Page 17 of Stormvein

“Brilliant.” Her expression warms with memory. “Fearless to the point of recklessness.Terribleat patience. He’d pace the halls like a caged animal when forced to wait.” She laughs softly, the sound rich with fondness. “Once, he charged into an Authority outpost alone because they were holding three of our scouts. He used his shadows to walk straight through their defenses. He didn’t tell anyone his plan. He disappeared at sunset. Varam was furious. Claimed he aged ten years in a single night waiting for his return.”

“Did it work?” I find myself leaning closer, drawn to these stories of who he was.

“Of course it worked.” Pride mingles with the grief in her voice. “He’s the Vareth’el. But that night was the first time I saw what the shadows could truly do in his hands. It wasn’t just power. It was ... artistry.”

“Why are you telling me this?”

“Because whether I believe he survived or not, your conviction deserves respect.” She stands and walks to the door.“And because Lord Torran would want you to know who he was, not who he became.” Her hand rests on the door handle. “He wouldn’t want you to hurt yourself, Ellie. He’d want you to fight.”

She opens the door and walks out, leaving me alone with too many thoughts and a version of Sacha I never got to meet.

I stay at the table for a while, not really thinking. Just sitting, staring blankly at the wall, until my eyes dry out and my back aches. When I finally go to my room … toSacha’sroom … I lie on the bed without any intention of sleeping. But the weight of everything—grief, exhaustion, the power inside me—pulls me under before I can stop it.

My sleep is dreamless, thankfully, and when morning arrives, it takes me a while to move. My body feels sluggish as I dress, tidy my hair, and leave the quarters to meet Telren. Anticipation and anxiety mingle as I find my way through Stonehaven’s winding passageways to the training cavern. The same space where Sacha spent days trying to help me learn control, where his voice echoed off the stone as he guided me through exercises I barely understood.

Telren is already waiting in the center of the room, standing beneath the natural skylight where the sun spills in a perfect circle across the floor. He doesn’t look up when I enter, just gestures once to the space across from him.

“Sit.” He lowers himself with the kind of ease that comes from habit.

I cross the floor and sit, folding my legs beneath me. The cold creeps up through the fabric of my pants.

“Spine straight. Shoulders loose.” His voice is nothing like Sacha’s. It’s rougher without the smooth modulation that made even his most straightforward instructions feel like secrets being shared.

I adjust my posture, my back aching before we’ve even begun.

“Close your eyes. Breathe. Let your weight settle.”

I inhale … exhale … count the space between. I try not to think about the silver light or how it might react if I lose focus.

“Bring your attention to the center of your chest. That’s where the energy is held. You don’t need to reach for it. Let it be where it is.”

I do as he says, muscles tightening as I brace myself for what might happen. The energy is already shifting, low and tight behind my ribs. It doesn’t want to stay still. It wants to move.

“Don’t try to control it. You’re not guiding anything yet. You’re learning to recognize what’s already there.”

I sit there, breathing evenly. The light stirs faintly every time my thoughts drift. My legs start to ache. My shoulders pull inward. I shift uncomfortably on the stone.

“Again. Relax your body, Ellie. You’re too tense. Let everything loosen.”

I try by rolling my shoulders, and taking a deep breath. But my hips ache, my knees burn, and the floor is hard and uncomfortable. I shift again, then open my eyes.

“This isn’t working.”

He doesn’t reply straight away, just looks at me. “Let’s try something else. Tell me what happened at River Crossing.”

My lungs seize, and my throat locks up.

“You think the Vareth’el survived. There must be a reason for that.” His voice is gentle and calm. “Maybe if you tell me what you saw happen, what it did to your power, then we can find a starting point to help you get more control.”

I shake my head. “I can’t.”

But the image, those awful few seconds when darkness seemed to implode, are already playing out in my head, and the words are spilling from my lips before I can stop them.

“We were on a hill … above the clearing where the Authority soldiers ambushed him …them. Mira told us to stay down, otherwise we’d be seen.”

Telren nods.

“I watched them circle him and Varam. Sereven … the High Commander. He was there. He had this crystal.” My voice wavers, and I swallow. “When he used it on Sacha’s shadows …”