The training ground was still as usual.
However the wind held its breath as the midnight drew closer and the moon found its way deeper into the black coloured sky.
At the center of the open training ground-field stood Isolde, her boots were dirty from the early hours of the day's routine. Isolde stood at the center of the open field, her body carrying injuries from the early hours of the day. Thanks to Kael who didn't take it easy on her.
In fact, there was no one who ever took it easy with her.
They were making her to do more, watching from far distances and speaking silently.
Isolde wasn't deaf, so she heard everything that they said.
Voices all in her head were saying things like;
"She's very unstable."
"Spell from an omega? This is definitely not right."
"She claims to have stopped a tree, and now the forest reacts to her breath."
She fought very hard to ignore it.
She tried her very best to concentrate.
But her head was loaded with more than a million thoughts.
Of what the prophecy says. Of pups she was finding it hard to protect. Of a Moon Goddess who brought puzzles instead of solutions.
Of Kael—the way he looked at her with both wonder and fear.
Of Alpha Theron, who never missed a chance to break her spirit by calling her dangerous.
And within her, something deeper-beneath her skin always mounted pressure on her, It was the spell that was coiled and was restless waiting for something infact anything.
Tonight, it wanted to taste freedom.
(Training Ground)
Kael stepped into the ring with two training swords.
"This time, we will be gentle however you should pay attention to your focus on control and not force " he told Isolde.
"Not to worry, I have got this" Isolde replied angrily.
"You sound very furious." Kael spoke calmly to her.
"I'm still repeating that I've got this." Isolde said.
He threw a sword in her direction and said to her.
"Show me."
(The Training)
They rounded each other in absolute silence.
His strikes were measured. Calculated amd Controlled. She deflected without grace, her movements stiff, and unpredictable.
Kael facial expression spelt out disappointment. Then he said "You're letting anger lead."
"Maybe anger knows where we're going." Isolde retorted.
He slashed, she blocked, their swords clashing with a loud noise.
"Then we're going straight into a wall." Kael spoke with raised eyebrows.
She snapped. "Then maybe I want to crash into something!"
She moved fast however she didn't calculate her steps well and Kael used that opportunity to catch her by her arms, he twisted her arms and finally disarmed her.
She hit the floor with full force and let out a cry of pain.
Kael retraced his steps. While panting, he said "It's enough."
But something within her didn't accept that.
Suddenly,
There was a shift in the atmosphere,
A deep tremor rippled across the field—not from the earth but from above-the sky.
Isolde started to levitate and next thing that happened was that her vision became blur and her hands also became bright.
As she touched the ground.
The moon—full and brilliant overhead—responded to what was happening instantaneously.
Its light grew colder. Sharper.
Then—without warning—the air broke immediately.
A shockwave of ice stillness came out from Isolde's body.
The training ground froze with immediate effect.
Not metaphorically. Not figuratively.
Literally-physically.
The grasses crackled and immediately stiffened under the effects of the ice. Training equipment and dummies became ice in a matter of seconds. The ground became ice suddenly. The circle where Isolde knelt shimmered with a pale-blue glow, moonlight frozen mid-cascade, like silver flame trapped in glass.
Kael jumped with eyes wide open and hands behind his head and shouted spun in place, "What the hell is—?"
Isolde steadily rose to her feet.
Her skin gleamed. Her breath came out in misted puffs. Her eyes glowed with a faint silver hue.
"Its not my fault, it just happened; I didn't mean to," she spoke softly.
Kael's voice then became soft and low. "But you did, it has already happened."
(Outside the training ground)
A cry came out from the outer circle of the training ground—Brinna, who had just stepped into the clearing.
She stopped cold, quite literally, as her boots slid slightly on the now-slick ground.
"Oh, gods," she breathed. "Isolde…"
Isolde turned to face her, shaking. "It's not just in my hands anymore. It has gone beyond my hands, it's literally everywhere."
Brinna took a careful step closer and adviced her saying, "Then you need to calm it by all that is within you—pull it back in before it spreads beyond your control."
Isolde wrapped her arms around herself and shaked her head. "I have tried, I just don't think I can. It's tied to everything I feel and sense. I don't know when it will end and when it will begin."
Kael approached from behind the scene and said slowly, with more caution this time. "Then we find the boundary together, Yes! As one."
He reached for her shoulder with care and precision.
However, Isolde drew back in fear and pain.
And suddenly the field gave a crack.
Lines of ice moved out suddenly and powerfully from her boots like lightning bolts, spidering across the earth. A nearby training pole exploded in fragments of brittle wood.
