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The Queen was already nocking another arrow. “Shield yourself.”

The bowstring snapped. The arrow flew. Taly dodged again, letting out a colorful string of curses when the point caught the side of her bicep.

“Oh, don’t be so dramatic,” the Queen called. “You’ll heal.”

Blood soaked the sleeve of her tunic, but when Taly checked the wound, the bleeding had already stopped.

Fey healing. She would’ve died several times over by now without it. Though something told her the Queen wouldn’t be shooting arrows at her right now if she was perhaps a bit more fragile.

Gritting her teeth against the pain, Taly sprinted for cover. “What is this exercise supposed to accomplish?” she shouted, pressing her back against the smooth bark of the silverleaf oak in the center of the ring.

“Your magic lacks precision.”

Taly had barely managed to take a breath before the tree at her back dissolved, collapsing in on itself in a sigh of dust. Tiny pinpricks of gold aether prickled in the air where the tree used to stand.

“How the—”

“Everything returns to dust in the end.” Azura pulled back the string of her bow, taking aim. “I was just helping it along. Learn how to control your aether, and I might consider teaching you that spell—even if it is far beyond your current ability.”

Azura let another arrow fly, and Taly barely managed to throw up a wall of frozen time, stopping it mid-flight.

“Effective, but crude,” the Queen said. “Big spells mean more aether. You don’t need to canvas an area to block a single attack.”

Azura’s magic flashed, and Taly felt her spell shatter. The arrow hurtled through the air, propelled along its original path but faster this time. Too fast for her eyes to track. She shoulder-rolled forward, barely managing to duck out of the way as it sailed overhead.

Another arrow, shot with lethal accuracy. Then another. Arrow after arrow until Taly was panting despite those new immortal reflexes that made every movement so effortless and easy. She dodged each one, occasionally managing to throw up a wall, but mostly relying on those fighting instincts Ivain had drilled into her as a child.

“Use magic!” the Queen barked.

Taly twisted as another arrow whizzed past, went to take a step and—

She screamed as an arrow embedded in her thigh. And then again when she gripped the shaft and pulled. If she didn’t remove it now, every step would just aggravate the wound—keep it from healing.

Blood stained her trousers, almost invisible against the dark-blue fabric. The wound itched as it began to clot. The arrow wasn’t poisoned, so she wouldn’t have a scar. But Shards did ithurt. And she was losing aether with every drop of blood spilled.

She’d somehow managed to stay on her feet, but when she went to take a step, she let out an enraged scream.

Her legs had been frozen in place.

“What is this?” she snarled, something inside her coming dangerously close to snapping.

“Time mages don’t get hit,” was all Azura said before loosing another arrow. Taly threw up a wall, but it still managed to punch right through, grazing her cheek.

“Stop thinking about the individual spells. They’re a crutch—a useful tool, but not a necessary one. Simply imagine what you want your magic to do, and thenmake – it – obey.”

The arrows continued to fly, and Taly fumbled, legs still frozen in place, wincing at each new cut and scrape.

“This is insane!” she cried, desperately reaching for her aether.

“You were the one that said you’d hit a wall,” Azura said. “All I’m asking you to do is to stop trying to go over it and just break through. Walls were made to be broken, my dear.”

“That’s actually the exact opposite of what walls are intended to do!”

An arrow grazed the side of her neck, quickly clotting, but not before a new spurt of blood soaked her collar.

More aether lost.

And she felt it. She was so tired. Tired and sore, and all she wanted was that human girl back. She wanted to go back to a time when she’d known exactly who she was and what her life was supposed to look like.