I rotate my neck side to side, feeling the satisfying crack as I stand in the center of the training room. The air is still, and I close my eyes, drawing in a deep breath, letting it fill my lungs before exhaling slowly to relax my muscles. "Are you sure about this again?" I ask, my voice echoing softly in the expansive space, as Caleif stands in front of me, mimicking my actions with a calm demeanor.
"In doing this, you will be able to feel the power move around your body. This will help a lot more than you think. Just go with the flow," she reassures me, her voice steady and confident. As she speaks, I notice the subtle shift in the atmosphere, a warmth spreading through the room, like the sun breaking through clouds on a chilly morning.
"It's easier said than done, I'm kinda new to this. " I say as I try and move the energy slowly around my body.
The energy slips away like water through my fingers. It's there—I can sense it—but I can't quite grasp it. Frustration builds in my chest.
"Don't force it," Caleif says, her bluish-red eyes shifting more toward crimson as she watches me struggle. "Your body already knows what to do. Your mind is the obstacle."
I take another deep breath, trying to quiet the doubts crowding my thoughts. The adobe walls of the training room seem to close in around me. Sweat beads on my forehead despite the room's comfortable temperature.
"I feel... something," I mutter, focusing on a tingling sensation at the base of my spine. "It's like static electricity, but inside me."
Caleif nods, her ember-like hair catching the light as she moves closer. "Follow that feeling. Don't try to control it yet. Just observe where it wants to go."
I close my eyes again and concentrate. The static feeling pulses, then begins to crawl upward along my spine. It's unsettling, almost invasive, like something foreign is moving through me. My instinct is to fight it.
"You're tensing up," Caleif's voice comes soft but firm. "Let it flow, Kamen."
"It feels wrong," I admit, opening my eyes to find her standing directly in front of me now. "Like it's not supposed to be there."
Something flickers across her face—concern, perhaps, or recognition. "That's the human part of you speaking. The part that's been taught to deny what lies beneath." She reaches out, her fingers hovering just above my chest without touching. "There's nothing wrong with what's inside you. Nothing to fear."
The air between us seems to vibrate, and I catch a glimpse of something otherworldly in her eyes—ancient knowledge that makes my mundane existence feel suddenly paper-thin.
"Try again," she whispers. "But this time, don't think of it as moving energy. Think of it as remembering something you've always known."
I nod and close my eyes once more. This time, instead of fighting the sensation, I lean into it. The static feeling spreads, branching through my limbs like lightning through storm clouds. It's exhilarating and terrifying all at once.
"That's it," Caleif's voice sounds different now, resonating with a power that wasn't there before. "You're beginning to wake up."
Wake up. The words echo in my mind as the energy courses through my body with increasing intensity. My heart pounds against my ribs, and I can feel every nerve ending coming alive in ways I've never experienced before. The sensation is overwhelming—like discovering I have a sixth sense that's been dormant my entire life.
"I can feel it everywhere now," I whisper, my voice strained with the effort of containing whatever is happening inside me. The energy pulses in rhythm with my heartbeat, creating a symphony of power that both thrills and terrifies me. My hands begin to tremble, not from fear but from the sheer force of what's building within.
I open my eyes and immediately regret it. The world looks different—sharper, more vivid. I can see the subtle aura emanating from Caleif's skin, a warm golden glow that confirms what I've suspected but never wanted to acknowledge. She's not human. Not even close.
"How long have you been waiting for this?" I ask, my voice rougher than before. The energy seems to be changing me from the inside out, and I'm not sure if I like what I'm becoming.
Her expression grows complicated, emotions flickering across her features like shadows dancing in firelight. "Longer than you might believe," she admits, her formal speech pattern returning. "Your awakening has been... anticipated."
The energy suddenly surges, and I gasp as it floods through my arms and into my fingertips. The air around my hands begins to shimmer with heat, and I can smell something burning—not wood or fabric, but something deeper, more primal. Like the scent of forge fires and brimstone.
"What am I becoming?" I demand, taking a step back from her. The rational part of my mind screams warnings, but the growing power inside me whispers seductive promises of strength and purpose.
Caleif's eyes shift to that deeper crimson again, and for a moment, I see something ancient and predatory in their depths. "You're becoming what you were always meant to be, Kamen. The question is—will you embrace it, or will you let fear destroy you?"