Kael moved back and suggested. "Okay, okay. No touching."
Brinna gave a sad look and uttered. "This is a problem."
"No," Kael said and refused with her. Kael said, "This is a POWER!! One she doesn't know how to control. At least, not yet."
"Will she ever know how to?" Brinna asked, her voice sounded in a soft tone.
Isolde heard it clearly.
And as a result, it broke something within her.
Suddenly!!!
She turned and ran off from the field.
(Outside the borders of the training ground)
The forest welcomed her with silent trees and a path lit with by the moonlight.
Isolde ran until her legs became extremely weak. Yes, her lungs burnt immensely.
She collapsed at the edge of the stream that marked the border between the training grounds and the old growth.
The water was still flowing and it hadn't frozen. At least, not yet!!
But as she sat there, tears filling her eyes, her face looking gloomy, the ground around her began to frost.
She could feel it creeping into the world like a curse.
"Make it stop," she whispered. "Please. Selene. Anyone."
But no voice answered, no one came to her rescue.
Only the quiet crackle of forming ice.
(Close to the Training Ground)
Back at the camp, Elder Varian stood at the edge of the frozen training circle, she wrinkled her brows.
She touched the ground. Shivered with shock.
"Moon-forged," she murmured.
Alpha Theron grumbled behind her. "Or unstable."
Elder Varian rose. "You don't freeze moonlight with instability, Alpha Theron. That kind of reaction is not common and it is very sacred."
"She's a danger to us." Some muttered!
"She's our only hope." Her bosom friend spoke out!
Brinna then stepped forward and said. "She ran far into the wild. Should we follow her?"
Nyra nodded sideways and said "Let her cool. Then bring her to me. We have so much to discuss."
Isolde didn't sleep that night.
She sat beside the stream, arms wrapped around her knees, watching the way her breath mixed with the air.
She thought of Lucahhh. Of the tree. Of the moonfire in her veins.
She said to herself that she definitely wasn't ready for all of the happenings at least not now.
But maybe she never would be. She thought out loud.
And still—it was happening without her permission.
The Veilwalker wasn't something far-fetched. She was literally the ONE!!! And she was bleeding magic into the world whether she wanted to or not.
She looked up at the sky as a desperate act.
And for a moment, the moon looked back at her.
Not just light. Not just stone. Not just some shape.
But a presence!
Watching!!
Waiting!!!
(Close to Dawn)
Brinna found her just before dawn.
She didn't speak at first because she understood her plight.
Brinna just sat beside her on the cold grass.
After some minutes, she spoke out saying;
"You scared me," Brinna said finally. "You scared all of us to death."
Isolde stared at the water and pointed to her reflection saying. "I scared "me" too."
Brinna reached into her coat and pulled out a flask. She offered her warm tea to calm her down.
Isolde took it gratefully, the warmth grounding her.
"I don't know what I'm doing," Isolde later confessed.
Brinna laughed softly. "No one does. Some of us are just better at hiding it."
"What if I hurt someone?" Isolde asked soberly.
"Then we'll stop you." Brinna replied.
Isolde drew back with fear and pain.
"I meant "we" in the sense of "you and me"," Brinna corrected herself.
"You'll definitely learn to stop yourself. Because you care." Brinna spoke softly.
A long pause filled the atmosphere.
Then Isolde said: "It felt like the moon was inside me."
Brinna tilted her head. "What does that feel like?"
Isolde exhaled.
"Cold. Beautiful. Terrifying." Those were her words.
(Back home)
Later that day, Elder Varian welcomed her into the stone hall alone.
"You froze the ground." Elder Varian said
Isolde positioned herself to be ready for the confrontation saying "I know."
"You froze the *light*." Elder Varian said again
"I didn't mean to." Isolde replied.
Elder Varian face softened. "Child. You're not being punished. You're being 'trained'."
Isolde blinked three times with an open mouth.
"The last to freeze moonlight was my grandmother," Elder Varian said. "It was a sign of deep, intense and raw power. A divine touch you may call it."
"So I'm supposed to just… accept that?" Isolde stuttered.
"You're supposed to 'learn' from it."
Elder Varian handed her an ancient scroll.
"This is a Moonbinding. First technique you must master. It teaches you to keep your emotions in check before it leaks into the world."
Isolde stared at the curling script.
"Can I really control it?" Isolde asked looking kinda excited.
Elder Varian smiled and replied her.
"You already started the moment you had the courage to ask."