By the time the first light touched the Badlands, the desert had already swallowed most of the tracks left during the night.
Far from Durnfield, Roku and Solara were still moving with five infected survivors whose bodies carried traces of Abyssal Qi. Somewhere behind them, a Hellfire Rebel had escaped into the desert.
They had no idea what waited ahead.
Back in Durnfield, Kel had problems of his own.
The sun rose over the village like a hammer.
Heat spread across the cracked training ground behind the old orphanage, turning the sand bright beneath the morning light. By the time Kel walked into the yard, sweat had already begun forming along the back of his neck.
Luno came beside him, yawning.
Spark was hidden somewhere beneath his hat, unusually quiet.
Kel stared across the training ground.
Dyrain was already there.
Of course he was.
He stood near the far end of the yard with his arms folded, looking as relaxed as if he had wandered outside only to enjoy the morning. Two dark metal spheres rested in the sand beside him.
Kel immediately stopped.
"No."
Luno looked at him.
"What?"
"I don't know what those are, but no."
"You haven't even heard what we're doing."
"I don't need to."
Dyrain raised his head.
"You two finished?"
Kel glanced toward Luno.
"He hears everything."
"You say everything loud enough for him to hear."
"That's not the point."
Dyrain stepped toward them.
Kel still wasn't completely used to the way the man moved. Harven was fast, but Harven still looked like a person moving quickly. Dyrain sometimes crossed distance so smoothly that Kel only realized he had moved after he was already standing somewhere else.
Dyrain stopped beside the two spheres.
"Harven taught you how to find your Qi, move it through your body, and recognize when your control starts slipping."
Kel nodded cautiously.
That sounded reasonable.
Which usually meant something unreasonable was coming next.
Dyrain tapped one of the spheres with his foot.
"Today you learn what happens when your body gets tired before your Qi does."
Kel stared at him.
"That happens?"
"All the time."
Luno crouched beside one of the spheres.
Its dark surface was covered in shallow markings that looked almost like scratches until the sunlight hit them. Then faint lines became visible beneath the metal.
"What is it?"
"Resonance iron."
Luno reached toward it.
Dyrain didn't stop him.
The moment Luno touched the sphere, the markings gave off a faint glow.
Luno frowned.
"It reacted."
"It responds to the Qi moving through whoever touches it."
Kel looked suspiciously at his sphere.
"So it gets heavier."
Dyrain smiled.
"You're learning."
Kel sighed.
"I knew it."
"The weight itself doesn't change much."
"That sounds like there's a bad part after that sentence."
"There is."
Dyrain crouched and placed one hand against the sphere.
"The more uneven your Qi becomes, the harder the metal resists your movement. Lose your breathing, lose your rhythm, start forcing Qi through tired muscles…"
He lifted the sphere easily with one hand.
"…and this starts feeling much heavier than it really is."
Dyrain set it down.
Kel stared at him.
"That thing probably weighs more than Luno."
Luno looked over.
"Why me?"
"You're standing right there."
Dyrain pointed toward the dunes beyond the village.
"Take them to the ridge."
Kel followed his finger.
The ridge was far enough away to be annoying without the metal sphere.
"With these?"
"No. I thought I'd introduce them and then let you leave them here."
Kel looked at Luno.
"See? He does jokes now."
"They're getting worse."
Dyrain folded his arms.
"Pick them up."
Kel muttered something under his breath and crouched.
He wrapped both arms around the sphere and lifted.
The weight hit him immediately.
His knees bent.
"Oh, come on."
Dyrain's expression barely changed.
"Breathe."
Kel adjusted the sphere against his shoulder.
Luno lifted his own and staggered two steps sideways before finding his balance.
Dyrain started walking behind them.
"Harven taught you that Qi follows intent. That's true."
Kel took one slow step.
"But intent alone isn't control."
Another step.
"Breathing matters."
Kel inhaled.
"Heartbeat matters."
Luno adjusted his footing.
"Movement matters."
The sphere on Kel's shoulder suddenly seemed heavier.
His body tilted.
"What did I do?"
"You got irritated."
Kel looked back at Dyrain.
"That makes it heavier?"
"No. Your irritation changed your breathing. Your breathing changed the way you were moving your Internal Qi."
Kel faced forward again.
"That's worse."
Luno laughed.
His breathing immediately broke rhythm.
The sphere dragged him downward.
