Kiono POV
She stayed on her knees for only a breath. One. Two. Then she violently tore her chin away from my fingers, her fingers curling into tight fists.
"You think this is over?" she snapped, her brown eyes blazing with a raw, defiant fire that caught me entirely off guard.
I tilted my head, keeping my expression as blank and calm as a frozen mountain lake. "I think you need to breathe."
"Don't patronize me."
She surged upward, her teeth gritted so hard I heard the click of her jaw. Before I could even adjust my stance, her telekinesis detonated outward in a violent, desperate wave. Spirals of raw power raced across her small arms like lightning veins, crackling against her skin as the ground completely fractured beneath her boots.
My face didn't shift but a sudden, sharp hit of admiration slammed into my chest. She was furious. She was disheveled. She was only five feet of lavender silk and dark hair, and she was entirely beautiful.
And entirely dangerous.
Then, she vanished.
Using her telekinesis to claim a sickening amount of raw velocity, she hurled her own body forward so fast the air tore around her, a bullet slicing through the dust. She materialized directly behind my blind spot, aiming a concentrated, bone-crushing psychic blast straight at my spine.
I didn't bother turning around. I just raised my right hand over my shoulder, mapping her trajectory by the displacement of the wind.
Her attack slammed into my open palm, the sheer force of it rattling the joints in my wrist before it dissolved into nothingness like smoke hitting thick glass. Through the haze, I saw her eyes widen.
Before I could counter, she launched herself again weaving between the trees, bouncing off massive roots, and leaping into the air to rain down consecutive bursts of suffocating telekinetic pressure. The forest responded to her rage with violent groans, branches snapped, the earth exploded upward, and jagged stones flew through the air like shrapnel.
I didn't dodge a single thing.
I deflected it all with a casual practice . A step to the left. A slight tilt of my head. A lazy shift of my wrist. Every single attack she threw crumbled into dust before it could even scuff my uniform. But I was tracking her lungs. Her breathing was growing sharp, frantic, and blind with fury. She was burning her fuel too fast.
"STOP—" She thrust both hands toward my chest, pouring every single ounce of her frustration into the air. "—BLOCKING ME!"
Her power erupted like a literal tidal wave. The entire clearing shook violently trees bowed to the earth, leaves tore free from the canopy, and the soil rippled like liquid water under the crushing kinetic force.
My boots slid back. A foot. Only a single foot.
My heart kicked against my ribs. This was the strongest, most concentrated burst I had ever felt from another living soul besides the King. And she was doing it with zero form, zero restraint.
I let my voice cut cleanly through the roaring, debris-filled wind, trying to anchor her. "You're trying too hard."
"Shut up!"
"Your mind is too loud, Astelion."
"SHUT—UP!"
She screamed, the sound tearing from her throat. Her power answered the raw emotion, surging even higher until a blinding violet light completely flooded the ruined clearing, burning my eyes.
I sighed softly, locking my gaze onto hers through the purple glare. "Astelion."
She pushed harder, the veins in her neck straining. Her vision was spotting' I could see her focus fracturing.
"Astelion."
Her knees began to shake violently under the strain. She was pouring every final, desperate drop of force she possessed into the attack, completely running herself into the dirt.
I lifted my right hand. Just one.
The world instantly went dead silent.
I wrapped my force around her perimeter, squeezing. Her entire blast massive, violent, and utterly destructive collapsed inward, shrinking down until I trapped it as a single, shining sphere between my fingers. It pulsed helplessly in my palm, like a captured star.
She stared at my fist, her chest heaving, completely bewildered and horrified. "How—"
I closed my hand. The sphere vanished into my skin.
And the kinetic backlash hit her like a physical shockwave.
WHAM. I dialed it back so it wouldn't break her bones, but it was more than enough to completely knock the wind out of her lungs. The force sent her flying backward, skidding through the air until she crashed into a remarkably soft bed of fallen leaves. She groaned, sprawling flat on her back in the dirt. Her dark hair fanned out around her head, her chest rising and falling in rapid, desperate gasps.
