THE ROGUE QUEEN

Chapter 21

I woke up to Maya standing over me, arms crossed and expression unreadable.

“Get up,” she said. “Now.”

“Lyra said I needed rest—”

“That was yesterday. Today you train.” She walked out, expecting me to follow without question.

I looked at Kael. He was already awake, putting on his boots.

“She’s serious,” he said. “And she’s right. We don’t have time to rest anymore.”

My shoulder hurt. My ribs hurt. Everything hurt. But I stood up and followed them outside.

The training area was already busy. Zara and four other wolves stood waiting, all looking serious and focused.

“Listen up,” Maya said loudly. “We have few days to turn this group into something strong enough to attack a defended enemy camp. That means we train harder than ever. No breaks. No excuses. No complaints.”

She looked straight at me.

“Especially you. You’re our hidden weapon. So you need to control your shadows whenever you choose, not only when you’re scared.”

“I’m trying—”

“Try faster.” She waved to the others. “The rest of you will learn how to fight with a Shadow Wolf how to move with her powers and use them for cover and distractions.”

We started with basic team movement drills.

Maya made us practice moving together, forward, backward, to the sides. Every step had to match. If one person messed up, the whole group could die.

I stumbled a lot at first. My injured shoulder kept throwing me off.

“Again,” Maya shouted.

We reset.

Then tried again.

And again.

And again.

By the tenth round, I was covered in sweat and my legs felt weak.

“Better,” Maya said at last. “But still not good enough. Take five minutes. Drink water. Then we’ll work on Selene’s shadows.”

I dropped to the ground, breathing hard. Zara sat next to me and handed me water.

“She’s brutal,” I said.

“She’s trying to keep us alive,” Zara replied, taking a sip. “This is how she handles things, training hard, planning, focusing on what she can control.”

“How are you holding up? With… everything?”

Zara’s face tightened. “I’m angry. I’ll deal with the grief later. Right now anger helps more.”

I understood. Anger kept you moving. Grief could freeze you.

“Alright, break’s over!” Maya called. “Selene, stand in the center. Everyone else, form a circle around her.”

I walked to the spot she pointed at.

“Okay,” Maya said. “Call your shadows again. But this time, keep them steady. Don’t let them fade until I say so.”

I closed my eyes and reached for the dark power inside me. The shadows formed quickly, wrapping around my arms.

“Good. Now keep them there. Don’t let them spread.”

I focused hard, trying to hold them in place. My wolf helped me control the power.

One minute passed.

Two minutes.

My focus slipped a little and the shadows shook.

“Don’t lose it,” Maya said sharply. “Push through the tiredness.”

I clenched my jaw and forced myself to focus again.

Three minutes.

Four.

My head was pounding, Sweat dripped my eyes.

“Enough,” Maya finally said. “Let them go.”

I released the shadows and they disappeared. I felt dizzy from how hard I’d pushed.

“You held it for four minutes this time,” Maya said. That’s progress.”

“It doesn’t feel like progress,” I muttered.

“That’s because you’re still in the middle of learning. But you are getting stronger.” She turned to the others. “Now we add pressure. Zara, Kael try to break her focus. Everyone else, protect her while she keeps the shadows up.”

“Wait, what—”

But they were already coming toward me.

The training turned into complete chaos.

Zara and Kael rushed at me from different sides, trying to break my focus without actually hurting me. The other wolves made a loose circle around me, trying to block them.

I tried to keep the shadows steady while everything was happening at once.

Someone’s elbow hit my ribs and I gasped. The shadows shook.

“Don’t lose it!” Maya shouted over the noise.

I forced myself to focus again, even though it hurt.

Kael pretended to move left, then quickly went right and slipped past the others. He grabbed my arm—

My shadows reacted on their own, wrapping around his wrist and stopping him instantly.

Everything stopped.

“Yes,” Maya said, sounding pleased. “That’s exactly what I want. Your shadows protecting you naturally.”

I let go of Kael’s arm. He moved his wrist with a small wince.

“Sorry,” I said.

“Don’t be,” he said with a small smile. “That was good. You’re getting better.”

We repeated the drill six more times. Each time, I lasted longer. Each time, my shadows reacted faster.

By the time Maya told us it was lunch break, I was so exhausted I could barely walk.

“Eat,” Lyra said, pushing a bowl of stew into my hands. “And drink this too.”

