The next two days were not much different from the rest of the week, except that now, Milius would spend a few hours of each evening visiting Minerva back in the town. Sirius had accompanied him on his second trip, but had decided that it should just be Milius on the following ventures, and had opted instead to remain at the Cave and take his usual, eccentric flights with his dragon, Verdona. Milius appreciated the sentiment, but at the same time could not shake the feeling that Sirius, for some reason, was avoiding him.

The periods he spent with his mother, however short, were nonetheless welcome after several hard hours of training with the Elders. It felt almost as it had before he had been Knighted, and Minerva was happier than he had seen her in a long time, but, though she tried to hide it, he could still see the disapproval on her face when he had to return to the Cave.

Things were not much better there, either. Their training sessions were becoming steadily more difficult, with the Elders finding new and more creative obstacles for them to overcome each day, and Milius had a vague suspicion that their determination to whip them into shape as quickly as possible was born from a furious desire to outshine the delegations from the other countries at the Royal Exhibition.

On the third morning of this, the Elders informed them that they would no longer be using the Bellator Ligneas, and instead would be sparring with each other.

“But what about the Jewel Curse?” Ariana asked at once. “If it senses that we're going to commit harm to another Knight won't it be activated?”

“Only if you intend to commit serious harm, my dear,” Calder corrected her quietly. “There is still much you don't understand about the swords, but you shall in due time. For now, I doubt very much that any of you would still like to murder another of your group, unless I'm much mistaken?”

Ariana turned faintly pink, but Calder merely smiled. “Very well, then, let us begin. Milius, Ariana — to your left, if you please. Sirius, Shakil — the right.”

They divided into pairs and took their places at their allotted spots, awaiting further instruction.

“Begin!” Calder said sharply.

Ariana did not even hesitate. She bounded towards him at once, the emerald in Stormpyre’s hilt aglow, the mass of hair unobscured by her helmet streaming behind her. She closed the distance in seconds and struck out, but Milius was ready for her. He swung his shield upwards at the same moment, parrying the attack, then kicked out at her feet, knocking her off balance.

But before she had even touched the ground she flung out her arms, turned the fall into a roll, and then sprang back to her feet. In that moment, her hair dappled with bright rays of sunlight, her face, fierce and determined, framed beneath her emerald visor, Milius appreciated, for the first time, how beautiful she really was.

Six days hard training had given her a more slender frame, her hair had grown longer and thicker since their first day at the Cave, and she seemed to have gotten slightly taller. As she leapt back to her feet she jumped backwards and raised her sword higher, and Milius knew what was coming before it even happened.

She swung again, a wide, sweeping, downwards arc; being at such a distance, one unfamiliar with Stormpyre’s capabilities would have believed this a pointless move. But Milius knew better.

Sure enough, there was a loud whooshing sound and the air ahead of him seemed to ripple as though a large, invisible creature was soaring towards him. He leapt aside, feeling the air stir beside him, and buried Palpatunde in the grass, siphoning energy. It burst out of the blade in its characteristic spirals, heading straight for her. But Ariana did not move. Her sword’s emerald flared with light once more, and a powerful wind picked up around her just as it had done with the Bellator Ligneas.

The energy hit the air as though it were a solid wall. It streaked across the surface like water against stone, but the force of it still sent her flying backwards. Milius chanced a glance around the room as she hit the floor and saw Sirius and Shakil dueling so fiercely that all he could make out of their swords were the glints of silver as they swung back and forth and met in midair —

He realized, too late, that turning his back on Ariana was a mistake. In the brief period that he had turned to look at Sirius and Shakil, she had already gotten to her feet. She swooped down upon him, knocked his sword out of his hand with one swipe of her own, thrust the hilt into his chest and knocked him to the floor, and then buried her foot in his chest, smiling.

“Enough,” Calder called. Ariana pried her foot from his chest at once and Milius sat up, massaging it, though grinning.

Shakil and Sirius had frozen in the middle of battle, their swords crossed in midair, their jewels burning crimson and sapphire. Milius got to his feet, Sirius and Shakil unfroze, and all four trudged over to the Elders.

“There is tension in the blades,” Calder said matter-of-factly.

“What do you mean?” Ariana asked, looking as bemused as Milius felt.

“We know what the swords are supposed to look like when operating at full capacity," Aaron said. "Those are not at full capacity."

“You have not yet bonded with the blades, they are not allowing you full rein to their abilities; there is still friction,” Basil interjected.

“What does that mean ‘bond with the blades’?” Milius asked. “I thought you said we're already bound to them.”

“Indeed,” Demus agreed. “You are linked by magic, but you are not bonded with them. It is the same for the dragons: the swords connect you via their enchantments, but you must form your own relationship with the dragons to fully bond with them. Milius, do you feel the same connection with Palpatunde that you do when you use the Orb of Triton?” he shot suddenly at Milius.

“Er . . . well . . . no,” he muttered, a little disconcerted at being singled out like this. This, however, was indeed true. The Orb, whenever he had sought to use it, had responded readily and smoothly, with very little effort, as though it were just another limb attached to his body. With Palpatunde, however, the sword felt, for all it was chalked up to be, like a regular sword.

