Nyxara
[Wednesday, Umbrafall 3, 4310]
-Nyx's personal training room-
The training room was still warm from our kata practice. Sweat cooled on my spine, my hair was in disarray, sticking to my neck, my pulse was taking a while to steady. Everything felt like it was adding to my frustration. Creators, I can't wait until I don't get tired so easily anymore. I just started to feel like I was moving forward, but now I'm back to square one.
Lux had us sitting on floor pillows, legs folded, palms resting on our knees. "Breathe, Little Wolf Queen. You are handling the changes in your body well. Be kind to it. Don't push your limits yet. Trust us. You aren't off track. In fact, you are still ahead of our expectations, so this chance to solidify your foundations is a good opportunity."
I hold onto the unspoken promise in his words. Once I'm calm and feel ready to move onto today's barrier lesson, Lux guides me to meditate and slowly circulate my essence through my cores and veins. Listening to the melody, harmony, and rhythm of my cores helped me to visualize my circulation. I sank deeper into the trance because of this.
My essence threaded through my cores smoothly today. Some knots loosened a bit more, letting my essence circulate easier. As I inhaled on the 4th cycle, I felt the rhythm of my tertiary core, which sits at the crown of my head, go off-beat for just a second.
Then my world tilted to the left. My right shoulder twitched. A ripple flowed under my ribs. I tried to hold onto my aura and scent. My scent broke my hold. Sandalwood sharpened, grain rising like splintered bark; the tea note bruised into bitterness.
Lux's hands land gently on the backs of my own.
"You are holding your breath, Nyx. Breathe," he murmurs. "Don't be earth right now. Be water. Let it pass." He sits himself behind me, pulling me against his chest. Somehow I never noticed how much bigger and larger than me he was before this moment.
He guides me with his body in breathing like water and letting these side effects flow through me. I relax, letting my body process this episode. I try not to be self-conscious as I exhale, even as my emotions spike, affecting my scent and aura. My aura flutters, a pale shimmer, rising like static heat. My scent keeps dipping, hollow, dried-jasmine—sadness.
Gritting my teeth, "Sorry. It keeps slipping."
"Keep cycling. I'm going to maneuver you around. You are doing just fine. Everything is within expectation." Lux turned me around until I think I was facing him, then he positioned himself until we were knee to knee again. "Your body is recalibrating. It's not you failing; it's your body and network aligning now that there is nothing suppressing it from healing."
I continue cycling. Another spasm pulls in my thigh, and my scent flashes to anger, smoky and metallic. I feel rather than see Lux flinch almost imperceptibly. I felt it—not just through the Tharym bond, but physically. Oh no, I'm affecting him in the bond. I panic and try to pull away on both planes, but Lux holds me in place.
"Where are you going, Little Wolf Queen? Neither of us is so weak that a little pain will stop us. Don't pull away from me. I will stand with you in the storm." He placed his forehead against mine, and I could barely hold my tears in. My lonely heart heals in the light of their love.
Lux
The moment her scent shifted, the echo of her spiral hit me. First, I felt like someone was stabbing my eye from inside my head, then the sensations shifted to my heart clenching with phantom grief; before I could breathe through that, I felt a quick drop in my stomach as if I'd lost something important.
The Tharym bond is growing stronger, I remind myself. Which is good, but that also means when she is being affected by the side effects, she is more likely to share them with us. If what we get is just the echo, I greatly empathize with her getting the brunt of it.
"You're not out of control," I tell her evenly, despite the ache blooming in my temple. "Your essence is just finding its equilibrium. Today's lesson will give you a tool to help you maintain it. So keep breathing. No matter what you breathe." So quietly, I do not think she will hear me as I speak a prayer and plea. "You are to never stop breathing again."
Her eyes flick toward me—tired and determined. She does not acknowledge my words, but I believe she heard me. She couldn't hear me so well before. She is progressing faster than anticipated. Especially since the suppression was removed. I would not be surprised if she advanced to the next level within this month. We may have to instruct her on leveling up and ascending soon so she will be able to notice the signs of both plus what to do to consolidate the essence foundation.
I whispered the Vel'Sharii spell for a psychic link: 'Vel'an Vel'thirra… Veth'kai Luskai (Bind the thread of soul… to echo dream and presence)—once connected, I open my eyes to see my sister raising a regal eyebrow at me, perfectly calm in the moment.
"Not even going to warn me you were about to link with me? Just force your way in? Is this the alphahole behavior Keir warned me to expect from your designation?" She spoke softly and coolly to me while staring me down. I had to hold tightly onto my other half, who was amused at this unintentional challenge. He wanted to meet her challenge; show her why we are alpha.
"Nyx, if you aren't intentionally trying to challenge me right now, I suggest you break eye contact with me. Your grace period for ignorance has run out." I couldn't keep the growl out of my voice.
She tilted her head to the side before she closed her eyes with a smile. "I'll concede…this time. I've looked you in the eye multiple times before now. Why am I suddenly a challenger to your alpha-ness?"
