Chapter 18: A TIME FOR TRAINING

The morning air was sharp, cold enough to sting my lungs with each breath. I stood in the clearing, the mist swirling around me like a ghostly veil, obscuring the trees and casting everything in an eerie light. It was early, too early, and the weight of what lay ahead settled heavily on my shoulders. But Kael had insisted, and I knew he was right.

If I was going to survive this—if any of us were—I needed to train. To master the power that was awakening inside me. A power I barely understood.

Kael watched me from the edge of the clearing, his eyes narrowed, assessing. His usually calm demeanor had a sharp edge today, as if the urgency of our situation had finally pierced his stoic exterior. “Focus, Seraphina,” he called out, his voice cutting through the fog like a whip. “The prophecy isn’t going to wait for you to be ready.”

I nodded, though a part of me resented the pressure. Every time I closed my eyes, the vision of the burning forest returned—the image of me standing amidst the c