His laugh disappeared.
"Okay. Not funny."
Kel grinned.
"Breathe."
"Shut up."
"See? Now you're mad."
Luno nearly dropped the sphere.
Kel started laughing.
His own weight immediately increased.
Dyrain walked behind them.
"Excellent lesson."
Neither boy responded.
---
They reached the first dune much later than Kel wanted to admit.
His bare feet burned against the sand. Sweat had soaked through his shirt, and every muscle across his shoulders felt like it was being slowly pulled apart.
Luno wasn't doing much better.
The difference was that Luno had stopped wasting energy complaining.
Kel noticed.
"You good?"
"No."
"Good."
Luno looked at him.
"That doesn't make sense."
"I just wanted to know I wasn't the only one dying."
"You're not."
"Good."
Dyrain's voice came from behind them.
"You're both still talking too much."
Kel looked back.
Dyrain wasn't carrying anything.
Of course.
"You want one?"
"No."
"Convenient."
Dyrain ignored him.
"Up."
Kel looked toward the dune.
The slope suddenly seemed much steeper than it had from the training yard.
He started climbing.
The sand shifted beneath every step, forcing his legs to work twice as hard. The resonance iron reacted almost immediately. Whenever Kel tried dumping too much Internal Qi into his legs at once, the sphere seemed to pull harder against him.
He stopped.
That was the problem.
Kel had gotten used to solving physical problems by adding more Qi.
Dyrain had already punished him for that during their earlier training. Too much Qi in one place meant less somewhere else. Now the sphere was punishing the same mistake.
Kel closed his eyes for half a second.
He felt his Internal Qi.
Not all of it.
Just enough.
A steady amount into his legs.
A little through his back.
Enough around his shoulders to support the weight.
The sphere eased.
Kel opened his eyes.
"Oh."
Dyrain smiled slightly.
"There."
Luno looked toward him.
"What?"
"I was forcing it."
Luno adjusted his own Qi.
His sphere shifted.
"Same."
Dyrain continued climbing behind them.
"Strength is useful. Control makes strength last."
Kel took another step.
Then another.
His breathing slowly settled.
For a while, the only sounds were shifting sand and their footsteps.
When they finally reached the ridge, Kel dropped the sphere.
It hit the ground with a heavy thud.
Luno dropped beside his.
Kel fell onto his back.
"I'm done."
Dyrain reached the top.
"No, you're not."
Kel stared at the sky.
"I wasn't asking."
Dyrain pointed back toward Durnfield.
"Take them back."
Kel sat up.
"You're a terrible person."
"That's possible."
Luno remained on the ground.
"I think Spark agrees."
There was a faint movement beneath his hat.
Dyrain noticed.
He didn't say anything.
---
By midday, Dyrain had changed the drill.
Kel had thought that meant something easier.
It didn't.
Two old water barrels were strapped across Kel and Luno's backs while they climbed another dune. The water shifted violently every time either boy lost balance, pulling their weight sideways.
This time, the challenge wasn't simply holding something heavy.
It was adapting to weight that never stayed where they expected it.
Halfway up the dune, Luno's foot slipped.
Kel reached for him immediately.
The barrel across Kel's back shifted.
His body twisted.
For a second, both of them nearly went down.
Kel forced Qi into his legs and caught Luno's arm.
"Got you."
Luno regained his footing.
"Don't let go."
"I wasn't planning on it."
Dyrain stood below them.
"If your body collapses, your Qi control follows."
Kel took another step.
"If your breathing breaks, your movement gets sloppy."
Luno climbed beside him.
"And when exhaustion makes you panic, you start wasting Qi because your body wants the problem gone immediately."
Kel looked down.
"You could help."
"I am."
"You're standing there."
"I'm teaching."
Kel muttered,
"Harven was nicer."
Dyrain smiled.
"No, he wasn't."
Kel thought about it.
"Fair."
They continued climbing.
---
Late in the afternoon, Dyrain brought them back to the training yard.
A circle of flat stones had been arranged in the sand while they were gone. Each stone carried one of the same shallow markings carved into the resonance iron.
Kel stared at it.
"You did this while we were carrying barrels?"
"Yes."
"You could've helped."
"We've covered that."
Dyrain stepped inside the circle.
"This isn't about pushing Qi outside your body."
Kel paid closer attention.
That mattered.