She gave me a cup of her bitter medicine.

I drank it without arguing. My shoulder hurt constantly, and anything that reduced the pain was welcome.

“How is she doing?” Lyra asked Maya in a low voice.

“Better than I expected,” Maya said, sitting down tiredly. “Her shadows are reacting faster, and she’s getting more control. But she still hesitates too much. She’s scared of hurting people.”

“That’s not really a bad thing,” Lyra said.

“In training, maybe not. But in a real fight, it will get her killed.” Maya looked serious. “She has to understand that sometimes you must hurt the enemy to stay alive.”

I pretended I wasn’t listening and kept eating.

But her words stayed in my head.

Sometimes you have to hurt the enemy to survive.

I had killed that hunter two days ago. I still saw his face whenever I closed my eyes.

How many more would I have to kill?

“Stop overthinking,” Kael said softly as he sat beside me. “I can see it on your face.”

“I’m not—”

“You are. And it won’t help anything,” he said, finishing his food. “Look. Maya is right. In a fight, pausing or hesitating can get you killed. But that doesn’t mean you need to like hurting anyone. It just means you do what you have to do to stay alive.”

“And if I’m not willing to do that?” I asked.

“Then you’ll die. And the people who are counting on you will die too,” Kael said. His voice was calm but serious. “Is that what you want?”

“No.”

“Then you have to learn to be willing. You have to learn to be tough when it matters,” he said. “But don’t let it change who you are. That’s the important part. Be strong without losing yourself.”

I wanted to argue. I wanted to believe there was a kinder way.

But I had seen the bodies covered in blankets. I had seen the wounded. I had seen people grieving.

War didn’t care about right or wrong.

It only cared about who survived.

The afternoon was for planning.

Maya had built a small model of the mill using sticks and stones. We all sat around it, looking at the layout.

“The mill is on high ground,” Maya said. “There are three ways in, the main door here, a side door here, and a loading dock at the back. There are at least eight guards, maybe more.”

“How do we know what it looks like inside?” someone asked.

“We don’t know everything,” Maya said. “But most mills are built the same way. I’ve raided enough of them to guess the important parts.” She pointed at different spots. “Our advantage is surprise and Selene’s shadows. Our weakness is that they have more people and a stronger building.”

“So what’s the plan?” Zara asked.

“We split into three groups,” Maya said. “Group one, Selene, Kael, and two others, will go through the main door and make as much noise and confusion as possible.”

“A distraction,” Kael said.

“Exactly. While the guards focus on you, group two will enter through the side door and take out whoever is in charge inside. Group three will stay outside, watch the area, and stop anyone from escaping or calling for help.”

Maya looked at all of us. “This works only if every group does their job. If one group fails, we all lose. Understand?”

Everyone nodded seriously.

“For the next few days, we’ll practice these team movements. We need to trust each other.” Then she looked at me. “And Selene needs to learn how to use her shadows as weapons.”

My stomach tightened.

“Any questions?” Maya asked.

No one said a word.

“Good. Go rest. We start again at sunrise.”

That night, I lay awake in Lyra’s shelter, staring at the ceiling.

Just three days ago, I was hiding in a den, learning how to catch rabbits.

Now I was getting ready to attack a heavily guarded mill.

Everything was happening so fast.

“Are you scared?” my wolf asked.

“Yes. Very.’

“Good. Fear helps you stay alert.”

“Does killing get easier?” I asked her.

She didn’t answer for a while. “I don’t know. I’ve never been through this either. We’re figuring it out together.”

Her honesty actually made me feel a little better.

“Selene?” Kael’s voice came from across the shelter. “You awake?”

“Yeah.”

“Can’t sleep?”

“No.”

He shifted on his bedding. “We’re going to survive this. All of us.”

“You can’t be sure.”

“No,” he said. “But I choose to believe it. Hope is a weapon too, maybe the strongest one.”

I thought about that.

Hope.

Even after everything, the deaths, the fear, the danger, there was still hope.

Maybe that was enough.

“Kael?”

“Yeah?”

“Thank you. For staying with me. For… making all of this easier to face.”

“You do the same for me,” he said quietly. “More than you realize.”

His words filled the darkness between us, warm and steady.

And somehow, even with everything waiting for us, I fell asleep feeling less alone.