The rain trickled off by morning, and the droplets on Zephyr's window seemed to hum a murmur in his ears: slow, soothing, comfort-insuring. Contrasting with his thoughts, he lay in bed for some time, considering all that had happened in daylight hours of the previous day: the encounter with Lyra, and how danger seemed to ride alongside her. Now, with more shadows than ever, he was in such a rush to embrace them, concealing secrets not yet revealed.
He threw off the bedclothes, dressed in his training clothes, and went out; all this time, the clinging fabric of his shirt to his torso literally begged for another day at the Abyssal Guild. Immediately, the wet earth smell hit him, mixed with the subtle burning of incense, wafting from the courtyard. The rain had turned the training ground into a plane of reflecting water-so surreal.
Mira was already there to meet him, her fire hands crackling small sparks of light dancing around her palm and lighting up the darkened yard below. "There you are! I was afraid you might get lost in your thoughts," she said jocosely, a smile breaking through the morning gloom.
"I was contemplating various methods of not allowing my shadows to swallow me whole," he replied, his tone dripping with sarcasm.
Mira laughed brightly, infectiously. "Well, then, let's get down to it! Kieran said we would work on combining our powers today. I think this is just the perfect opportunity for you to work on your control."
"Combining powers? I'm not quite sure how my shadows will get along with your flames," Zephyr said, an eyebrow arched.
"Come on, it'll be fun! Just think of it as a dance. You lead with the shadows and I follow with the flames," she chimes in, sparkling in her eyes.
A spike of trepidation mixed with anticipation riotously jumped in his stomach at the thought of how it would be, actually joining their powers together. What if he lost control again? But the challenge to learn how to handle his powers pushed him ahead. "Alright, let's see what happens."
Without being prompted or cued, standing front and center was Kieran as the other Initiates joined in circles around him. "Today, it is all about synergy; the real strength of a Conduit does not only lie in an individual's power, but in the powers of working with one another," he started off, running his eyes across them. "I want you all to pair up and find some sort of way to meld your abilities together. Just remember, the key here is to keep control but see how far you can push yourself.
The mere thought had Zephyr's heart racing. He turned to Mira, who was already grinning in anticipation. "Ready?"
"Always!" she exclaimed with excitement dripping from each word.
Kieran clapped his hands, gesturing to them to start. "Alright! Begin with your individual skills, then work your way to bringing those together.
With the Initiates pairing up, Zephyr and Mira held themselves apart from the others, finding their place to set sights on space. The rain had died off, leaving a chill mist clinging in the air.
"All right, let's begin with our fundamentals. I'll create a wall of darkness and you illuminate that with your fire," he said, the tingle of excitement rising in his stomach as he thought of how their powers would connect in this action.
"Perfect, just remember, I'll need you to hold the barrier stable," Mira replied as she stepped a few paces backward. "On three."
"Alright," Zephyr said with a pounding heart, falling to one knee and casting his hand in the direction of the ground below him. "One… two… three!
He called the shadows from the ground, extending his arms as they churned around him in a dark dome alive with his pulsating energy. The barrier shimmered, every tendril of shadow alive with his will. "I've got it!" he exclaimed, feeling that recognizable buzz of Kael'thar's essence reverberate within him.
"Now!" Mira exclaimed, hewing a burst of flame that leaped from her hand and met in mid-air the conjunction of the shadows. The result was out of this world: an unearthly flame wrapped in dark energy, light and shadow dancing across the courtyard.
"Look at that!" Zephyr breathed in wonder at the visual display they created. "It's beautiful!"
"Now let's see if it holds!" Mira taunted, and on her face, there danced a resolved light.
Zephyr straightened further then and harnessed his energy into building the shadow barrier, while Mira extended her flames to the limit. Hence, the two powers faced their opposition in a graceful dance: fire dancing around the shadowy edges in this dazzling light-and-darkness show.
The world beyond their new power was forgotten in that instant. Their energies merged into that one perfect harmony-an experience Zephyr had never known was possible. It was an exuberance that coursed through him now, washing his old fears away, instilling in him this sense of oneness.
The bond snapped abruptly, and chaos suddenly welled up inside him like a tidal wave, sending the shadows to skitter out of Zephyr's grasp. "Mira, I-
But before he could utter it, the barrier flickered and the combined flames exploded in an outward direction, dissipating into a flurry of sparks and shadows. They landed with harmless crackles around them, but Zephyr's heart plummeted with the thought of his loss of control.
"Whoa, that was intense!" Mira exclaimed, oohs of excitement in her eyes, though her voice belayed a hint of concern. "You did great, Zephyr! We just need to practice holding the connection longer."
