Chapter Ten: Lessons of Fire and Shadow
The ruins held their silence like a wound that never healed. Cracked stone, splintered beams, banners half-rotted on the walls—this was to be their sanctuary. Yet every shadow whispered, every draft of air felt like breath on Elena's neck.
Kael had not slept. His figure remained a constant silhouette against the broken window, shadows coiling at his command, restless as the man himself. Elena stirred from uneasy dreams, the taste of the entity's words still clinging to her tongue.
> "He cannot save you. But I can."
She sat up, clutching her mark. Its silver glow pulsed faintly in rhythm with her heartbeat, neither pain nor comfort, just presence.
Kael turned, his eyes sharp despite his exhaustion. "Good. You're awake. Training starts now."
She blinked. "Now? I just—"
"You don't have the luxury of rest." His voice was cold, clipped. "Every moment the entity waits, it grows stronger. You need to learn control before it learns how to use you."
Her hands balled into fists. "So you're going to break me like a weapon?"
His jaw tightened. "If that's what it takes to keep you alive."
The courtyard of the fortress became their ground. Cracks in the stone floor glowed faintly with her mark's energy when she stepped upon them. Shadows stretched unnaturally where Kael stood, drawn to him like breath to lungs.
"Focus," he ordered. "The entity feeds on your emotions. Fear, anger, even hope—everything is a doorway. You need to shut them."
She crossed her arms. "I'm not made of stone, Kael. I can't just turn off my feelings."
His expression was like ice. "Then it will use you."
Her teeth clenched, heat flaring in her chest. "You think I'm weak."
"I think you're untested," he snapped. His shadows lashed forward, striking like tendrils. "Prove me wrong."
She barely dodged, her mark flaring instinctively. Silver light burst from her palm, colliding with the shadow. The clash cracked the stone beneath her feet.
Kael's eyes narrowed. "Better. Again."
So it began. Again and again, his shadows lashed, forcing her to defend, to channel the mark's power without letting the whispers slip in. Sweat streaked her brow, her breath ragged, but the light obeyed her more with each strike.
Until the whispers returned.
> "He drives you because he fears you. He fears what you mean to him."
Her step faltered. A tendril struck her side, knocking her down hard. She gasped, clutching her ribs.
Kael loomed over her, shadows still sharp at his back. "Do you see? One thought—one weakness—and you fall. Again."
Anger sparked, burning hotter than the pain. She pushed to her feet, silver fire searing along her arm. "I'm not weak!"
The entity laughed inside her mind, twisting that anger.
> "Yes. Show him. Make him see your strength."
Her power surged uncontrolled, a wave of silver light blasting outward. Kael's shadows rose barely in time to shield him, the clash shattering the courtyard wall into rubble.
When the light faded, Elena stood trembling, her mark blazing, breath tearing from her lungs. She looked at Kael—and saw fear flicker in his eyes. Not fear for her. Fear of her.
Her chest tightened. "You think I'm becoming it."
Kael's silence cut deeper than words.
"I'm not," she whispered, voice shaking. "I won't."
He looked away, shadows curling tight around him. "You might."
Her heart cracked. The entity purred in the silence.
> "He doesn't trust you. He never will. But I would."
She pressed her hands to her head. "Shut up. Shut up!"
Kael stepped closer, hand half-raised to steady her. "Elena—"
The mark flared the moment his hand neared her. Silver sparks leapt between them, stinging his shadows. They both froze, breath caught in the sudden tension.
The light pulsed, not with violence, but with something else. Heat. Need.
Her heart raced. His gaze locked on hers, shadows quivering as though even they wanted to close the space between them.
Then Kael jerked back, breaking the moment. His shadows folded into his frame, a wall re-raised. "Enough for today."
She swallowed hard, fighting the sting of rejection. "You can't keep shutting me out. The more you push me away, the louder it gets."
His expression flickered, just once—pain, memory, longing. Then he masked it again. "Distance is the only thing that keeps you safe."
"No," she whispered fiercely, her fists trembling. "The only thing that keeps me safe is learning how to fight this. And I can't do it if you don't believe in me."
The entity's laughter threaded through her mark, deliciously cruel.
> "He will never believe in you. Only I see what you are becoming."
Elena squeezed her eyes shut, tears burning. She forced the whispers down, forced her voice to steady.
"I am not your vessel," she said into the night, whether to Kael or the entity, she wasn't sure. "I will master this power. I will not be devoured. Not by you. Not by anyone."
The mark pulsed once more, as though answering her vow.
Kael said nothing. His silence was a cage around them both.
But in Elena's chest, a new fire burned—dangerous, untamed, and hers.