Chapter 15 CHAPTER FIFTEEN
AERIS
I was… floating.
Weightless. Suspended. Caught in a pull I couldn’t fight. Magic…my magic coiled around me in twisting currents, colder than ice and somehow burning at the same time. It slithered across my skin, whispering, tugging, tightening.
The more I tried to breathe, the less air there seemed to be here.
Light flickered in the dark. A harsh, orange flare.
My stomach dropped as smoke stung my throat. My eyes watered. Shadows split open around me, melting into flashes of memory I had spent years trying to bury.
My mother’s voice…sharp, breathless, terrified.
“Aeris, stay behind me…don’t look at her–”
Heat blazed across my skin.
There were screams everywhere…hers or mine, I couldn’t tell.
I reached for her but the moment my fingers touched the memory, it shattered. The world lurched underneath me, and suddenly I was falling.
Freefalling.
The darkness opened like a pit and swallowed me whole. Wind howled past my ears, except there was no wind. Just the roar of my own magic spinning out, ripping through me, trying to tear its way out of my body.
I screamed..though no sound came out. The fire swallowed the scream anyway. My mother’s face blurred in the smoke, fading, slipping away faster than I could reach.
“Mom—!” I choked.
And the world snapped.
I hit my body like I’d been dropped from the sky.
Air punched into my lungs. I gasped,my whole chest seizing. My hands clawed at something soft beneath me. My heart hammered against my ribs like it was trying to escape.
For a second, I couldn’t even open my eyes. Everything shook…the dream, my magic, my breath.
When I finally forced my eyes open, light spilled in, warm and golden.
And immediately, I knew I wasn’t in my room.
I wasn’t anywhere I recognized.
I pushed up, wincing when pain flared through my ribs. The room swayed, blurry at the edges, humming faintly with magic that didn’t belong to me.
Warm glow, soft and steady wrapped around the space like a comforting hand, but it only made my pulse spike harder.
Floating orbs drifted near the rafters, casting a soft, honey-colored light that reflected off shelves full of crystal vials and books.
A hearth crackled on the far wall, logs burning with blue-tinted flame.
Where am I?
Memory hit me in a rush.
The forest.
The herbs.
The Bloodpetals.
The Sovereign—his voice cold and precise.
The ruins.
The sparks.
The explosions.
The way my body finally gave out—
““Oh,” I breathed as the realization settled. I had passed out.
But how I’d ended up here? I had no idea.
“I see you’re awake.”
The voice deep and steady cut through the warm hush of the room. I jerked my head toward the sound.
A tall figure stood near the doorway, arms crossed, shadowed by the golden light.
I squinted, vision still foggy around the edges.
And then recognition snapped everything into focus.
Captain Neris.
My heart lurched painfully.
He found me.
Heat crawled up my neck, mortifying and uncomfortable. I pushed myself upright, wincing at how weak my limbs felt
“Captain,” I breathed, trying to steady my voice. “I…I don’t understand. How—?”
He lifted a hand slightly, stopping the flood of words before I could embarrass myself further.
“You were unconscious,” he said, stepping forward. The light caught on the silver edges of his armor, softening the sharp lines of his face. “In the old training courtyard. Collapsed on the ground. What were you doing there and what happened?”
Heat rushed to my cheeks. “I… didn’t mean for anyone to find me. I was hunting for herbs andI guess I pushed myself too much while gathering herbs. It happens sometimes. Nothing serious. Really.”
The words tumbled out too fast, too rehearsed. Even I didn’t believe them.
Neris watched me for a beat, eyes sharp…too sharp. “Is that so?”
“Yes,” I said quickly. “I mean, it was just exhaustion. Maybe the scent of the Bloodpetals got too strong, or maybe…maybe I tripped and hit my head, I’m not sure, but it definitely wasn’t—”
“Aeris Thalorian right?”
I nodded.
He stepped closer, not threatening, but close enough that I could feel the heat of the blue fire flicker between us. His voice lowered.
“You were glowing.”
My breath hitched.
“I…glowing?” I repeated weakly. “Well, the Bloodpetals can refract light in strange ways and—”
“Not the Bloodpetals.” His eyes locked onto mine, steady and unyielding. “You.”
My heart slammed painfully against my ribs.
He waited only a moment before continuing, quiet and certain:
“You can't control your magic”
The floor seemed to tilt beneath me.
That made three.
Three people who now knew.
First Rhea.
Then the Sovereign.
And now him.
How long until everyone knew?
How long until the academy tossed me out or worse, executed me for magic I couldn’t shape, couldn’t stop, couldn’t even understand?
“I’m sorry,” I whispered, fingers curling into the sheets. “I was trying. I really was. I thought if I just focused harder, if I just stayed calm, I could..contain it. I didn’t mean to cause trouble.”
For a long moment he said nothing, just watched me with that unreadable, simmering stare.
The silence stretched until it felt like a weight pressing against my ribs. Neris didn’t move, didn’t blink…just studied me like he was mapping out all my weaknesses in real time.
I stared at the blanket, at my fingers twisting it, anything to avoid the intensity of his gaze.
Then finally, he exhaled.
“I’ll train you.”
My head snapped up. “Wh—what?”
His expression didn’t soften. If anything, it sharpened. “You heard me.”
My heart leapt, stumbling over itself in disbelief.
Was he serious?
Did the captain of the Storm Owls just offer to train me?
“Y–you…” I tried again, brain failing to form human words.
Neris stepped closer, stopping at the foot of the bed. “You’re unstable. Untrained. And dangerous to yourself, if not to others yet.”
I flinched, but he continued, unbothered by my reaction.
“I will train you,” he repeated, voice firm as iron. “But not your magic. Not yet.” His gaze dropped to my shaking hands. “You’re too weak. Physically.”
Ouch.
He didn’t seem to notice or he did and simply didn’t care.
“Before anything else,” he said, “you’ll undergo physical conditioning. Combat basics. Weapon familiarity. Endurance. Discipline. Judging by your current state, you can barely run a mile, let alone defend yourself.”
My mouth opened to protest…surely I wasn’t that pathetic—
but he raised a hand, silencing me instantly.
“Very soon,” he went on, “recruits will be assigned to field missions. Real ones. And if you can’t handle a blade—or even hold your own in a fight you are not making it out there alive.”
Alive.
My throat tightened.
Even if my magic didn’t get me killed… everything else might.
“I…” My voice wavered. “I don’t know if I can—”
“You don’t have a choice,” Neris said quietly. “Not anymore.”
He watched me for another moment, then straightened, the faint glow of the blue fire tracing along the edges of his armor. “Your training starts tomorrow. After your classes.”
His tone shifted into something official and commanding. “Report to the northern courtyard at dawn.”
Panic sparked in my chest, but Neris was already turning away, dismissing me with the smallest tilt of his head.
“You can leave now.”
Something inside me twisted. Gratitude. Fear. Humiliation. Maybe all three tangled together.
I pushed myself off the bed..legs shaky, pride even shakier and headed toward the door. The floating orbs dimmed behind me, the blue fire crackling in a low, eerie murmur.
I stepped into the hallway, the door shutting softly behind me.
Tomorrow..
His training.
And a future that felt like it could shatter with one wrong breath.