Riftkeep Spiregrounds – Two hours past midnight
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There are two kinds of silence in Riftkeep.
The first is hollow—held breath in empty halls, stone pressing in with secrets.
The second is wild—alive with the sound of not-sound, as if the dark itself is watching.
Tonight, it's the second one.
Perfect for a duel.
---
I'm already at the Spiregrounds when Kiva arrives, late.
She's chewing thunderfruit like it's a declaration of war. Her boots are scuffed, her braid half-undone, and there's a smear of ink across her cheek like she fell asleep on a scroll.
"I thought you might chicken out," she says casually.
I don't respond. Just flex my fingers and wait.
[ "This girl really loves an entrance," Nyx murmurs in my head, voice curling like smoke. "Does she think she's in a theater troupe?"]
You're not helping, I think back.
[ "I'm not trying to. I'm enjoying."]
Kiva stops a few paces away and stretches like a cat.
"No teachers. No rules. Just you, me, and whatever the stars feel like watching. You ready?"
I nod once.
Kiva blinks. "Do you ever talk like a normal person?"
[ "She's working on it,"] Nyx answers for me.
---
We circle each other, spellblades in hand.
Kiva moves first—sharp, testing strikes laced with heat-sigils. Basic fire-weaving. Sloppy but fast.
I parry in silence, letting my magic hum just beneath the skin. It wants out. It always wants out lately.
Kiva grins. "Not bad. Quiet, but not bad."
She lunges. I sidestep. Her blade scrapes stone.
"Still not talking, huh? You do realize I can't banter alone."
["She could try mime,"] Nyx suggests.
"You always this annoying?" I mutter finally, just loud enough for her to hear.
Kiva lights up like it's her birthday.
"Oh, stars. You do speak. I was starting to think the Ash Mothers burned out your tongue."
She spins on her heel and sends a pulse of force toward me—just enough to unbalance. I ground it, absorbing the current.
Magic flares in my chest—untamed, molten. Not just fire. Something deeper. Something stitched into my soul with teeth and shadow.
Nyx's voice sharpens.
["Sylara. Careful. It's not time yet."]
---
I lose my grip.
For a heartbeat, I see not Kiva—but everything.
The runes beneath Riftkeep. The silver cracks in the ground. The gods sleeping under stone. The edges of this world, stitched together with dying light.
And then—release.
Flame erupts from my palm.
Not orange. Not red.
Silver. With threads of black and gold. A living thing. A howl in the shape of fire.
Kiva's eyes go wide. She throws up a barrier just in time, tumbling backward as the spell blasts the dueling circle apart.
When the dust clears, I'm standing at the center of a scorchmark shaped like a rune I've never seen before.
Kiva coughs. "Okay… that was not beginner magic."
I don't move. My heart is hammering. The magic is retreating slowly, but I feel its claws still deep in me.
["Easy, Flamelet," Nyx murmurs. "Breathe. You're not broken. Just… remembering."]
---
"Is this where you kill me?" Kiva asks, voice light but slightly breathless.
"No," I answer quietly. "I don't kill people just because they're nosy."
She grins, brushing soot off her arm. "Good. Because I think I like you."
I frown. "Why?"
"Because you don't pretend. Because you're sharp. And because you just made me feel alive."
A beat of silence.
"…And also because you look like someone who needs a smart friend."
I blink. "I don't need friends."
She shrugs. "Too bad. You've got one anyway."
["Oh," Nyx purrs, "she's bold. I like bold."]
---
We walk back to the lower halls in silence. Kiva whistles off-key. I keep my arms folded tight across my chest.
Behind us, unseen, an Ash Mother lingers on a distant ledge.
She does not speak.
She simply traces the rune Sylara left behind in the ash, and whispers it under her breath.
"Ahm'karreth…"
Then she vanishes into shadow.
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