Page 55 of The Scars Within (Twisted Thorn #1)

Shayde looked up then but avoided eye contact, his expression tight like it pained him to speak. “Because you aren’t permitted to fly without a professor’s supervision.”

My stomach twisted at the disdain in his voice. “I was given permission to fly for the campaign before we left the valley.”

Nobody said a word .

Laney, ever the strategist, chimed in. “Why leave the egg here at all? Yes, we’re supposed to capture theirs, but we must also protect ours. No one said we had to leave it at our camp. Why don’t we wait and see if they attack first, then go in with the element of surprise at dusk?”

Shayde stayed quiet, staring at the map, but Davis nodded.

“She’s got a point. Two of us could fly out before sunrise, land close enough to scout their camp, and check which elementals are on their team.

Leave one dragon here just in case. Then, we report back and come up with a plan.

If they’re heavy on dragons, we should go in together. Stronger defense, stronger offense.”

“Two elements, one stone,” Shayde murmured, still focused on the map.

“If we aren’t counting our dragons as part of our team, are you sure we are allowed to fly?” I asked.

That got Shayde’s attention. He looked up with a blank expression. “We were not permitted to fly only on the trek to find a campsite, Thorne. Were you not paying attention to the rules?”

Heat rushed to my cheeks as I turned away, pretending to dig through my bag.

“That was rude,” I heard Laney say.

“But it was the truth,” Pehper added, her voice smug.

There was a loud sigh, and then Shayde spoke up. “Let’s build the fire, eat, and then we’ll plan. We’re exhausted. We need to refuel.”

We gathered around the stone circle that Laney and I had put together.

Davis and Shayde exchanged a few murmured words before Shayde crouched over the fire pit.

His brows furrowed in concentration as he held his palms out toward the pit, closing his eyes.

A tiny flicker of flame appeared briefly, but it quickly died out.

Davis tried next, mimicking Shayde’s motion, but the result was the same—another flicker of fire that extinguished almost immediately.

“That’s weird,” Laney said, looking concerned. “Scar, give it a shot.”

“She isn’t supposed to–” Shayde snapped, but Davis shushed him .

I stepped forward and reached for my fire element, but it felt faint like something was blocking me from fully connecting with it. I checked my bond with Lakota, which was still intact, to my relief, though I could sense the same unease.

Pehper stood up and grabbed her canteen. She twirled her fingers in frustration, peered inside it, and cursed under her breath. “Only a quarter full. What the fuck?”

Lakota’s voice came through the bond, his tone laced with confusion. “ Drithan, Spear, and I are feeling the same. It’s like something’s off, but not in a harmful way. ”

Pehper broke the silence. “Alright, the sun’s down, it’s freezing—why don’t one of your dragons just light the damn fire?”

Before Shayde could explain why that was a bad idea—how a dragon’s flame could alert the other team to our location—I dug through my bag. I pulled out the flint kit we’d been given in class, thankful I hadn’t left it behind.

“Hand me your War Campaign letters,” I said, rummaging for more flammable material.

Shayde sighed and gave a nod of approval as everyone but Pehper reached into their bags for the parchment.

Pehper, arms crossed and looking stubborn, sat on a nearby rock, refusing to budge.

Shayde, clearly not in the mood for her attitude, walked over and grabbed her bag.

He handed me her letters along with his own, and I crumpled them up, setting them aside for kindling.

“What exactly are you doing?” Davis asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Surviving without my element,” I said, striking the flint. “Lamport went over this in class, and thankfully, I kept the flint kit. We’ll have a fire soon enough.”

Laney clapped her hands together. “You’re a genius!”

The cavern fell silent for a few moments, the tension from earlier fading. Then, we heard a soft whoosh outside, followed by the sound of Lakota landing. He dropped a small bundle of dried twigs in front of the cave entrance.

“ It’s not much, but it’ll get you started, ” Lakota said before flying off again in search of more.

Davis placed the kindling in the center of the stone circle, and I added the crumpled parchment on top.

I knelt by the pit, striking the flint over and over until a spark finally caught.

The parchment ignited, and I leaned down, blowing gently on the flames until they spread to the twigs beneath.

I tossed one more piece of parchment into the growing fire, saving the rest for later.

