"Let's see what we're working with," Hyran said, arms crossed.
Sixteen pairs of eyes were studying Serena. No pressure. Just a casual demonstration in front of the King, his Master Mage, the High General and Beta of Drakenfell, and everyone else who mattered.
She closed her eyes, finding Velkaris's energy, and the Hidden Flame mark burned hot against her skin.
She held out her palm and winced.
Fuck.
Fire exploded from her hand with the subtlety of a battering ram through a stained glass window.
It hit the far wall with a deafening roar, scorching a black streak across the stone.
She stopped immediately, upon seeing Hyran's look of horror.
"Right now you are a feral preschooler eating the crayon," he remarked flatly. "I need you to hold your crayon and write your name."
Serena exhaled a laugh, tension leaving her shoulders, and shook her head.
Hyran exhaled. "The level of control you have is the level everyone else gets. And the amount of pain you feel is the amount of pain we feel when we use it."
"How do I solve for both of those issues?" Serena asked, brows furrowed.
"For the pain, there is no fix for that outside of repetition," King Tiberon answered. "It's similar to shifting for the first time."
Lovely, Serena thought. Considering I've done that so many times.
Hale crossed his arms, like this was the most obvious thing in the world. "Don't wince before it in anticipation. Face it head on."
"Also, you're clenching your jaw," Gav added, slipping through the door and closing it behind him. "You look like you're about to sneeze and fight someone at the same time."
"Thank you for that visual, Gavriel," Serena replied dryly.
"I'm here to help."
Serena let out a breath she didn't realize she'd been holding.
"Try this first." Hyran flicked his wrist and three training targets appeared in the arena. "Hit them however you would like. Just incorporate flame."
Serena nodded. A bow of pure gold magic formed in one hand, an arrow in the other.
The room froze, jaws on the floor. Hyran, Gav, and Hale were the only people who were completely unfazed. Even Tiberon was surprised.
Serena didn't notice, already aiming.
She fired the first arrow, which looked like a gold blaze with a point at the end. Her second arrow regenerated in position, ready to go.
The first target exploded when the arrow hit. The second and third were a millisecond behind. Three bullseyes. Three vaporized targets.
She lowered her bow, still unaware of the complete shock around her. Hyran, who had never seen Serena shoot, joined the stunned faces.
Gav snorted. "Believe it or not, there are things she's not good at," he said, deadpan. "Standing up for herself, for example. Dying. She's also really bad at that."
Hale stepped into the training arena, looking entirely too serious and not like he wanted to make the targets explode too. "Can you fabricate that for me? I should test it."
A bow and arrow vibrated into existence in his hands.
"Channel fire into me," he called over his shoulder.
He aimed and fired. Three arrows, same cadence as Serena. Three explosions.
He lowered his bow, now not bothering to hide his look of pure joy. He glanced at Serena. "How many people are you able to fabricate weapons to?"
"As many as we need," Serena answered. In everyone's hands, swords made of pure gold magic vibrated into existence.
Sixteen people stood holding gold swords. Fourteen of them were too stunned to move. Gav tossed his in the air and caught it with his other hand. Hale threw his at a target. Bullseye.
King Tiberon got over his surprise first. "Can you channel fire into the blade?"
Before he finished the question, every sword in the room ignited.
Archibald looked at his sword, then back at Serena, then back at his sword. "How long have you been practicing Aether Fabrication?"
"You wouldn't believe her if she told you," Hyran said before Serena could answer.
"Few can even perform Aether Fabrication, and I dare say, you are one of the best I've encountered," Archibald declared.
"Thank you, Archibald," Serena replied with a warm smile.
"Don't let that go to your head," Hyran warned. "You still struggled to remove an item you fabricated when not in the same room."
"Multi-location fabrication has been done by fewer than twenty mages and fae in recorded history. You do realize that, Hyran?" Gaius, a mage-librarian, spoke for the first time.
"I hadn't realized," Hyran replied sarcastically.
"The book you dropped in the restricted section was on Aether Fabrication with Fae magic. You left it on a table. Was that the day you learned?" Master Thalen asked.
"You mean the day she broke into the restricted section and should technically be banned," Hyran added, unable to help himself.
"I think a fair punishment would be no library for one week," Gav suggested, face deadpan.
"We already agreed to let it slide just this once, because she opened the First Dragon Queen's vault, which was believed to be myth," Master Thalen stated, his tone dead serious.
They were treating it like she'd murdered someone but said sorry, so it was fine.
"Try surrounding a ball of fire in gold fabrication so it doesn't burn," King Tiberon instructed, ending that conversation to Serena's relief.
Serena held up her palm, furrowing her brow.
A large golden bowl was fabricated with a ball of fire sitting inside. Her mark blazed hotter. Enough that she had to focus on keeping her expression neutral.
She looked up at King Tiberon, keeping calm but unsure if this was what he meant.
"That would be effective if you were trying to serve dinner," he said, lips twitching. "I am looking for small. A fireball you can throw with one hand."
Her bowl of fire vanished instantly. In her palm, a gold ball appeared, flame burning inside it.
She threw.
The gold didn't release. The fireball hit the wall still encased, bouncing off harmlessly and rolling across the floor like a rejected marble until it bumped against Gav's boot.
Gav looked down at it, then back up at her. "Pretty. I'm keeping it."
Hyran furrowed his brows. "The fabrication has to release before impact. You need to let go the moment it leaves your hand."
"Think of it like throwing a drink," Hale added. "Agnes threw the wine and kept the goblet. Bellatrix threw the whole thing. You want to be Agnes. Release the wine, keep the goblet."
"You're also tensing your whole arm," King Tiberon observed. "The release should come from your fingers, not your shoulder. Smaller motion. More control."
Serena nodded, absorbing the feedback.
Another ball formed in her palm. She threw it, releasing her gold magic the exact moment the ball left her fingertips.
The gold dissolved mid-air and the fireball blazed forward, hitting a target.
"Better," King Tiberon said. "Again, faster this time."
She did it again. And again. And again.
By the fifth throw, her mark felt like someone had pressed a hot iron to her arm. Sweat beaded at her temple.
She didn't let it show on her face.
But Hale saw it anyway.
"Can you replicate that on me?" he asked, turning toward the target. He was still surrounded in her gold magic.
She nodded and channeled flame into him. She would not be the one to slow this down.
"Interesting," he remarked, shooting out balls of fire, then switching to a full stream. "I can control it."
He picked up a bow and arrow, still fabricated from earlier. Loaded, aimed, fired. The target exploded.
"It doesn't hurt," he reported, glancing back at her. "Whatever you did between the first channel and now, it worked."
Serena's shoulders dropped a fraction, relieved.
The pain was hers to carry. Not theirs.
Gaius stepped forward into the arena. In his hand, he fabricated a dagger in royal blue magic.
Serena copied him, already seeing where this was headed. A gold dagger formed in her other hand, identical to his in everything but color.
"Monkey see," Gav said with a wicked grin. "Monkey fucking do."