A low hum vibrated across the training grounds as the tension thickened.
On one side, Kai stood atop Stromeon, daggers drawn, eyes sharp beneath his messy black bangs.
Lightning arced across the Thunder Drake's blue-scaled hide, radiating static energy into the air like a living storm waiting to burst.
Across the iced arena, Lira stood with quiet composure.
Her Platinum-silver hair fluttered gently in the breeze.
Beside her coiled Snow, the Crystalline Frost Serpent.
Her body now grown to match Stromeon's, shimmering like glass forged from ancient glaciers. Her eyes glowed a bright hue of blue, and her breath was cold enough to fog the air around her.
Then—
CRACK!
Lightning burst as Kai jumped off Stromeon's back, boots landing hard on the ice.
"Let's go."
WHOOSH!
Kai vanished with a blur.
[
The faint shimmer of his shadow flickered like smoke.
He zipped toward Lira's left flank, blades ready, leaving brief afterimages behind.
But Lira didn't flinch.
