Chapter 10

My eyelids fluttered open, light filtering in from a window in the room. Yelena sat on a low stool beside the bed, unmoving, her gaze fixed on my face. She might have been a statue carved from onyx, save for the intense glint in her eyes. How long had she been watching? How long had I been lost to sleep?

"You completed the Onyx challenge under a month." Her voice was a low hum, the words landing with the weight of stones. "Most dragons take a whole year, and that's when it is the easiest."

The numbers swam in my head – a month, a year. My mouth felt dry, words tangled on my tongue. I simply stared back, waiting for whatever came next.

"You've slept for a while," she continued, a faint tremor of urgency entering her tone. "We are now short of time. Head for the mountains closest to the castle. Kyuro and Quinzel are waiting." A small, almost imperceptible softening crossed her features. "I hope to see you when you come back."

Before I could respond, she was there, her arms wrapping around me. My muscles tensed, expecting… something else. But her embrace was firm, familiar, a strange warmth seeping into my core. My initial surprise melted into a quiet shock at how natural it felt, as if we had done this countless times before.

My gaze drifted to the desk beside the bed. A neatly folded pile of clothing sat there: a grey turtleneck, black sweatpants, and a set of empty holsters, sleek leather waiting for my daggers. On top, a mask. It was a kitsune, pure white with striking red eyes that seemed to burn with an inner light. I picked it up, the ceramic cool against my fingers, and lifted it to my face. It settled perfectly, as if sculpted just for me, the weight barely noticeable. My vision narrowed, framed by the smooth edges, and a peculiar sense of rightness settled over me.

I stepped out of the silent castle, the chill morning air biting at my skin, and launched myself into the sky. Below, the castle shrank, a cluster of dark stone against the awakening land. My wings beat a steady rhythm, carrying me swiftly towards the distant peaks. Soon, two figures resolved at the base of the tallest one.

As I landed, a plume of dust rising around my feet, I saw them. Kyuro stood with his arms crossed, a muscle twitching in his jaw, his eyes narrowed to slits. Beside him, Quinzel practically vibrated with energy, a wide grin stretching across his face, his eyes gleaming.

"Wow!" Quinzel practically bounced, his voice echoing off the rock face. "You completed the queen's challenge faster than I expected!"

"No time for small talk," Kyuro interjected, his upper lip curling into a faint sneer. His voice was flat, devoid of warmth. "We only have ten days to train her before Lilith and Lilian get her."

"Indeed, we are a bit short on time," Quinzel agreed, his earlier exuberance replaced by a sharp focus. "Zero, during these ten days, you are to learn how to fight with a combination of grace and ruthlessness."

Kyuro lifted his chin, his gaze sweeping up the steep, jagged face of the mountain. "Your martial arts already has that edge of ruthlessness. What you need to imbibe more is the graceful part. There are obstacles on this height. Your objective is to get to the top of it without being hit."

"You are not allowed to use your wings," Quinzel added, his voice crisp and clear. "You can start now."

I nodded once, a silent acknowledgment. My muscles already felt like knotted rope, a legacy of the recent challenges. I bent at the waist, fingers reaching for my toes, a faint crackle echoing from my spine. My shoulders rotated, my neck stretched, easing the tightness, preparing for the ascent. When the familiar looseness returned to my limbs, I surged forward, vanishing into the dense undergrowth at the mountain's base.

My stride was barely finding its rhythm when a shadow fell over me. A deafening crack ripped through the air, and a massive tree trunk crashed across my path, its rough bark slamming into my shins. A sharp, involuntary cry tore from my throat, the pain radiating instantly. Then, a blur of movement beside me, a hand on my arm. Quinzel. The agony in my legs evaporated as quickly as it had appeared. Before I could register the shift, I was back at the starting line, a terse command echoing in my ears: "Again."

I plunged into the woods again, half-expecting the felled tree. Instead, the air vibrated with a sudden, whistling chorus. A dark blur streaked past my left ear. Another whizzed by my right. I twisted, ducking just as a third shot past my face. But a fourth caught me. A searing line of pain flared across my shoulder as something sharp grazed my skin. The next instant, the familiar grip on my arm, the disorienting lurch, and I stood once more at the starting point.

"This is something you need to correct," Kyuro stated, his face a mask of unyielding stone. "Always expect the unexpected. Go again!"

Time blurred. The sun climbed, then dipped, painting the sky in fiery hues before fading into deepest night. Each attempt ended the same way: a trip, a sudden net, a shower of rocks, a whispered word of failure, and the jarring return to the starting line. My muscles screamed, my eyelids grew heavy, and my concentration fractured. The "unexpected" was relentless, and I felt no closer to mastering its elusive dance. At one point, I stumbled, my legs giving out. I sagged against a thick tree trunk, trying to catch my breath.

