Astelion POV
Kiono didn't stop walking until the ancient forest completely swallowed the world.
The clearing opened before us surrounded by colossal trees that circled the perimeter like silent, looming witnesses. Massive roots coiled across the dirt like petrified serpents, and deep, violent scars marred the ground. I breathed in the scent of damp moss, crushed stone, blood and rain. This wasn't a standard training ground.
This was a place designed to break people.
I stepped directly into the center, my pulse quickening as the heavy atmosphere pressed against my skin. "This is where palace warriors train?"
"Yes," Kiono said, his deep voice cutting through the stillness. He paused, his sharp blue eyes locking onto mine, dropping his tone into something softer, deadlier. "This is where they fail."
A cold, challenging smile touched my lips. "Good."
He let go of my hand, the sudden absence of his warmth leaving a strange prickle on my skin. He walked backward. Ten steps. Twenty. The distance between us widened, but the intensity only thicked. The air pressure dropped drastically. Leaves began to lift from the dirt, hovering without a breath of wind.
"So, what's first?" I called out, crossing my arms over my silk gown. "You throwing a rock at me?"
Kiono didn't bother to answer. The earth answered for him.
A massive boulder tore free from the ground beside him with a deafening groan, cracks of psychic force splintering across its surface. He didn't lift a hand. He didn't gesture. He simply thought.
And the boulder launched. It cut through the air fast enough to kill.
I didn't flinch. Stomping my boot against the stone, I let my power crackle outward. The ground split, and three massive, fallen tree trunks ripped upward into the air, orbiting my body in tight, violent, defensive arcs.
CRACK.
The boulder collided with my spinning barricade. Splinters and shattered rock exploded outward like shrapnel, slicing through the air. I was already moving, flipping backward through the dust and landing light on my feet.
He didn't give me a single second to breathe. Every loose object in the clearing stones, branches, rose into the air around him, caught in a tightening, lethal vortex.
I grinned, the adrenaline catching fire in my veins this was just like training with my father. "Oh, we're skipping the warm up?"
I thrust my palm forward. The air warped visually. A telekinetic shockwave detonated outward, slamming into his construct. The entire vortex shattered midair, raining debris onto the moss.
Kiono slid back half a step. Only half. His blue eyes narrowed through the settling dust, locking onto me. Good.
Gavity instantly shifted. It wasn't visible, but it was unmistakable. The air thickened into liquid lead. Leaves flattened entirely to the earth. The sheer downward pressure made my lungs tighten, threatening to force me to my knees.
I pushed back instinctively. My power flared, a bright, volatile violet aura erupting around my body. Brighter. Stronger. I forced my weight upward until the gravity barrier cracked under my sheer force.
The clearing trembled. Birds exploded from the forest canopy in a panicked frenzy. Inhaling sharply, channeling the raw energy beneath the soil. Thick roots tore from the earth like enraged serpents, massive and splintered, lunging for Kiono from every direction targeting his waist, his throat, his ankles.
Kiono exhaled.
Everything froze.
Every single root. Every sharp splinter. Mid-strike, they suspended in an impossible, suffocating stillness just inches from his skin.
My eyes widened. He wasn't overpowering my magic. He was controlling their literal kinetic momentum. Thought-to-thought. Flawless precision.
He flicked two fingers.
CRACK. CRACK. CRACK.
The massive roots shattered like brittle glass, raining down in useless chunks. I felt it then, a knot forming in my stomach.
My jaw tightened. Fine. No more restraint.
I dropped into a low stance, closing my eyes, and whispered under my breath in the ancient Varack tongue.
"Vor'sha kelem... ashta varen..."
The ancient syllables vibrated through my bones, resonating with the earth. The ground responded with a violent shudder. Spikes of solid stone erupted beneath my boots, rising, twisting, and shaping under my command into twelve massive, pillars. I snapped my eyes open, finishing the incantation with a snarl.
"Var'tem lokhara!"
The pillars launched toward Kiono like divine judgment, ripping up as they flew. He did not move. Not a single inch.
But for a fraction of a second, his blue eyes flashed green, a terrifying hint of green bleeding into the iris.
Every single stone pillar twisted violently midair. And reversed. They came back at me twice as fast.
