Chapter 214 — No More Holding Back

Chapter 214: Chapter 214 — No More Holding Back

~ Cassian ~

The supervising instructor looked between Cassian and Dante for what must have been the third time, his expression suggesting he was already regretting his decision to allow the spar.

"I don’t want any trouble from either of you," he warned. "No lethal techniques, no deliberate crippling injuries, and the moment I call an end to the match, you stop. Understood?"

"Perfectly," Cassian replied.

Dante gave a curt nod, although his attention remained fixed on Cassian.

Beyond the court’s protective boundary, Rowan stood with his arms folded across his chest, looking thoroughly irritated by the situation. Nikolai had taken a position beside him, occasionally glancing toward Dante as though he still hoped the man might reconsider.

Cassian understood their concern, although he thought they were making rather too much of it.

They’d sparred before, after all.

Granted, Dante had never looked quite this eager to put him through the training floor, but Cassian was confident he could handle himself.

Besides, if the bastard needed to throw a few punches before he could think reasonably again, perhaps allowing him to do so wasn’t the worst idea.

Cassian stepped into position opposite him.

The reinforced court was large enough to accommodate two Dominant wolves, its stone surface surrounded by defensive inscriptions designed to withstand powerful attacks. A handful of students training nearby had already noticed them, although most continued their exercises.

Dante rolled his shoulders, the faint reddish shimmer of his Fire Lattice appearing around his arms as he flexed his fingers.

Cassian allowed his own essence to circulate, feeling the familiar lines of Air settle through his body.

"Ready?" the instructor called.

Neither answered, their attention fixed entirely on each other.

The instructor gave the signal.

Dante moved first.

A wave of intense heat rolled across the court as he charged, his fist coming toward Cassian’s face with enough force to make a direct hit thoroughly unpleasant.

Cassian shifted sideways, drawing the Air Lattice inward until his body grew lighter. He slipped past the strike with barely an inch to spare, caught Dante’s arm and redirected the blow before driving his palm toward the man’s ribs.

Dante twisted, taking the impact against his reinforced forearm before stepping closer and forcing Cassian to withdraw as another surge of heat radiated from his body.

Cassian landed several paces away, noticing that the stone where Dante stood had begun to darken beneath his feet.

Interesting.

"Feeling better?" he asked, adjusting his stance.

Dante didn’t answer. Instead, he advanced again, the air around him shimmering as the temperature continued to rise.

Cassian watched him approach, quickly recognizing what the bastard was attempting. Rather than relying on the force of his attacks alone, Dante was using the heat radiating from his body to restrict the angles Cassian could safely approach from.

He shifted toward Dante’s right, looking for an opening, but the Fire Cardinal immediately adjusted his position and cut him off.

Cassian withdrew, using the Air Lattice to carry himself backward before Dante could close the distance.

Unfortunately, the bastard had anticipated that too.

The moment Cassian’s feet touched the stone, Dante was already upon him.

Cassian turned the first blow aside, ducked beneath the second and drove his knee toward Dante’s abdomen, only for the man to block it and catch him by the shoulder.

Heat surged through Dante’s hand.

Cassian felt the fabric of his uniform begin to scorch, prompting him to twist free and strike Dante across the jaw with an essence-reinforced fist.

The impact snapped Dante’s head sideways.

For a moment, Cassian thought he’d finally made some progress.

Then Dante turned back toward him, blood marking the corner of his mouth.

He smiled.

"Oh, you’re going to regret that."

Cassian raised an eyebrow. "Am I?"

Dante’s answering attack came with considerably more force.

Cassian blocked the first strike, but the second caught his forearm hard enough to send a jolt of pain through his elbow.

He adjusted his footing, preparing to move behind Dante, only for the Fire Cardinal to pivot and cut him off before he could complete the maneuver.

The bastard knew his fighting style too well.

Cassian tried another angle, using the Air Lattice to lighten his body and accelerate toward Dante’s exposed side.

Dante anticipated him again.

A fist caught Cassian hard across the ribs.

Pain tore through his side as the impact lifted him from the ground and sent him skidding across the court. His boots scraped against the stone, and although he managed to remain upright, the force left him struggling to draw a proper breath.

Cassian pressed one hand against his side as he straightened, only to find Dante already approaching.

