Rowan led Alisha to a chamber she had never seen before—a vast underground arena glowing with a mixture of moonlight and enchanted crystals. The floor was coated in silver sand that shimmered as if the stars had fallen to the earth.
"This is the Starforge Hall," Rowan explained. "Only members of the royal line and high-rank Starbinders may train here."
Alisha inhaled sharply. The air felt alive.
"What do I do first?"
"Step onto the First Line," Rowan said, pointing to a beam of moonlight stretching across the sand. "It will sense your Moonblood."
Alisha took a breath and stepped forward.
Light rushed up her legs like cold fire. Her muscles tensed, her pulse skipped, but she managed to stay standing.
"Good," Rowan said. "Now—shift it. Shape the light outward."
She tried to imagine pushing the energy, like spreading warmth through her hands.
The beam flickered.
Then burst into a ripple that rolled across the sand like a wave.
Rowan nodded, impressed. "Again."
Hours passed.
She learned to:
Create a small Moonshield around her wrist
Strengthen her pulse to steady her control
Detect shadow movement through air vibrations
Anchor herself if the Moonblood surged too fast
But she quickly learned something else—
Her power was wild.
Sometimes too much.Sometimes too little.Sometimes uncontrollable.
At one point, she tried to amplify her pulse and ended up blasting a shockwave that knocked Rowan's hair-tie off.
"Sorry!" she gasped.
Rowan picked up the glowing hair-tie, expression torn between horror and amusement. "This is a process," he reassured. "Your mother once shattered an entire platform during training."
Alisha stared at her hands. "Will I ever control it fully?"
"Yes," Rowan said confidently. "But not if you fear it."
Alisha clenched her fists.
She wasn't afraid of the power.She was afraid of failing.