Lyrilla Casta's Arc

Chapter 5 of 10

The master brought Lyrilla to a quiet chamber where a traveler waited. The being had scales that caught the light and eyes that blinked sideways. "Show him the pendant," the master said, handing her a silver chain. Lyrilla held it up and let it swing. She focused her thoughts and pushed her will toward the traveler's mind. The being's eyes followed the pendant back and forth. His breathing slowed. His shoulders dropped. "Sleep," Lyrilla whispered. The traveler's eyes closed. Her heart raced. It had worked. Her first real success. The master nodded and gestured for her to release him. The traveler woke and blinked in confusion. Lyrilla stepped back, her hands shaking with excitement. She had done it. She had reached into another mind and commanded it to obey. This was the beginning of everything she wanted. The respect she craved felt closer now, real and possible. She looked at the pendant in her hand and smiled. The master led her through the guild to a building she had not seen before. Red-orange stones formed a raised platform in the center of a large room. "This is where students demonstrate their progress," he said. Three travelers sat in chairs facing the stage. They had come to watch. Lyrilla climbed the steps and stood where they could all see her. Her stomach tightened but she kept her hands steady. She held up the pendant again and began to swing it in slow circles. The first traveler's eyes locked onto the silver chain. Then the second. Then the third. She pushed her will outward like the master had taught her. "Watch closely," she said. "Let your thoughts quiet." All three beings leaned forward. Their breathing matched the rhythm of the swinging pendant. She felt their attention wrap around her words. "Close your eyes." They obeyed without question. Lyrilla released them after a moment and they blinked awake looking confused but calm. The master smiled from the doorway. She had commanded three minds at once. Her power was growing stronger every day. The master brought her to his private chamber after the demonstration. A shelf on the wall held objects that caught the light. He reached up and lifted down a copper trophy shaped like a flame with an amethyst eye at its center. "This belongs to those who command beings from multiple worlds," he said. He placed it in her hands. The metal felt warm and heavy. "You have influenced minds from three different dimensions today. You have earned the right to hold this." Lyrilla stared at the purple eye embedded in the copper. It looked like the statue in the courtyard, but smaller. Real. Hers to touch. The master took it back and returned it to the shelf. "When you complete your training, you will receive one of your own." Lyrilla looked at the trophy one last time before leaving the chamber. She had proven herself today. The travelers had obeyed without fighting back. Her power was no longer just practice. It was real and growing. Every day brought her closer to the respect she would command from all beings. The master walked with her toward the practice grounds as the sky shifted to deep purple. They passed a pool ringed by red-orange stones with dark blue growth floating on its surface. A copper disc sat in the center of the thick aqua green water. "Students come here between training sessions," the master said. "The water clears the mind." Lyrilla watched the disc turn slowly in the current. Today she had controlled one mind, then three at once. The trophy in the master's chamber proved that her success mattered. She knelt beside the pool and touched the cool water. Her reflection stared back at her with eyes that now held confidence instead of doubt. She had taken the first real steps on her path. The beings who watched her today had seen what she could do. Tomorrow she would reach even further. The respect she wanted was no longer a dream. It was something she was building with her own will, one mind at a time.