Episode 11: The Voice Inside The Storm
1293 Words
The words “We’re out of time” didn’t leave the air.
They sank into it.
Heavy.
Permanent.
Like a door quietly locking somewhere I couldn’t see.
I stood still in the training pit, my breathing uneven, my skin cold despite the morning sun. The air around me felt… wrong again.
Not like yesterday.
Worse.
Deeper.
As if something underneath the world had just shifted its weight.
“Kael…” I whispered. “What do you mean out of time?”
He didn’t answer immediately.
That alone was enough to make my chest tighten.
His eyes were scanning the space around us now—not the training ground, not the warriors nearby—but something else. Something I couldn’t see.
“Everyone out,” he ordered sharply.
The warriors hesitated.
Just for a second.
Then they obeyed.
Fast.
Urgent.
Like they already understood what I didn’t.
In moments, the pit emptied.
Leaving only silence.
And me.
And him.
The wind picked up slightly.
But it didn’t feel natural.
It felt… aware.
My fingers curled slowly.
“That feeling,” I said quietly. “It’s back.”
Kael’s gaze snapped to me.
“What feeling?”
I swallowed.
“That thing. The presence. The voice.”
A flicker changed in his expression.
Just for a moment.
But I saw it.
Recognition.
“So it’s active,” he murmured.
My stomach dropped.
“Active?” I repeated. “Kael, what is it?”
He stepped closer, slower this time. Not threatening—but controlled. Careful.
Like I might break.
Or explode.
Or both.
“You’re not the first,” he said finally.
The words didn’t make sense at first.
I blinked.
“…Not the first what?”
His jaw tightened slightly.
“Not the first vessel it has awakened in.”
A cold wave ran through my body.
Vessel.
That word didn’t feel right.
Didn’t feel like me.
“I don’t understand,” I said quickly. “What do you mean vessel? What is ‘it’?”
Kael’s gaze dropped for a moment.
Like he was deciding how much truth I could survive.
Then—
“It’s older than packs,” he said. “Older than our laws. Older than our history.”
My breath slowed.
“That doesn’t answer anything.”
“It should,” he replied.
Silence stretched between us.
Heavy.
Uncomfortable.
Then—
The air shifted again.
My chest tightened instantly.
“No…” I whispered.
The pressure returned.
But stronger.
Much stronger.
Like something pressing against the inside of my skull.
My vision flickered.
Just for a second.
And I heard it again.
That voice.
Closer this time.
“You’re learning…”
My knees almost gave out.
Kael moved instantly, grabbing my arm.
“Stay with me,” he ordered.
“I’m trying—!” I gasped. “It’s inside my head!”
His expression sharpened.
“That’s not possible.”
“It is!” I snapped. “I can hear it!”
The pressure spiked.
Pain shot through my chest.
I cried out, stumbling back—
And the energy exploded.
Not outward this time.
Inward.
The world around me blurred.
The ground, the sky, Kael—
Everything warped like it was being pulled underwater.
“No—!” I choked.
And then—
Silence.
But not peace.
The opposite.
Absolute stillness.
When my vision cleared—
I wasn’t in the training pit anymore.
My breath caught.
I stood in darkness.
Endless.
Empty.
No sky.
No ground.
Just black space stretching in every direction.
My heart slammed.
“What is this…?”
A slow clap echoed behind me.
I spun around—
Nothing.
Then—
The voice.
Not in my head this time.
In the space itself.
“Finally… you’re awake.”
A shape formed ahead of me.
Not fully human.
Not fully anything.
Just a silhouette wrapped in shifting darkness.
My entire body froze.
“What are you?” I whispered.
A soft laugh.
Almost amused.
“You already know me.”
“No,” I said quickly. “I don’t.”
The figure tilted slightly.
And suddenly—
Pain.
Sharp.
Instant.
My knees hit the ground.
I gasped.
Images flooded my mind—
Fire.
War.
Screaming cities.
A girl standing alone in the center of it all.
Me.
But not me.
Older.
Stronger.
Eyes glowing like liquid darkness.
My breath shook.
“No… that’s not—”
“It is,” the voice interrupted gently.
My vision blurred.
“This isn’t real,” I whispered. “It can’t be.”
The figure stepped closer.
And the air around me grew heavier.
“You were sealed,” it said. “But seals break.”
My hands trembled.
“Sealed…? By who?”
A pause.
Then—
*“By those who feared what you would become.”
My chest tightened painfully.
“What I would become?”
The figure leaned closer.
And suddenly—
Its presence pressed against my mind.
Not attacking.
Not forcing.
Revealing.
And I saw it.
Not the future.
Not the past.
Something worse.
Truth.
A battlefield.
Kael standing far away, watching.
Not saving.
Not attacking.
Just watching.
And me—
At the center.
Losing myself.
Destroying everything.
My breath broke.
“No…” I whispered.
The vision faded.
And I was back in the darkness.
Shaking.
Falling.
The figure’s voice softened.
Almost… sad.
“You are not human in the way you think.”
My throat tightened.
“I am Lira Ashwood,” I said firmly. “That’s who I am.”
A pause.
Then—
“That is only what you were named.”
My heart pounded violently.
“What does that mean?”
The darkness around us shifted.
Thicker.
Closer.
And then—
“You are what remains when something ancient chooses to be reborn.”
My breath stopped.
Reborn.
“No…” I shook my head. “That’s impossible.”
The figure tilted its head again.
And for the first time—
Its voice darkened.
*“And Kael Draven knows it.”*
The world snapped.
---
I stumbled backward—
And slammed into something solid.
Warm.
Real.
Hands grabbed my shoulders instantly.
“Lira!”
Kael’s voice.
I gasped, sucking in air like I had been drowning.
My vision blurred.
The training pit returned.
Sunlight.
Ground.
Reality.
But my body wouldn’t stop shaking.
Kael held me steady.
“What did you see?” he demanded.
I looked up at him.
My voice barely came out.
“It… it showed me…”
My throat tightened.
“…that I’m not supposed to exist.”
Silence.
Kael went still.
Completely still.
For the first time since I met him—
He didn’t have an immediate answer.
And that scared me more than anything else.
Because slowly…
Very slowly…
He let go of my shoulders.
And said something I wasn’t ready for.
“You saw it then.”
My stomach dropped.
“You knew,” I whispered.
It wasn’t a question.
It was a realization.
Kael’s eyes darkened slightly.
“I knew fragments.”
My hands curled.
“You let me come here without telling me what I am?!”
His voice dropped.
“Because if I told you too early—”
“What?” I snapped. “I’d lose control?”
A pause.
Then—
“Yes.”
The word hit like a blade.
I stepped back.
My chest burned.
“So I’m not just a problem to you,” I said quietly. “I’m a secret you’re trying to manage.”
Silence.
Kael didn’t deny it.
And that—
That was the answer.
The wind around us shifted again.
But this time…
It didn’t feel like the presence was watching from outside.
It felt like it was smiling.
Inside me.
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