The energy crackles around me like invisible lightning, and I realize there's no going back. Whatever I was before this moment is already gone, burned away by the fire awakening in my soul.
"Calief, would—would you want to go on another date with me? This time a normal one?" I turn to ask Caleif as I see her face turning red and changing shape. Everywhere I turn is changing, my heart beats against my ribs with such an intensity that I feel like I might pass out.
But suddenly I wake up sprawled out on the floor of the training room. "What happened?!" I ask looking around afraid of what I might see.
But all I see is Calief crouching down over me, I can smell her perfume or whatever it is and it smells so good. "Oh thank goodness you're awake. You passed out 15 minutes ago and was shaking, I wasn't sure what happened. But looking at how you woke up, it would seem that it was too much for you and it overwhelmed you. You must have had a nightmare." She says with such a comforting tone.
I try to sit up, but my head spins like I've had too much whiskey. My muscles feel like jelly, and there's a strange aftertaste in my mouth—metallic and sulfurous.
"A nightmare?" I manage to say, my voice hoarse. "It felt so real..."
I can still feel phantom traces of that energy coursing through me, like the memory of a burn long after the flame is gone. I look down at my hands, half-expecting to see them glowing or transformed. They're just hands—my hands—calloused and ordinary.
"Your body is adjusting," Caleif explains, helping me sit up. Her touch is cool against my feverish skin. "The first awakening is always the most difficult. Your consciousness retreated to protect itself."
I rub my face, trying to clear the fog from my mind. "I asked you on a date," I mumble, the embarrassment hitting me as the memory surfaces. "In the... dream, or whatever it was."
Her lips curve into a smile that doesn't quite reach her eyes. "Did I accept?"
"I woke up before you answered," I admit, avoiding her gaze. The training room feels too small suddenly, the adobe walls absorbing the awkward silence between us.
"Interesting," she says after a moment, her voice carefully neutral. "The mind often reveals our true desires when our defenses are down."
I feel heat rising to my face that has nothing to do with the desert climate or the strange energy I'd been channeling. "Or it was just random neurons firing while I was passed out on the floor."
Caleif rises gracefully to her feet and extends a hand to help me up. "Perhaps. But I've found there are few true coincidences in this world, Kamen."
I take her hand, noticing how the contact sends a small jolt through my system—like static electricity but warmer, more alive. As I stand, a wave of dizziness washes over me, and I sway slightly.
"Easy," she cautions, steadying me with a hand on my shoulder. "Your energy pathways are raw. Like muscles used for the first time."
"Is that what happened? I actually moved the energy?"
She nods, and there's something like pride in her expression. "More than moved it. For a moment, you were channeling it quite effectively. That's likely why you overloaded."
I glance around the training room, half-expecting to see scorch marks or other evidence of whatever power had been flowing through me. The room looks exactly the same—plain, functional, unchanged. It's me who feels different.
"I saw you differently," I confess. "When the energy was flowing. You had this... glow around you."
Caleif's expression shifts, becoming more guarded. "You saw my aura. That's an advanced perception. Most don't develop that ability until much later in their training."
"Is that good or bad?"
She tilts her head, considering. "It means you're progressing faster than expected. It also means we need to be more careful." She steps back, creating distance between us. "You should rest now. We'll continue tomorrow."
I want to protest, to push for more answers about what I saw, what I felt, but exhaustion hits me like a physical blow. My legs feel leaden, and even keeping my eyes open requires effort.
"Fine," I concede. "But tomorrow, no more evasive answers. I want to know exactly what's happening to me. What I'm becoming."
Caleif looks at me for a long moment, her bluish-red eyes unreadable. "Very well," she finally says. "Tomorrow, I'll tell you more about your heritage. But Kamen—" she pauses, something like concern flickering across her face, "—once you know, there's no unknowing. Are you certain that's what you want?"
The question hangs in the air between us, heavy with implications I can't fully grasp. But despite the fear gnawing at the edges of my mind, I find myself nodding.
"I'm certain," I reply, my voice steadier than I feel. "No more living in the dark."
As I leave the training room on unsteady legs, I can't shake the feeling that I've just crossed a threshold from which there's no return. Whatever normal life I thought I had is slipping away with each step, replaced by something both terrifying and exhilarating.
And somewhere deep inside, beneath the fear and confusion, a part of me welcomes it.