Every attempt he had made to reach External Qi had failed. His body always pulled his energy back inward.
Dyrain knew that now.
"This circle responds to changes in the Qi moving through your body," Dyrain continued. "You're not feeding the stones. They're reacting to you."
Kel relaxed slightly.
Dyrain closed his eyes.
His breathing slowed.
Nothing dramatic happened.
That was what made it impressive.
His Qi moved through his body so evenly that Kel almost couldn't tell where the flow began. The stones around Dyrain gradually brightened together.
No sudden surge.
No wasted power.
Everything matched.
Dyrain opened his eyes.
"Endurance isn't how long you can suffer."
He stepped out.
"It's how long you can remain yourself while suffering."
Kel looked at the circle.
"That sounded like something Harven would say."
"He stole it from me."
"Really?"
"No."
Luno laughed.
Dyrain pointed toward the circle.
"Kel."
Kel stepped inside.
He closed his eyes.
His body hurt.
That was probably the point.
He found the warmth inside himself.
His Internal Qi had always felt hotter lately. Not enough to burn, but different from before. Every time he tried touching External Qi, that heat seemed to return stronger.
Kel ignored the thought.
He focused on his breathing.
Slow.
Steady.
Then moved his Qi.
One stone flickered.
Another followed.
Kel tried pushing harder.
Three stones went dark.
Dyrain spoke from outside the circle.
"You're doing it again."
Kel exhaled.
"Trying too hard."
"Yes."
He relaxed.
The warmth settled.
This time, four stones slowly began glowing.
Not bright.
But stable.
Kel opened his eyes.
Dyrain nodded.
"Better."
Luno stepped in next.
His test looked different.
The moment Luno settled his breathing, Spark shifted beneath his hat.
Then the insect jar at his side stirred.
Several insects began moving together.
Luno felt them.
Dyrain saw his concentration change.
"Don't shut them out."
Luno looked up.
"What?"
"You're trying to separate yourself from everything around you so you can focus."
Dyrain pointed toward the jar.
"That isn't how you work."
Luno looked down.
The insects moved again.
He breathed.
Instead of ignoring them, he let their tiny presences remain in his awareness.
The stones responded.
One.
Two.
Three.
Then nearly the entire circle gave a faint pulse.
Kel blinked.
"Okay. That was better than mine."
Luno smiled.
"Way better."
"Don't get comfortable."
"I'm enjoying this."
Dyrain watched quietly.
Kel's Qi turned inward.
Luno's connected outward through living things.
Different problems.
Different strengths.
Both developing faster than he expected.
---
By sunset, Kel and Luno were lying flat in the sand.
Neither had enough energy to stand.
Kel looked toward the darkening sky.
"When do we learn the cool stuff?"
Dyrain stood over them.
"The cool stuff?"
"Yeah."
Kel weakly raised one fist.
"Fire punches. Crazy movement. Something where I don't spend all day carrying metal."
Luno lifted one hand.
"I vote for something where we sit."
Dyrain almost laughed.
"The strongest technique in the world is useless if you're exhausted before you can use it."
Kel lowered his hand.
"That sounded less fun."
"The Tri-Path requires balance."
Dyrain looked between them.
"The mind guides what you do. Qi gives you the ability to do it."
His eyes settled on Kel.
"But the body decides how long you can continue."
Kel stared upward.
"So tomorrow…"
"More training."
Kel closed his eyes.
"I knew it."
Luno laughed beside him.
For a few moments, Dyrain let them rest.
Then something changed.
Not in the training ground.
Far beyond Durnfield.
Dyrain slowly turned toward the open Badlands.
He felt it.
A faint disturbance deep beneath the earth.
One slow pulse.
Then nothing.
His expression tightened.
Kel opened one eye.
"What?"
Dyrain looked back at him.
"Nothing."
Kel stared for another second.
He didn't believe him.
But he was too tired to argue.
Dyrain turned toward the horizon again.
Whatever he had felt was distant.
Deep.
And old.
He didn't know what it was yet.
But he knew one thing.
The Badlands had been too active lately.
Strange attacks.
Missing travelers.
Qi behaving in ways it shouldn't.
And now this.
Behind him, Kel and Luno were already arguing about which of them had suffered more during training.
Dyrain listened without turning around.
For now, he let them.
Tomorrow, training would continue.
But as he stared toward the distant dunes, he found himself wondering how much time they actually had.