Training began earlier than usual.
Kairon stood silently in the courtyard, black cloak brushing the ground as he observed Raezion strike against enchanted dummies. Each slash of Aeon Severance left afterimages of gleaming silver light. Each footstep was precise, disciplined.
But today, there was an audience.
Renner sat beneath the shade of a crimson blossom tree, her golden hair arranged in elaborate braids. She watched Raezion with wide, attentive eyes. Not out of admiration—but obsession.
"You never take your eyes off me," Raezion muttered between swings, sweat dripping down his brow.
"I never want to," she whispered, smiling sweetly.
Draemax was coiled nearby in the shadows, his once-small form now large enough to wrap around a tree trunk. The dragon's molten-red eyes locked on Renner.
> "She's wrong. Her soul is cracked," Draemax's voice echoed in Raezion's mind.
"Let me end her."
"No," Raezion replied silently. "Not yet."
Renner clapped softly when Raezion completed the final strike, leaping into the air and bringing Aeon Severance down in a wave of silvery arcane light that split the stone platform.
"Impressive," she said.
Kairon gave a curt nod, stepping forward. "You should return inside, Lady Renner. The rest of Raezion's training is not meant for outsiders."
Renner's smile wavered only for a second.
"Of course, Lord Val'Kareth," she said. "But I'll be back tomorrow."
And she would. Every day.
Every time Raezion trained, Renner watched.
Every time he studied, she waited outside the chamber.
Even when he walked the halls at night, he'd hear the faint hum of her voice or the tapping of her nails on the wall.
She was always there.
And Draemax… was growing impatient.