Ashwini felt the burning sand vanish beneath her feet.
Vijay's flat stone plain blinked out of sight.
Ansh was still chasing Daav through dripping jungle leaves when the ground gave way in a whirl of light.
The three of them tumbled together onto a high, dark plateau.
Ansh landed face-first. "Ow! Why is the world always so mean?"
Daav plopped onto his back and chirped, half worried, half laughing.
Ashwini sat up, brushing grit from her cheeks. "Where… where even is this?"
Vijay looked around, hugging his elbows. "It's too quiet."
A sudden whoosh of wind tore through the mist.
A huge shadow rolled over them. They all tilted their heads back—and froze.
Above them a monster wheeled across the clouds: a bird so big it looked like a moving hill. Bronze-green feathers caught the light. Its cry was a roar that made their knees shake.
Ansh squeaked, "That… that's not a bird. That's a mountain with wings!"
Daav's feathers flared in alarm.
The beast folded its wings and dropped.
"Run!" Ashwini yelped.
They scattered just as it slammed onto the rock, the ground jumping under their feet. Dust and shards of stone stung their faces. Ansh fell again, clutching his little sword.
"I can't fight that!" he shouted. "It's bigger than the school!"
The creature whipped a wing at them. The wind flung Ashwini off her feet and sent Vijay skidding across the stone.
"We're gonna die!" Vijay wailed.
"Stop yelling!" Ashwini snapped, even as she scrambled to her knees. Her powers reached for roots… and found nothing but cold rock. "I—there's nothing to hold on to!"
Daav darted forward anyway, a tiny streak of fire. He spat a spark at the monster's eye. It blinked and shrieked, surprised but not hurt.
Ansh cupped his hands around his mouth. "Good try, Daav! Keep… uh… keep being annoying!"
Ashwini forced herself to breathe. Think like the desert, she told herself. Life hides deep.
She knelt and pressed her palms flat. The plateau wasn't dead; faint cracks held stubborn moss. She coaxed tiny vines to wake, thin and shaky.
"Found something!" she cried.
The vines crawled out, weak but real, snaking toward the beast's claws.
Vijay, still shaking, clenched his fists. Wind. Water. Fire. Don't need all five.
He swept his arms and called a strong gust. Air whirled around the monster's head, making it stagger.
Ansh blinked at them, hope flickering. "You guys are—are actually doing it!"
The Sky Tyrant shrieked and lifted, wings beating like thunder. The vines snapped. The gust scattered.
"Not enough!" Ashwini said.
Ansh wiped sweat from his eyes. His mind jumped back to the jungle trial:
Step, block, breathe. Don't swing wild. Daav sees what I can't.
"Daav!" he shouted. "Circle its wings—fast as you can!"
Daav zipped off, trailing sparks, weaving bright loops that lured the monster into a wide turn.
"Vijay, give me a push!" Ansh yelled.
Vijay hesitated, then called a tight column of wind under Ansh's feet. "Hold on!"
Ansh shot upward with a yelp, wobbling like a leaf. "Too high, too high!"
"Don't drop him!" Ashwini cried.
"I'm trying!" Vijay gritted his teeth, keeping the wind steady.
Daav flashed past the monster's face, spitting quick bursts of fire.
The beast snapped at him and tilted a wing—right toward Ansh.
"Now!" Ashwini shouted.
Her vines whipped up again, grabbing the other wingtip just long enough to pull the creature lower.
Ansh's heart hammered.
Block, breathe, strike, he told himself.
He tightened his grip on the sword. "For us, Daav!"
The little bird shrieked in answer and streaked across the monster's eyes, a blinding spark.
Ansh leapt from the gust of wind, the sword raised.
For a moment he was weightless, the world a rush of sky and roar.
He brought the blade down with every bit of strength in his small arms—straight across the soft seam of the creature's wing.
A burst of golden light erupted.
The Sky Tyrant gave one last deafening cry, then dissolved into a thousand fading embers that drifted like fireflies into the clouds.
Ansh landed hard on his bottom. "Ow… again."
Daav fluttered down and perched on his head, chittering proudly.
Ashwini ran to them, face bright. "You did it! You actually did it!"
"I almost peed myself," Vijay admitted, eyes wide. Then he grinned. "But you really hit it!"
Ansh puffed his chest, though his knees still shook. "Of course I did. Totally part of the plan."
Daav gave a tiny, doubtful chirp.
"Okay, our plan," Ansh corrected, scratching the bird's chin.
Ashwini giggled. "Next time maybe don't scream the whole way."
"I wasn't screaming," Ansh said quickly. "That was a… a battle cry!"
They all burst into tired laughter, the sound of children who had just survived something far too big for them.
Around the plateau, the mist began to fade, revealing a calmer sky.
For the first time since their strange trials began, the three friends stood together, stronger not because they were perfect, but because they had learned—clumsily, loudly, and bravely—to cover each other's weaknesses.
And Ansh, with Daav glowing warmly on his head, held the sword a little tighter.