"No, you can't rest," Kyuro's voice cut through the darkness, sharp and unwavering. "No sleep, no rest, until you get to the top of the mountain."

Despair clawed at my throat, the mountain a towering monument to my failure. My mind drifted back to the strange woman, her serene power. I reached for that memory, for the echo of her presence. And then, it was there. Not a memory, but a sudden, rushing tide of energy, cool and invigorating, flooding my veins. My senses sharpened, the rustle of leaves, the whisper of the wind, the vibrations of the earth beneath my feet – all of it coalesced into a single, comprehensive tapestry of information. The forest no longer seemed a chaotic maze, but a predictable pattern.

I pushed off, my movements fluid, effortless. The forest blurred around me. A subtle shift in the air, a faint tremor in the earth, a whisper of displaced branches – and my body would contort, leap, or duck before my conscious mind even registered the threat. My muscles responded with an elegant precision, guiding me around falling rocks, through thorny thickets, past hidden pitfalls. I focused, not just on reacting, but on understanding the subtle cues, internalizing this new language of danger. Halfway up the mountain, the surge of power dimmed, then vanished, leaving behind only the ghost of its clarity. Yet, my body continued to move with the same instinctual grace, each step a testament to the patterns I had absorbed.

I emerged from the treeline onto the rocky summit, my breath coming in ragged gasps, but my limbs still singing with the afterglow of my strange focus. Kyuro stood waiting, his silhouette stark against the dawn sky. "I'm surprised you completed this under one day."

A faint warmth spread through my chest, an unfamiliar urge to let my lips curve upwards. Instead, I tightened my jaw, meeting his gaze with an expression as unyielding as his own.

"The next challenge," he continued, "is to do it with blindfolds covering your eyes. You should not rely too much on your eyes. You will use your other senses." He extended a hand, holding out a strip of dark cloth.

The black fabric covered my eyes, plunging me into instant darkness. My mind braced for the chaotic flailing, the constant resets I'd endured just hours before. But as I took my first tentative steps, a different world unfolded. The rustle of a distant branch warned me of a falling limb. The subtle hum of displaced air guided me to dodge unseen arrows, their phantom flight paths clear in my mind. The earth's vibrations, the damp coolness rising from below, painted a perfect picture of a sudden drop. Each shift in air pressure, each faint echo, became a map, allowing me to weave through the unseen dangers with startling ease.

I felt the ground level beneath my feet, the cool air of the mountain base. A quick tug, and the blindfold came away, light momentarily searing my eyes before the familiar landscape sharpened into view.

Kyuro's usual stern mask was gone, replaced by an unblinking stare. Beside him, Quinzel's jaw hung slightly agape, his eyes wide. Kyuro's gaze, heavy and piercing, was fixed on me, truly fixed on me, for the very first time. "I don't know whether to call you a prodigy or simply a monster," he murmured, his voice low, almost awestruck. "You completed a task that even the best of us got through in eight days, in simply two. You should be able to fight and kill for longer."

My eyes locked with his, the words leaving my lips on a whisper, "Fight and kill?"

"Yes," Quinzel affirmed, his previous surprise fading into a grim resolve. "You will go to human camps and murder them. We have to make you ready for the war."

"Rest for now," Kyuro added, his voice flat with finality. "Because you are going to kill, non-stop, for the next eight days."

My daggers, now returned to me by Henri, felt like extensions of my will. Each swing, each thrust, was fluid, precise, a chilling ballet of death. The humans, with their crude weapons and desperate cries, fell with startling ease. Kyuro and Quinzel, observing from the shadows, exchanged hushed whispers, their eyes wide. I heard Quinzel's breath catch, then his voice, low and awestruck: "Like a dragon princess dancing..." Their words were faint, but the picture they painted in my mind – a deadly, graceful rhythm amidst chaos – felt true. By the time the eighth sun set, the tally of bodies had climbed into the thousands.

"Not bad for a beginner," Kyuro stated, his tone devoid of real warmth, yet carrying a faint edge of something akin to approval. "You can go and rest for now, but in my opinion, you could have done better."

Quinzel leaned in, his voice a conspiratorial whisper against my ear, "He's proud of you."

My lips twitched, fighting the pull of an unfamiliar smile. I clamped them shut, but a warmth blossomed in my chest, and I knew, instinctively, that my eyes must be giving away the quiet surge of pleasure.

I turned back towards the castle, the thought of rest a distant hum. Instead, a new, unexpected thought bloomed: the quiet anticipation of sharing this, every brutal, exhilarating detail, with Yelena.

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Today is my birthday guys!

Woooh!!!

Hope you enjoyed today's chapter. We are drawing to the end of this book, with about 3 chapters left. I know it is short I don't know how to write long stories or finished stories in fact. This story took awhile to write.

Please point out any mistakes I may have made while writing this.

Thank you very much.