Elena woke to the sound of quiet arguing.
Not shouting. Don't panic. Just low voices carried on the edge of tension.
"…she needs rest," Rowan was saying.
"And she needs to learn before that thing inside her eats her alive," Kara replied.
"She nearly died yesterday."
"Yes, and she'll definitely die later if she stays weak."
Elena shifted slightly on the blanket and both of them fell silent immediately.
"You're awake," Rowan said, relief obvious in his voice as he leaned closer.
"I was pretending," Elena murmured.
Kara snorted. "Terrible spy."
Selene looked over from where she sat near the entrance, her attention divided between them and the notebook in her lap. "How does your chest feel?"
Elena paused, searching for the sensation. "Sore… but quieter. Like the fire turned into warm ash."
Selene nodded. "That's an improvement."
Rowan offered her a small cup of water. Their fingers brushed again as she took it. This time, neither of them pulled away immediately. The contact lingered just a second longer than before.
Kara looked away with an exaggerated cough.
Elena drank slowly, then lowered the cup. "Did I sleep long?"
"Most of the morning," Rowan said. "You scared us again."
"Sorry."
"Don't apologize for surviving."
The words hit her harder than any lecture could have.
Outside, the forest was quiet in the way it always was after something terrible. Calder was already awake, standing several meters away with his hands behind his back, watching the trees as if they were a field of enemies that could move at any moment.
"You move better today," he said without turning.
Elena carefully pushed herself up. Rowan instantly reached to support her, steadying her weight on his arm. She leaned into him without thinking this time. The warmth of his body felt grounding in a way she hadn't realized she desperately needed.
Calder finally looked at her. "We begin with walking."
Kara blinked. "That's… it?"
"Yes."
Selene raised a brow. "Walking?"
Calder nodded. "You lost control because your power outran your body. The first lesson is teaching your body how to exist with an awakened core without panicking."
Elena stood slowly, every movement deliberate. The faint warmth inside her shifted with her center of gravity, not flaring, not fading. Just there, like a quiet second heartbeat.
Rowan watched her face the entire time. "You're shaking."
"I'm scared," she said quietly.
"Good," Calder replied. "Fear is feedback. Use it."
They walked.
Not far. Just around the clearing, over uneven ground and roots. Each step sent a ripple of sensation through Elena's chest. Not pain. Awareness. Sometimes it felt like warmth, sometimes like pressure, sometimes like a soft pulse that matched her breathing.
Rowan matched her pace without being asked. His arm remained close enough that she could reach for him at any time. He never once pulled away.
After several slow laps, Calder raised a hand to stop them.
"Sit."
Elena did, breathing hard.
"No fire," Calder said. "No surge. That means the core is adapting."
Selene scribbled quickly in her notebook. "So the first stage of control is simply surviving co-existence with the awakened core."
Calder inclined his head. "Correct."
Kara flopped onto the ground beside Elena. "Great. I survived co-existence with boredom."
Elena cracked a weak smile.
The smile faded quickly as exhaustion crept back in, heavy and unavoidable. Rowan immediately knelt beside her again, offering his shoulder without saying a word.
She leaned against him without hesitation.
"Sorry," she murmured.
"Stop apologizing for existing," he said gently.
She exhaled shakily and closed her eyes for a few seconds, letting the moment stay simple.
Later that afternoon, while Selene was pestering Calder with non-stop questions and Kara was practicing strike motions at the edge of the clearing, Rowan walked with Elena toward a small stream nearby.
"Careful," he said, helping her down onto a smooth rock.
She dipped her fingers into the cold water and sighed softly. "It feels like three different lifetimes ago that we were just walking home from school."
"Yeah," he replied quietly.
They sat side by side, letting the sound of running water fill the silence between them.
For once, the quiet wasn't heavy. Just fragile.
Elena broke it first. "You didn't run."
He frowned. "Run from what?"
"From the general. From everything."
Rowan looked at her for a long moment. "I never once thought about running."
"Why?"
"Because you were there."
Her heart skipped in a way that had nothing to do with the core.