"Yeah, but it was slipping away. I don't want that to happen," he said. Frustration rose. "I gotta get better."
Hey, it's okay," Mira tried to reassure with a comforting hand laid on his shoulder. "It's one of those learning processes. We'll figure that out together. Just know that you have to trust yourself and me.
Zephyr nodded and took one deep, deep breath in, to steady his racing heart. This time around, they did the exercise, their connection stronger than ever; the work began to take on a fluidity of rhythm as the flames danced across the shadows to seem like some sort of extensions of themselves.
They continued practicing with Kieran present to periodically offer advice or encouragement. "You are both picking it up so quickly," he yelled. "Now let me see you put it all together with another team."
Zephyr's gaze protected the yard below. In under a second, his eyes had locked on Lyra; she was conjuring down shadows as she trained with another Initiate. A little pang of envy tugged at him-she was a natural, stitching darkness around her with such finesse.
"Ready to move on?" Mira asked, snapping him from his musings.
"Yeah," he said, shaking off the remnants of doubts.
It wasn't until the pairs started switching that his heart fluttered in his chest, an apprehension for being paired with Lyra specifically, as the girl had something to her that unsettled him, though admittedly there was a tugging of curiosity on the threads of his wariness.
Now it was his time to partner with her, and he drew a deep breath, ready for their encounter. "Let's see what we make, together," he said-the voice firm, but inside, a riot of trepidation bubbled.
Lyra curled her lips upwards into a playful smile. "I think we shall make quite the show, Zephyr. Just follow my lead.
And as they began in earnest, the shadows coalesced for him into she, into Lyra: moving with a surety that was both captivating and horrifying to him. It was as if the darkness itself was dancing to her beckon, tugged by some hidden attraction.
"Now, do something truly spectacular," she ordered him now, and before he could understand what was going on at all, she pushed her hands out in front of her invitingly, calling a wave of shadow energy that enveloped them both.
The huge surge of power enveloped Zephyr-like comforting shadows embracing him. "This is… amazing," he stammered, plunging deep inside that darkness.
"Now light it," she said again, the hint of a challenge tracing her voice.
Wrath focused himself, and Zephyr called fire from his centre, pressing the energy into the churning darkness. In a tornado of dark fire, they wrestled, dancing and screaming in the air.
In one flashing instant, they were a whirlwind of colours-shadows dancing with flames in an insane waltz of chaos and beauty. A moment was all it lasted. The link between them started to slip, and Zephyr felt the shadows start to spiral out of his grasp.
"Pull it together!" Lyra yelled, voice cutting through the din.
"I am!" Zephyr spat out, strained, in an effort of control. The shadows pulsed to life, threatening to overwhelm and consume him as he fought against the surge of energy.
It was in the weakness of that moment that the whispers of Kael'thar crept once more into his mind, sultry tones promising him power and freedom. "Give in to the chaos, Zephyr. Let it be your guide."
But Zephyr fought against it, plunged deep into that well he and Mira had dug in the wrestle with his phobia demons. "No! I won't let it take me!" he roared, pushing against the dark.
In that final surge of will, he centered himself, anchoring with Lyra. "We can do this!" he yelled out, sure and strong.
But instead, his shock found Lyra turning from amusement to honest respect. "Then let's make it work!" Together, the two infused energy in each other and pressed together against the chaos around them until it finally stabilized into a sphere of swirling shadow and flame that pulsed with their combined might.
A deafening applause filled the yard as their creation danced overhead above their heads-proof that they had succeeded. The sight sent Zephyr's heart over the edge, washing his self-doubts away with elation and relief.
"See? That wasn't so hard, was it?" Lyra asked, a teasing tinge in her eyes.
"No, it wasn't," he replied, his expression breaking through his self-doubt.
While Zephyr walked further into the session, in his heart there had bloomed a small flower of confidence. His powers were yet to be mastered, but with every step, a new urge inside was born-to dance along in darkness and light, finding the unifying strength in it.
The day was done; the sun set in the horizon and tainted the sky orange and purple. Zephyr stood with Mira, watching the display as a feeling of hope washed over him. Maybe he could actually make it through the complications of his powers after all.
"Great job today," Mira said, nudging him with her shoulder.
Thanks-guys couldn't have done it without you, he said, still running to catch up after that crazy dance of shadows and flames they'd created.
As they filed back to the dormitories, the soft whispers still lingered on Zephyr's mind. He knew it would have been so much more if the Abyss had confessed all that was there, just beyond reach. But for now, the warmth of comrades and promises of growth held him fast in readiness for what would come.