Trial of the Fading Step

"The Fading Step is fundamental to advanced shadow application," Lady Nyshari announced.

We stood in yet another specialized training chamber—this one smaller than the others, with a floor marked in precise intervals.

Silver lines formed concentric circles at one-foot increments, extending outward from a central platform.

"While crude teleportation exists in other essence disciplines," she continued, "the shadow-essence version offers unique advantages in precision and essence efficiency."

All eight heirs listened attentively. Even Thorn had dropped his usual aggressive posturing, his focus entirely on Lady Nyshari's demonstration.

"Observe."

She stepped onto the central platform—a raised circle of black stone embedded with silver patterns.

Without any visible gathering of essence or physical preparation, she simply... disappeared.

One moment she stood at the center, the next she was ten feet away on one of the marked circles.

No flash. No sound. Not even a ripple in the air.

Just absence followed by presence somewhere else.

"The Fading Step does not move your physical form through space," Lady Nyshari explained. "It transitions your entire being through the shadow realm momentarily."

She demonstrated again, disappearing from her position and reappearing at the center platform.

"Distance is determined by essence control and familial affinity. Most Caelren heirs achieve competence at fifteen feet. Masters can reach thirty."

This explained so much about how Tavia had fought during our Veil-Rush match—that unsettling way she'd appeared and disappeared during combat.

"Today's training will establish your current capabilities," Lady Nyshari continued. "Eirian, demonstrate the training sequence."

Eirian stepped onto the central platform, his expression composed and focused.

"The process requires three elements," he explained clinically. "Shadow immersion, destination anchoring, and essence pull."

He demonstrated each component separately.

First, shadow essence gathered around his feet, seeming to envelop his lower body.

Then, a small shadow tendril extended to a circle marked on the floor about ten feet away.

Finally, the tendril contracted rapidly, and Eirian vanished from the platform, reappearing precisely where the tendril had touched.

"Perfect form," Lady Nyshari approved. "Each heir will now demonstrate their current proficiency. Tavia, begin."

Tavia stepped forward, so quiet I barely heard her footsteps.

Her demonstration was flawless—disappearing and reappearing at increasingly distant circles with perfect precision.

When she reached the twenty-foot mark, Lady Nyshari nodded for her to stop.

"Excellent control. Your limitations remain distance-based rather than precision-based."

Kaelen went next, his performance almost as impressive as Tavia's, though with noticeably more essence expenditure.

He managed eighteen feet before Lady Nyshari called a halt.

Mirel followed, her approach more forceful—her shadow essence practically shoving her through the transition rather than smoothly guiding her.

She reached fifteen feet but landed slightly off-center on her final mark.

"Too much force, insufficient control," Lady Nyshari noted. "Your essence efficiency remains suboptimal."

Mirel nodded, accepting the critique without argument.

Yves demonstrated next, his technique precise but limited—just twelve feet, though with perfect placement.

Thorn surprised me with his competence—seventeen feet with good control, though his final landing looked slightly unstable.

Risa managed fourteen feet, her transitions accompanied by a distinctive spatial distortion that seemed to bend the air momentarily.

Finally, my turn arrived.

I stepped onto the central platform, feeling the cool stone beneath my feet.

According to the texts I'd studied, the Fading Step required a deep connection to your shadow affinity—something that came naturally to actual Caelrens.

For me, it would be improvisation at best.

I gathered shadow essence around my legs as Eirian had demonstrated.

Created a tenril that extended toward the nearest circle—just five feet away.

Attempted to initiate the "pull" that would transition me through the shadow realm.

Nothing happened.

My essence responded sluggishly, the tendril dissipating before completing the connection.

"Again," Lady Nyshari instructed. "Focus on your core affinity, not just the external manifestation."

I tried once more, concentrating harder on the sensation of shadow essence within my pathways.

The tendril formed more solidly this time, but the transition still failed.

Around the chamber, the other heirs watched with expressions ranging from curiosity to poorly-concealed satisfaction.

Thorn didn't even try to hide his smirk.

"Perhaps a more basic approach," Lady Nyshari suggested, her voice neutral. "Simple shadow immersion first, without attempting displacement."

I nodded, focusing solely on the first component—allowing shadow essence to gather around my lower body until it enveloped me to the knees.

This part worked reasonably well. The shadow pooled correctly, responding to my direction.

"Now extend your awareness into the shadow itself," Lady Nyshari instructed. "Not as a tool, but as an extension of your being."

This was the part that Jirou had never taught me.

His shadow techniques had focused on enhancement, weight, and physical integration—not this essential connection to the shadow realm itself.

I tried to push my consciousness into the gathered darkness, but it felt like reaching into empty space.

No connection. No resonance. Nothing.

After several more failed attempts, Lady Nyshari called a halt.

"Your essence pathways remain in recovery," she stated smoothly, providing a face-saving explanation for my failure. "The Fading Step requires refined control that will come with continued healing."

The perfect cover for why a supposed Caelren heir couldn't perform a family technique.

"Continue with essence immersion exercises," she instructed. "The others will proceed with distance training."

For the next hour, I practiced the basic shadow immersion while the other heirs worked on extending their Fading Step range.

My frustration grew with each passing minute.

I'd made so much progress under Jirou's brutal training.

Had developed real skill with shadow enhancement and integration.

But this technique—supposedly fundamental to the Caelren heritage—remained completely beyond my reach.

Eventually, Lady Nyshari called for a short break.

The heirs dispersed to get water or simply rest momentarily.