“But how do we bond with them then?” Shakil asked, sounding slightly desperate.

“That is up to you,” Aaron said dismissively. “You must form your own connections with the blades, as you did your steeds.”

Milius’s heart sank. Lumeus had certainly been a lot more pleasant towards him recently, but their relationship was still extremely formal. They had never achieved the friendly, casual type of bond he saw exhibited by Sirius and Verdona, or Ariana and Vrydius, least of all Shakil and Aleia.

“We will begin the same time tomorrow, but there is no point in continuing like this today, and we have more urgent matters to tend to in any case,” Demus said. “Good day.”

The groups parted; Sirius, Ariana, and Shakil headed to the kitchens for lunch, but Milius slumped back to his bedroom. He sank onto his bed, staring at the gleaming surface of his blade, perplexed. Why was it still resisting him? Why could he bond so easily with the Orb his first time using it, but not Palpatunde, which he had been paired with for nearly three weeks?

At the thought of items that would still not yield to his will, he remembered the four crystal vials that Pan had gifted him. He reached into his pocket, brought them out, and placed them on the bed where they lay glittering in the bright sunshine. Despite what Pan had said, Milius had tried opening them anyway, but nothing he did made the slightest difference. The vials remained resolutely sealed, just as the mirror remained blank.

Milius threw himself back on his bed and expelled a sigh, staring wistfully up at the ceiling. Palpatunde, Lumeus, the vials, the mirror, the underground chamber. . . . Would anything go the way he wanted. . . ?

A knock on the door burst in on his thoughts and shook him from his reverie. He looked up, expecting Calder or Sirius, and received a slight surprise to see Ariana standing in the doorway.

“Oh, hey,” Milius said.

“Lunch is ready, if you want any,” she said.

“I'm not hungry,” Milius sighed.

Ariana stared at him, frowning slightly. “Are you okay?”

“It's — it's just . . . I don't know,” he sighed again. “Everything just keeps piling up, doesn't it, and nothing is working out.”

“I know what you mean,” she said, nodding grimly. She was silent for a moment, then she asked abruptly, “Do you want to go for a ride?”

Milius stared at her. “What?”

“Usually whenever I want to clear my head I go for a ride. I was already considering it. If you wanted we — we could go together," she suggested, her voice a little strained.

Milius pondered for a moment.

“You don't have to if you don't —” Ariana began quickly, but Milius had already made up his mind.

“Let's do it," he said.

She looked a little relieved. He pocketed the vials again, seized Palpatunde, and followed her to the mouth of the Cave, where Shakil was feeding Aleia.

“Calder had to borrow Lumeus,” he said, looking up and spotting them. “And Sirius took Verdona that way.” He jerked his head to the right, towards a tall mountain range.

“It's fine,” said Milius, who felt a little relieved himself. He wasn't sure he wanted to fly with Lumeus at the moment, yet he was sure that he couldn't have refused had he actually been there.

“We can take Vrydius, he looks eager to fly anyway,” Ariana said cheerfully, pointing, and sure enough, the green dragon was zooming excitedly through the air like an abnormally large hummingbird, moving so fast that he was almost a blur.

“Elder Aaron told me that Vrydius is the fastest of the four dragons,” Ariana said, watching him. “Usually he has to tone it down to keep up with the others, so I guess he's trying to relieve himself now.” She put her fingers to her mouth and made a horrible sound, like a strangled sort of screech. Milius supposed this was Vrydius’s call, because he suddenly came speeding towards them like a great green comet. Then he was right in front of them, landing unbelievably lightly, given how fast he had just been descending.

Milius gazed up at him and noticed, for the first time, the canary-yellow feathers streaked here and there across the glossy expanse of green, exactly the colour of his beak, which glinted as he lowered his head, his dark orange eyes glittering. Ariana climbed up and looked back down at Milius. “Come on,” she said encouragingly.

Milius obliged, but promptly slipped off and fell back to the ground. He was so used to the rough yet firm feel of Lumeus’s rock-like figure that he was finding it immensely difficult to mount Vrydius, who was completely covered in thick, gleaming bird feathers.

“It does take some getting used to,” Ariana said apologetically as she helped Milius up. “We'll be back soon,” she told Shakil, who nodded.

“All right, Milius — hold on.” Milius did as he was told, though with some trepidation. He placed his hands, feeling slightly guilty, around her waist, and braced for take off.

It was horrible. The dragon burst into flight with such speed that Milius lost his grip almost instantly, screaming in terror as he plummeted towards the earth. Even with the shock of falling weighing on him, he registered that Vrydius would likely have had no trouble catching him before he impacted, but Ariana appeared not to have noticed that he had slipped off again.

A few seconds later what looked like a massive, winged, blue snake came soaring up to him, and he fell upon its neck, trying desperately to hold on. Riding Aleia was almost as bad as riding Vrydius; her hide was much, much smoother than either Vrydius’s or Lumeus’s, but she at least moved slowly enough that he was able to maintain a secure enough grip not to go rocketing off again.

