Chapter 3 The Awakening

Zara POV

The crash outside rattled the walls. Kael jumped to his feet, eyes blazing gold in the firelight, and my heart raced.

Grabbing a sword from next to the door, he commanded, "Stay behind me."

He cracked open the cabin door to look inside. I noticed his shoulders become a little more relaxed.

"It's not them," he said.

My chest heaved. "Who then?"

"A scout. One of ours."

Ours.

I still wasn't used to that.

Kael stepped outside, exchanged a few quick words with a tall woman wearing a black hood, and then returned.

"They're searching the outer woods. We're safe-for now. But we have to move soon."

I nodded, even though my legs were shaking. I wanted to be strong. I needed to be. I couldn't be that broken girl anymore.

Kael saw the war in my eyes. He placed a firm hand on my shoulder. "It's time."

"Time for what?"

"Your awakening. Your real training."

The next day, Kael brought me deep into the forest.

"Where are we?" I asked, leaping over splintered branches and not wanting to tumble.

"Somewhere you can learn freely."

We reached a clearing surrounded by thick trees. The smell was pine and rain. Kael faced me.

"Your abilities are inside of you. But you have to wake them up.".

I crossed my arms. "I still don't believe I'm some royal bloodline or whatever."

Kael smiled, but there was something sad in it. "You will."

He handed me a wooden staff. "Fight me."

I blinked. "What?"

"You heard me." He stepped back, twirling his own staff. "Come at me."

"I've never fought before."

"Exactly. That's why we're starting now."

I hesitated.

Kael raised an eyebrow. "You survived betrayal. You survived exile. You survived me dragging your half-dead body across the woods. You can swing a stick."

I snorted. A little.

I charged.

Kael moved so fast that I didn't even have time to react. He took my legs out from under me and I hit flat on the ground.

"Ow!"

"Again," he told me.

I got up.

Tried again.

And again.

Each time, I ended up on my backside.

My fingers were stung by the staff. My hands were swollen. My body hurt less than my pride.

I do not know how to do this.

Beside me, Kael knelt down. You certainly do. You will not, however, until you let yourself move aside.

I do not even know who I am!

He got up and moved back. Then discover.

A haze of injuries, perspiration, and fire marked the days.

From morning till sunset, Kael educated me. We fought with hand, sword, and staff. He showed me how to climb, how to conceal, how to hear the wind and feel danger before it was close in the woods.

Worn out, I fell into the bed at night. My muscles objected. I had blood on my hands. Every morning, nevertheless, I got up.

Because something within me had begun to burn.

Something strong.

Something wild.

I spent one night outside the cabin window, staring up at the moon.

"I hate him," I whispered to the wind.

Lucian's face returned to me-cold, hard, deadly.

He chose her.

Seraphina.

He gave her a new name-Luna.

I'd heard the rumours. The stray scouts brought back stories when they returned from hunting trips.

The whole pack celebrated.

And me?

I was the ghost they buried.

"Good," Kael said on my shoulder. "Let that anger shape you. Then let it go.".

I turned around. "You also hate him."

He nodded. "Lucian made me lose my title of prince."

My breath caught in my throat. "Tell me."

Kael looked out into the woods. "My father was the leader of the Darkfang Pack. Proud, cruel, hated. But just. Lucian came among us as an ally. And poisoned everything."

I stood there in silence, listening.

"He lied. Turned my father's council against him. My father was killed in the end. I was banished. I lost everything.".

"Why would he do that?"

"Because he envied what we possessed. Power. And blood. You're not the only one with Moonblood running through your veins."

I bristled.

Kael's slow nod told me the truth. "You're not."

A crawly chill slithered down my spine. "So. he knows?"

Kael's tone dropped. "He suspects. That's why he had Seraphina accuse you falsely. Why he tried to kill you? If you're dead, the last legitimate heir would be taken care of."

I took a step back, gasping. "I am not ready for this."

Kael approached me. "You don't have to be ready. You just have to fight."

I looked up at him.

He was taller, stronger, smarter-but behind golden eyes, I saw pain.

The same pain I carried.

Perhaps that is why I let him brush the hair out of my face instead of pushing him away. Or when he said, "You are stronger than you know."

By the third week, my abilities began to awaken.

It started small.

My fingers glowed in the dark when I raged.

Then, when I cried one night, the flames burned without fuel.

One time, Kael flung a blade at me without warning-and I halted it midflight.

Floating.

Held by nothing but will.

I looked at my hand as if it belonged to someone else.

Kael grinned. "Now we're getting somewhere."

What is going on with me?

You are becoming who you were meant to be.

I still fell.

Still failed.

But I was learning.

One morning, Kael knocked me flat again. I grunted, gasping.

"Get up," he said.

"No."

"Zara-"

"I SAID NO!" I yelled.

The earth trembled.

We both froze.

Kael looked down.

Cracks were spreading around me. Tiny, shining veins of light.

I leapt to my feet. "Did I do that?"

He nodded slowly. "Yes."

I looked at my hands.

"What else can I do?"

Kael's stare was piercing. We will find out just that.

But the next night, everything changed.

Kael and I sat by the fire, eating dry meat and unheard words.

I gazed at him and enquired the question that had been nagging me for days.

Did he ever love me, in your opinion?

Kael didn't answer right away.

"I think Lucian loves only power," he said finally. "And you terrify him because you were never meant to be little."

I gulped hard. "I wish I could forget him."

"You don't need to forget," Kael told me. "You need to become someone he can never touch again."

His words sliced through me.

Something inside of me moved.

Not anger.

Not revenge.

Determination.

The next morning, Kael took me to a hidden glade.

"It's time for your final test," he said to me.

I blinked. "Final?"

He nodded. "You'll face all you fear. All that broke you."

"How?"

Kael stepped back. "With this."

He hurled a small black stone into the pool of water at the centre of the glade.

Mist curled up.

The atmosphere shifted.

I gasped as the mist materialized.

Lucian.

Tall. Smiling. Seraphina beside him.

"You're nothing, Zara," the illusory Lucian said to me. "Weak. Worthless. Forgotten."

My hands shook.

Kael breathed down my neck, "Face it."

The fake Lucian drew nearer. "No one wanted you. Not even your mate."

Something broke inside me.

I flung up my hands.

The ground shook.

The illusion flailed, trying to maintain its shape-but I thrust more.

Light burst from my chest.

A roar shook the glade-not mine.

From within me.

The image dispersed.

Dissolved.

I was standing there, panting, sparks dancing around my skin.

Kael smiled.

"You're ready," he said to me.

I looked where the illusion had been.

I no longer felt weak.

I no longer felt broken.

But I wasn't complete either.

Not yet.

Kael turned towards the woods.

"What is it?" I demanded.

He tilted his head. "Someone's approaching."

We both tensed up.

And then-

A girl ran through the trees.

She was out of breath, had wild eyes, and was bleeding.

She gave me a direct look.

"They are coming," she screamed.

"Who?"

"Lucian," she said in a whisper. "Seraphina as well." They understand where you are.

I stiffened up.

Kael growled low. "How?"

The girl shook her head. "There's a spy within your people. And they're bringing an army."

The wind howled.

Trees rattled.

Kael took my hand.

"We have to leave. Now."

But I didn't leave.

Because in the girl's hand-

She was clutching something I thought was lost forever.

My old pendant.

The one Lucian gave me.

And burned the night he dumped me.

"Where did you find it?" I demanded.

She gazed at me, tears welling in her eyes.

"I saw him," she said. "Lucian. He's not coming for you."

My voice cracked. "Then what does he want?"

She took a step closer.

"He's coming for your power."