The five of them waited with nerves biting at them. Audria still looked as prim and proper as ever. Though she’d been letting her hair down more. Fordham hadn’t loosened up an inch, but he also had the easiest time with his dragon. Roake was constantly frazzled. He hated the schoolwork. In Elsiande, where he was from in the south, he hadn’t been big on book work, especially when he’d been playing Dragon Eggs. The endless rolls of parchment set him to ranting. But it was Noda that Kerrigan worried the most about. She was homesick—though she wouldn’t admit it—and the constant pace was running her ragged. Her cuticles were stripped raw and her nails bitten to the quick.

Kerrigan wasn’t sure where she fit with the rest of them. The bond was fake, and she was terrified to be kicked out. She hadn’t even had time to go to the few other protests the RFA had put together these last couple weeks. She wasn’t sleeping, but that wasn’t unusual. Nor were the nightmares. She was hyperfocused on not getting kicked out.

Gemina soared back into the arena then, and all five of them took off at a run. Kerrigan had no clue which direction Tieran was in. She had to get close enough that he could speak into her mind. Surely, he was shouting to let her know wherever he was.

Fordham was going to finish first. That was obvious. Once he was out of the arena, he set off at a run toward the South River. Netta must have been across the water. But the rest of the pack slowed once on the other side of the arena walls. They didn’t exactly travel together, but Kerrigan figured that each dragon had been sent in a different direction, and maybe process of elimination could get her to Tieran.

“This is insane,” Roake grumbled. “I can’t feel anything.”

“Just keep trying,” Noda said.

“We’ll get there,” Audria agreed. Her face was pale. Despite being top of the class in studies, she was worst after Kerrigan on dragon bonding. She couldn’t work extra hard to make it happen.

“I think I’m west,” Noda said with an uncertain look. “I’m going to head in that direction.”

She jogged off, leaving the other three to contemplate the rest of the directions.

“Do you think they put the dragons all in different places? Or is Alura tricking us?” Roake asked.

“It’s a test. Not a trick. She wants us to succeed,” Audria said.

Roake looked at Kerrigan behind Audria’s back in disbelief. She didn’t know what she thought about Alura, but she at least seemed fair. Strict but fair.

“I’m going to try north, I guess,” Roake said. “See if I can feel anything from Luxor.”