shaky to form any words of her own.

“She’ll die if she doesn’t take it now.” Akari’s voice was polite, but she also didn’t bother to hide her glare.

The dragon seemed to consider that for a moment, and she exchanged a look with the other soldiers. No one else replied, but their training would make them suspicious. Enhancement addicts were weakest during a craving, and strongest when the pill hit their souls

Relia forced herself to stay calm, keeping pressure on the crystals with all her mental might. Whatever happened next, she’d need to be at her full strength. Akari had held her own against those kids on the ferry, but these soldiers could kill her with a single technique.

"Alright." The woman turned the box around and held it out. “My apologies, miss.”

Thank the Angels. Relia accepted the box with a shaky hand. Her nerves had left her mouth barren, but she’d swallowed her pills without water before. She brought the glowing blue capsule to her mouth, feeling the bitter taste on her tongue. In that moment, the crystal in her neck grew sharper, and her muscles went limp.

Relia caught her own reflection in the mirror, just as the mark faded from her forehead. She tried to swallow the pill as she lost her footing.

A green-scaled hand flew forward, seizing Relia by the throat. She gagged, sending the blue capsule on the bathroom floor.

“Unmarked!” another soldier drew her Missile rod.

Time slowed to a crawl as Relia watched her pill roll away on the tiled floor. Then another soldier stepped on it with her boot. For a second, the pill resisted even the full force of her body. But the woman flared her cloak technique, and it shattered into a burst of light and blue mist.

No … no, no no.

Akari gathered mana in her palms as she leapt forward, hurling two sharpened Missiles at Relia’s dragon captor. Both techniques found their mark, but they didn’t pierce her skin.

The second soldier struck Akari with her rod. Her glasses shattered and she hit the floor with blood gushing from her nose.

“Hector!” Relia tried to call his name, but she’d barely been gone for three minutes. He wouldn’t come looking for them that soon.

This was up to her, but she couldn’t use her techniques. Not until she’d cleared her channels.

Relia let herself collapse on the floor, ignoring the crystal in her arm and focusing all her efforts on her spine. She closed her eyes, letting the world fade as she doubled down on that one sliver of hope.

Her mind drifted back to her first master. The woman who’d tracked her down after her parents had abandoned her. The one who’d discovered Life Arts, and how to break down the crystals in her body.

Elend had taught her how to live, but her first master had taught her how to survive in a merciless world. Nothing but total focus would suffice.

Relia bore down on the crystal with her mind, even as her enemies restrained her and reached for their impedium cuffs. The crystal in her spine shattered to mist, and she pulled its power into her soul. Her Life Cloak flared around her, healing the damage.

Her enemies glowed like red sunsets as they flared Cloak techniques of their own. Their hands felt like burning metal as they pinned her against the wall, driving her spine into the rough stone.

Relia cycled more life mana through her channels, ignoring the pain from her right leg. Angels above. Why did it always come to this? First the Martials, and now these Unida soldiers. Why did people always have to die for the stupidest reasons?

But her friend would die if she held back, and they’d promised to reach the Master realm together. Relia had almost given up on her goals before, but Akari and Kalden filled her with fresh resolve. She’d reach the Master realm, and then her parents would regret the day they’d disowned her. Even if she died after that, they could never forget about her.

Life mana flowed out from Relia’s chest in a stream of green and gold light. It struck the dragon woman’s heart, freezing it forever.

The other two soldiers leapt back . No doubt they’d fought cultists with this aspect before. They knew to keep their distance.

One brave soul held her ground, swinging down with her steel rod.

Relia blocked the weapon with a quick Construct. Then she swung her good leg around and knocked the woman off her feet. No sooner had she hit the ground than Relia slammed a palm into her chest. Instant death.

Fire flew from the other soldiers’ palms, but Relia’s Cloaks techniques encased her body. The pure mana dampened their attacks, and the life mana healed her cells before they burned. For all that, pain raced through her body as if someone had slammed her against a stove. The scents of her burning clothes and hair filled her nostrils, and the smoke rose to the ceiling.

But that was nothing compared to the pain of her hardened channels. Relia raised her own arms, and her mana sang as it flew. Her opponents dodged her attacks with ease, and the mirrors shattered behind them.

Two against one. Relia couldn’t walk, and Akari still lay unconscious on the floor. Her life mana was too slow to reach them from a distance, and her opponents wouldn’t fall to a pure technique—not with her control as shaky as it was.

Two more Missiles closed on Relia’s face. Blue light flashed in her hand as she raised a quick shield

She had one technique that might work. Elend had forced her to learn it, but she’d promised herself she’d never use it. But now the choice was clear—it was her and Akari’s lives against theirs.

Relia flared her Cloaks and absorbed their next few blows. Life mana gathered in a thick cloud in front of her, followed by an array of flat, circular Constructs. She applied pressure to the center of each Construct, forming them into domes. Then the domes came together to form spheres around the gold and green clouds.

One of her opponents raced for cover while the other raised a shield. Too late. Relia hurled the spheres forward with pure Missiles. They exploded against the far walls, and her opponents couldn’t escape the cloud.

Their bones shattered inside them, and screams of pain escaped their mouths.

As Relia lay among the lifeless bodies, her eyes met the video camera in the upper corner of the bathroom.

She’d won this fight, but it wouldn’t matter. Once people saw that video, they’d kill her faster than any crystal.