My breath caught in my throat. I dove, rolled, leapt, and dodged, my silk gown tearing against the debris. One of the redirected pillars grazed my shoulder, and a blinding pain exploded down my arm. My balance faltered, my boots skidding on the loose dirt.
The final, massive spear of stone hurtled straight toward my chest. I couldn't move in time.
Suddenly, Kiono moved. He didn't run, and he didn't teleport. He ripped his own body through space with a telekinetic acceleration so violent the air cracked around him like thunder.
Before I could blink, he appeared directly in front of me. His massive, heavy arms wrapped securely around my waist, pulling me hard against him. The stone spear stopped exactly one inch from my exposed back, trembling violently in the air before he crushed it into harmless dust
We stood completely frozen in the wreckage.
Our bodies were pressed flush together, my chest heaving, my warm breath fanning against the hollow of his throat. His broad hand was firm against my spine, holding me tight against his solid frame. For a single heartbeat, there was no battle. No magic. Just an overwhelming, suffocating heat that made my skin burn.
I swallowed hard, staring up into his piercing blue eyes. Without thinking, my mind slipping under the weight of his proximity, I whispered softly in Varack.
"Shal'ven.
Kiono didn't blink, but I felt his grip tighten on my waist.
"Dead language?" he asked lightly, his eyes dropping to my lips before snapping back up. "Should I be concerned?"
Realization hit me like a slap. I shoved him away, pushing against his solid chest much harder than necessary to mask the heat rushing to my face.
"If I cursed you," I snapped, trying to steady my breath, "you'd know."
But my pulse was completely uneven, frantic—and his hand had been right against my back. He had felt every single thud.
Furious with myself, I attacked again. I wasn't careful this time. I wasn't strategic. I was entirely explosive.
A massive tidal wave of raw psychic force tore from my palms, bending trees backward until their trunks groaned. It ripped the bark clean off the wood, carving across the dirt like a hurricane made invisible.
Kiono raised a single hand. A dense, veined barrier formed in front of him, perfectly structured, anchoring him to the earth.
The wave hit. The forest literally screamed under the pressure. Blinding dust engulfed everything, blotting out the sun. Kiono slid back one full step under the sheer magnitude of my power. Just one.
I pushed harder, pouring everything I had into the attack, desperate to break him.
And that was my mistake.
I flared uncontrollably, turning wild, and spilling over the edges. I was flooding with raw, unrefined magic.
Kiono watched me through the storm. He waited, tracking the sloppy bleed of my energy. Then, he shifted his focus. Instead of meeting my power head-on with a counterattack, he wrapped his own telekinesis around it. His energy didn't clash with mine; it threaded through the gaps, seeping into my chaotic like cool water into a raging flame.
He was absorbing it. Redirecting it. Safely dissolving it into the earth.
My breath hitched. My power suddenly stuttered, the sudden drain making my head spin violently. My knees buckled beneath me.
The clearing went completely silent, the storm vanishing into thin air. I fell to one knee, my skin still glowing with a faint, trembling light, but my structure was entirely unraveled.
He walked toward me slowly over the smoldering ground. He wasn't triumphant, and he wasn't mocking me. His steps were measured, heavy, and calm. I tried to force myself to stand, my power flaring violently one last time, but it scattered into useless sparks. It was too much, too fast, and entirely unfocused.
Kiono stopped directly in front of me, his massive shadow completely covering my trembling form.
He dropped to one knee, bringing his face level with mine. Reaching out, he placed two broad fingers under my chin, tilting my face upward so I had no choice but to look at him. His voice was incredibly low, warm, and entirely certain.
"You are stronger than me," he murmured, his blue eyes dark.
"But you don't control it," he continued, his fingers lingering on my jaw.
"Round two," he whispered softly, his lips twitching into a knowing, frustratingly attractive expression, "goes to me."
Silence settled over the ruined forest. My pulse thundered in my ears, loud enough that I was certain he could hear it without even trying.
I glared at him, my lips parting as I whispered again in the safety of Varack.
"Shal'ven."
Kiono stared down at me, his fingers sliding slightly along my jawline, and this time, he didn't bother to pretend. A faint, smoldering smirk curved his mouth, his blue eyes flashing with absolute amusement. He understood every single word.
The scent of burnt earth heavy in the air. And as we sat there, entirely too close in the wreckage, I knew neither of us would ever forget it.