Pov Author
The temple breathed.
Not like a living creature, not like lungs—but like the mountain itself was aware of being disturbed.
Anna felt it the moment her foot crossed the threshold.
The air thickened, pressing lightly against her skin, curling around her ankles as if tasting her presence. It wasn't cold, yet it raised goosebumps along her arms. Not hostile. Not welcoming.
Attentive.
Behind her, stone doors slid shut without sound.
The echo lingered longer than it should have.
Water flowed through carved channels in the floor—thin, silver ribbons winding toward the center of the chamber. Moss clung to ancient pillars, green and patient, softening edges that had once been sharp. The ceiling vanished into darkness above, too high to see, too vast to measure, like the temple did not wish to be fully known.
And at its heart—
The Wind Whisperer hovered.
Anna's breath caught painfully in her throat.
It was more beautiful than she had imagined.
The crossbow curved like something grown rather than forged, its body shaped from pale silver and translucent metal that shimmered faintly, as though air itself had been hardened into form. Veins like leaves threaded along its length, delicate and sharp all at once. Small fragments—crystal petals or shards of condensed wind—floated around it in slow, graceful orbit.
No chains held it.
No pedestal supported it.
It simply existed ,suspended as if gravity had forgotten its claim.
The string was nearly invisible. Not taut. Not slack.
Waiting.
Something inside Anna responded instantly.
Pain lanced through her chest, sharp enough to steal her breath. She gasped, fingers flying to the hollow of her throat as amber light flared beneath her skin.
The stone in her heart pulsed.
Once.
Twice.
Like it recognized an old enemy.
Shou Feng's hand closed around hers before she realized she had reached for him.
His grip was firm. Grounding.
"You feel it," he said quietly.
She nodded, jaw clenched. "It doesn't want me near it."
His gaze never left the weapon. "It does."
She looked at him sharply.
"That pain," he continued, voice calm, controlled, "is not rejection. It's resistance. Two powers preparing to collide."
The wind shifted.
Soft at first—just a whisper along the floor, tracing the channels of water. It curled around Anna's boots, climbed slowly, cautiously, brushing against her legs like a curious animal learning her scent.
Mong let out a low whistle. "Yeah. That's definitely flirting."
Anna almost laughed—and immediately winced as pain flared again.
"Don't," Shou Feng murmured, adjusting his hold on her. "Breathe."
She obeyed, slow and careful.
Each inhale burned.
Each exhale trembled.
Kiyoshi stood several paces behind them, hands folded around his flute. His expression was unreadable, eyes reflecting the soft glow of the runes carved into the pillars—symbols that had begun to ignite one by one as the temple awakened.
"The Wind Whisperer does not test strength," Kiyoshi said gently. "It tests balance."
The wind responded to his words.
It rose suddenly, spiraling upward, lifting Anna's hair, tugging at her cloak. The fragments around the crossbow spun faster, the air humming with restrained power.
Anna's knees buckled.
She would have fallen if Shou Feng hadn't caught her.
Pain tore through her chest—white-hot, unforgiving. She cried out, clutching at his robes, body folding inward as if something inside her was being twisted.
"It hurts," she gasped. "It feels like it's—trying to tear out—"
"I know," Shou Feng said immediately.
He did not hesitate.
One arm wrapped around her shoulders, pulling her against him. The other pressed firmly between her shoulder blades, anchoring her as shadows began to stir around his fingers.
The wind snapped toward him.
Violent.
Sharp.
A wall of pressure surged across the chamber, slamming into his presence—
—and stopped.
Dead.
The air recoiled as if struck.
Shou Feng did not unleash his power. He did not attack.
He simply stood.
Darkness pooled around him, dense and controlled, not devouring but absolute—an authority the wind recognized instantly.
It curled back, unsettled.
"You will not harm her," he said softly.
Not a threat.
A law.
The wind trembled, then retreated several feet, swirling uncertainly.
Anna sagged against him, breathing hard.
Mong blinked. "Wow. Remind me never to argue with you."
Shou Feng ignored him.
He lowered his head slightly, his forehead brushing Anna's hair. "Listen to me," he murmured. "Do not fight it. Do not suppress it. Let it pass through you."
She swallowed. "I don't know how."
"Yes, you do."
She looked up at him, eyes glassy with pain.
"You've been doing it your entire life."
The wind shifted again.
This time, it did not push.
It pulled.
Anna's vision blurred as memories slammed into her without warning.
Alex's voice—cold, transactional.
You're my life anna. I love you
William's hands blocking the door.
Her sister's silence.
The feeling of being reduced to currency. To leverage. To something disposable.
Her breath hitched.
The wind roared.
The temple shook as a violent gust tore through the chamber, ripping moss from the pillars, sending water leaping from its channels. The fragments around the Wind Whisperer spun wildly, screaming through the air like shards of glass.
Anna screamed.
"No!" she cried, sinking to her knees. "Stop—please—"
The wind responded instantly—howling louder, feeding on her pain, her anger, her grief.
Shou Feng moved without thinking.
He stepped directly into the storm.
The air slammed into him—enough to shatter stone—
—and died.
His power did not strike.
It claimed .
Darkness spread outward, swallowing the wind's violence, forcing it into stillness through sheer dominance. The storm collapsed inward, reduced to a low, trembling current that circled the floor.
The silence that followed was suffocating.
Anna stared up at him, chest heaving.
"I don't want to control it," she whispered hoarsely. "I don't want to become something that destroys everything when it hurts."
The wind stilled completely.
Even the fragments froze mid-air.
Kiyoshi's breath caught.
Shou Feng knelt in front of her, one hand still braced behind her back, the other lifting her chin gently so she had no choice but to meet his gaze.
"Then you won't," he said.
His eyes were dark. Steady.
"You are not cruel," he continued. "You are not reckless. And you are not broken."
The wind stirred—tentative now. Careful.
Anna's hands shook as she pressed them flat against the floor, grounding herself.
"I don't want power," she said softly. "I just want it to stop hurting people. Me included."
The air responded.
Warm.
Gentle.
It rose again—not in fury, not in judgment—but in acknowledgment.
The Wind Whisperer lowered.
Just a fraction.
Mong sucked in a breath. "Oh. Oh that's bad. That's really bad."
"Why?" Anna whispered.
"Because," Mong said faintly, "it's choosing."
Shou Feng tightened his grip on her hand. "Stand."
She obeyed.
Each step toward the center of the chamber sent pain flaring through her chest—but it was different now. Sharper, yes, but purposeful. Like a wound finally being cleaned.
The wind wrapped around her arms, her shoulders, her throat—lifting, supporting, never restraining.
She reached out.
Her fingers brushed the crossbow's frame.
Cool.
Light.
Alive.
The instant she wrapped her hand fully around it—
The wind bowed.
The fragments stilled.
The temple exhaled.
And deep within her chest, the ancient stone embedded in her heart cracked for the first time.
---
To be continued...