CHAPTER 6: Fractures in Trust
657 Words
The far side of the Veiled Realm was nothing like the training grounds. Floating rocks jutted at impossible angles, rivers of crackling energy twisted through the air, and the violet sky churned with raw power. Xander grinned, sparks dancing across his fingers.
“This is where you’ll really learn to push yourself,” he said, his voice teasing. “No Zayn hovering over you. No safety nets. Just you, me, and the Realm.”
May narrowed her eyes. “And if something happens? If I get hurt?”
Xander shrugged. “Then you learn.
Maybe you’ll finally stop underestimating yourself.
She clenched her fists, trying not to show the nerves creeping up her spine. “I can handle it.”
They moved quickly, leaping across floating platforms and dodging unpredictable energy spikes. Xander pushed her relentlessly, throwing fire constructs and testing her momentum perception. Every misstep risked a fall into the glowing rivers below.
And then it happened.
A C-rank monster emerged from the shadows — sharp claws, glowing eyes, raw strength radiating off it in waves. May froze for a heartbeat before reacting. The first strike knocked her to the ground. Pain shot through her ribs, but she forced herself to rise.
“You…” she whispered, determination hardening her voice. She lunged, bending momentum, twisting energy around her movements. With one precise strike, the monster collapsed into shadows, dissolving.
Breathing hard, bruised and shaking, May looked around. Xander was grinning, impressed. “Well… you did it. Alone.”
Back at the castle, Zayn’s senses screamed. Something was wrong. He had felt her shadow stretch unnaturally, the pull of danger in the far reaches of the Realm. In a flash, he was gone — shadows enveloping him as he tore across the distance, faster than thought.
He arrived just in time to see her standing over the dissolved C-rank monster, her chest heaving, blood and bruises marking her skin. Relief hit him like a storm. “May!” he shouted, rushing forward.
“You were almost killed today,” Zayn said, voice tight, shadow energy coiling protectively around him.
May straightened, brushing herself off, eyes fierce. “But I’m not.”
The words hung between them. Zayn’s jaw tightened. “Do you understand how dangerous that was? How reckless?”
“I understand,” she said, meeting his gaze. “And I’m alive. I survived.”
Xander chuckled from the side. “And that’s the point, Zayn. She’s stronger than you think.”
May turned sharply to Xander. “Yeah, and maybe you could’ve told me how deadly that side really is instead of just throwing me in?!”
Xander shrugged, smirk tugging at his lips. “You wanted to push your limits. I gave you the Realm.”
“I didn’t want to nearly die!” May snapped, glaring. “And Zayn… you need to stop hovering over me every second! I’m not a child!”
Zayn’s shadows flickered, tension still running high, but he finally exhaled, his protective stance softening just slightly. “I can’t… I just… I can’t lose you, May. Not again. Not after everything.”
May’s eyes softened, frustration still in her voice but now mixed with understanding. “I get it. But you can’t protect me from everything. I have to fight my own battles, Zayn. You’ll have to trust me.”
Xander shook his head, hands raised in surrender. “Well, that went… better than expected.”
Zayn didn’t reply. He simply stayed close, shadows lingering around May protectively, a flicker of guilt and care in his eyes. May knew he would always watch, but now she had made her point: she could survive on her own — and she would.
The shadows at the edges of the training grounds shifted, faint and deliberate. Watching. Waiting.
May clenched her fists, bruised and battered but alive, determination blazing in her chest. She was learning, growing, and she wasn’t running anymore.
- Writer
