Chapter 25: Chapter 25

Liora's POV

I walked closer, stopping just outside the shadowed mouth of the cave, with Kysen following behind me. Cold air drifted out from inside, brushing against my skin like a warning. The inside was dark, but not empty-dark. More like waiting-dark.

“Why here?” I asked.

“Because it’s quiet and no one comes here, and no matter what we do in here, no one outside will know. And for whoever your mom has watching us to actually see us, they would have to show their faces to us, which they obviously can't" he explained and I nodded in understanding.

Smart.

“Also, it is definitely a plus because power behaves differently when there’s stone around it.” He looked at me. “It echoes. You feel it more clearly.”

Vyrmoth stirred in my chest.

“He is right.”

I sighed. “Of course he is.”

Kysen raised a brow. “Talking to your drakyn again?”

“Unfortunately.” I said.

He smirked this time. A real one.

For some reason, I was desperate to put a smile on his face. He really looked out of it.

“Come on,” he said, stepping into the cave. “Let’s see what you can do today.”

I followed him inside, trusting his steps.

The light dimmed quickly as we walked deeper, but the cave wasn’t pitch black. Thin cracks in the stone let beams of silver morning light slip through, painting the walls in shifting patterns. The ground was smooth, worn down by time and water. Everything about it felt ancient.

Kysen stopped in a wide hollow where the ceiling rose higher and the walls curved inward protectively.

“This is good,” he said.

“For what?” I asked.

“For failing safely.”

I shot him a look. “You’re very encouraging.”

“You survived yesterday. That already makes you better than you think.” he said, very confidently.

I didn't say anything, I did not even know what to say.

Instead, I took a breath and rolled my shoulders, trying to shake off the nerves that were beginning to crawl up my spine.

“So,” I said, “What’s the plan?”

Kysen turned to face me fully.

“Today,” he said, “We’ll be doing things a little differently”

“What does that mean?” I asked, curious to know what exactly would be different.

Kysen gestured toward the far end of the chamber, where a jagged wall of stone jutted out unevenly.

“Go stand there,” he said. “And don’t move.”

I hesitated.

“Why?”

“Because I want you to feel the cave first. Not the power, but the space.”

I did as he said.

The stone was cold at my back, despite the clothes I had on.

“Close your eyes,” he added, and I did, following his orders like a good girl.

A good girl… I could not help the smirk that laced my lips.

“Focus!” Vyrmoth and Kysen said at the same time. It was for different reasons though.

I cleared my throat and tried to actually listen this time.

“Now,” Kysen said, voice lower, steadier, “tell me what you feel.”

I focused.

Not on Vyrmoth, not on my powers.

Just the cold wall of the cave and the way it somehow seemed to breathe back to me.

The air was heavy, but it was not in a bad way.

It felt more like something else I did not notice before was suddenly there, like a presence. My chest felt tight and open at the same time.

“The cave is…,” I trailed off, unsure of what word to use.

Vyrmoth’s voice softened.

“Good, that’s exactly what you should feel. There’s life everywhere, little one”

I swallowed. How is this even possible?

“That’s where your power lives,” Kysen said quietly, almost like he heard my thoughts. “Not in your hands, not in your anger, not in your fear.”

I heard and felt him move closer to me.

“It lives in how aware you are of everything around you.”

My breath hitched, aware of how close he was to me, but my eyes stayed closed.

“Good,” Kysen said quietly. “Now, this time, don't just think about power. Think about your body”

“My body?” I repeated, wondering what he meant.

I had started to understand him as someone who sort of spoke in riddles, like some elder.

“Yes. Where you’re tense. Where you’re holding yourself too tight.” he explained.

I swallowed and focused inward, trying to spot any parts of my body that may be tense.

And truly, I spotted them. My shoulders, my hands, my jaw. Everything was so tense and tight.

“Relax them,” he said, and I listened, letting my shoulders drop first, then my fingers and finally, my jaw followed.

“Again,” he said.

I did it more fully this time. My breathing slowed. The echo of the cave faded into the background, growing distant, and leaving only the sound of my pulse and his voice.

“Now,” he continued, “Whatever you usually force… don’t. Let it happen naturally.”

“That’s very vague.” I said, and I meant it. What was that even supposed to mean?

“That’s because if I start to explain it, you’ll overthink it.” he said, and I would have rolled my eyes if they weren’t closed.

More than half of the time, he was annoyingly accurate.

I took another breath, and let it out slowly.

I sure was doing a lot of breathing.

“There,” Kysen said softly. “That. That’s the state you need before you ever use your power.”

I frowned. “That’s it?”

“For now.”

I opened my eyes and turned my head slightly toward him.

“You dragged me to a murder cave so I could learn how to… breathe?”

He smirked. “You dragged yourself here. I just made it useful.”

I rolled my eyes.

“Fantastic. Next lesson, drakyn meditation?”

“Don’t tempt me.” he warned, his face serious but his tone humorious.

I finally pushed off the wall and faced him properly.

“So what do you think will happen when I actually use my power… like, properly?”

“That depends,” he said. “On whether you’re calm like this… or reckless like yesterday.” he said, referring to the mishap from the day before. I mentally cringed. I wondered how Henrik Velmont was fairing. Was he seething or was he terrified?

I folded my arms over my chest.

“And if I’m reckless?”

His expression shifted.

“Then you hurt yourself. Or someone else.”

That shut me up.

He studied me for a moment, then added, quieter, “I’m not here to turn you into a weapon, Liora. I’m here to make sure you don’t become one by accident.”

This really was an annoying position to be in, I felt like a ticking time bomb.

“Okay,” I said finally.

“Good.”

He stepped back, giving me space again.

“Now we try something small. Very small.”

I raised a brow.

“Define small.”

He held up two fingers.

“Enough to feel it. Not enough to break anything.”

“Wow. How comforting.”

He smiled faintly.

“You’ll live.”

At least, he seemed to be in a lighter mood now, and for some reason, that made me feel some sort of relief.