Chapter 16 — "Echo Step"
The morning air outside the Academy's east wing was cool enough to bite. Dew still clung to the training yard, shimmering faintly under the barrier runes. Kael stood at the edge of the sparring field, stretching his hand as the faint hum of Flow resonated beneath his skin.
Today wasn't theory.
Today was control.
"Your readings from yesterday stabilized overnight," Veyra said, arms crossed as she watched him from the balcony above. "If you can hold that form for more than ten seconds, we might consider it a success."
Kael nodded. "No pressure, then."
Riven snorted from beside him. "Pressure's the only thing that makes diamonds, kid. Or corpses. Depends on how much you can handle."
Across the yard, Lira adjusted the bindings on her gloves, her crimson hair tied back into a sharp braid. Her Flow shimmered faintly — a fiery orange hue, radiating with heat. She smiled, not kindly, but in challenge.
"You sure you're ready for this, Veyra?" she called out. "If you faint like last time, I'm not catching you."
Kael grinned. "You say that every time. Yet here we are."
The instructor overseeing the match — a stern Magus from the Tactical Division — raised his staff. "Begin."
Lira moved first. Her Flow burst outward in a short, fiery arc — the air cracking as heat exploded from her right palm. Kael ducked low, feeling the wind singe the back of his neck. He tried to dodge left — but then it happened.
The Bound Flow reacted on its own.
A pulse of black light rippled outward from his core, and for a blink, Kael split.
The world tilted — his vision doubling. His body blurred into two silhouettes: one solid, one transparent, both moving out of sync.
Lira's next strike passed through the afterimage, hitting nothing but vapor.
"What the—" she spun around.
The transparent figure — Kael's echo — darted behind her, its movements half a heartbeat ahead of his own. Then, with a flicker, the two forms snapped back together, the sound like a single breath returning to lungs that had been empty for years.
Kael stumbled, clutching his chest. "That… was new."
Veyra's eyes narrowed from the balcony. "He just executed an Echo Step."
Riven frowned. "That shouldn't be possible without full Flow alignment. He's skipping time on instinct."
Lira blinked, lowering her guard. "Skipping what?"
Kael took a slow breath, steadying himself. "I think… I moved before I decided to."
He looked down at his hand. The faint outline of his Echo still shimmered over his skin, like a memory trying to hold shape.
Then, without warning, the world snapped.
The Echo moved again — but this time, Kael didn't. It lunged forward, throwing a punch on its own. The shockwave cracked the dirt where Lira had been standing seconds earlier.
Kael gasped, dropping to one knee. "No, no, no—"
The Echo turned back toward him, its face blank. Then it smiled.
For an instant, Kael saw that same mirror smile from before. Cold. Knowing. Familiar.
Veyra's command cut the air. "Containment rune, now!"
Riven's spear flared, sealing the Echo's outline in a ring of light. The apparition flickered, screamed — not aloud, but through Kael's chest — and collapsed inward, vanishing like smoke into his body.
Silence followed.
Lira's fists were still raised, but her voice trembled slightly. "That… wasn't you, was it?"
Kael looked up at her, pale and shaking. "No. But it used my Flow."
Veyra descended from the balcony, her boots striking stone. "You've achieved an unstable manifestation," she said quietly. "A reflection operating out of sync — your Flow acting without command. That's not a skill, Kael. That's a warning."
He met her gaze. "Then teach me how to make it obey."
For a moment, the air between them seemed to tighten — an invisible line of respect forming beneath the tension.
"You'll train under controlled conditions," she said at last. "If the Echo steps without your will again, I'll end the session myself."
He nodded. "Fair."
---
That night, Kael found Lira waiting outside his dorm. She didn't speak immediately — just stood under the lantern light, her shadow long across the path.
"You scared me today," she admitted finally.
He blinked. "You? Scared?"
"Don't flatter yourself," she said, but the attempt at humor fell short. "Whatever that thing was… it looked at you like it knew what you'd do next."
He hesitated, searching her eyes. "Maybe it did."
Silence lingered, not awkward — just heavy with things neither wanted to say.
As she turned to leave, she said softly, "Next time, try not to vanish before the fight's over. I hate worrying."
Kael smiled faintly. "I'll do my best."
When the door shut behind him, the Hollow pulsed once inside his chest — not painful, just present.
And somewhere deep within, he felt the Echo smile again.
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End of Chapter 16 — "Echo Step."