Chapter 9 CHAPTER NINE
AERIS
Cold stone pressed against my bare feet.
The training chamber was dim, lit by torches whose flames burned an eerie blue. My mother stood at the center…calm and poised, her long robes whispering across the ground as she lifted a hand
And from the shadows… the beasts came.
Summoned, not wild. Constructs shaped from spellwork and elemental magic…large, wolf-like forms with eyes like molten silver and bodies that shimmered between fur and smoke. Their breath rumbled, echoing across the marble walls.
My small fingers tightened around my mother’s, heart pounding so hard I felt it in my throat.
“Do not run, Aeris,” she whispered. “Running tells predators you’re prey.”
I tried not to shake.
Kaelia stood ahead of us, chin high, calm in that maddening Kaelia way. Water swirled in a tight orbit around her wrists…a glittering ribbon of liquid silver. When the closest beast approached, she didn’t flinch. She lifted her hand, water spinning faster, sharper—
Mother nodded in approval.
“She listens. She adapts.”
Then her eyes shifted to me.
“And you must learn the same.”
My breath hitched. I stared down at my palms as if fire would magically choose that moment to appear. My magic was supposed to be flame…brilliant and fierce and alive.
But when I reached for it…
Nothing answered.
Just a hollow ache.
“Aeris,” my mother murmured, kneeling so we were eye to eye. “You must stop fearing your own power. The flame will not come if you doubt it.”
My gaze drifted helplessly to Kaelia, who now guided the water to curl protectively around her like a shield. The beasts circled her, but none dared step closer.
I swallowed.
“I’m trying,” I whispered. “I really am.”
My mother’s expression hardened
“You must do better. Both of you will be the future of this house.”
A low growl rolled across the chamber as the nearest summoned beast prowled toward me. Its breath washed hot against my face. My fingers twitched—
A flicker came
I squeezed my eyes shut.
The feeling in my chest then small, useless, trapped was exactly the feeling I had now.
The memory shattered and the present slammed into me like a blow.
A monstrous roar tore through the forest, shaking the ground beneath my feet. The blindfold held me in suffocating darkness. Branches cracked, the earth trembled, and hot breath surged toward my face.
Only this time…
I wasn’t on cold stone in a training room.
I wasn’t seven.
And this beast wasn’t summoned.
This beast was real.
And I was going to die.
The beast moved toward me with a violent lunge that shook the ground. Its claws ripped through the soil behind me, shredding earth like parchment. Its breathing was a monstrous storm, hot and wild against the back of my neck.
I could hear its muscles coiling.
Hear its jaws part.
Hear death coming for me.
Run.
The voice wasn’t Rowan’s.
It wasn’t my mother’s.
It wasn’t even real.
.
Run, Aeris. Run.
My legs moved before my mind caught up.
I bolted.
Branches whipped at my arms. Roots clawed at my ankles. Blindfolded, I had nothing…not sight, not direction only the frantic thundering of my heart and the cold instinct dragging me forward.
I ran like breath was a luxury I couldn’t afford.
Like the air itself was razor-thin.
Like the beast’s growls were the only thing tethering me to the world.
I can't die yet, I can't die..
The forest roared around me. Something enormous crashed behind me, snapping branches as if they were twigs. Each impact shook the earth. Each breath against my spine was closer, closer—
The creature was gaining.
Pain exploded across my shin as my foot snagged on a raised root. I pitched forward violently, slamming into the ground. My palms scraped raw against dirt and stone, a cry ripping from my throat.
I tried to scramble up but it was too late.
A guttural snarl tore through the darkness, so close it vibrated through my ribs. Leaves burst apart as the beast skidded to a stop just a breath away. I could feel its shadow looming over me, its rage a tangible heat against my skin.
This was it.
This was how I died..blind, alone, forgotten in a forest on my first night.
My breath shook violently as I squeezed my eyes shut behind the blindfold.
This is the end, this is..
The beast snarled again. Louder this time.
Angrier.
I curled in on myself, heart hammering against my ribs.
And then, just as its weight shifted, preparing to strike, A sound floated through the forest. Soft and Slow. So out of place it sliced through my panic like light cracking open a door.
A voice.
Melodic. Liquid. Beautiful in a way that didn’t belong anywhere near blood or fear.
At first, I thought I imagined it…some hallucination my mind conjured to comfort me before death. But the beast froze.
Its snarl caught in its throat.
Its breath stuttered.
The tension hovering over my back… eased.
The voice grew clearer, weaving between the trees like a ribbon of silver.
A hum… that slipped into a low melody… then rose into something almost unearthly.
My eyes widened beneath the blindfold.
Rhea.
Her voice drifted closer, wrapping around the beast and around me, threading through the forest until even the trees seemed to still in recognition.
The creature’s growl softened into a rumbling whine. I could feel it…feel its massive head dip, its breath no longer scalding with hunger but vibrating with submission.
Rhea’s melody deepened, each note like a hand smoothing fur. Calm. Steady. Absolute.
The beast huffed, a confused, almost offended sound and then lowered itself. The earth dipped with its weight settling into the ground instead of over me.
I gasped, the tight knot in my chest unraveling so fast it hurt.
“Aeris?” Rhea whispered. I heard the wobble in her voice even though she tried to hide it. “Are you here?”
“I’m—” My voice cracked. “I’m here.”
Her hand brushed my elbow first, clumsy and searching. Then she crouched beside me, her palm finding my arm with a shaky exhale.
“You’re safe,” she breathed. “I’ve got him calm. For now.
That was a forest warden. A young one, but still. If it had been fully grown…” She didn’t finish. She didn’t have to.
“Can you keep it calm long enough for us to move?” I whispered.
Rhea blew out a breath. “Yes. I think so. But we can’t run. Sudden movement will make him chase.”
“So what do we do?” I asked.
Rhea took my hand.
“We walk,” she said. “Slow. Quiet. And together.”
She stood, pulling me up with her. The blindfold made the world pitch and sway, but her grip kept me steady.
“Stay close” she whispered. “Always stay close.”
Behind us, the beast rose…massive, silent, and following.
Not hunting.
Not attacking.
Just… escorting.
Every hair on my body stood on end.
“Rhea?” I murmured as we took our first careful steps through the unseen forest.
“Yeah?”
“Please tell me this thing isn’t right behind me.”
“It is,” she whispered. “But think of it as… a very large, very moody guard dog.”
“That does not help.”
“It wasn’t meant to.”
“Just keep walking, Aeris. Dawn is hours away.”
“Rhea,” I whispered, “you saved my life.”
“You saved mine during the Veil crossing,” she murmured back. “So… we’re even.”
I nodded, though she couldn’t see it.
“Then let’s protect each other,” she added softly. “If we stay together, we might actually survive this.”
We kept moving…slow, silent, step by step.
And when the faintest hint of morning air brushed against my skin, one truth settled in my chest:
Day Two. I survived.