Liam nodded. "Yes, I'm ready for the test!"
Director Elena clapped her hands once, her face lighting up with a quick smile. "Wonderful," she said.
Before Liam could even take another breath, the two of them lifted smoothly into the air.
They were rising far higher than the tallest towers of the Ark Academy.
The ground dropped away fast, and the whole campus shrank beneath them until it looked like a toy model.
They came to a stop on a wide, see-through disk that hung in the open sky.
It was solid under their feet but clear enough that Liam could see straight down to the rooftops below.
The wind tugged at his clothes, cool and steady.
Liam tilted his head and glanced around. "Where's the test, Director?"
Elena grinned at him, sharp and knowing, and pointed toward the far edge of the sky where everything suddenly looked darker.
Like a storm that wasn't real. "I've used one of my special spells and rebuilt a whole copy of the academy down there.