"...you... you bastard..." she wheezed.
I walked toward her slowly, controlled confidence of a predator approaching an exhausted prey. I crouched beside her head, one knee sinking deep into the dry leaves, letting my shadow cover her.
She glared up at me, her eyes burning with hot, defeated tears of pure frustration. "You didn't even try."
"I did," I murmured, my voice dropped . "Just not as hard as you."
"That's worse!"
I let a small smile touch my lips gently, annoyingly, and completely aware of how close I was to her. "You're immensely powerful. But power without control simply burns itself out."
She snapped her face away from my gaze, her cheeks flushing a deep crimson with equal parts exhaustion, fury, and raw embarrassment. "...I should have won..."
"You will," I said softly, meaning every word of it. "One day."
Her jaw tightened, her voice coming out barely audible as she stared at the tree trunks. "I hate losing..."
"I can tell."
I reached out toward her, hesitating for a fraction of a second, before gently brushing a stray leaf away from her cheek. Slowly. Softly.
She completely froze under my touch, the breath catching in her throat. I didn't pull back. Instead, I slid my fingers down to her jawline, my thumb grazing her skin . Her pulse violently spiked beneath my touch, far worse than it had during the entire fight. The heat of it rolled right up my arm.
"You fought well," I whispered, my eyes darkening as I mapped the freckles across her nose. "Better than anyone your age."
"But you... you still beat me."
"Yes," I said, my thumb brushing over her jaw one last time to feel that frantic rhythm. "But I actually had to work for it."
She didn't believe me for a second. I stood up smoothly, extending my broad hand down to her.
She hesitated, her stupid pride practically screaming at her to roll away and stand up on her own. But her body moved anyway. Her small fingers intertwined with mine, and the moment our grips locked, I pulled her upward.
I might have pulled a little too hard.
She collided directly against my chest. We landed far too close her small 5'0" frame completely enveloped by my frame, our chests inches apart, our frantic breaths mingling in the tight space between us. The air grew thick, suffocatingly hot, and entirely too heavy.
She swallowed hard, staring up at my mouth. I didn't move away. I didn't break the contact. I wanted to see what she'd do.
"I win," I murmured, my eyes dropping to her lips.
She leaned in just a fraction, the friction between us pulling at her composure until she whispered too quiet, too reckless to control words in an ancient tongue I knew all too well.
"Var'sha..."
Tightening my jaw, but a faint, knowing smirk curved my mouth, betraying me completely.
She was still trying to catch her breath, the dust still swirling around our boots from the shattered earth of our duel, when my entire posture suddenly went rigid.
My pupils dilated wildly then instantly glassed over, my eyes losing their focus as the world around us blurred out.
A voice, cold and sharp as an iron blade, thundered directly through my skull: "Kiono. Come to the palace."
Castel. The sheer pressure of his telekinesis tightened around my mind like a physical fist sharp, metallic, and unmistakably dominant.
Astelion stepped forward, her hand instinctively lifting toward my arm. "Hey! What's wrong?"
But I waved her off with a sharp, dismissive motion, my jaw clenched tight as I fought the intrusion.
Castel voice grew harsher within my head, rippling with absolute authority: "Explain yourself. Why are you hiding her from me?"
My lip twitched. Not with fear but with a sudden, mocking amusement. I exhaled a sharp, defiant breath through my nose, projecting my thoughts straight back into the link, hitting him right in his pristine barriers.
"Brother... nothing personal just got busy."
Then, I actually laughed aloud. A deliberate, dismissive sound that echoed through the quiet forest. With a massive, violent pulse of my own telekinetic will, I shoved him straight out of my consciousness, locking my mind down like slamming a fortified iron gate.
The exact moment the mental link severed, the world changed.
