Leilani's hand lifted slightly — not a command yet, just a reminder.
"Stick to the strategy," she said, eyes never leaving the flame.
I nodded, though my gaze kept drifting past her.
Darin hadn't moved.
He stood before the basin like a statue carved from firelight, sword resting at his side, still sheathed. No stance. No tension. Just presence. The flame behind him burned steady, untouched by the air.
Malik shifted beside me. Just barely. Anyone else might've missed it.
He's shaken, I realized.
I frowned. Why?
I leaned closer and muttered, "He can't be that strong. I already beat him once."
Malik didn't look at me. "That wasn't this."
Before I could respond, Darin finally spoke.
"What part of guardian do you not understand?"
His voice wasn't loud. It didn't need to be.
"My task is not to chase you," he continued. "It is to test you."
The words settled over us like heat.
Tanoa stepped forward.
"Then test us."
"Wait—" Leilani started, but Tanoa was already moving.
He charged with the certainty of a warrior who trusted his body more than plans.
"Mikaia go support!" said Leilani.
Mikaia flowed with him instantly, knives flashing into her hands as she took position to his flank.
Steel met steel.
No — steel met wood.
Darin blocked Tanoa's first strike with the sheathed sword, the impact ringing dull and heavy. He didn't retreat. Didn't brace. Just turned the blow aside and stepped through it like water around stone.
Mikaia's knives flew.
Darin tilted, twisted, stepped — each blade either clanged harmlessly against the sheath or cut only air. He still hadn't drawn his weapon.
"He's not even looking at me," Mikaia snapped through clenched teeth.
"I see enough," Darin replied calmly.
Leilani didn't waste the moment. "Now. Move."
We ran.
The flame was close — closer than it had looked. Heat licked at my skin as the runes beneath it pulsed faintly.
Then something whistled through the air.
Malik reacted instantly, stepping in front of Leilani as the sheath itself slammed into his guard, the force throwing him back several steps. Wood cracked. Sand exploded.
Behind us, steel sang.
Darin had drawn his sword.
In one smooth motion, he cut Mikaia's remaining knives from the air, then drove his empty hand upward into Tanoa's guard. The impact lifted Tanoa off his feet and sent him crashing into the stone.
Not unconscious.
Just down.
Darin turned — and he was suddenly in front of us.
His blade came down toward Leilani.
At the last second, the edge shifted.
The blunt side struck.
Leilani crossed her arms and summoned her spirit in the same breath — the spectral tail flaring into being, bracing her stance — but the force still sent her skidding back across the stone, boots carving lines into the ground.
"You lead well," Darin said as she slid to a stop.
Another step forward.
"But leadership isn't power."
Malik hadn't recovered yet.
So I stepped in.
"Leilani," I said, breath sharp, "together."
She didn't argue.
We moved as one.
Our footwork aligned instinctively — mirrored strikes, staggered pressure. I matched her rhythm without thinking, the form she'd drilled into me during sparring flowing naturally now.
Darin noticed.
"You taught him your style?" he asked, parrying both of us at once.
"No," Leilani replied, teeth clenched as she pressed in again.
A beat.
"He watched."
For a moment — just a moment — we pushed him back.
Then Leilani overextended.
It was subtle. A fraction too much reach. A lunge meant to finish what we started.
Darin sidestepped.
His hand shot out and grabbed her tail.
Leilani gasped.
Before I could react, he twisted and threw her by it, the spectral form distorting as she was hurled across the chamber and slammed into the stone.
She didn't rise.
The air changed.
Mikaia and Tanoa had rejoined us, but no one spoke. No one needed to.
Darin turned his attention fully to me.
"You," he said, eyes burning like embers. "You have no place on this island."
I scoffed. "Like I give a fuck."
He advanced.
"I will make sure dangerous outsiders stop causing anguish to this land."
We clashed.
I dodged. Barely.
His swordplay was overwhelming — every strike precise, heavy, relentless. I moved on instinct alone, body screaming as steel cut the air inches from my face.
"How did you get this strong?" I shouted between breaths.
"I always was," Darin replied.
His blade slammed into the stone beside my head.
"The island simply isn't protecting you now."
Pain exploded across my chest as his next strike tore through my shirt, the blade biting stone instead of flesh as I twisted away.
My heart hammered.
His sword was stuck.
Now.
I lunged — then froze.
Darin stepped onto the hilt of his embedded sword, vaulted upward, and kicked me square in the chest mid-air.
The world spun.
As I flew back, the thought surfaced unbidden:
I'm done with this shit.
I blacked out.