Chapter 6 First Training
KAELTHAR POV
The girl was about to panic, and panicking humans did stupid things.
"Breathe," I commanded, stepping between her and the approaching lights. "They're still three hundred yards away. You have time."
"Time for what?" Serina clutched her brother tighter. "To die slower?"
I almost laughed. Even terrified, she had spirit. Good. I'd need that.
"Time for your first real lesson." I gestured at the darkness around us. "This bond we share isn't some polite partnership. I'm inside your head now. Always. Every thought you have, I can hear. Every memory you've got, I can see. Every fear you try to hide mine to use however I want."
Her face went pale. "You can read my mind?"
"Constantly. It's exhausting, honestly. You think very loudly." I crouched down to her level. "But it works both ways. You can feel my presence, yes? That weight in the back of your skull that won't go away?"
She nodded slowly.
"That's our bond. Through it, I can teach you to wield my power without burning yourself alive. Through it, you can access strength that would take a Council mage decades to master." I paused. "And through it, I can show you exactly what they did to my kind."
Before she could protest, I slammed a memory into her mind.
The Festival of Eternal Bond. Dragons and humans gathered together, celebrating a thousand years of partnership. My people in their true forms magnificent, powerful, ancient. And then Valdric's ritual activating, the screaming starting.
I made her feel it. The agony of having your essence ripped out drop by drop. The horror of watching your bonded human partner murdered in front of you. The rage of being unable to stop it.
Hundreds of dragons dying. Their power stolen, their bodies left as empty husks.
Serina gasped, tears streaming down her face. "Stop! Please stop!"
"That's what the Mage Council built their empire on," I said coldly. "Mass murder. Genocide. And the woman who leads them now Archmage Delphine Ashcroft she's the direct descendant of the man who orchestrated it all."
I released her from the memory. She doubled over, sobbing.
"Why show me that?" she choked out.
"Because killing Delphine is how you complete our contract." I let the words sink in. "You wanted power to save your brother? Fine. But the price is her death. The bloodline that started this atrocity ends with you."
"No." Serina wiped her eyes, glaring at me. "I don't care about your revenge. I just need Tym safe. That's all I ever wanted."
Interesting. Most humans, after feeling what I'd shown her, would be screaming for blood. She was still thinking clearly.
I'd have to break that.
"Too bad," I said. "We're bound until the contract completes. So either you learn to fight and survive long enough to kill her, or you die in these sewers and take me with you." I smiled. "Choose quickly. Those lights are getting closer."
She looked at her brother, then back at me. I could feel her thoughts churning searching for another way, some escape that didn't involve becoming a killer.
There wasn't one. I'd made sure of that when I designed the contract.
"Fine," she finally said. "Teach me. But I'm not killing anyone unless I have to."
"We'll see about that." I gestured at the sewer wall. "Show me your fire again. The blast that killed those enforcers."
"I don't know how I did it!"
"Then figure it out." I let my voice go cold. "Those shadow mages will be here in minutes. If you can't fight, you'll watch them drag your brother away to burn. Then they'll cut me out of you piece by piece. Is that what you want?"
Fury flashed across her face. Good. Anger I could work with.
She raised her hands. Nothing happened.
"Pathetic," I said. "You're a tool I'm going to sharpen with suffering, little weapon. And right now, you're about as sharp as mud."
"I'm trying!"
"Try harder." I circled her slowly. "Feel the power in your blood. It's not yours it's mine, flowing through you. Stop fighting it and let it out."
Her hands started glowing. Progress.
"Now push it outward. Not an explosion controlled fire."
The glow intensified, then sputtered out. Serina cried out in pain, clutching her arms where the scales had burned her from the inside.
I felt every second of her agony through our bond. Delicious. Poetic justice a descendant of my people's murderers suffering from the same power that was stolen.
"Again," I commanded.
"I can't! It hurts!"
"Then you'll die hurting." I showed her another memory this time of me, chained and helpless, feeling Valdric's ritual drain my essence. A thousand years of that torture, alone in the dark. "I survived worse. You can survive this."
She tried again. Failed again. The pain made her scream.
Tym woke up, terrified. "Sera, what's happening?"
"Training," I answered before she could. "Your sister needs to learn to kill, or we all die tonight."
