The First Lesson
Author: Diamond
last update2025-10-09 04:18:37

The night came quiet and heavy.

Kael followed Riven through the empty halls of the academy, their footsteps echoing softly against the stone. The lamps had long since burned low, leaving only the faint silver of moonlight to guide them.

Riven didn’t speak. He didn’t need to. His presence was enough — calm, controlled, and sharp as the edge of a blade. Kael could feel the man’s power, even when it was hidden beneath that still surface.

They stopped before an old door at the far end of the training wing. Riven pressed his hand against it, and strange markings flickered across the wood — faint runes that glowed for a heartbeat before vanishing. The lock clicked open.

Inside was no ordinary room.

The air was thick, almost alive. The walls shimmered faintly, as if shadows themselves were breathing. A ring of black stone stood at the center, carved with symbols that pulsed with quiet energy.

Kael hesitated at the threshold. “What is this place?”

Riven stepped inside. “A place the academy forgot,” he said simply. “And where we begin.”

Kael swallowed, following him in. The door shut behind them with a soft thud, cutting off the world outside.

Riven turned to him, his expression unreadable. “Before you learn to control Shadowfire, you must understand it. And before that—you must understand yourself.”

Kael frowned. “Myself?”

Riven walked slowly around the ring of stone. “Power doesn’t change who we are. It only shows us what we already were. Shadowfire feeds on emotion — fear, anger, guilt, pain. The things you try to bury.”

He stopped, facing Kael. “So tell me… what are you afraid of?”

Kael stared at him. “You think I’m just going to—”

Riven raised a hand, and the air seemed to hum. The runes on the floor lit up, and suddenly Kael’s breath caught in his throat.

The room twisted.

The air grew colder, darker. He heard whispers — voices he knew but couldn’t place. His mother’s voice. His father’s. Screams. Fire.

He stumbled back, clutching his head. “What—what is this?”

“Your truth,” Riven said quietly. “You can’t control Shadowfire while running from what birthed it.”

Kael’s heart pounded. Images flashed — the night of the temple, the fire, the pendant burning in his mother’s hand. He felt the heat again, the helplessness, the loss.

He fell to his knees. The floor beneath him seemed to shift, and in the flicker of that strange light, he saw himself — younger, smaller, crying as everything burned.

“I couldn’t save them…” The words slipped out before he could stop them.

Riven didn’t move. “And that pain became your anchor. That is why Shadowfire chose you. It’s not born from strength, Kael. It’s born from survival.”

Kael looked up, eyes burning. “So it’s just pain? That’s all it is?”

Riven knelt beside him, voice soft. “No. Pain is where it starts. What you do with it—that’s what defines you.”

For a long time, neither of them spoke. The light around the ring dimmed, pulsing like a heartbeat. Kael could feel the energy moving under his skin, restless and wild, waiting to be shaped.

Finally, Riven stood. “Now… stand up.”

Kael forced himself to his feet. His hands shook, but he didn’t hide it.

Riven extended his palm. “Close your eyes. Don’t fight the fire. Listen to it. Breathe.”

Kael hesitated, then did as he said. He drew a slow breath — and felt it. The pulse. The warmth. The quiet thrum of something deep and endless.

Shadowfire.

It was there, coiled inside him, not just heat but feeling — grief, anger, love, everything he’d tried to bury. It moved with his heartbeat, heavy and alive.

“Don’t control it,” Riven’s voice came, steady and low. “Understand it.”

Kael let out a trembling breath. The warmth spread through his arms, his chest, until his hands began to glow faintly — black and violet flame, flickering like light trapped inside darkness.

He opened his eyes.

The sight stole his breath. The fire was beautiful — terrifying and beautiful — and it didn’t hurt.

For the first time, it didn’t hurt.

Riven watched silently, his expression unreadable. “Good,” he said finally. “You’re beginning to listen.”

Kael looked at his hands, the flames dancing softly across his fingers. “It’s not… fighting me anymore.”

“Because you stopped fighting yourself.”

Riven snapped his fingers, and the flames vanished. Kael gasped — the sudden emptiness left him dizzy.

“That’s enough for tonight,” Riven said. “Shadowfire will tempt you with power. But every time you use it, it will ask something in return. Remember that.”

Kael nodded slowly. “What does it ask for?”

Riven’s eyes darkened. “The truth.”

He turned away before Kael could ask more.

As they left the chamber, Kael glanced back once. The runes on the floor still glowed faintly, pulsing in rhythm with his heartbeat.

He didn’t know if he’d passed a test or just stepped into another one. But one thing was certain—something inside him had changed.

And as the night air hit his face, Kael realized that for the first time since the temple burned, the fire inside him wasn’t just a curse.

It was alive.

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