A warm, flickering glow filled the cavern, and a collective sigh of relief passed through the group.

Davis clapped me on the shoulder. “Good job, cadet. You’re exactly who I’d want to be stranded on an island with.”

I couldn’t help but grin as I watched the fire grow, warmth spreading through me—not just from the flames, but from the feeling that I mattered to this team for the first time today. I was an asset.

We ate in silence around the fire. Laney sat on my left, Davis on my right, and Shayde and Pehper across from us. The tension between us was so thick that not even a dragon’s fire could burn through it.

Eventually, Shayde broke the silence. “I think Salvitto’s right.

We should send scouts before sunrise to determine which elementals we’re against. Then, we regroup, figure out our next move, and hit them later in the day.

If they plan a midday attack, we’ll be ready.

” He tossed the core of his apple into the fire.

Everyone nodded in agreement, and Laney said, “Thank you.”

“What do you think is going on with our elements?” I asked, glancing around the group.

Davis whistled low. “No clue. This didn’t happen last year. Something’s definitely up.”

Laney turned to Shayde. “Did something like this happen during your campaign last year? ”

Shayde shook his head slowly, eyes fixed on the crackling fire.

“Whatever it is, it needs to stop. I’m out of water,” Pehper said, her tone clipped.

“Maybe you shouldn’t have chugged your ration then,” I shot back, unable to resist.

She scowled but didn’t respond.

“Alright, seriously though, whatever’s suppressing our elements has hit all of us.

Lakota feels it, too. Drithan? Spear?” I looked over at the boys, and they nodded in agreement.

“So let’s figure this out. What’s something we’ve all had in common today?

” I pushed myself up from the ground, sitting on my heels.

“Food?” I scanned the group, but they shook their heads. “Water?”

Everyone exchanged uncertain glances.

“What’s something we’ve all touched—”

“The map,” Laney snapped her fingers, eyes wide. “We all sat around it, holding it down with our knees earlier. None of us felt the strain until after, when we tried to light the fire.”

I mulled it over. She was right. Touching the map that Aunt Cora gave us this morning was the only thing we all had in common.

“Well, that’s a new addition to the campaign,” Davis scoffed.

Shayde stood, dusting off his leathers, and walked over to the mouth of the cavern. He sat with his legs dangling over the edge, staring into the night. Davis followed. Pehper just scoffed and sprawled out on her bedroll, clearly done with us.

Laney poked at the fire with one of the leftover twigs, still smiling despite the hellish day we’d just survived.

“How are you so positive all the time?” I whispered.

Surprised by the question, she cut her eyes at me, then looked back at the fire. “What do you mean?”

I hesitated, trying to find the right words. “No matter what’s happening, you’re always so… optimistic. Even when the day’s complete shit. Even when we’re stuck with”—I tilted my head toward Pehper and mouthed her name. Laney bumped my shoulder with a soft laugh.

“And Shady?” she whispered.

I feigned confusion, but she saw through it.

“You two haven’t hung out since the Burn Trials. Why?”

“Don’t change the subject,” I shot back.

She smiled, but her focus returned to the fire as she poked at the flames.

“There’s no point wasting energy on negativity.

No matter how much you hate something or someone, it won’t change your situation.

Only you can do that. Change your mindset, change your life.

That’s what my brother always taught me.

” She paused, a small laugh escaping at the memory.

“He said to look at things with a positive lens, even when all you want to do is punch the person in front of ya. And you know what? Ever since I started following his advice, I’ve just… been happier. Even on the bad days.”

“That’s easier said than done,” I turned my attention back to the fire.

“It’s not easy, but it’s worth it,” she added.

“You have to wake up every morning and decide to be the person you want to be. You have to commit to doing the little things that person would do. Your negative mind will fight you, your inner demons will try to pull you back. But if you keep trying every single day, those demons will lose their power. Until they’re just… poof.”

She flicked her wrist, sending a small pebble skittering across the ground. The sound echoed through the cavern.

“So, you just… don’t have bad days?” I asked.

“Everybody has bad days, even me. But when I’m feeling down, angry, or upset… I go to my happy place.”

“Happy place?” I curled my legs up, wrapped my arms around them, and propped my chin on my knees. Even with the fire and my leather jacket, the chill was setting in fast .