"Don't talk to him!" Serina snarled at me.
"I'll talk to whoever I want. I'm stuck in your head, remember?" I knelt beside the boy. He was deteriorating faster than I'd expected. The magical contamination what I knew was actually his covenant blood awakening was eating him alive without proper guidance. "You're dying, child. Your sister's trying to save you. Try to be grateful."
"Kaelthar!" Serina's voice cracked with desperation and rage.
Perfect. That emotion I could use that.
"Channel it," I told her. "All that fury you're feeling. All that protective rage. Push it into your hands and let it burn."
This time, when she tried, actual fire appeared. Weak, flickering, barely enough to light the tunnel. But it was controlled. Intentional.
"Better." I let approval color my voice. Positive reinforcement worked on humans. "Now make it bigger."
We trained like that for hours. I pushed her past every limit, made her channel fire until her arms bled where the scales cracked. Every time she wanted to quit, I showed her more memories. Valdric laughing while dragons died. The Council executing "contaminated" children. A thousand years of isolation and rage.
I was grooming her, obviously. Turning her into the weapon I needed. But I disguised it as survival training, and she was desperate enough to accept it.
"You're manipulating me," she said during a brief rest. Tym had fallen asleep again, fevered and pale.
"Obviously." No point lying. "But you still need the power, don't you? Still need to keep your brother alive?"
She glared at me but didn't argue.
Smart girl. She knew she was trapped.
By the third day in the sewers, Tym was much worse. Coughing blood, barely conscious. Serina's desperation grew sharper, which made her easier to push.
"He needs medicine," she said. "Real medicine, not just water and stolen bread."
"Then get some." I gestured at the tunnel entrance. "Go topside, find an apothecary, steal what he needs. Simple."
"They're hunting me!"
"Yes. Which is why you need to learn to fight." I manifested more solidly, letting her see my full shadow-form. "Your brother has maybe two days left. The Council's shadow mages are tracking your magical signature through the city. Eventually, they'll find this tunnel."
"How long do we have?"
I tilted my head, sensing the threads of magic spreading through the city like a spider's web. "They're close. Very close. I'd say you have about an hour before they pinpoint your location."
Fear and fury warred in her eyes. "Then teach me something useful! Stop showing me horror shows from a thousand years ago and teach me how to actually fight!"
"The memories are useful," I said calmly. "They're teaching you to hate the people who need to die. But fine. You want practical combat training?"
I lunged at her without warning, shadow-claws extended. She barely dodged, stumbling backward.
"Defend yourself!" I attacked again, faster. "Use the fire!"
She threw up her hands instinctively. Dragon fire erupted, wild and uncontrolled. It would have killed a normal person.
I walked through it like smoke, grabbed her throat, and slammed her against the wall.
"Better," I whispered. "But not good enough."
Through our bond, I felt the shadow mages' magic lock onto our location. They'd found us.
I released Serina and stepped back. "They're coming. Right now. You have maybe five minutes."
"What?" She looked at Tym, still sleeping. "We need to run!"
"No. You need to fight." I met her terrified eyes with my burning gold ones. "This is your first real test, little weapon. Shadow mages are trained killers. They'll show you no mercy."
"I can't fight trained mages!"
"Then you'll die, and your brother will burn." I started fading back into shadow. "But here's something interesting shadow mages hunt alone. Usually just one per target. You might actually survive this."
"Wait! Don't leave me!"
"I'm not leaving. I'm in your head, remember? I'll be watching every second." I smiled as my form dissolved. "Time to see if you can kill on purpose instead of by accident. Make it entertaining, won't you?"
I vanished completely just as footsteps echoed from the tunnel entrance. Heavy boots. Confident stride. The shadow mage had arrived.
Through our bond, I felt Serina's heart hammering. Felt her grab her brother, trying to wake him. Felt her terror and rage and desperate determination all mixing together.
Perfect.
The footsteps got closer. A voice called out male, cold, professional.
"Dragon vessel. I know you're here. Come quietly and the boy won't suffer."
Serina's hands started glowing crimson.
Good, I whispered into her mind. Now show me if you're worth keeping alive.
The shadow mage rounded the corner, spells already forming in his hands.
And my little weapon attacked.