Chapter Seven: Foxes and Firemouths

Sylara Thorne, Age 9

---

Nyx is not a morning wolf.

["Why are you awake at this hour?"] she grumbles from the back of my mind, like she's lounging on a pile of sarcasm and half-formed curses.

["I thought we agreed your schedule would include sleep, brooding, and the occasional sarcastic thought—not sunrise training with knife-wielding weirdos."]

Knife-wielding weirdos, in this case, are the Riftguard instructors. And I, apparently, am a special case.

Since the Binding Rite incident, the Ash Mothers have pushed for extra training. Something about "structural discipline," "channel reinforcement," and "mitigating wild magic tendencies." Which I think is a polite way of saying ,

"She might explode. Let's teach her to aim first."

---

We're paired in groups of three for spell exercises. My partners today are Kiva Marren – short, smug, smarter than she lets on. Always chewing dried thunderfruit. Has the general vibe of a bored cat with a knife and Eren Vell – tall, twitchy, painfully earnest. Keeps trying to be friends with me. So far, I've grunted twice and shoved his scrollcase off the table once.

"Sylara," he says today, brightly. "Nice of you to show up! Again."

"I live here."

"…Still. Your presence is noted."

["Oh Flamelet," Nyx sighs, "he's adorable. Like a baby deer licking a lightning rod."]

Don't encourage me, I warn her silently.

["Too late."]

---

The drill is simple , each trio is given a broken rune to stabilize using willpower and shared aether.

Kiva yawns. "This is stupid."

Eren clears his throat. "We're learning harmonic balance. It's important."

She smirks. "So's bathing. But you don't see them making us chant while doing it."

I roll my eyes. "Let's just get this over with."

We kneel around the cracked obsidian disk. The rune etched into its surface glows weakly—flickering like a dying lantern. I reach out, but the second my palm hovers over it—

FWOOM.

The rune surges to life. Blinding. Hot. Whole.

Kiva jerks back. "What the hell?"

Eren stares. "You didn't even say the incantation…"

["Flamelet," Nyx drawls, "you might want to pretend to struggle. You're starting to look suspiciously cool."]

I bite back a smile. "Lucky guess," I say dryly.

Kiva narrows her eyes. "That's not luck. That's something else."

She's not wrong.

---

Later that evening, I sneak into the abandoned bath chamber with the broken mirror. I like the way it shimmers when no one's watching. Like it's made of water. Or memory.

["You're changing,"] Nyx murmurs.

"You say that like it's a bad thing."

["Not bad. Just fast. You're unraveling and blooming at the same time. Most people don't get that until they're older. Or already dead."]

"Cheery."

[ "You like me for my optimism."]

I pause, fingers tracing my reflection.

"I can feel fire in my fingertips. But also something else. Cold. Wild. Like teeth in my veins."

["You're not made of one magic, Sylara. You're a convergence. Fire, shadow, blood, bone."]

[ "And you haven't even scratched the surface."]

---

The next day, I catch Kiva watching me during lunch.

She flicks a grape at my head. "Hey, Soul-Eater."

"Charming."

"You and I—we're going to spar. Tonight. Midnight."

I blink. "Why?"

"To see if that freaky rune trick was a fluke. Or if you really are as powerful as everyone's whispering."

["Ooh," Nyx croons, "I like her. She's got bite. And zero survival instinct."]

"I'm not interested," I say aloud.

Kiva smirks. "Good. Makes it more fun when I win."

She stalks off.

["She likes you,"] Nyx adds.

"She threatened me."

["That's flirting."]

"…You are a menace."

[ "Guilty."]

---

That night, I sit at the top of the spire tower, alone, knees pulled to my chest. Riftkeep sprawls below—ancient and flickering with firelight.

"Do you think they'll always fear me?" I whisper.

Nyx curls softly inside me.

["Only the ones who haven't earned the right to understand you."]

"And the rest?"

["Will follow you. Or try to destroy you. But none will ever forget you."]

Something warm settles in my chest.

Not fire.

Not fear.

Just… her.

And for the first time since the Binding Rite, I smile for no reason at all.

---

Sylara and Nyx's bonding is getting stronger.How will the sparring between Kiva and Sylara unfold? What will they become -- friends or enemies?