She set him down beside an anxious-looking Shakil, and Milius looked up at her. Like Vrydius, he had never taken much notice of her appearance before, but this close he saw exactly how beautiful she was. Her eyes were as dark as those of the naiads who he had meant in his quest for the Amphitrice, enormous pools of blackness, but they were not as threatening as the trickter spirits’. Her hide was a pale, silvery-blue, patterned like a snake's skin, and she had large, highly decorated fins protruding from above her ears, shimmering sea-green, aqua-blue, and sea-raven-yellow, adorned with pearls and sea stones.

“Thank you,” Milius said breathlessly, clutching his frantically-pounding heart. She blinked benignly, then slithered back to Shakil's side. Moments later, Vrydius and Ariana came speeding back into view.

“Oooh, sorry!” Ariana said. “I didn't realize!”

“It's fine, but can we — you know — go slower next time?”

After securing a faster grip, they set off again, moving more slowly this time. Still, the flight was the most enjoyable that Milius had ever experienced. Vrydius moved with a perfect blend of enthusiasm and smoothness, taking graceful twirls, spins, and dives, as though he were dancing. They soared over the town and approached the forest near to the river where he had met the naiads, though gliding this time over the mountain rather than near the water.

Milius was laughing heartily, all worries about the vials, the swords, and the mirror seemingly blown out of his head by the breeze. But, quite suddenly, Ariana’s voice sounded in front of him, loud and urgent. “Do you see that?”

Milius looked downwards, at the patch of trees that she was pointing at, and saw a human figure darting through the woods, clearly running away from something.

“She's in trouble!” Ariana screamed. She directed Vrydius towards the patch of trees and he swooped, coming to land in the center of a grove of trees where a young girl had just fallen, screaming at the top of her lungs. But Milius couldn't see why. They were utterly alone.

“What's wrong with her?” Milius demanded, sliding to the ground beside Ariana, who had raised Stormpyre, and raising Palpatunde in turn.

“I don't know!” she said, looking around.

“Leave me alone! Leave me ALONE!” Tears were pouring down the girl's face, and she was looking jerkily around at the trees.

“Hello?” Milius called, but the girl paid him no attention.

“No! No! Go away!"

Before either of them could say anything else, Vrydius growled. Milius looked around at him; the dragon was glowering at an ancient birch tree behind them, snapping his beak in a menacing manner.

“Vrydius, what's wr — aaaaaaaargh!” Ariana screamed.

The birch tree had come alive, flinging out its branches, one of which slammed into Ariana and sent her soaring in the girl's direction.

“ARIANA!” Milius shouted, but even as the word left his mouth, the tree uprooted itself, its huge roots writhing around beneath it like many restless, misshapen legs, the bark of its trunk contorting into a grotesque face. It was a mythical creature, he was sure of it. It swung out again but Milius leapt aside; at the same moment, Vrydius gave a screech-like roar and flew at the tree, knocking it to the ground and pecking furiously at it with his razor-sharp beak.

“Ariana, are you okay?” Milius asked, getting to his feet.

“Yes, I'm — behind you!” she shrieked. Milius whirled about. All around him trees were erupting from the ground, their branches swaying sinisterly. Milius turned on his heel and pelted as fast as his legs could take him towards Ariana, who was springing up, clutching Stormpyre.

She swung once more, and Milius heard a loud, rumbling cry and a thud of wood, and knew that she had struck her target. He stopped beside her and wheeled around again: three tree creatures had teamed up against Vrydius, lashing out with their whip-like branches, bearing down upon him —

“NO!” Milius cried. Tossing caution to the wind, he hurtled back to the dragon's side. As he ran, he felt his feet leave the ground and suddenly he was clutching at a tree creature's back, twenty feet above ground. He looked back and saw that Ariana had directed a current of wind in his direction.

Vrydius gave an anguished wail. Milius turned his attention back to the creature and drove Palpatunde into its back. It released Vrydius at once, stepping backwards and roaring in rage and agony, trying to throw Milius off, but he had had enough experience with situations like this. He held on bravely, and the creature withered before his very eyes, then exploded in a cloud of dark smoke.

Vrydius reared as Milius landed, snapping off one of his oppressor’s heads, then flapped his bird-like wings and summoned a cyclone of green wind, which sent the third tree soaring into the air. At the same moment, Vrydius swooped down upon Milius, scooped him atop his head, and soared off after the flailing creature, which began to slow as the cyclone dissipated.

Milius raised Palpatunde as it started to fall, then the energy exploded outwards, ripping the creature to splinters. Vrydius gave a satisfied squawk and veered towards Ariana, who was standing in front of the cowering girl, protecting her from the final tree creature, which was almost twice as large as any of the others.

It advanced on the two girls, leering, and Ariana raised her sword with a determined expression — but she never got the chance to strike. A massive shower of crimson flame came pouring down on the creature, which blundered around for a few moments, shrieking pitifully, then fell to the ground, ablaze.

Milius and Ariana looked up. Shakil and Sirius had joined the fray, Sirius looking down at Milius in exasperation. “You never learn, do you?” he said impatiently.