Page 81 of The Awakening of Essensia

She didn’t fear the shadows, not anymore. They feared her.

When the flames finally receded, the image of the cottage with them, tears clung to Vaelira’s cheeks, rolling down her chin and onto her open palms in her lap.

“Incredible,” Galfri said, so softly she could barely hear the words.

She looked up, eyes blurred. A cracked sound tore from her throat, sobs rolling over her in waves. “He’s really gone,” she choked out. She had thought she’d become accustomed to death by now, but she knew that was a lie. Deep down she had always known. You never get used to losing the people you love.

Galfri knelt and took her shaking hands in his own.

“I thought I had forgotten his face,” Vaelira said, her breaths slowing. “I thought I had forgotten him. But I saw him as clearly as I see you now.”

Galfri smiled softly. “In an attempt to suppress the bad, you can sometimes also suppress the good. Focus on the good. Focus on the love and joy he brought you and others in life, and he will never truly be gone. He will live on in you, Vaelira. You just have to let him.”

She would let him. She would carry his pure heart with her. She would find those who had let their own hearts turn to rot, and she would rip them from their bodies as surely as they had ripped Jon from her life.

Galfri let her hands drop as flames engulfed her hands once more, running up the length of her forearms. She smothered them quickly.

“What you did just now, during the breathwork, I didn’t manage such a feat until many years into my training,” he said, squeezing her fingers. “Your power is no longer stifled by fear. Do you feel it?”

She did. The fear was still there, but it no longer ruled her. Now, she could look it in the eye.

Vaelira nodded and wiped her face with a hand, then placed it back in his, the touch a welcome comfort.

“I’m not tired,” she said. “Before, holding a larger flame drained me, but now, even after all that, I feel like I could do it again.”

“Let’s refrain from full body manifestations for now,” he said, leaning on his knee as he straightened. “Focus on the controlled attack. You need a solid base to work from.”

Over the next few hours, she practised. Fire bloomed at her fingertips, leapt from her palms, and struck the stone. Black scorch marks spiderwebbed across the room. Every cast she threw grew sharper and more precise, the moonstone pulsing alongside each as if in silent approval.

By the end, her temples throbbed and her skin buzzed, as if the fire hadn’t fully left her. Sweat clung to her neck. It seemed precision demanded more than raw power alone.

“I never imagined I could do something like that,” she said, breathless.

“You always could,” Galfri said. “You’ll never know what you're capable of until you try.” He turned towards the door and held out a hand. “Come. You’ve earned a rest.”

They walked in silence back through the mountain's depths and slipped through a backdoor into the Index. Once inside the storage room, Galfri paused, letting her open the passage. She turned to him instead. “You’ve already done so much for me,” she said quietly, “but I wanted to ask one more thing.”

His smile was gentle. “Favours are all I have left to give.”

The words twisted something in her gut. She had come to lean on him more than she’d expected, on the steadiness of his voice and the way he saw her, not as a weapon, but as someone in need of guidance.

“We haven’t found anything solid on the summonings. Not who these people answer to, or what their goal is. We need answers before they strike again. I need to research. Perhaps I could slip into the library at night and see if I can find anything?”

Galfri rubbed his chin. “There aren’t enough people here at night for you to go unnoticed.” He frowned, thinking it through. “Perhaps in the early hours… yes, that would be best. On your next free day, come before breakfast. You’ll be able to slip through the aisles unnoticed I should think.”

Before she could stop herself, she hugged him. “Thank you,” she said. He stiffened for a moment but relaxed into the embrace, chucking softly.

She stepped back and crouched to open the passage. She barely had to think before it slid open, her essensia moving so freely now. Grinning to herself, she jumped into the dark.

On her next day off, Vaelira slipped into the hidden passage before breakfast. Her heart thudded as she sprinted through the tunnel, her palm held aloft, a tall flame lighting the way for several feet.

She hadn’t bothered stopping by the mailroom that morning. She had no immediate use for her weekly pay, and Freya had never replied to her letter. Maybe it had been lost, or perhaps the return one had. The silence hurt more than she’d expected, but people grew apart all the time. At least that’s what she tried to tell herself. She hadn’t realised how much she’d needed to hear from her friend, until she hadn’t.

Freya had been the one to remind Vaelira of the Royal Library, of the knowledge it held and the answers it might offer. She still wanted to know who had killed her brother and why, but her thoughts kept circling back to the summonings. Somehow, the two were connected. She could feel it. How else would a demon get into Anhaven undetected if not summoned?

When she emerged from the passage, Galfri was already waiting, pale robes folded over one arm. She dressed quickly and joined him in the corridor.

“Keep your hood up,” he said, tugging it into place. “Don’t speak unless you must. If the Queen gets wind of this…” He didn’t finish. He didn’t need to, Vaelira’s position was already precarious. If Queen Mairese found out, her training, and access to this library, would be over.