The expression on his face had lost every trace of amusement.

Cassian drew a careful breath, ignoring the protest from his ribs.

He’d underestimated how seriously Dante intended to take this match, and now he was paying for it.

Yet as he watched the man approaching, he couldn’t help noticing something else.

Prymont had always been an irritating bastard, but there was usually something playful about his temper, even when he was genuinely angry.

Today, that familiar amusement was nowhere to be found.

Cassian caught sight of the blood on Dante’s mouth and the tightness around his eyes.

For a moment, the image of the man standing along the path after the Renewal Ball crossed his mind.

His smile that night had certainly accomplished more than he’d intended.

Dante charged before Cassian could dwell on the thought.

Cassian shifted sideways, drawing more of his Air Lattice into his legs before accelerating across the court.

His body lightened, allowing him to move behind Dante’s shoulder before the Fire Cardinal could fully turn.

He struck the man’s shoulder first, forcing his guard upward, then adjusted his footing and drove another blow into his exposed side.

Dante grunted and attempted to retaliate, but Cassian caught his wrist and twisted sharply before driving him backward with a concentrated burst of air.

The impact sent Dante several feet across the court.

He landed heavily, one knee scraping against the stone, and Cassian followed immediately, intending to press his advantage before the bastard could recover.

Dante swept one arm outward.

A violent surge of heat radiated from his body, forcing Cassian to abandon his attack and throw himself backward before he could be caught at such close range.

Even so, the heat struck him hard enough to make him wince, and when he landed farther away, he noticed that the edge of his sleeve had been badly scorched.

Part of the fabric had burned away, exposing reddened skin beneath.

Cassian glanced at the damage before lifting his gaze toward Dante, who was already climbing to his feet.

The bastard was breathing harder now, with blood along his jaw and another dark stain spreading across his uniform, yet he looked far from finished.

"Prymont," Cassian called, straightening.

Dante wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.

"What?"

"This isn’t going to change what happened."

For a moment, Dante simply stared at him.

Then he laughed, shaking his head as he looked away.

"You think I don’t fucking know that?"

Cassian said nothing.

Dante turned back toward him, and something in his expression made Cassian’s faint amusement disappear.

"You really think that’s why I’m doing this?"

Cassian frowned. "Then why the hell are you?"

Dante stared at him for another moment, his mouth tightening.

"Forget it."

He came forward again.

Cassian watched him approach, still trying to make sense of the exchange. He’d expected another insult, perhaps something about Raven, but Dante had looked genuinely offended by the question.

His hesitation cost him.

Dante reached him before he could properly adjust his stance, driving a powerful strike toward his chest.

Cassian redirected it just enough to avoid taking the full impact, although the force still jarred his shoulder.

He retaliated with a sharp blow to Dante’s ribs, but the bastard caught his arm before he could withdraw.

For one dangerous second, they were close enough that neither could properly evade.

Dante grinned through bloodied teeth.

Then he drove his forehead into Cassian’s face.

Pain burst through Cassian’s nose.

"Fuck!"

He staggered backward, instinctively raising one hand as blood began running down his mouth.

Dante pursued immediately, throwing another powerful strike that Cassian narrowly avoided before catching the man’s wrist and twisting hard enough to break his momentum.

Cassian drove his elbow into Dante’s stomach, forcing him to bend slightly before following with a strike to his shoulder that sent him stumbling backward.

Dante recovered and launched another attack before Cassian could regain his footing.

Cassian raised his forearm, compressing the air around it just as Dante’s essence-reinforced fist came crashing toward him.

The collision sent a violent shock through both men.

Cassian felt the force travel down his arm and into his shoulder, while the reinforced stone beneath their feet cracked under the pressure.

Several defensive inscriptions surrounding the court flared brightly, struggling to absorb the impact.

A collective shout rose from beyond the barrier.

Cassian barely heard it.

Dante was already moving again.

His face was bloodied, his uniform torn and his breathing noticeably heavier, but he continued advancing as though the injuries meant nothing.

Cassian’s patience finally gave way.

Goddess, what the hell did Prymont want from him?

He wasn’t going to apologize for kissing Raven, and he certainly wasn’t going to stand here allowing the bastard to beat him bloody because of it.