She turned to face him. Their eyes met, close enough now that she could see the faint cut still healing near his temple. There was dried blood near his hairline she hadn't noticed before.
"You almost died because of me," she whispered.
"No," he said firmly. "I almost died because I chose to stand with you. I'd make that choice again."
Her chest tightened in a different way this time. "You people are going to get hurt because I exist."
Rowan reached up and brushed a strand of hair from her face without thinking. His hand froze mid-motion when he realized what he'd done.
"I don't care why you exist," he said quietly. "I only care that you do."
The world felt very small at that moment.
Elena's breath hitched. "Rowan…"
For a second, it felt like he might lean forward.
Then Kara's voice screamed from the clearing. "HEY! ARE YOU TWO HAVING A SECRET DATE WITHOUT ME?"
The moment shattered instantly.
Rowan jerked back, flustered. Elena looked away, face warm.
"Come back before I assume you ran off to kiss in the bushes," Kara added.
Selene's voice followed calmly, "Statistically, that assumption would not be unreasonable."
Elena buried her face in her hands. "I'm going to pass out again and it won't be from spiritual strain."
Rowan laughed softly despite himself.
That evening, Calder finally allowed light training.
"Awareness does not end at your own body," he said. "It extends outward."
He instructed them to sit in a loose circle around the fire. Elena sat between Rowan and Kara without even thinking about it. The simple positioning alone made her feel safer.
"Close your eyes," Calder said.
They did.
"Find your breathing. Slow it. Then feel the space inside your chest where emotion and instinct overlap."
Elena focused. The warmth answered faintly.
"Do not push," Calder warned. "Let it respond."
Nothing happened at first.
Then Kara hissed softly, her shoulders tightening. "Something just crawled up my spine."
Selene stiffened. "Pressure change. Minor, but real."
Rowan's breathing grew uneven. "My chest feels… heavy."
Elena suddenly felt it too, not heat this time, but a gentle pulse that matched her heartbeat, steady and quiet.
"Good," Calder said quietly. "That sensation is your core acknowledging awareness."
Kara opened one eye. "So when do the glowing swords come out?"
"Much later," Calder replied. "If you live long enough."
Training ended with exhaustion instead of explosions, and that felt strangely comforting. No one collapsed. No one bled. No one screamed.
Just quiet fatigue.
Night fell quietly this time.
They ate together near the fire. Simple food. Conversation was awkward at first, the kind of awkward that comes from shared trauma no one knows how to mention, and then slowly loosened.
"You used to skip classes, you know," Kara said to Elena suddenly.
Elena blinked. "That was once."
"It was twice."
Selene corrected, "Three times, actually."
Elena stared at her. "You recorded that?"
"I record most things."
Rowan smiled softly. "You skipped because you were worried about your mom that day."
Elena looked at him in surprise. "You remembered."
"Of course I did."
Her heartbeat sped up again for all the wrong reasons.
Kara leaned back on her elbows. "We were supposed to graduate together next year."
The words hit all of them at once.
Selene lowered her gaze. "Statistically, the probability of returning to 'normal life' is now extremely low."
Elena's fingers tightened around her cup. "I didn't want this. Any of it."
Rowan reached for her hand under the faint light of the fire. "I know."
For the first time since the attack, she believed him.
Later, when the others had settled into sleep, Rowan stayed awake beside Elena near the dying fire.
"You're afraid to sleep," he said gently.
She nodded. "I keep seeing it when I close my eyes."
He hesitated, then rested his hand over hers. "Then don't be alone with it."
She intertwined her fingers with his without thinking.
They stayed like that in silence.
Once, she shifted in her sleep and unconsciously leaned against his shoulder. He froze for several seconds before relaxing and staying exactly where she had moved him.
Across the clearing, Calder watched the two of them. Something unreadable crossed his face, something between memory and regret.
He turned his gaze back to the forest before either of them noticed.
Far away, in a place of shadow and iron, one of Lord Dreadveil's lieutenants stood before the general and spoke quietly.
"The girl survived. Calder has her. And she is not alone."
The skull mask tilted slightly. "Then the game has begun."