Chapter 77 Training Montage

Chapter 77 Training Montage
The training started at dawn and didn't stop until Thessaly couldn't think anymore.

Day one, she managed three minutes in the Dream Realm before getting pulled into a nightmare. Ondine had to physically shake her awake.

Day two, seven minutes. Progress.

Day three, she slipped in accidentally during breakfast and nearly drowned in a servant's memory of a shipwreck.

"Again," Ondine said every time Thessaly failed.

"I can't."

"You can. Fear makes you clumsy. Push through it."

So Thessaly pushed.

By day five, she could enter the Dream Realm deliberately without getting lost. Could navigate without touching every thread that called to her. The walls in her mind lasted hours instead of minutes.

"Better," Ondine said. "But not good enough. The Void will test those shields harder than I ever could."

They worked on mental barriers next. Building walls that could bend with pressure instead of shattering.

Thessaly failed at it for three days straight.

"You're thinking about walls wrong," Ondine said. "They're not meant to keep everything out. They're meant to let you choose what gets in."

Thessaly tried again. This time, instead of a solid barrier, she imagined a door. Something she could open and shut at will.

The wall held.

"There. Now do it a hundred more times until it's instinct."

The days blurred together. Wake up exhausted. Train until her head pounded. Collapse into bed too tired to nightmare.

Davorin would find her sometimes, passed out at the table. He'd carry her back to his chambers without waking her.

"You're pushing too hard," he said one morning.

"We're out of time. The ceremony is in two days."

"Killing yourself before we get there won't help." His voice was gentle. "When was the last time you ate a full meal?"

Thessaly couldn't remember. "Yesterday?"

"Try three days ago."

Week two was worse. Ondine started attacking her shields directly. Tried to force her way into Thessaly's mind.

The first time, Thessaly's walls crumbled in seconds.

By day ten, she could hold for ten minutes without breaking.

"The Void will be stronger," Ondine warned. "What I'm doing is gentle compared to what you'll face."

"Then make it harder."

So Ondine stopped being gentle. Attacked from multiple angles. Found weaknesses and exploited them ruthlessly.

Thessaly held.

"Good," Ondine said. "You're ready for the next part."

The next part was navigating shared consciousness. Learning to be inside someone else's mind without getting lost or accidentally changing what she saw.

Ondine volunteered herself as test subject.

Thessaly entered Ondine's mind like stepping into a cathedral. Everything organized. Memories filed neatly. Emotions contained in careful compartments.

"Don't touch anything," Ondine's voice echoed. "Just observe."

Thessaly wandered carefully. Saw Ondine's childhood. The moment she'd become a Guardian. Centuries of loneliness watching people she loved die while she stayed the same.

"I said don't touch," Ondine's voice was sharp.

Thessaly jerked back. She'd been reaching toward a memory without realizing it.

"Sorry."

"Being sorry doesn't help if you've rewritten my past." But Ondine's tone softened. "You're doing well. Most Dream-Walkers can't maintain this level of control on their first try."

They practiced for hours. Days. By week three, Thessaly could slip in and out of Ondine's mind without leaving traces.

"Now try with Davorin," Ondine said.

Thessaly's stomach dropped. "What if I see something I shouldn't? Or change something by accident?"

"Then we'll deal with it." Davorin's voice was steady. "I trust you."

That night, they sat facing each other in the training room.

Thessaly closed her eyes. Found the thread connecting her to Davorin and followed it.

Stepping into his mind was like stepping into a storm.

Nothing like Ondine's careful organization. Davorin's consciousness was chaos and control fighting for dominance. Memories stacked on memories. Emotions bleeding into everything. And underneath it all, darkness that pulsed with malevolent awareness.

The Void's influence. Still there. Still waiting.

"Don't go near that," Davorin's voice echoed. "If you get too close, it'll try to trap you."

Thessaly navigated carefully. Saw glimpses of his childhood. The moment the curse first manifested. The decades of isolation.

Saw the possession. Felt his helplessness as the Void moved his body. His guilt as his hands destroyed a kingdom.

The dark parts were everywhere. The Void had infected everything. Thessaly couldn't tell where Davorin ended and the corruption began.

"This is what I'm binding myself to," she said quietly.

"Yes." His voice was sad. "This is what I am. Broken and corrupted and barely holding on."

Thessaly looked at the chaos of his mind. At the darkness threading through everything.

And she made a choice.

"Then we fix it together."

She pulled out gently. Opened her eyes to find him watching her.

"You saw," he said.

"I saw." Thessaly squeezed his hands. "And I'm still here. Still choosing this."

Something in Davorin's expression cracked. "The ceremony is tomorrow. Last chance to change your mind."

"I'm not changing my mind."

"Even knowing what's waiting in there? Even seeing how much of me the Void has claimed?"

"Especially because of that." Thessaly leaned forward. "You're not doing this alone anymore. We face it together or not at all."

The bond hummed between them. Davorin pulled her close.

Ondine knocked on the door. "Tomorrow morning. The Unity Ceremony. Everything you've trained for comes down to this."

Thessaly looked at her callused palms. At the man who'd let her into his mind despite knowing what she'd see. At the power she'd learned to control.

Three weeks ago, she'd been powerless. Broken. Invisible.

Now she was a Dream-Walker learning to navigate consciousness itself. Strong enough to hold shields against assault. Capable of walking through minds without getting lost.

The magic that had terrified her was becoming hers.

And tomorrow, she'd use it to bind herself to a cursed king and face down the darkness trying to consume him.

"I'm ready," she said.

Ondine's expression was doubtful. "I hope so. Because if you're not, tomorrow will kill you both.”