Dante lunged, the temperature around his body rising sharply as he aimed another powerful strike toward Cassian’s chest.

Cassian shifted aside, catching the incoming arm against his forearm before driving a counterattack into Dante’s chest.

The impact sent Dante staggering backward, and Cassian followed immediately, using his Air Lattice to close the distance before the man could recover.

His second strike caught Dante across the shoulder and sent him crashing onto the stone.

A cheer erupted from somewhere beyond the court.

Cassian glanced toward the sound and noticed just how many students had gathered along the protective boundary.

Several had abandoned their exercises entirely, while others were already holding up Linkslates to record the fight.

Goddess.

They were making quite a spectacle of themselves.

Rowan was speaking urgently to Nikolai nearby, while the supervising instructor watched them with an expression that suggested he was rapidly approaching the end of his patience.

Cassian looked back toward Dante.

The Fire Cardinal remained on the ground for several seconds, one hand pressed against his injured side.

Cassian wiped the blood from beneath his nose and waited for him to move.

Perhaps they’d finally taken this far enough.

"Are we finished?"

Dante laughed.

Then he planted one hand against the ground and pushed himself upright.

Blood ran from his mouth, and when he straightened, his eyes settled on Cassian with the same fierce determination as before.

Cassian sighed.

"You really are a stubborn bastard."

Dante’s mouth curved despite the blood on his lips.

"Look who’s talking."

For a moment, Cassian almost laughed.

It sounded like one of their usual arguments, the kind that would end with Rowan threatening to knock their heads together if neither shut up.

Except Dante was still bleeding, and Cassian could barely draw a full breath without his ribs protesting.

He adjusted his stance.

Across the court, Dante’s smile faded as the reddish shimmer of his Fire Lattice intensified.

The temperature began rising again.

"Enough!"

The instructor’s voice carried across the court, drawing Cassian’s attention toward the protective boundary.

The man had one arm raised, signaling for the match to end.

"Both of you! Stand down immediately!"

Dante ignored him.

The heat surrounding his body continued building, becoming uncomfortable even from several paces away.

Cassian’s eyes narrowed.

That was far more power than an ordinary spar required.

Beyond the boundary, Rowan was already approaching the instructor.

"Prymont!" he shouted. "That’s enough!"

Nikolai followed, his earlier amusement completely gone as he moved closer to the court.

Several students began retreating from the protective barrier as the temperature continued rising, while the defensive inscriptions along its edge brightened in response.

Cassian watched Rowan move toward the court entrance, clearly preparing to intervene.

He could have lowered his guard and allowed it.

Instead, he turned back toward Dante.

The man was standing opposite him with his jaw clenched and his shoulders rising and falling beneath his damaged uniform. His gaze hadn’t shifted from Cassian once, not even when Rowan shouted his name.

Cassian knew that look well enough.

He’d seen it across training courts for years, usually when Dante was determined to prove a point and refused to accept that he’d already lost the argument.

But this was different.

There was no teasing remark waiting behind that expression, no ridiculous grin promising they’d laugh about it afterward.

Dante simply waited for him.

"Prymont!" the instructor shouted again. "I said stand down!"

Dante didn’t so much as glance in his direction.

Cassian exhaled slowly, feeling his own wolf stir beneath his skin.

He could retreat, certainly, but the thought of doing so while Prymont stood there looking at him like that was almost as irritating as the pain in his ribs.

And whatever else Dante expected from this confrontation, Cassian wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of watching him back down.

He drew the Air Lattice inward, gathering every available line around his muscles and joints until the familiar pressure settled tightly against his body.

His weight eased, and the air around him shifted as he adjusted his footing.

Rowan shouted something else, but Cassian barely listened.

Across the court, Dante lowered his stance, the heat radiating from his body intensifying until the air around him distorted visibly.

Faint flames flickered across his forearms, while the reinforced stone beneath his feet began darkening from the heat.

Cassian shifted his weight forward, ignoring the pain in his ribs as he prepared to meet the attack.

He’d started the morning looking forward to seeing Raven, perhaps convincing her to join him for some private training, and somehow he’d ended up fighting a man who cared about her almost as much as he did.

Goddess, she’d be furious when she found out.

Dante launched himself across the court, and Cassian moved to meet him.