Elena woke up because her chest hurt.
Not a sharp pain, not the kind that made her cry out, but the deep, heavy ache of something inside her that had been stretched too far and hadn't fully settled back into place. Her eyes opened slowly. For a moment she didn't know where she was.
Then she remembered.
The fire.
The blades.
Her parents.
Her breath caught, fast and shallow. She tried to sit up and immediately regretted it as pain washed through her chest and down her arms.
"Don't move," Rowan said softly.
His voice was close. Too close for a forest, too close for panic. Elena turned her head slightly and saw him sitting beside her, his back against the tree, one knee drawn up, one hand resting lightly on the edge of the blanket covering her.
"You've been out for hours," he added. "You scared us."
Her throat felt dry. "Did… did we get away?"
Rowan nodded. "Barely."
She tried to swallow and winced. "My parents—"
Rowan's jaw tightened. He looked down at the ground. That was all the answer she needed.
Her eyes filled before she could stop it. She turned her face away so he wouldn't see her cry, but he did anyway. He always did.
"I'm sorry," he whispered.
She shook her head weakly, not trusting her voice.
A short distance away, Kara was pacing back and forth, restless energy in every step. Selene sat near the small fire, her tablet in pieces beside her as she worked quietly with a notebook she must have pulled from her bag. She was drawing shapes Elena didn't recognize.
Calder stood apart from them all, watching the tree line with arms folded.
None of them spoke for a while.
The forest was quiet in the way only a place that has seen too much noise can be.
Finally, Elena whispered, "What happened after I passed out?"
Rowan hesitated, then answered. "The man who saved us… Calder. He held that thing off long enough for us to run. We didn't see the end of the fight. We just kept going until you collapsed."
"General," Selene said without looking up. "Not 'thing.' He was one of Lord Dreadveil's generals."
Kara stopped pacing. "Which means what we saw wasn't even the main enemy. Just one of his dogs."
Selene didn't correct her.
Elena felt a chill move through her despite the blanket. "He'll come back."
"Yes," Calder said from where he stood.
Everyone turned toward him.
"Not today," he continued calmly, "but soon enough. They don't ignore awakenings."
Rowan looked at him sharply. "Awakenings."
Calder finally turned his full attention back to Elena. "How does your chest feel?"
She hesitated. "Like something inside me is… bruised."
"That's a good sign," Calder replied. "It means your core didn't rupture."
Selene set her notebook aside and stood. "That does not sound reassuring."
"It's meant to be," Calder said.
Kara crossed her arms. "You keep saying 'core.' Start talking in complete sentences."
Calder studied them for a long moment, then exhaled slowly. "You're going to learn about this whether I explain it or not. Better you hear it from me while you're still alive."
He gestured toward the clearing. "Sit."
Reluctantly, Kara dropped onto a fallen log. Selene sat near the fire again. Rowan stayed beside Elena but shifted so he could see Calder clearly.
Calder remained standing. "A spiritual core is not mystical nonsense. It's a pressure point where human will, emotion, and life force overlap. Everyone has one. Most people live and die without ever touching it."
Rowan frowned. "So why did hers open?"
"Because it was forced to," Calder said simply. "Fear strong enough to break the mind can break the lock on a core too. Add proximity to death, and the wall gives way."
Elena's fingers curled into the blanket. "So I broke it."
"No," Calder said. "You opened it. There's a difference."
Selene leaned forward slightly. "And the power she used."
"Raw output," Calder answered. "Unshaped pressure. Dangerous, unstable, and lethal to the user in large amounts."
Kara frowned. "Then how do people who survive actually fight with it?"
Calder's eyes shifted back to Elena. "They give it shape."
Rowan frowned. "With what?"
"With a spiritual weapon."
The word hung between them.
"Elena didn't get one," Selene said slowly.
"No," Calder replied. "She only pushed power. That's why it nearly killed her."
Elena whispered, "So I need a weapon."
Calder nodded once. "If you want to survive using it again."
Silence fell.
Rowan broke it. "Then how does she get one?"
Calder's jaw tightened just slightly. "You don't 'get' one. You reach a point where the core stabilizes enough to project itself. Sometimes it takes years. Sometimes it takes hours. Sometimes it never happens."
Kara scoffed. "So we're betting our lives on luck."
"You're betting them on endurance," Calder corrected.
Elena took a slow breath. "Then start."
Calder looked at her. "You can barely sit up."
"Then I'll start lying down," she said quietly.
Rowan's hand tightened on the blanket. "Elena—"
"I watched my parents die," she whispered. "I'm not waiting for the next person I love to be taken."
Rowan went silent.
Calder studied her for a long moment, then nodded. "Fine. We start with control, not power."
He stepped closer and crouched beside her. "Close your eyes."
She did.
"Find the warmth you felt last night."