How did we get off topic like this? But I guess I can spin this into the lesson to bring us back on track.
"Despite your side effect episodes, your aura, scent, and essence are growing stronger each day as your sync ratio increases. Before you were muted, and my wolf perceived you as someone who needed to be protected. Now you are coming into your own, so any behavior that could have you perceived as a challenger to a person's dominance will be met with the need to test if your bluff is real or not.
This is how it is done with alphas, shifter alphas especially. So just be aware and be prepared to back up your challenge." I tried not to let the 'I'm going to fuck around and find out' look that looks suspiciously like Keir's on her face pull me into lecturing her.
Some lessons a pup gotta learn on their own. I love that she is getting comfortable all around, but I don't need her picking up Keir's bad habits. Hoping to cut off any chaotic plans, I bring the focus to the lesson, voice low, practical.
"If you want to minimize accidentally challenging others like your scent, aura, and essence is playfully doing right now," I regally raised my eyebrow, smirking, "you will need to build a flexible ward that will filter them. You will create this ward on your tertiary core."
"On the core? How do I create something on the core? Isn't this very advanced for me?" She asked the questions so rapidly I couldn't get a chance to answer her. "Can Zen do this? Is this something everyone does? Why aren't you answering….MmmRRPH—!"
She still tried to speak even though my hand covered her mouth. She was glaring at my nose. Good. She is a quick study.
"To answer your questions in order: yes, on the core. I will show you how to inscribe permanent spells on your cores. Yes, it is advanced, which is why we will do this one step at a time. You may not end up completing this spell until you reach Ember 5 or Veil 1. I do not know if Ms. Salgrave has chosen this way of filtering her scent, aura, and essence.
You will have to ask her. Last answer, no. Not everyone is strong-willed enough to endure the process to inscribe a glyph upon their core. Most people rely on talismans or charms to manage this. It is what you used previously, but…" I let myself trail off. I wanted to see if she could discern the reason I wasn't offering those methods as options.
I leaned back, removing my hands in the movement. She drummed her nails on her thigh as she processed her thoughts. Then she looked directly into my eyes for a second before shifting her gaze so she wasn't making direct eye contact. My wolf and I were both quite amused.
"I suspect I'm not being offered those options for two reasons. First, you want to see if I can even perform this technique. Second, it will be a sign of power that I can self-regulate. A bonus third reason would be how wise of me it would be as a Sentinel to not have these three important aspects be managed by an outside source that could be manipulated." She glanced up, checking my expression.
Truthfully, my reasons were only the first two, but the third is a valid point as well. I truly cannot fathom how her mind works half the time anymore. I waited for a few more moments in case she had anything else to add before speaking.
"Yes, those are all good reasons to inscribe the glyph. Once completed, you will be able to easily control what leaks out. With it, you can hide your scent shifts, your emotional spikes, and even how strong your essence feels. It will make it harder for anyone who knows how to read aura, scent, or essence to be able to track you by them."
I steady my breathing, matching hers so that we are breathing as one. "Now follow my lead," I instruct quietly. "I will superficially show you how to inscribe a glyph upon your core. I will be inscribing a protective glyph upon my secondary core. Don't do anything yet. Just watch. I will guide you, Little Queen."
Nyxara
I closed my eyes, then followed Lux to where his secondary core was located in his throat. I couldn't hear music like I did with my own cores, but I could feel a primal energy surrounding my spirit. Pulling my attention away from comparison, I focused on what Lux was doing.
Essence gathered and pulled until it resembled a chisel, then he began carving a central spiral that shone white-gold with an amber center. From there, he carved two arcs, one up (completely electric blue) and one down (starts off elective blue but transitions to amber). He pauses for a few breaths. It looks deceptively easy, but I can faintly feel Lux gripping my hands tightly and attempting to keep his breathing even.
He is hurting. This pain is part of the price. I let myself sit with that and that he will be expecting me to pay this price when it is my turn.
He continues taking his time to carve an outer ring that is predominantly electric blue, that transitions once again to amber. Then I hear him speak the spell to ignite the spell, "Kareth al'Saari (The Body Remembers the Bond)." I know he has completed the spell glyph when it shines so brightly I'm metaphysically blinded, then the shine dies down, leaving behind the glyph imprinted on his core as if it had always been there.
I feel a tug on the link, so I follow it back to my own body. I open my eyes. Lux, for the first time since I have woken up here, looks exhausted. He gives me a tired smile. "And that is how it is done. Now I don't expect you to actually be able to finish your glyph in one sitting like I just did. So what we will be attempting to do is carving the base of the Glyph. We will take our time. No rush." He then closes his eyes in wordless meditation. After five minutes, I feel him mutter a spell, and he is rejuvenated.
Now revived, his intense focus is unrelenting. I don't doubt his wolf is looking out his eyes too now when he asks, "Ready to begin?"