An enormous, suffocating pressure crashed down upon the forest from the direction of the distant palace a force so heavy and vast that the canopy bent. Thousands of birds fled the treeline, shrieking in panic. The very earth beneath our feet vibrated like a heartbeat thrown entirely out of rhythm, and the clouds overhead violently shivered.
"What—what is that?" she breathed, bracing her feet against the trembling ground.
Neither she nor I flinched. Not even a blink. My hair fluttered wildly in the pressure wave, but my stance never shifted an inch.
"That," I said, my voice completely calm, "is Castel throwing a tantrum."
It was heavier than anything we had released during our fight. It was perfectly controlled, terrifyingly vast, and absolute. But nothing clearly, nothing frightened me.
She exhaled, looking toward the horizon. "Is he always like this?"
I smirked, a dangerous glint in my eye. "Only when he is annoyed." He was just like father, father's perfect creation though he is not blood.
Another massive pressure wave hit us, stronger than the last, causing the forest floor to audibly crack. She braced her weight, "He wants to meet you."
I turned toward the floating palace, rolling my shoulders as if I'd just been pleasantly warmed up by our entire ordeal.
"Then we shouldn't keep him waiting," I said. I glanced back down at her, something sharp, intense, and entirely unreadable flashing in my eyes. "Come with me."
She looked up at the trembling sky. "Is that safe?"
My grin widened. "For everyone else? Probably."
Without another word, I unleashed my telekinesis. I didn't just lift us into the air.
I claimed the sky.
The shattered ground beneath our boots fractured in a perfect, sharp ring as my force surged outward. The fallen leaves exploded upward in a violent, spinning spiral. The air compressed to the point of a deafening pop then released.
And we were gone.
The forest collapsed beneath us in a massive shockwave of displaced wind. The trees bowed violently as we shot straight upward into the atmosphere. We weren't drifting, we were ascending like a launched blade cutting through the sky.
She didn't flail or lose her balance. She adjusted midair instinctively, she matched my velocity without a trace of panic. The fierce wind tore at her dark hair, snapping it behind her shoulders like a war banner. I flew without a single hint of visible strain, keeping my posture perfectly upright. I wasn't riding the air currents. I was commanding them.
The clouds literally split as we pierced through them. Thick white vapor shredded around my telekinetic shield, forming a clean, hollow corridor straight through the sky. The entire kingdom spread out beneath us rivers coiling like tiny veins, vast forests shrinking into green patches, and entire villages turning into dots.
And then, the palace loomed above us.
It hovered above the mountain peak a monstrous masterpiece of high pure black stone fused with thick veins of glowing energy, living heartbeat. Lightning curled lazily around its towering spires.
We did not slow down on our approach. The grand obsidian landing platform rushed toward us at a terrifying speed.
At the absolute last second, I rotated my wrist.
The violent upward momentum instantly inverted into a dead stillness. We landed on the black stone with a single, sharp crack of compressed air. No stumble. Pure, flawless precision.
I noticed a shift in her instantly. I tightened my jaw, looking down at her. "Breath."
"I am," she said quietly.
The massive doors to the grand throne hall opened entirely on their own. There were no royal guards flanking the entrance. No herald to announce our arrival. Castel didn't need them.
The hall was vast, carved from a terrifying combination of light and shadow rather than stone alone. Columns stretched upward into the darkness of the ceiling, their smooth surfaces deeply etched with runes that glowed faintly, reacting directly to Castel presence.
At the far end of the long hall, Castel sat upon his throne.
He leaned back against the dark stone, one elbow braced heavily against the arm of the throne, his long fingers pressed firmly to his temple. His royal crown hovered just an inch above his head, rotating slowly in midair. His eyes were sharp, cold, and already thoroughly annoyed.
We approached, synchronous steps. The closer we got to the steps, the heavier the air became. A crushing pressure bore down directly onto our shoulders a blatant test of our limits. She refused to falter, keeping her chin parallel to the stone.
We stopped several feet from the base of the throne. I dropped to one knee immediately. She followed a half-second later, kneeling with her head respectfully bowed, her hands resting open on her thighs.
