Raen didn't hesitate.
He couldn't.
Asha's presence pressed against the world like an invisible wave—unseen by the villagers who'd fled moments ago, but deafening to him. His bones vibrated. His sword screamed in his grip. And the whispers inside him went silent.
Only one remained. Kavran.
"She carries broken truths. Sever her rhythm."
Asha stepped forward, and the ground cracked beneath her. Her twin blades, jagged and dull, floated around her like satellites. They weren't held—just orbiting by will.
"I was hoping we'd cross again," she said. Her voice wasn't hostile. It was curious. "Your movements are clearer now. Almost clean. But still… incomplete."
Raen didn't answer.
He flickered forward—Flicker Step, once, twice—then struck.
Asha tilted her head.
Not moved.
Not blocked.
Just leaned slightly—so slightly the blade skimmed past her cheek, cutting nothing.
Then her shattered twin blades slammed down like hammer blows.
Raen's sword buckled under the pressure as he blocked.
The ground fractured.
His legs nearly gave.
She smiled. "Still alive. Impressive."
Raen twisted out, breathing hard.
She followed, calm, walking.
But each step dragged the air with her—like the sound of swords being unsheathed, dozens at once. Raen's thoughts blurred.
"What is that…" he muttered.
"Her resonance," Kavran growled. "Shattered Echo Technique. The mind breaks before the body."
Then the hallucinations began.
He blinked—and saw flames.
He blinked again—and Asha stood as Kael, his cousin, the one who shattered his leg.
"No," Raen hissed. "That's not real."
Asha stepped into the illusion and slashed. Her blades howled—not with steel, but with memory.
Raen screamed as the pain from his old wound burst open again, blood staining his bandages.
But this time, he refused to fall.
He grounded himself.
Focused.
Listened.
There—beneath the chaos—was one whisper. Not a scream. Not rage.
A woman's voice, soft as silk.
"Don't watch the blade. Watch the foot."
Raen exhaled. "Right."
He didn't parry the next blow.
He pivoted—out of the path before it landed, even though the illusion told him otherwise.
The hallucination shattered.
Asha raised a brow. "You rejected it?"
Raen flickered in—and this time, his blade met hers midair.
Metal sang.
"Then I'll have to scream louder," she whispered.
She leapt.
Her twin blades curved outward, shattering the air between them. The noise was unbearable, like glass breaking inside the soul. Raen's vision fractured again. Fire. Screams. The memory of failure. Falling.
He couldn't move.
Couldn't breathe.
"MOVE!" Kavran's voice thundered in his skull.
Raen's body reacted without thought—Flicker Step burst left, twisting into Silence Breaker mid-pivot.
His blade struck Asha's right arm. Her rhythm broke.
For a moment—just a moment—she lost control of one of her floating blades.
Raen grabbed it midair.
She gasped.
"Impossible—"
He held her own shattered blade in his off-hand, blood dripping from his fingers.
And with both weapons, he struck.
The broken edge of her own blade cut across her shoulder.
She fell back, skidding across the stones.
Raen dropped the weapon. His legs gave out seconds later.
They stared at each other from the ground, gasping.
"I didn't expect…" Asha coughed. "You to… learn this quickly."
Raen spat blood. "I didn't expect to survive."
She laughed—genuinely, lightly.
Then stood.
"You're not ready for the deeper echoes. Not yet. But you will be. And when you are…" Her eyes narrowed. "We'll finish this. Properly."
She turned, vanishing into the rising fog.
Raen collapsed back, staring at the clouds swirling above.
"Kavran," he said weakly, "was that… enough?"
Silence.
Then, faintly: "You moved through her scream. That is enough for now."
---
Somewhere in the Vohar mountains, Talin Varros watched the sky shift.
He closed his book of sword poems, scratched his head, and sighed.
"Guess it's time to meet this whisper boy everyone's talking about."