Bloodwing Academy, #1
On Wings of Blood
by Briar Boleyn
Contents
Chapter 26
Overview
Medra arrives for thrallguard training and finds Blake replacing Professor Rodriguez. Blake asserts his authority as archon and future House Leader, then launches a brutal thrallweave assault. Despite Medra’s training, Blake overwhelms her defenses, signaling his power and escalating their fraught, coercive dynamic.
Summary
Days after the House Leader ceremony, Medra heads to thrallguard training, unsettled by Blake killing Coregon yet still blaming him for Vaughn’s injury. She expects discipline from Headmaster Kim over the Sankara incident, but no summons comes.
At Professor Rodriguez’s office, Medra finds Blake seated at the desk, revealing Rodriguez is absent and that he will teach. Blake implies he is also Rodriguez’s pupil, blocks Medra’s exit, and reminds her he is her archon and now the official future House Leader.
Medra resists his taunts and refuses to accept his authority, but Blake closes the distance and declares the lesson will proceed. Noting bruises on Blake’s jaw, Medra refuses sympathy. Tension spikes as Blake promises to demonstrate a highblood’s thrallweave.
Without warning, Blake strikes into Medra’s mind. The attack is far more forceful than Rodriguez’s training, battering the mental walls Medra has been building. Medra fights to hold him off, but Blake’s relentless pressure fractures her defenses until, with a final surge, her walls buckle and collapse.
Who Appears
- MedraArrives for thrallguard training; challenges Blake’s authority; attempts to defend her mind but is overwhelmed.
- Blake DrakharrowActs as substitute for Rodriguez; asserts role as archon and future House Leader; crushes Medra’s mental defenses.
- Professor RodriguezAbsent thrallguard instructor; his office hosts the lesson; implied mentor to both Medra and Blake.