Bloodwing Academy, #1
On Wings of Blood
by Briar Boleyn
Contents
Chapter 53
Overview
Empowered by Blake’s blood, Medra disables Quinn and escapes. At the island’s final trial, she learns entry requires both rider and consort blood. Forced to retrieve Regan, Medra tracks her using heightened senses and Orcades’s guidance. Despite hostility, Medra persuades Regan to return so they can face the dome’s test.
Summary
When Quinn looses an arrow, Medra’s highblood-charged reflexes seize it midair. Overwhelmed by predatory instincts from Blake’s blood, Medra scales the tree, drives the arrow into Quinn, and drops to the forest floor, leaving Quinn wounded and Regan unconscious without remorse.
Reaching a seaside dome where consorts queue, Medra learns from Visha that the next trial requires both rider and consort to each bleed into a bowl before entering, with no reentry allowed. Realizing she needs Regan, Medra heads back, only to find the clearing empty and tracks that suggest Regan and Quinn split up.
Leaning into rider instincts amplified by Blake’s blood and guided by Orcades’s inner voice, Medra follows Regan’s scent through the jungle. She anticipates an aerial ambush, dodges on command, and confronts a disoriented, unarmed Regan. Suppressing the urge to attack, Medra offers pragmatic terms: survival first, revenge later.
Amid barbed exchanges about Blake’s favoritism and public scrutiny, Medra insists that only cooperation will get them into the dome. Regan, fearing disgrace yet tempted by spite, grudgingly agrees. Medra leads the way back toward the dome, intent on making the blood offering in time for the final test.
Who Appears
- MedraProtagonist; empowered by Blake’s blood, incapacitates Quinn, tracks down Regan, and forces a cooperation to enter the dome trial.
- Regan PanseraMedra’s consort; initially hostile and injured, attempts ambush, then reluctantly agrees to return for the required blood entry.
- VishaWarns Medra that both rider and consort must bleed to enter the dome; refuses deeper help due to Evander.
- QuinnArcher who attacks Medra; is overpowered and wounded, later disappears from the clearing.
- OrcadesMaternal inner voice guiding Medra; helps detect Regan’s ambush and urges restraint.
- EvanderWaiting by the dome with Visha; presence limits Visha’s ability to assist Medra.
- BlakeAbsent but influential; his blood heightens Medra’s senses and instincts, shaping her actions.