Jax wasn't responding to her instructions. Corra looked from left to right, corner to corner, and then darted her eyes on Bart. “Whoa, don't look at me that way, Corra! I'm not fire-resistant!” he blurted out scarily, while she rolled her eyes, jerking the water flask that had been tied to his waist like a holster. “Jax,” she called out, turning to Jax with a pitiful gaze, “If you want us to die with you, then we'll walk into the fire with you, but if you want to fight for your rightful place, then use this water to quench the fire!” she said, in the hope that it would change his mind. “Please!” this time, the last word was bound to her mind. Since he was now looking at her directly, he heard her plea. “You don't have to threaten me with your lives…” Jax said, and by now the fire had eaten up his clothes. Corra pulled Bart by the wrist, emerging them towards the fire and said: “Then we'll die with you—” “No!” Jax yelled, “I'll come with you instead,” he added firmly

…Jax remained silent, his gaze fixed on the ground, not out of anger towards Corra, but because he was grappling with his own thoughts. “Still upset, huh? We really ought to outgrow this—” “Let’s focus on the task at hand. What just happened is behind us,” he replied, his flat tone pulling at her nerves. With a sigh, Corra rolled her eyes and attempted to walk away, but Bart’s voice sliced through the tension.“Time's ticking, and no one has found a task yet! Literally no one!” “Where do we go from here?” Corra muttered under her breath, frustration simmering as Bart and Jax looked just as lost.“The foliage!” Jax exclaimed suddenly, a flicker of hope igniting in his chest. Although Corra opened her mouth to protest, she decided against it.Amidst the chirping of birds and the rustling of leaves, Jax felt a jolt of energy coursing through the air. Something—or someone—watched them from the depths of the dense greenery. Curiosity overwhelmed him, urging him to uncover the source o

"Silence is not my thing, Zetas, Who. Did. This?" the woman asked. This time she crossed her arms behind, wearing a more terrible face that could scare just about anyone.Jax and his partners stared at each other with mixed expressions, giving out Jax would only mean that he was going to bare the cross—all by himself. Corra tried to speak with him through her mind, but the plunging look of the woman wouldn't let her. "No answers, still?" the woman asked, as if mocking the young teenagers. "Okay then." she walked over to the witch's head, which was a short distance away from Jax and his friends.Jax was frightened, he suspected that he was done for.But the woman crouched down and inspected it. Her eyes shifted to no one but Jax. "Hmm!" she let out. She stood erect and signaled one of the soldiers she had arrived with. He understood what she meant without voicing it out. "And… seize the teenagers—they'll answer to the panel by morning—" "I did… I did the ki- killi

Jax returned to the class area. The threats from General Steel were still fresh in his mind. What did she have against him? He kept wondering. “How did it go?” Corra asked eagerly as she spotted Jax emerging from the stairway.“You really don’t want to know, but it’s all sorted now—”“That sounds like good news, right?…” Bart interjected, raising his eyebrows in curiosity.“I am officially a student of NorthHedge Academy!” Jax announced, a grin spreading across his face. He couldn't help but notice the collective sigh of relief from his friends. “Thank the spirits! I told you nobody would be left behind, see?” Corra nudged Jax playfully, and for reasons he couldn’t quite grasp, his felt lighter.“Okay, that's settled then,” Bart said, clapping his hands together. “We were waiting for you so we could all join the class together!” he added. “Yeah!” Corra and Noa chimed in unison, their excitement palpable.“Alright!” Jax replied with a smile as they turned to head down the passageway

Corra and Bart found themselves in a rather miserable predicament—detained for cleaning the enormous stables of the flying cyclops. It was an exhausting and nauseating task, a whole world worse than caring for regular horses. Every muscle in their backs throbbed, and the smell? Unbearable. Yet, quitting wasn’t an option; they were bound to complete the job until ordered otherwise.“He betrayed us,” Bart muttered, frustration lacing his words. “I had a feeling in my gut that he would turn out to be trouble. And Jax just blindly trusted him,” he continued, his anger bubbling over. Corra wiped the beads of sweat from her forehead and huffed. “Jax didn’t trust him; he was just—”“Seriously, Corra,” Bart interrupted, annoyed. “I’m furious at you and Jax for taking such reckless chances! I’ve said this a million times…” His voice trailed off when he noticed her silence.Deep down, they both knew he had a point. They had acknowledged the dangers too quickly, and now they felt the weight of