I remained at the central platform, stubbornly attempting to make the connection work.

"You're forcing it."

The quiet voice startled me.

Tavia had approached so silently I hadn't noticed her presence.

"Excuse me?" I asked, turning to face her.

"The shadow connection," she clarified, her voice barely above a whisper. "You're trying to command it. That's not how it works."

I glanced around to ensure no one was listening.

"How does it work, then?"

She considered for a moment, choosing her words carefully.

"Shadows aren't tools. They're reflections of absence. You don't push your consciousness into shadow—you become the absence."

I frowned, trying to understand her meaning.

"That's not exactly clear instruction."

A ghost of a smile touched her lips.

"It isn't meant to be. Shadow essence responds to intuition more than rational thought."

She demonstrated, shadow gathering around her feet not with forced concentration, but with casual familiarity—like greeting an old friend.

"I struggled too, when I was younger," she admitted quietly. "Everyone expected immediate mastery because of my bloodline, but the connection wasn't natural for me at first."

This surprised me. Tavia's shadow manipulation seemed so effortless now.

"What changed?" I asked.

"I stopped trying to be what others expected," she replied. "Found my own way to the shadow."

Without further explanation, she walked away, returning to where Eirian was demonstrating some refined aspect of the technique.

I considered her words.

Forcing versus becoming.

Command versus connection.

I stepped back onto the platform and tried a completely different approach.

Instead of gathering shadow essence actively, I relaxed my control entirely.

Let my awareness expand passively.

Felt the natural darkness that existed in the space around me.

For several moments, nothing happened.

Then, almost imperceptibly, shadows began to gather—not because I commanded them, but because I had stopped trying to command them.

They pooled around my feet, climbing up my legs slowly.

The sensation was different—not an external force I was manipulating, but a resonance that responded to my presence.

"Interesting approach," Lady Nyshari commented, appearing beside the platform. "Continue."

I focused on a circle just five feet away—the shortest distance marked on the floor.

But instead of creating a tendril to reach for it, I simply... acknowledged it.

Recognized it as a place where I could be.

The shadow around my legs deepened.

I felt a strange sensation—like falling while standing perfectly still.

A moment of complete darkness.

Then I was standing on the five-foot circle, no longer on the platform.

The transition had happened so smoothly I'd barely felt it.

"First step achieved," Lady Nyshari noted, her expression unchanged though something like satisfaction flickered in her eyes. "A different methodology, but effective."

The other heirs had paused their practice to observe my breakthrough.

Eirian watched with analytical interest.

Kaelen smiled approvingly.

Tavia gave the barest nod of acknowledgment.

Mirel looked impressed.

Yves appeared fascinated, already scribbling notes.

Thorn scowled.

Risa stuck her tongue out playfully.

"Try once more," Lady Nyshari instructed. "Eight feet this time."

I returned to the platform and repeated the process—relaxing into the shadow rather than forcing it.

The transition happened even more smoothly this time, landing me precisely on the eight-foot mark.

"Sufficient progress for initial training," Lady Nyshari declared. "You will practice individually during evening sessions."

For the remainder of the formal training, I managed consistent transitions up to ten feet—far short of the others' capabilities, but functional.

Each success felt like uncovering some new aspect of shadow essence that Jirou had never taught me.

Not enhancement or weight or physical integration, but a direct connection to the fundamental nature of shadow itself.

As training concluded and the heirs prepared to leave, Tavia passed by me once more.

"The shadow always knows who you are," she said cryptically. "Even when you don't."

Before I could ask what she meant, she was gone—using her Fading Step to disappear from the chamber entirely.

I stood there for a moment, unsettled by her words.

Did she suspect I wasn't really Zen?

That I wasn't a true Caelren?

Or was she simply offering more of her strange, metaphorical guidance?

"Don't mind Tavia," Risa said, bouncing up beside me. "She thinks being mysterious makes her interesting."

"Does it?" I asked, grateful for the distraction.

"Totally," Risa admitted with a grin. "But don't tell her I said so."

She glanced around to ensure Lady Nyshari had left, then lowered her voice conspiratorially.

"Want to see something cool with the Fading Step that they don't teach in formal training?"

"Definitely," I replied, genuinely curious.

"Watch this," she whispered.

She performed a Fading Step, but instead of a single transition, she chained three in rapid succession—appearing and disappearing across the room in a flickering pattern before returning to my side.

"Chain-stepping," she explained proudly. "Most can only do single transitions before their essence pattern destabilizes, but I figured out how to maintain coherence through multiple jumps."

Her expression turned sly.

"Bet you can't do it."

"Probably not," I admitted. "I'm barely managing basic transitions."

"Yet," she corrected. "Barely managing yet. You figured out the connection part faster than Thorn did, and he's been practicing for years."

I raised an eyebrow.

"Is that why he looks like he wants to murder me?"

Risa laughed—a genuine, childlike sound at odds with the calculating intelligence in her eyes.

"Thorn wants to murder everyone who does anything better than him," she said cheerfully. "It's his defining personality trait. That and his terrible hair."

"I heard that," Thorn called from across the chamber.

"You were meant to," Risa called back, completely unrepentant.

As we left the training room, I found myself almost enjoying the interaction.

Almost forgetting I was an impostor among them.

Almost believing I could belong here.

But Tavia's words echoed in my mind.

The shadow always knows who you are.

Even when you don't.

And I knew exactly who I was—not Zen Caelren, heir to a shadow legacy.

But Zensalem Holloway, trapped in someone else's life.

Playing a role I hadn't chosen.