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I glance at Brenn. His expression softens, a glimmer of understanding—or maybe pity—in his eyes, but I don't need either.
“Do you think your beast took over while you were out? Like she did in the woods?” Brenn asks as he hops off the table, the wood creaking a protest.
“She said he was testing her too, strictly with our abilities. So, it’s possible my body has some sort of muscle memory.”
"Something tells me you've got a lot more surprises coming your way," Brenn says, his tone lighter now, almost impressed.
“Let’s hope not. I’m not sure I can take any more surprises, right now. Finding out about my beast was enough for a while.”
“Oh, don’t say that. The two of you will figure things out. It takes time, but once you click, it’s pretty easy from there.”
“We’ll see.” Closing my eyes once more, I let the memory of darkness, of being alone in that cell, fill me. It's not anger—it's raw determination. My hands rise again, and between them, shadows begin to dance. They twist and curl, forming a new orb that's wilder than before, pulsating with power. The air around us hums with energy, and for just a sliver of time, I feel invincible.
"Control it, Calamity," Brenn instructs, his voice low and cautious. "Shape it… Good. Now let it go.” With a flick of my wrists, I send the shadow darting forward. It slams into a table, and the impact sends a spider web of cracks racing through the wood before the entire table crumbles to ash.
Then the warmth comes, rolling through my body as if that fire in the pit were able to heat me from the inside out.
“I’m surprised you wouldn’t try to play with your magic. You must’ve known you hadsomething, right?”
A snort escapes me, humorless and sharp. “When your gift is death, playing with it doesn’t seem so fun anymore." My voice echoes off the stone walls, raw and edged with bitterness. “Iknew I could draw on things, that I could give life and extend the king’s with a touch of my hand, but it’s not like I practiced all the time in my cell.”
“It's not all about death or immortality. You can save people, Calamity. Had it been you who found me in those woods, your gift could've saved me.”
Rolling my eyes, I try to focus again. “Maybe, but so far, it seems like the people I've wanted to save have died out of arm's reach. A lot of good it does when you can't touch them.”
I close my eyes and lift my palms again. The familiar crackle of energy crawls over my skin, igniting the cool air. It begins as a tingle, a dance of pinpricks along my flesh. Then it crescendos and ropes of smoke crawl between my fingers, opening my eyes, I focus it into a sphere of writhing shadows, perfect in its form, yet alive with constant motion.
“Who'd you lose?" Brenn's voice cuts through the silence.
I hesitate, caught off guard by the probing nature of his question. He pushed away from the table, coming closer and stopping just a few feet away, arms crossed over his chest.
"No one." The lie tastes bitter on my tongue; it's a denial spoken more for myself than him.
“Obviously, it was someone, but if you don’t want to tell me that’s alright,” he says, and I lift my gaze, meeting his.
I start to open my mouth, but the words die in my throat.
“I thought I was doing the right thing.”My beast’s voice echoes in my head, and I breathe a sigh of relief. It’s like the noose that’s been slightly constricting around my heart finally loosens.“Tell him to take you outside. I’ll teach you.”
“She spoke to you, didn’t she?” Brenn asks, a side-ways smirk on his face.
"Yeah, she did." My voice is barely more than a whisper, and the tears that burn at the edges of my vision threaten to fall. Still,a small smile tugs at my lips. At least she’s not gone. “She wants to go outside.”
Going outside sounds like a stupid idea, but for the first time, I think we're on the same page. I have to learn somehow. This is the real world, where Asmo isn't waiting to set the dungeon fires, where bars don't protect just as much as they imprison me. If my beast can't always take control to help me, then I need to learn what she knows about our magic. Asmo might've taught me how to land a punch, but that doesn't do me any good if my attackers have tails that they can whip me with from afar or magic at their fingertips. And seeing as my beast took out the never cats, Hyde knows way more about this than I do.
Still, it's hard to shake the feeling that going outside during the blackout is like walking up to death's open arms, while he beckons me with frostbitten fingers. But trusting her is the first step. It's a compromise.
"You want to go outside?" His words tumble out, each one heavier than the last, skepticism warping his smirk into a questioning frown.
"Apparently. She wants to teach me, and she said she'll forgive you if you help us."
“I'll do no such thing.”
Brenn huffs a laugh that holds no real humor. "Loric's going to kill me for this, but alright." He chews his lip, turning in place, like he's mentally mapping the unconventional route we'll have to take, then heads toward the stairwell. “But I know you're lying.”
Of course, he does.
The stairwell looms above us, its top disappearing into the shadowy tunnel. The steps hang suspended and completely unreachable.
