The descent took two days.

Gabriel moved down the mountain faster than he should have. His hands found holds without searching. His feet placed themselves on ice-slick stone with perfect certainty.

Tess struggled to keep pace.

"Slow down," she called after the third hour.

Gabriel paused on a ledge, looking back. She was twenty meters above, breathing hard, face red.

He'd forgotten she was there.

"Sorry," he said.

Tess reached the ledge and bent over, hands on her knees. "You're moving like this is easy."

Gabriel looked at his hands. They didn't shake. Weren't tired. His breathing was steady.

"Everything feels different," he said. "Lighter."

"Your eyes are different too."

Gabriel turned. "How?"

"The red is deeper." Tess straightened. "And your pupils. They're not round anymore."

Gabriel couldn't see what she was seeing. But he could feel it. The way his vision had sharpened. The way he could see details at impossible distances.

They continued down.

The sun crawled across the sky. Gabriel heard footsteps before the treeline appeared.

Multiple sets. Men trying to be quiet and failing.

He stopped at the forest edge, one hand raised.

Tracks in the snow confirmed what his ears had told him. Boots. Five different patterns. Scattered.

Bandits.

Gabriel scanned ahead. His vision picked out shapes hidden in shadow. A man crouched behind a fallen log. Another in tree branches. A third behind a trunk.

Watching the path.

Waiting.

"Stay here," Gabriel said quietly.

He drew both swords and stepped into the forest.

The first bandit never heard him.

Gabriel moved in a blur. His blade slashed across the man's throat before he could turn.

Blood sprayed across white snow.

The second bandit in the tree looked down.

Gabriel grabbed a low branch and hauled himself up one-handed. His other sword thrust through the bandit's chest, the tip bursting out his back. He ripped it free and dropped as the corpse fell.

The third bandit behind the trunk spun, crossbow raising.

Gabriel heard the string release.

He tilted his head.

The bolt passed through empty air.

Gabriel closed the distance. His sword thrust forward, angled up through the bandit's stomach. The blade found the heart. The man died standing.

Gabriel pulled the weapon free and let the body fall.

Breathing to his left. Panicked. Fast.

Two more.

The fourth bandit backed away, blade shaking. He'd seen the others die. Seen how fast Gabriel moved.

"Demon," the bandit whispered.

Gabriel's sword slashed through skull and brain alike. The bandit dropped.

The fifth bandit ran.

Gabriel sheathed one sword and raised his free hand.

Golden-red fire poured from his palm in a focused stream, surging forward like a spear. It caught the bandit mid-stride, wrapping around him.

The man's scream cut off as flames consumed him.

Gabriel closed his fist and the fire vanished.

The charred corpse collapsed into the snow.

Gabriel stood still for a moment.

Then the drain hit.

His vision blurred. The world tilted. His knees buckled slightly but held.

Blood poured from his nose.

Warm. Running down his chin. Dripping onto snow.

Gabriel touched his face. His hand came away red.

His breathing had become heavier. Exhaustion crashed through him despite the fight lasting less than a minute.

He wiped the blood with the back of his hand. More replaced it immediately.

Tess appeared at the treeline, hand on her sword. She looked at the bodies scattered through the forest. At Gabriel standing among them, blood dripping from his nose.

"Gabriel!" She rushed forward.

He raised a hand. "I'm fine."

"You're bleeding."

"I know." Gabriel tilted his head back, pinching the bridge of his nose.

Tess looked at the bodies. Four killed with swords. One burned.

"You used it," she said quietly. "The fire."

"Yes."

"And now you're bleeding."

Gabriel didn't respond. The blood was slowing but his head pounded. The brief use of fire had drained him more than killing four men with his blades.

"Sit down," Tess said, guiding him to a fallen log.

Gabriel sat. The world still spun slightly.

"How long did you use it?" Tess asked.

"Seconds. Maybe three."

Tess crouched, studying his face. The blood was stopping. His skin had gone pale.

"The awakening made you stronger with the swords," she said. "Faster. But the fire..."

"Costs more than the smoke ever did." Gabriel's hand clenched. "I can kill four men without breathing hard. But three seconds of fire nearly drops me."

Tess handed him cloth. Gabriel pressed it to his nose.

Around them, the forest was quiet except for wind through branches. Five corpses cooling in snow.

Gabriel lowered the cloth after a moment. The bleeding had stopped. His vision was clearing.

But exhaustion lingered. Bone-deep weariness.

"We should search them," Gabriel said, pushing to his feet. His legs held despite the drain.

He moved to the nearest body and crouched. Coin. A knife. Something else.

A medallion. Church insignia.

Gabriel held it up. "They were hired."

Tess came closer. "The Church paid bandits to watch?"

"To watch for anyone completing the trial." Gabriel stood, pocketing the medallion. "They knew someone was attempting it."

He moved to the next body. Same search. More coin. Another medallion.

All of them carried Church marks.

"They've been watching," Gabriel said. "Waiting. Maybe for weeks."

Tess looked at the carnage. At how easily Gabriel had killed them. At the cost the fire had extracted.

"You killed them all before I could even draw my weapon," she said.

Gabriel met her eyes. "I know."

"That's not normal. Even for you."

"No." Gabriel flexed his hands. "It's not."

They stood in silence. Afternoon sun filtered through bare branches, casting shadows across blood-soaked snow.

"We need to move," Gabriel said. "Before more come."

"Can you walk? You just—"

"I'll manage." Gabriel started moving, leaving the bodies where they fell.

His enhanced strength and speed remained despite the exhaustion from using fire. The physical changes were permanent.

The fire was different.

As they cleared the treeline and descended into the foothills, Gabriel wiped more blood from his upper lip.

The awakening was complete. His power was real.

He could kill with blade and hand faster than ever before.

But the fire came with a price he was only beginning to understand.

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