Chhapter 3: Awakened Unexpectedly
The month of Virgo, sixteenth day.
The morning air was sharp with dew as the mist still clung stubbornly to the forest floor. I ran, dagger in hand, every breath tearing against my chest. My lungs burned, my legs trembled, but the voice behind me was relentless.
"Faster, girl! A rabbit runs swifter than you, and a rabbit at least knows when to change direction!"
Fhe`ox's words cut deeper than any blade. He was the dagger trainer Lord Haines had brought—a man whose presence was as merciless as the weapons he carried. His dark hair, streaked with grey, clung to his temples with sweat, his eyes sharp like obsidian stones. Of all the trainers, he was the one who never spared me even a flicker of encouragement.
He never hid his disdain. "You're too soft. Your reflexes are dulled by hesitation. If you don't change, you'll die before the beast even bares its fangs."
And yet, despite his words, he pushed me harder than anyone else. Every dawn he made me run with daggers, weaving through trees, cutting through obstacles, teaching me stealth, speed, and reflexes until my body screamed for relief.
That day, my body had reached its limit. My feet snagged against a root, and I fell hard onto the dirt, gasping for breath, every muscle trembling.
"On your feet!" Fhe`ox barked. "Do you think your enemies wait for you to catch your breath? If this were real, you'd already be carrion!"
I tried to stand, but my body betrayed me. My arms quivered, my legs wouldn't respond, and black dots swam in my vision. Then—
The storm came.
At first, it was only a tremor in the wind, a strange chill rushing through the forest. But then, a pressure unlike anything I'd felt before pressed against my chest, suffocating, oppressive. Fog rose higher than the tallest trees, swallowing the forest in a blanket of silver-grey. The leaves rattled violently, branches cracked, and the air itself seemed to shudder.
I knew this storm. My heart clenched.
"Onii…" I whispered.
The storm's weight thickened as an unnatural silence fell, broken only by Fhe`ox's sharp intake of breath. His eyes darted through the mist, and his daggers flashed into his hands.
"Stay behind me," he hissed.
But before I could respond, a shadow blurred past. Fhe`ox moved—faster than I had ever seen him—but the storm's heart had already reached him.
Clang! Steel met something I couldn't see. His movements were a blur, his voice raw with battle cries as he struck, blocked, and struck again. But whatever he fought moved faster, stealthier. I only saw the afterimages: streaks of black, gusts of wind, the glint of storm-born eyes.
"Impossible!" Fhe`ox roared. "Such speed—"
Then came his final cry, cut short as the storm swallowed him whole. Silence followed, a silence that rang louder than any scream.
"Fhe`ox!" I cried, forcing myself up. My steps faltered, and before I could reach him, the storm surged, slamming into my chest.
I flew back, crashing into a tree stump. A sickening crack tore through me as pain bloomed, sharp and unbearable. My vision blurred. Something inside me shattered—organs, bones, I couldn't tell. The taste of blood filled my mouth.
My body wouldn't move. I was breaking apart.
And then—he came.
Through the storm, Onii emerged, his black silken mane whipping like ribbons of shadow. His body glistened with raw power, his form larger, sharper, than I remembered. His eyes—those storm-forged eyes—locked onto me, not with indifference, but with a determination so fierce it stilled my very breath.
He stood before me, and for a moment, the world shrank to just the two of us.
A thunderous neigh ripped through the forest. His aura burst forth—silverish, crackling like lightning made flesh. It swirled around him, a radiant storm. But then—
Something answered.
A pain tore through my skull, sharper than the injuries already breaking my body. My chest ignited. From deep within me, something ancient, something chained, stirred.
Crimson light erupted from my frail form, shattering Onii's silver storm like glass under fire.
I screamed, clutching my head, as the forest itself bent to the awakening. Trees withered instantly, leaves curling into ash. The ground darkened as thin red threads seeped from roots, branches, even the very air, oozing toward me. They wrapped around me, disappearing into my body.
And then, I heard it.
Rattles. Chains. Heavy, ancient, unbreakable. Somewhere in the depths of my soul, they shook violently. One link snapped, the sound like a clash of thunder. Then another. And another.
Each break sent waves of unbearable heat coursing through me. My body healed—no, burned. My organs knitted together, bones fused, wounds sealed with unnatural speed. My skin flushed red-hot, as if flames licked just beneath the surface.
I stood.
I stood when I should not have been able to breathe. My legs were steady. My arms firm. My body—reborn.
I stared at Onii, crimson light pouring from me in wild, chaotic arcs. His silver aura withered, tendrils of it absorbed into the crimson storm that wrapped my body like a cloak. His storm had tested me, but now my fire consumed it, made it solid, made it mine.
For a long moment, we only stared at each other—creature and girl, storm and fire, predator and something awakening far beyond human limits.
Onii's eyes narrowed. His neigh rang again, sharp and defiant, yet… questioning.
Then, with a final glance at Fhe`ox's fallen body and my trembling form, he vanished. The storm dissipated with him, leaving only the broken forest in his wake.
Silence returned.
The crimson aura still burned, too much, too wild. My head split with agony, the rattling chains inside me louder, heavier. I gasped, clutching my temples, my vision spinning.
The last thing I felt before darkness claimed me was heat. Overwhelming heat, like a fire that wanted to consume everything—me, the valley, the world.
And then, nothing.