The fortress buzzed with quiet anticipation that morning.
Rumors had spread like wildfire since Aria's arrival. The human girl who had dared to enter the Alpha's sacred circle. The outsider who wore a flame within her, one no one could understand — or control. Word had it she was weak, fragile, unworthy. A burden Kael had foolishly marked.
And now, she was to train.
As Aria stepped out of her chamber, her heart thundered with a thousand emotions. Fear. Uncertainty. But above all, a bone-deep resolve. The corridor that led from the guest quarters to the training grounds was eerily silent — save for the occasional servant she passed, who quickly bowed or averted their eyes.
She wore the same black combat outfit Kael had left for her, fitted now to her form, giving her the smallest illusion of control. Her hair was braided tightly, her jaw clenched. The necklace he'd given her pulsed against her collarbone, warm like a living ember.
Two guards waited at the end of the hallway.
"Lady Aria," one said stiffly. "We've been instructed to escort you."
"To where?" she asked, though she already knew.
The second guard smirked. "To the public training pit."
Her stomach flipped.
Public.
That wasn't just training. That was display. Spectacle. Humiliation, if they could help it.
Still, she nodded and followed.
---
The fortress training pit was nothing like she imagined.
It was enormous — an oval-shaped arena carved directly into the rock, surrounded by rising stands where warriors, nobles, council members, and servants alike could gather. Today, they had gathered in full force. The energy in the air was unmistakable — a quiet, bloodthirsty curiosity.
At the center stood Kael, arms folded, a silent shadow of power. Around him, the heads of the Inner Circle — the Alpha Council — stood watching with sharp, calculating eyes. They whispered to one another, sizing her up.
But they weren't the only ones.
Near the archery range, Maria leaned back on a stone pillar, her eyes trailing Aria like a hunter tracking prey. Karla and Elise flanked her, all three dressed in tight combat leathers, their faces smug.
"Poor little human," Maria drawled. "Probably thinks this is some sort of show."
"Oh, it is," Karla purred. "But the kind where the heroine dies at the end."
"She's gonna trip over her own feet," Elise added with a cruel giggle.
Aria heard every word.
She didn't flinch.
---
Kael gestured her forward. "You're late."
"I had to breathe," she replied.
That made one of the council elders grunt — in amusement or irritation, she couldn't tell.
Kael stepped closer, lowering his voice. "This isn't just training. It's a test. They want to see if I've lost my mind by bringing you here."
"And if I fail?"
His eyes darkened. "Don't."
Then, to the crowd, his voice rang out: "Lady Aria will begin her training today — not because she has earned it, but because she must. She is untrained. Unready. But she is mine."
Gasps spread through the crowd.
"And if anyone here believes she is not worthy of even this opportunity—" his gaze flicked to Maria, who stiffened— "they are free to challenge her now."
Silence.
Cowards.
Kael turned to Aria. "Begin."
---
It started with the basics. Posture. Stance. Shadow-boxing.
She moved slowly at first, each movement awkward under so many eyes. She could feel them — laughing, judging, waiting for her to fall. Her hands trembled as she threw her first punch at the wooden dummy, barely making it swing.
Karla snorted.
"She punches like a kitten," Maria whispered.
Aria heard it.
She gritted her teeth and moved again, punching harder this time. Pain sparked in her knuckles.
The training pit was too loud.
Too many stares.
Too many doubts.
She stumbled during her next stance — too clumsy. Her braid slapped across her cheek. Her knees buckled. The crowd chuckled.
"Just stop," Elise called. "This is embarrassing."
"I agree," Elder Roken muttered from the council line. "This is a waste of—"
BOOM.
The dummy exploded.
Not splintered.
Exploded.
A burst of golden flame surged from Aria's palm, arcing into the air like a wave of fire. The ground beneath her feet cracked. A gust of heat whooshed across the arena, forcing several council members to shield their faces.
Gasps echoed. Servants fell back. Maria's smug expression shattered like glass.
Kael didn't move.
Aria stood frozen, her eyes wide, the necklace around her neck glowing so brightly it nearly burned through her tunic. Her veins shimmered faintly with gold beneath her skin. Her breath came in shallow gasps.
"What… was that?" one elder demanded.
"That," Kael said coolly, "was her first awakening."
---
Maria looked horrified.
"No one told us she could do that," she hissed to Karla. "She's not just some random girl. She's—"
"A threat," Karla finished grimly.
Maria's jaw clenched. "I don't care what magic tricks she has. She doesn't belong here."
And just like that, Aria had shifted from the laughingstock… to the enemy.
---
Kael approached Aria slowly.
"You lost control," he said.
"I didn't mean to," she whispered.
"But it happened. And they saw it. That changes everything."
She looked around — at the stunned crowd, the wary glances, the fear. It wasn't admiration in their eyes.
It was dread.
"They're scared of me."
"Yes," Kael said simply. "And they should be."
---
That night, Aria sat alone in the small meditation hall attached to the eastern wing. The candlelight flickered around her, and the flames in the bowls lining the walls responded to her breath, her heartbeat, her thoughts. She hadn't meant to show them what was inside her — the fire, the fury.
But it had been there.
And now, they knew.
She wasn't safe anymore.
There were eyes everywhere.
Plotting.
Watching.
And in the shadows of the Fortress, someone whispered, "The girl has awoken. The prophecy… it's beginning."