Training Gone Wrong

Dahlia's POV

I was relieved by Soraya's apology the day before, and grateful too, and a little happy that after everything, someone still felt that way about me. If you asked me, I'd say having more than one friend comes with its own dangers, but I was fine with Soraya being mine. We talked until late that night, though I made sure she did most of the talking, just like before, while I listened.

When she asked about my howl, I gave her the same answer I'd given the Council during the questioning. Then I watched her fall asleep and sneaked out as usual, only this time I had a purpose. I was going to start training myself. Even if the system hadn't pushed me to do it, I knew I needed the training more than ever, because after what I'd done to Lunara's friends, I was sure they'd stop at nothing to get back at me. Unless they were scared of me now, like everyone else.

I waited until it was properly dead of night before I slipped out of my room. I wasn't worried about meeting anyone in the woods, since I was sure nobody went to that part of the school except me and Kyren. I couldn't say why I felt so comfortable in a place that was off-limits, but off-limits or not, frightening or not, it was my only option if I wanted to train without anyone getting in the way.

“Calm down, will you?” I muttered to my legs, which seemed to be carrying me faster than I'd meant to go.

The air felt different when I stepped into the woods. I felt seen, and for a moment I thought of the place as a person who had noticed things about me that I didn't know myself.

Every sound seemed louder than it should have been. Leaves crunched as if I'd stepped on them wrongly, and branches snapped with every step, but I kept going and didn't stop until I reached my usual spot. The light in the clearing pulled my eyes up to the moon, and I was suddenly furious with it. “You embarrassed me remember, so don't you dare get involved in whatever I do here tonight. Do you understand?” I snapped.

I rolled my shoulders once, then again. You wanted this, I reminded myself. You came here to train. I took off my shoes and left them beside a tree. The ground was cold and somehow alive under my feet, and I spread my toes to ground myself, the way Ms. Maureen had once taught us in basic control lessons.

“Okay,” I whispered to no one. “Let's see what I can do.”

I started with a jog. I went around the clearing, counting my breaths and listening to my heartbeat. One. Two. Three. My muscles warmed up as if they'd been asleep for years and were only now stretching awake. I circled the clearing three times, and then I pushed harder.

My legs lengthened their stride without asking me, and before I knew what was happening, my feet were barely touching the ground. The wind tugged at my hair as if it were trying to pull me back. It took me a while to stop, and when I did I was out of breath and stunned, because I had never been fast.

I'd always been the girl who tripped and came in last in races. The teachers would sigh, and sometimes the other students forgot I was even part of the run.

“Again,” I said.

This time I sprinted with more strength than before, far more than the first time. I could hear the air rushing past my ears as though it were screaming, and my vision sharpened until I could pick out every detail even at full speed. I dodged each slap of the leaves as I passed. I stopped at the tree line with my hands braced on my knees.

That had been too easy.

My pulse thundered, but my legs wanted more, and that was what unsettled me. I straightened slowly and stared at my hands. They looked the same, but they felt strange. Without really planning it, I walked over to a fallen log, thick and half-rotted but still heavy. I knew exactly how heavy, because I'd tried to move it once and failed.

“This is stupid,” I said, even as I squatted down and curled my fingers around a root. I lifted, and the log came up.

Not all the way, but enough that I stumbled back in shock and dropped it with a thud that echoed through the trees. My breath caught.

I looked at the log, then at my hands, then at the log again. “No,” I whispered. “That's not possible.”

But my muscles felt as though they'd just been fed. I tried again, and this time I lifted it higher. My arms shook with the strain and I yelled, but I didn't let go. I held it for three full seconds, long enough to be sure it wasn't luck, and then I let it drop.

My knees buckled after that.

I sat down hard on the ground with my chest heaving and my palms burning. Fear kept me company, because none of this was normal. It wasn't something a first-year student should be able to do, and it wasn't something anyone should be able to do without training.

[CAREFUL,] Robby warned.

“I am being careful,” I whispered back.

I ran again, around the clearing, through the trees, over roots and rocks. My lungs burned, though not painfully anymore. The pain felt distant and manageable. Sweat slicked my skin and my shirt clung to my back, but my body refused to quit. After a few minutes I finally stopped, bent over and gasping. I could have gone on and on, but it was getting late, so I decided to quit. I was about to turn back when a strange insect darted out of nowhere, followed by an equally strange wind.

My skin prickled.

I straightened slowly, because shadows had begun to shift in the woods. Something moved to my left, and then came a sound too soft to be an animal and too deliberate to be the wind.

“Hello?” I called, but there was no answer.

Then I smelled dried blood. I turned, and too many eyes were open in the darkness.

My vision blurred, and my heart skipped. I backed away, lifting my hands though I had no idea what I planned to do with them. One of the creatures moved closer, tall and twisted, its mouth stretched into something like a smile. I knew my legs were faster than they used to be, but I didn't think that would be enough this time, and when it lunged almost at once, I ran.

Branches whipped across my face. Roots grabbed at my feet. My breath turned ragged, and panic shredded whatever control I had. I dodged left and right, but it kept coming, and I could hear the others closing in. I was sure no help was coming, because nobody knew I was out here and nobody would come looking, and Soraya was probably asleep with her mouth wide open by now.

A shadow moved ahead of me, and I skidded to a stop when I recognized someone leaning against a tree.

Kyren.

He was watching from behind the tree while I was being chased. Maybe he'd been there the whole time, and I just hadn't known, but I was relieved to see him all the same.

“Kyren!” I shouted, but he didn't move. I shouted again, and nothing changed. He just watched from the shadows, and I was sure he could see me. Why isn't he helping me? I thought, but there was no time to think. I kept running.

The creature crashed into the clearing behind me, snarling as though it were starving. My relief turned bitter and sharp. Kyren could have helped, but he didn't. He stayed in the shadows as if I were a test he didn't want to interfere with.

My chest tightened. So that's it, I thought wildly. That's who you are.

The creature lunged again.

[FOCUS, LIA. BREATHE.]

The system came to my rescue. My body reacted before fear could say a word. I ducked and rolled and heard claws skim the air where my neck had been a second earlier. I came up running even faster, my muscles responding and my strength surging. I leapt higher than I ever had and landed hard but upright. The creature shrieked, and I could see rage and confusion on its face. Robby guided me through it, telling me when to move, when to strike, and when to run, and I trusted it and followed its lead. In the end the creature retreated and melted back into the darkness.

I dropped to my knees, shaking but alive, with a palm pressed to my chest, feeling my heart hammer, and I swallowed the ache rising in my throat. I didn't know why Kyren's inaction hurt more than the danger itself. Maybe it was because I had expected better from him.

[YOU DID WELL,] Robby said.

“Thank you,” I whispered. Then I stood up and made my way back to the dorm.