The next morning, the air in the hidden valley was heavy with unspoken words. Yue's lesson from the night before echoed in my mind, a constant, chilling refrain. The greatest danger is the one you let into your heart... they will hammer them with everything they have until you shatter.
I was trying. I was focusing on the stream, on the way the water flowed around a stone, on the feeling of the wind on my skin. I was trying to be the wind, not the fire. But the shame and the anger were still embers glowing in my chest, waiting for a spark.
Yue stood beside me, a silent, imposing statue. "Again," he commanded. "The ribbon. But this time, do not just show it to me. Give it substance. Make it sharp."