At first she felt only pain. Then, faintly, the dull ember inside her chest made itself known. It flickered weakly, like it might go out if she breathed too hard.
"I feel it," she whispered.
"Good," Calder said. "Now do nothing with it. Just hold awareness on it."
Elena tried.
Nothing happened.
Her brow furrowed in frustration. "It's not responding."
"That's because awareness is not command," Calder replied. "You're used to reacting. Control is slower."
She tried again, breathing carefully, holding her focus in her chest without pushing. The warmth shifted slightly, like something stirring in its sleep.
"A little," she said.
Rowan felt his own chest tighten as he watched her concentrate, sweat forming at her temples.
Kara muttered, "She looks worse than after the fight."
"Because this is the part most people can't see," Calder said.
After several minutes Elena's breathing grew shallow. Her hands trembled.
"Stop," Calder said.
She opened her eyes, dizzy. "Did I fail?"
"No," he replied. "You lasted longer than most on their first conscious attempt."
Selene narrowed her eyes. "How long do most last?"
"A few seconds," Calder answered.
Kara let out a low whistle.
Rowan exhaled slowly, only now realizing he'd been holding his breath.
They let Elena rest again while Selene brought her more water using a small filter device from her bag. Kara stood watch. Rowan never moved from her side.
When Elena finally slept again, Calder motioned for the others to follow him a short distance away.
"What about us?" Kara asked once they were out of Elena's hearing range. "You said we felt it too."
Calder nodded. "Feeling a surge and awakening a core are not the same thing. But the door has been loosened for all of you."
Selene folded her arms. "So there is a chance."
"Yes."
Rowan didn't waste words. "Then start with me."
Calder looked at him carefully. "Spiritual power feeds on intent. Why do you want it?"
Rowan didn't hesitate. "To protect her."
Calder's eyes narrowed. "That kind of intent can either make you unbreakable or get you killed."
"I'll take either," Rowan replied.
Calder looked to Kara. "And you?"
Kara's jaw tightened. "So I never have to run again."
Selene answered last. "So I can understand what's happening instead of reacting to it blind."
Calder nodded to each of them in turn. "Then you all begin the same way. Awareness before power."
"Now?" Kara said.
"Now," Calder replied.
---
By the time Elena woke again, the forest light had shifted. Her body still hurt, but the crushing edge of the pain had softened. She pushed herself up slowly.
Rowan noticed immediately. "Hey. Easy."
"I'm not made of glass," she murmured.
"Last night you almost turned into smoke," Kara said. "That's close enough."
Elena managed a weak smile.
Calder stepped toward her again. "We move before nightfall. This area won't stay safe."
"Where are we going?" she asked.
"Somewhere I prepared for this possibility," he replied. "Training ground. Shelter. Food. No villagers to endanger."
Rowan nodded. "Then let's go."
They moved carefully through the forest, Elena leaning lightly on Rowan when the pain hit too hard. Kara ranged slightly ahead, alert. Selene stayed near Calder, already asking quiet questions about energy flow and pressure balance.
Calder answered only some of them.
By midday they reached an old stone structure half-hidden by vines and trees. It looked like the remains of a shrine or forgotten outpost.
"This is it," Calder said.
Inside, it was simple. Clear floor space. Old support beams. A faint hum in the air that made Elena's chest warm slightly as she stepped in.
Selene noticed it too. "There is residual pressure here."
Calder nodded. "Old training site. It remembers power."
That night they ate in silence. Simple food. Hard bread. Clean water. Elena ate slowly, every bite reminding her that she was still alive.
Later, when Kara and Selene were setting up their packs, Rowan sat beside Elena near the faint fire.
"You don't have to be strong alone," he said quietly.
She looked at him. "I don't want you hurt because of me."
"That ship sailed when I first started walking you home," he said.
Despite everything, she laughed softly. The sound surprised her. Then she cried.
Rowan pulled her into his arms without hesitation. She pressed her face into his shoulder and let the sobs come, quiet and shaking. He held her until they faded, his hand steady at her back.
"I'm still here," he whispered.
She nodded against him. "So am I."
From across the room, Kara pretended not to look. Selene looked away on purpose.
Calder watched them both, unseen.
That night, long after the others slept, Calder stood alone outside the structure and looked toward the distant glow that still marked the direction of Moonridge.
Many kilometers away, in a dark chamber of carved stone and cold metal, one of Lord Dreadveil's generals knelt before a towering shadow.
"The surge was real," the general said. "A human awakening, uncontrolled."
A low, distant voice echoed from the darkness. "And the girl?"
"She escaped. Calder intervened."
The silence that followed was heavy.
"At last," the shadow said slowly, "the core born of prayer has opened. Increase the pressure on every surrounding region. I want her found."
The general bowed. "As you command."