Elena's POV
The morning after my first training felt like waking from war.
Every nerve in my body felt like it had been rewired.
I could still taste the edge of power on my tongue, a faint reminder of yesterday's chaos. My head throbbed in rhythm with my heartbeat.
My body ached fiercely; my muscles and mind seemed to have been stretched beyond their normal limits.
The dome was quiet now, sunlight filtering through the glass ceiling, dust particles drifting lazily like snow. The world was calm. My mind wasn't.
I had spent half my night replaying the moment I'd lost control, the sound of mirrors shattering, the way Adrian's voice cut through the noise like a lifeline.
Worse was the way I'd felt when his hands steadied me, and everything steadied. Suddenly, I felt safe.
'Safe' was a strange word to me; it didn't belong in my world. Not since I was four years old.
I sat cross-legged on the mat, staring at the faint scorch marks on the floor where I'd unleashed my power.
