Arden led Dorothy through the dense forest, the canopy overhead blocking out most of the moonlight. Shadows stretched between the trees, and the air seemed thicker here, heavier. Dorothy's legs felt like lead, her exhaustion dragging behind her like an invisible weight. The events of the shrine echoed in her mind—the shadow's taunts, the overwhelming flood of emotions, the bitter sting of failure.
She clenched her fists as they walked, the words cutting deeper with each step: You don't even know what you are. You'll never be strong enough.
"What am I?" she whispered under her breath, too low for Arden to hear. The question clawed at her thoughts, a relentless nagging that wouldn't let go.
They emerged into a clearing surrounded by towering pines. At its center, a woman knelt by a low fire, her features starkly illuminated by the flickering flames. Her fiery red hair was tied into a loose braid, strands falling over her sharp, angular face. Her piercing amber eyes reflected the firelight, giving her an almost otherworldly presence. She wore a dark leather tunic, her exposed arms crisscrossed with scars that spoke of battles hard-fought. Around her neck hung a small pendant etched with a rune Dorothy didn't recognize.
"Kael," Arden called out, his voice uncharacteristically warm.
The woman's eyes shifted to them, her expression unreadable as she rose to her feet. Her movements were fluid and deliberate, like a predator assessing a threat. Her gaze locked on Dorothy, sharp and probing.
"This is her," Kael said, more a statement than a question.
Dorothy straightened, fighting the urge to shrink under Kael's scrutiny. Her exhaustion battled with a flicker of determination that refused to be extinguished.
"She's lucky to be alive," Kael continued, her eyes narrowing slightly as she looked at Arden. "The Trial of Overcoming Oneself is not forgiving. Do you know how many don't make it back?"
Dorothy blinked, startled. "People... die?"
Kael's gaze shifted back to her, hard and unyielding. "Many. The trial doesn't just test your will—it consumes it. You faced your shadow, and you returned. That alone says something about your spirit, no matter how raw it is."
Dorothy swallowed hard. The weight of Kael's words pressed against her chest. She hadn't just failed; she had barely survived. And yet, a small ember flickered inside her—a stubborn refusal to give up.
"I don't want to fail again," Dorothy said, her voice firmer than she expected.
Kael tilted her head, a faint smile tugging at the corner of her lips. "Good. Because failure isn't the end, child. It's where you begin."
Kael wasted no time. The drills began before Dorothy could catch her breath. Unlike Arden's grueling physical regimen, Kael's training was precise, almost surgical in its intent.
"Your problem isn't your body," Kael said, circling Dorothy as she struggled to maintain a defensive stance, her legs trembling from exhaustion. "It's your mind. You second-guess yourself. You hesitate. That's why you failed the trial."
"I wasn't ready," Dorothy admitted, her voice faltering.
Kael's eyes narrowed, and her voice sharpened. "No one's ever ready. You think the world waits for you to be ready? It doesn't care. What matters is what you do when it comes for you anyway."
Dorothy flinched at the words, but they rang true. She had spent months training with Arden, waiting for the moment when she would feel ready, only to realize that moment might never come.
Kael thrust her staff toward Dorothy without warning. Dorothy raised her own staff instinctively, the clash of wood on wood jarring her arms. "Faster!" Kael barked.
The training continued relentlessly, Kael's strikes coming quicker, her corrections sharper. Dorothy tried to focus on the movements, but her thoughts kept drifting back to the shrine, to the shadow's cruel voice.
"What am I?" Dorothy blurted out, her voice trembling as she parried another blow.
Kael paused, lowering her staff. Her sharp amber eyes softened ever so slightly. "What do you mean?"
Dorothy hesitated, gripping the staff tightly. "The shadow—it said things. Things that made me wonder... I don't even know what I am. Or what I'm supposed to be. It said I was nothing."
Kael's expression darkened, but she didn't respond immediately. Instead, she stepped closer, placing a firm hand on Dorothy's shoulder. "Listen to me," she said, her tone low but steady. "Everything has its time. You're asking the wrong questions."
Dorothy blinked, her breath catching in her throat. "What do you mean?"
"You're so caught up in trying to define yourself," Kael said, "that you're forgetting to live in the moment. Stop worrying about what you are or what you might become. Focus on what's in front of you. One step at a time, Dorothy. Don't be impatient."
Kael's words settled over Dorothy like a soothing balm, quieting the storm of doubts that had raged since the shrine. She didn't have to know all the answers right now. The shadow's taunts were cruel, but they didn't have to define her.
"You have potential," Kael continued, stepping back. "But potential means nothing if you waste it on questions you can't answer yet. Trust the process, and the answers will come when you're ready for them."
Dorothy nodded slowly, her grip on the staff steadying. The weight of her failure hadn't disappeared, but it no longer felt as suffocating. For now, she could take things one step at a time.
The rest of the night passed in a blur of movement and instruction. Kael's voice was sharp, her corrections constant, but Dorothy felt herself improving with every strike, every adjustment. By the time the first rays of dawn broke through the trees, she was drenched in sweat and trembling with exhaustion.
Kael crouched beside her as she collapsed onto the ground, catching her breath. "You'll get there, Dorothy," she said, her tone quieter now. "But only if you stop looking for shortcuts. Trust yourself. Trust the process."
Dorothy stared up at the brightening sky, Kael's words replaying in her mind. She didn't have all the answers, and she might not for some time. But for now, that was okay.
"I will," she whispered, the faintest hint of a smile tugging at her lips.
Kael rose to her feet, satisfied. "Good. Now get some rest. Tomorrow, we push harder."
Dorothy closed her eyes, letting her body relax against the cool earth. For the first time since the trial, the shadow's voice felt distant. She didn't know what awaited her in the days to come, but she felt ready to face it, one step at a time.