Chapter fifteen - Master of Four Elements

Thalia’s POV

“To master the elements, you must first master yourself.”

The dawn after my induction into the Direwolves began not with a celebration but with a battle. This battle is not against an enemy but against myself.

This morning, Agalaya woke me up before the first rays of light touched the treetops. The cloak Azure had given me the night before still smelled of smoke, rain, and ashes. The pendant on my neck pulsed faintly, responding to my emotions. I traced my new birthmark with my fingers as I felt them burn.

"There is one more training left to be had before we release you" she said gently.

"One more?" I asked not knowing if I should be happy or sad.

"For a thousand years, we have waited for this day. The prophecies have revealed that you're the reincarnate of the Moon goddess. The one with the gift of the four elements"

I was shocked. Four elements? I was reborn in the flames. Nobody said anything about bearing the four elements.

"This is a very huge responsibility." Agalaya said watching me closely. "But the moon goddess has willed it for a reason. You will have a lot of enemies because of your great powers, but your powers would help you prevail over all. That's why you need more training."

I rose up from my bed with a heavy heart. This was the least thing I expected but it is my destiny. It is my cross to carry. I got into my warrior attire and stepped into the training circle, heart thundering. This was no longer about survival. It was about transformation.

“Ready to die again?” Pyra smirked, appearing behind me like a flame in motion.

“I already did,” I said. “But here I am.”

Her eyes sparkled with pride barely hidden beneath her usual fire. “Then let’s see if you’re ready to live.”

The training field was a wide clearing surrounded by elemental markers—fire pits, stone boulders, a cascading waterfall, and wind chimes that sang with the breeze.

Each Direwolf specialized in an element was present. In centuries, I was the first to bear all four.

“Water is balance,” Naia said as she stood beside the waterfall, water gliding over her arms like serpents. “Without it, you’ll burn yourself from the inside.”

I tried to focus my fire. My palm flared, and I guided the flames forward.

Then I summoned the water and let it pour into the fire’s path. The steam hissed violently and my skin stung as the opposing elements clashed.

With training, I turned the water vapor into mist and then into ice. I screamed and dropped the frozen water as it quenched my fire.

Naia chuckled gently. “That was progress.”

“That was chaos.” I replied, thinking I've performed poorly.

She tilted her head towards me. “Then learn to control chaos.”

By midday, my muscles screamed. I trained with Flint next, trying to anchor my flames with stone. He buried me up to my waist in hardened earth and made me control the fire in my chest without burning my way free.

“Your rage is like a forest fire,” he said gruffly. “But fire burns with strength, not anger. Strength is where real power lies.”

It took hours. Sweat poured from me. My limbs trembled. But eventually, I lit the flame in my palm to illuminate not to destroy.

Flint nodded once. “That’s the beginning of control.”

By sunset, I faced Zephyr on the Sky Pillars. He threw me up into the air with the flick of his palm and made me ride the wind currents back down.

“The air doesn’t catch you because it fears you,” he said. “It catches you because it trusts that you’ve released the weight of everything and now you're light.”

“How do you let go of pain that still feels alive?” I asked, breathless.

Zephyr paused, looking at me with surprise.

“You don't let go of the pain, Thalia. You let go of the belief that pain is all you are.”

That night, I collapsed beside the central fire pit. My bones ached. My body buzzed with elemental powers streaming in my bloodstream.

Azure sat beside me, silent for a while.

“You’re doing well.” we said

“I feel like I’m being torn apart and stitched back together with fire.”

“That’s what becoming a Direwolf feels like,” she said with a small laugh. “You’re not just learning power. You’re becoming it.”

I stared into the fire.

“I'm scared. I feel like if I fail… I’ll explode.”

“You're right to be scared. And you might....” her voice cracked. “But that’s why we’re here. To catch the pieces.”

The days flew by fast after that. More training, more huddles to overcome. Each day brought new challenges.

Pyra forced me to run through a burning forest without protecting myself, but I survived. I ran through the flames without being burnt only to find out that it was just an illusion.

“You must defeat fear. Because you can’t always fight fire with fire,” she shouted. “Sometimes you have to endure it.”

Flint made me hold up a boulder above my head without touching it. “Let the earth carry your burden,” he said. “You’re not alone.”

Naia led me into an underwater cave and made me hold my breath long past my limit, teaching me how to find peace in stillness. “Control is not silence. It is choosing what voice to listen to.”

Zephyr taught me to glide between trees using wind currents while blindfolded. “Sometimes, sight lies,” he told me. “You must learn to trust your instincts.”

He made me jump on top tall trees without climbing. I tried but i couldn't jump that high. Not until I learned to carry myself. "You must learnt to be light. Don't be heavily laden with troubles."

Most times I failed, I failed a lot but every time I failed, I learned something new. I learned about power, about trust and about myself.

One afternoon, Azure handed me a small glass orb filled with glowing silver liquid.

“What’s this?” I asked as she sat down beside me

“Your first test of fusion.”

She set two candles before me. One was blazing red and the other was deep blue.

“Fire and water don’t mix,” she said. “Unless you force them to become something new.”

I stared at the orb. "I'm not sure I am ready."

“You were born in fire,” she reminded me. “You survived in pain. You walked through earth, flowed through water, soared through sky. Now… make them one.”

I took a breath and closed my eyes.

I let the flame in my chest rise. The water in my mind flow. The earth beneath me anchor me and the wind around me hold me steady.

I reached for both candles at once.

They flared, burning brighter. Then flickered, then converged. It gave birth to a single pale blue flame that rose between them.

It wasn't fire or water. It was something else.

The orb in my palm glowed brightly.

“Congratulations,” Azure whispered. “You’ve created your first fusion. You've successfully mixed fire and water.”

I smiled as tears flowed freely from my eyes. It wasn’t perfect, it wobbled. But i made it.

That night, I sat with the others around the fire. And for the first time, I wasn’t just a guest. I was one of them. A direwolf

Even Pyra, with her usual sarcasm, offered me a roasted root and muttered, “Don’t die. You’re decent backup.”

Flint grunted his approval. Naia sang an ancient lullaby. Zephyr taught me how to whistle with a leaf. Azure sat with her head resting on my shoulder.

The firelight glowed in their eyes and I didn't feel so alone anymore. For the first time, i didn’t want to be.

As I lay beneath the stars surrounded by my new family, I whispered to the night sky, “Mother, I wish you could see me now. I have a family that cares.”

The wind stirred the leaves above me, and in the fire’s glow, I saw her face, it wasn't real, it was a memory. I saw her smiling sweetly at me. She looked so proud and I felt her there with me. I felt her presence and the winds whispered in my ears,

"You were born to burn, my love. Never to be consumed. I have always loved you."

I clutched the pendant across my chest. I was no longer a weak omega. I was a Direwolf. I was different, special and my journey was just beginning.