Controlled. Respectful. Perfect.
Castel's cold gaze flicked down to her. Then, it snapped back to me.
The silence stretched between us, thickening until the vast hall itself seemed to lean inward, listening to the quiet. Castel spoke without ever lowering his hand from his temple, his voice smooth, resonant, and dripping with ice.
"You're late."
I swallowed, my throat moving. "We came as fast as—"
"I didn't ask how," Castel cut in coolly, his tone instantly severing my words. His sharp eyes finally shifted back down to Astelion, assessing her small frame the way an expert warrior might assess an unfamiliar, dangerous weapon left on a table. "I said you are late."
I stiffened. "Castel"
His power moved. Not violently. Not visibly. But the air in our lungs vanished.
"I am not in the mood, Kiono," Castel said quietly, his voice dangerously soft. "You do not arrive in my kingdom with surprises unless you want me to dismantle them."
I felt his power expand, a thick layer of absolute dominion. He could have crushed both of us into a fine paste against the floor without ever shifting an inch in his seat.
Castel's gaze snapped directly to her, tracking the sudden spike in her heart rate sharp, and highly irritated.
"You," he commanded, his eyes boring into her head. "Look up."
She lifted her head, there eyes met.
The entire throne hall reacted instantly to the contact. The runes along the columns flared into a blinding brilliance. A low, violent hum rolled through the obsidian floor beneath our knees. Her internal power stirred instinctively I could feel the earth beneath the palace tightening, the air around us shivering.
His mouth curved faintly. It wasn't a smile. It was a lethal warning.
"So," he said, his voice smooth, dark, and echoing through the rafters. "This is the little surprise you didn't bother to mention."
I spoke up, keeping my voice steady despite the pressure. "Her name is Astelion. She manifested telekinesis abilities that are extremely strong."
Castel raised a single, brow. "Strong enough," he echoed, his tone thoroughly unimpressed. His eyes never left her face, narrowing as he leaned forward, his interest sharpening into something cold, exacting, and terrifying.
"Tell me, girl," he said, his voice dropping an octave. "Do you always kneel so easily?"
Astelion met the King's gaze without a single flinch, her brown eyes locking onto his. "Only when the ground demands it."
That did it.
The crushing pressure in the room spiked to a deafening degree—then instantly vanished, leaving the air completely light. Castel laughed once under his breath. It was a soft, dangerous, terrifying sound.
I completely froze, my jaw tightening.
Castel stood up from his throne. The massive stone structure dissolved behind him into shimmering particles of dark light as he descended the steps. Each footfall echoed through the silent hall like a final verdict. He stopped directly in front of her, standing so close I could feel his power like a raging storm held just beneath his skin.
He tilted her chin upward. He didn't use his hand; it was a touch of telekinesis so incredibly fine, so perfectly localized, that the air didn't even ripple around her jaw. I had to force myself not to swap places with her.
"I don't care that you exist," he said plainly, looking down his nose at her. "But I do care when someone enters my world without my consent."
His eyes narrowed slightly, a shadow passing over his handsome face. "And I care even more when the captain of my royal guard decides what I do and do not need to know."
He released the invisible grip on her chin and turned his back to her, his focus shifting back to me.
"You will explain to me later, Kiono," Castel said calmly, his voice flat and terrifying, "why I am only now meeting the first telekinetic you've managed to find outside of you and me."
Then, without looking back at her, he gave a final command. "And you, Astelion stand."
She stood up immediately, smoothing down the torn lavender silk of her gown.
Castel paused mid-step, his back still turned to us. For just a fraction of a second, his massive power brushed against hers one last time testing, probing, searching for a crack.
It met resistance. It wasn't equal to his, not even close, but it was entirely real. It was a solid, unyielding wall of defensive force.
The King's jaw tightened.
He kept walking, his long dark cloak trailing behind him as he made his way down the grand hall, leaving us alone in the echoing silence of the throne room. He didn't glance back even once.