(Lián Xinyue POV)
The mist clung to the training grounds like whispered secrets. The sun hadn't fully risen, but the first threads of gold brushed the blackstone, turning dew into molten sparks. Her palms burned as she gripped the staff, knuckles white. Every heartbeat reminded her that Kaien was there, watching, always watching.
"You're hesitating again," his voice came from the edge of the circle, low, measured. Not angry. Just… present.
"I'm not," she said, though the tremor in her voice betrayed her.
He stepped closer. The warmth radiating from him brushed against her skin, subtle but undeniable. Her pulse spiked. For a fraction of a heartbeat, she imagined she could feel the heat of him in her chest, a quiet echo that wasn't fire, but it moved like it.
"Watch your stance," he murmured, circling her like a predator and a teacher all at once. "Every pause is a chance for the Hollow to strike."
Her eyes flicked toward the shadow at the edge of her vision. The Hollow whispered like silk through her mind: Fire that consumes… or fire that saves… which will you choose, little heir?
She shivered, gripping the staff tighter. The flames curled at her fingertips without her will, responding to the lingering thread of fear. Kaien's gaze snapped to her instantly, storm-gray and unreadable.
"Focus," he said. Not a command. A tether. His hands moved like a phantom, adjusting her stance subtly, and she felt it, electric and grounding at the same time.
She met his eyes. Something unspoken passed between them. His nearness made her pulse uneven, but also sharpened her control. She swung the staff again, faster, surer. Kaien deflected her strike with a flick of his blade, the steel singing.
"Better," he murmured, but his lips twitched, barely, as if amused. "Still not enough."
She tilted her chin higher. "I'll never be enough for you," she said softly, more to herself than him.
The corner of his mouth twitched, half-smile, half-warning. "Perhaps. But I won't let you break. Not here. Not to yourself."
The mist thickened, curling around their ankles. And for the first time, she felt it, not the fire inside her, but the pulse of him. A tether beyond words.
A sudden flicker caught her attention, a shadow curling across the stones. The Hollow. Always waiting, always patient. She froze.
Kaien's hands shot out, catching her wrist, grounding her. "Don't let it pull you," he said, voice a low rumble against her skin. His closeness made her forget the danger for a heartbeat, but the whisper remained, soft and sharp: Which flame will you follow… hers or mine?
Her breath caught. The staff wavered. Kaien's hand lingered, steady and warm, just enough to remind her she wasn't alone. His eyes, storm-gray, searched hers. Not for weakness, but for understanding.
"Again," he said, pulling her out of hesitation. "Do it again."
She moved. Staff arcing, flames licking the edges. The mist shimmered as the energy from their intertwined presence spread outward. Every strike, every parry, became a conversation without words. A dance of fire and restraint.
"Xinyue…" he breathed, voice catching slightly. "You don't see how dangerous you are."
She stopped mid-spin, heart hammering. "I feel it," she admitted. Her words hovered between them like embers. "And I'm afraid."
"Good," he said softly. "Fear keeps you alive. But it doesn't own you. Not yet."
Their eyes met, unblinking. Something in the mist seemed to pulse, responding not just to her fire, but to the quiet heat of them together. A spark of connection that was neither magic nor chance.
The shadow at the edge of her vision flared briefly, then receded, retreating to its corners. She realized then, the Hollow was testing them. Testing her. Testing him.
Kaien exhaled slowly. His hands didn't touch her again, but she felt their presence, lingering like a ghost. "Tomorrow, at first light," he said, voice low, controlled. "We push further. And you will not falter."
She wanted to argue, to tell him that she might, that she feared losing control. But she didn't. She only nodded, because she understood the truth behind his words: he wouldn't let her fall. Not entirely.
And somewhere deep inside, her fire responded, not just to the flames, but to him. A pulse of heat threading through her chest, echoing in her hands.
For one fleeting moment, before the mist swallowed the first rays of dawn, she dared to meet his gaze fully.
And she knew, whatever the Hollow whispered, whatever the flames demanded, she was no longer alone.
Kaien's eyes softened, just slightly, before the first sunbeam struck the courtyard.
And then he was gone, leaving her with the mist, the heat in her palms, and the unmistakable awareness that the Hollow wasn't the only force testing her.
Something else, something human, was just as dangerous.