I drew back the bowstring, my knuckles white, and released the first arrow. It whistled through the air, trailing a jagged, violet ribbon of flame.
"Predictable!" Helena hissed, her spear moving in a blurring arc. She countered the shot with a flick of her wrist, the crimson energy around her weapon swirling violently as it collided with my amethyst fire. The impact sent a drops of glowing sparks showering the floor, each one hissing like a dying star as it touched the stone.
I didn't give her a moment to recover. I fired two more, the heat radiating from the bow turning the air around me into a shimmering haze. My heart was a frantic drum against my ribs, and with every shot, the flame grew, blazing from a flicker to a roaring, feral wildfire. Helena caught the arrows on the shaft of her spear, the metal shrieking as she shoved them aside, her red eyes locked onto mine with terrifying intensity.
She lunged. I danced backward, firing a rapid sequence of shots that forced her to pivot and twist, the collision of our magical auras turning the training room into a whirlwind of violet and crimson light. The room felt small, pressurized, and alive with the scent of ozone and burned earth.
"Again!" she commanded, her voice vibrating with power.
I drew the final arrow, my lungs burning, and let it fly. She batted it away with a graceful, lethal sweep of her spear, the resulting shockwave pushing us both apart.
We collapsed, both of us breathing in ragged, heavy gasps. I fell to my knees, the bow slipping from my numb fingers. The silence that rushed back into the room was deafening, but then something shifted.
Thump-thump. Thump-thump.
I froze. I could hear it. Helena's heartbeat. It was steady, rhythmic, and impossibly clear. My ears twitched, picking up the faint, rhythmic rustle of grass outside the hall, the distant hum of life hidden far beyond the walls.
I looked up at her, and then the world fractured.
My vision glitched, a violent static washing over my eyes. The vibrant, colorful room vanished, replaced by a cold, sharp landscape of emerald green and stark, sterile white. Helena stood before me, but her silhouette was bathed in a pulsing, malevolent crimson aura. Danger.
My vision snapped back to reality as quickly as it had left, my head spinning.
"Helena..." I whispered, my voice trembling. "I could hear your heartbeat."
"I know," she said, her chest rising and falling rhythmically.
"Does that mean...?" I trailed off, the realization dawning on me.
"Yes. You have awakened the Dormant Hybrid phase." She stepped closer, her expression turning uncharacteristically honest. "A Dormant Hybrid is a sleeping weapon. You look human, you act human, but the moment you enter a fight, you glitch. Your eyes will slit or change color, and your vision shifts to this green-and-white thermal spectrum. If you see red, it is an enemy or a lethal threat. If you see pink, you are safe."
She paused, looking at me closely. "Your reflexes are already surpassing human limits. The lethal energy you command is just the surface, there is something much more dangerous hiding beneath your skin."
I looked at the spear still crackling in her hand. "If red means danger... then why was your spear glowing red?"
"Because you were fighting me," she replied, her tone softening just a fraction. "To your instincts, in that moment, I was the threat you had to overcome."
"Oh," I breathed, letting the tension fade away out of my shoulders.
"Don't relax too much, Sera," she warned, her voice suddenly dropping into a low, sharp register. "Someone has targeted you. Be attentive. Stay careful. Keep an eye on the shadows around you."
"What? Who is it? Who is targeting me?" I scrambled to my feet, my heart hammering against my chest.
"You have seen them both," Helena said, her form beginning to shimmer like heat haze. "But I will tell you when the time comes."
"No, wait! Helen—!"
I reached out, but the world distorted. I blinked, and the training hall was gone. The smell of ozone vanished, replaced by the mundane, familiar scent of my bedroom. I was back. I panted, my hands shaking as I felt the residual hum of magic dying down in my veins. My ring, the source of my tether, was pulsing with a faint, dying violet light.
KNOCK. KNOCK. KNOCK.
I jumped, my skin crawling with the leftover electricity of my awakening.
"WHAT?!" I shouted, the adrenaline still coursing through me.
"Y-your highness..." a servant's voice stammered from behind the heavy oak door. "The dinner is set... the King and Queen are asking for your arrival at the dining hall."
"Okay," I choked out, forcing my voice to remain steady. "Coming."
I slid the glowing ring into my girdle pouch, hiding the evidence of the power that was, even now, beginning to change everything.