The wind howled against Ember Court's stone walls that night, carrying with it a chill that no fire could banish. Serenya tightened her cloak as she crossed the darkened corridors, Kael's steps steady behind her. She hated the way the silence pressed in like the palace itself was holding its breath.
They weren't heading to the training hall this time. Kael had insisted on the outer gates. He claimed she needed to feel the world beyond, needed to learn how to hold her fire where the Hollow's whispers grew strongest.
Her chest tightened with each step closer to the northern walls. She already knew what waited out there. The dreams never let her forget.
When they emerged onto the ramparts, the world stretched dark and endless. A pale moon spilled its light over jagged ridges and shadowed valleys. And there, far beyond the gates, the black mist churned. The Hollow.
It wasn't a storm. It wasn't smoke. It was… alive. Always moving, always creeping closer, a tide of nothing that ate sound and light. Her breath stuttered. She had seen it in visions, yes but standing here, facing it? It felt like staring down her own death.
"Breathe," Kael murmured, stepping close enough that his shoulder brushed hers. "Don't let it get into your head."
Too late. The whispers had already begun. Faint. Hissing. Promises laced with poison. We see you. We know you. You belong to us.
Her hands curled into fists, fire licking at her skin in warning.
"Serenya." Kael's voice anchored her, deep and certain. He turned her to face him, his storm-gray eyes cutting through the shadows. "Look at me. Not it."
Her throat worked. "It's stronger tonight."
"It's always strong." He leaned closer, his breath brushing her cheek. "The difference is you're not alone this time."
Her pulse spiked whether from fear or from his nearness, she couldn't tell. Maybe both.
A shout split the air before she could answer. Soldiers along the wall braced their spears as movement stirred within the Hollow's edge. Shapes dark, twisted silhouettes emerged from the mist.
Serenya's heart lurched. "They're coming"
Kael's sword was in his hand in a single fluid motion, steel gleaming under moonlight. "Good. Then we train in truth."
The creatures surged forward, their forms flickering between shadow and flesh. Hollowspawn. Serenya's fire flared instinctively, ribbons of flame curling around her wrists. She had trained for this. She had prepared. But the sight of them so wrong, so hungry made her breath stumble.
Kael's command cut sharp through her panic. "With me!"
He moved like a storm unleashed, blade flashing, each strike precise. Serenya forced her fire into her palms, hurling a burst of flame that slammed into the first shadowbeast. It shrieked as its form unraveled, collapsing into mist.
Her chest heaved. Too much. Too fast. She fought to steady herself. The Hollow's whispers clawed at her skull, trying to twist her fire into wildness.
Kael fought to her left, always circling close enough that their movements mirrored, covering each other's blind spots. Every time she faltered, his voice reached her. "Breathe. Focus. You're stronger than this."
Another beast lunged at her. She spun instinctively, fire coiling down her arm, and struck. The impact blasted the creature apart in a rain of ash. The heat surged through her veins, heady and intoxicating. She wanted more. Needed more
Yes, the Hollow hissed. Burn them all. Let go.
Serenya staggered, clutching her head. Her flames lashed higher, uncontrolled, singeing the rampart stone.
Kael was there in an instant. His hand caught her wrist, searing warmth meeting molten fire. "Control it!" he barked. His storm-gray gaze held hers, fierce, unyielding. "Don't let it use you."
Her magic raged, begging to be freed. His grip tightened, grounding her. For one terrifying moment, she thought the fire would leap from her skin and consume him. But he didn't flinch.
"Trust yourself," Kael growled, voice low, meant only for her. "And if you can't then trust me."
Her breath hitched. The flames bucked, then steadied, drawn into a ribbon that circled both their hands. His touch didn't burn. Instead, their powers seemed to recognize one another, twining together in a dangerous, impossible harmony.
The Hollowspawn shrieked as the joined flame surged outward, scorching them to nothing. Silence followed, broken only by her ragged breathing.
Serenya tore her gaze from the smoldering battlefield to Kael. He still held her wrist, their hands bound in faint embers. The air between them crackled hotter, heavier than battle.
Slowly, carefully, he released her.
The absence of his touch left her trembling more than the fight had.
"You nearly lost yourself," he said, his voice gentler now, but no less intense.
She swallowed hard. "And you nearly burned for it."
His mouth curved not quite a smile, more like a challenge. "I told you. You don't fight this alone."
Her pulse thundered in her throat. She wanted to step back, to put distance between them. Instead she found herself leaning closer, the embers in her hair sparking brighter in the wind.
Kael's gaze dropped just for a moment to her lips. Heat surged between them, raw and dangerous.
But before the world could tilt further, another cry rang out across the walls. A warning horn.
More shadows gathered beyond the gate, thicker, darker than before.
Kael's jaw tightened. "This was only the beginning."
Serenya's fire coiled within her, restless, eager. For once she didn't fear it not entirely. Not while his storm-gray eyes anchored her in the storm.
Still, a single thought whispered in the back of her mind as the Hollowspawn pressed closer.
If her fire and his steel burned this bright together… what would happen the moment they let go?