I took a deep breath, rolling my shoulders as I faced Raiden. “Alright, so what exactly are we doing first?”

  “The first and most important thing,” he said, crossing his arms, “is learning how to shift on demand.”

  I frowned, unease curling in my gut. “I’ve only ever shifted once.”

  He nodded. “Yeah. When you thought you were going to die.”

  I swallowed hard, remembering that moment all too well—the heat, the terror, the raw power ripping through me like wildfire. It hadn’t felt controlled. It had felt like survival.

  Raiden stepped closer, his shadow cutting against the pale ash that blanketed the ground. His eyes held mine, steady, sharp. “We need to change that. If you can’t control your shifts, you won’t be able to use them when you need to.”

  I exhaled slowly, then nodded. “Alright. How do I do it?”

  “We’ll start small,” he said. “Your hands. Your talons are a weapon. They’ll be useful in a fight, and focusing on just one part of your body will make it easier.”

  I flexed my fingers, imagining the sharp, deadly claws I’d glimpsed before. “Okay. What now?”

  His voice softened, coaxing. “Close your eyes. Focus. Feel the dragon blood in your veins. It’s part of you, Lyra. Let it wake up.”

  I did as he said, inhaling deeply as I shut my eyes.

  “Now,” he continued, his voice steady, lower now—closer. “Focus on your hands. Feel the shift.”

  I concentrated, willing it to happen. I imagined my skin hardening, my nails sharpening, my fingers lengthening into curved talons. I could almost taste metal on my tongue, hear my heartbeat pounding in my fingertips. My skin prickled, hot, like fire under my flesh—

  Nothing.

  I cracked an eye open, wiggling my still very human fingers. “Gods, I feel so stupid.”

  Raiden exhaled, but he didn’t look disappointed. “Hardly anyone gets it the first time.”

  I tilted my head at him. “Did you?”

  His lips twitched, but he looked away. “That’s not important.”

  Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

  I smirked. “So that’s a no.”

  His gaze cut back to me, sharp. “That’s a you will never know.”

  I snorted. “Definitely a no, then.”

  “Just keep trying, Lyra.” He smirked faintly, but his eyes stayed on me longer than they should have, like he was memorizing every twitch of my fingers.

  I sighed but nodded, closing my eyes again. Over and over, I tried, frustration mounting with each failed attempt. The heat would spark and fade, leaving me restless, aching. Sweat slid down my temple. My shoulders burned from the tension.

  “You’re too stiff,” Raiden said quietly, moving nearer until his voice was just behind my ear. “Don’t force it. Focus on letting it happen.”

  Easier said than done. My heart tripped over itself just from hearing his voice that close.

  Then, just as I was about to give up and complain, footsteps crunched against the ashy ground.

  Revik.

  I didn’t even open my eyes—I could feel the grin he was probably wearing. But at that exact moment, something inside me cracked open. A familiar heat surged in my veins, molten and alive.

  “I think I feel it,” I breathed.

  Raiden’s voice was calm, grounding. “Good. Focus on it. Let the heat take over.”

  I did. I poured everything into it, clinging to the ember sparking inside me. I pictured my hands as claws, deadly and sure. The heat rose higher, coursing through my body until my skin tingled like it might split.

  A burning sensation shot down my spine—

  And then—

  “OW! Watch it with that thing!”

  My eyes flew open.

  Revik was sprawled in the dirt, looking personally offended. Draped across his back was a long, sleek, white tail, shimmering with an iridescent sheen.

  A tail.

  My tail.

  A sharp thrill shot through me. “I have a tail!” I squealed with delight, spinning halfway in a circle to admire it.

  Revik groaned. “Yeah, congratulations. You also just whipped me with it.”

  Raiden pinched the bridge of his nose, muttering under his breath. Then, flatly: “That’s great, Lyra. Really. But you were supposed to shift your hands. Not your ass.”

  My grin faltered. “…Details.”

  “Details,” he repeated dryly.

  Revik wheezed out a laugh. “Honestly, I like this version better. Tail’s got personality.”

  “Do you want to see it closer?” I shot back. Swinging it closer to him.

  “Pass.” He dusted himself off. “Once was enough.”

  Raiden’s sigh was long, frayed at the edges. But when his eyes flicked back to me, there was the faintest spark of amusement buried deep there. “Again. Hands this time.”

  I groaned, flexing my fingers. “Fine. But if I accidentally sprout wings next, don’t blame me when you get smacked in the face.”

  Revik coughed out a laugh. “Please let that happen.”

  “Focus,” Raiden cut in, though the corner of his mouth betrayed a twitch.

  Training went on for hours. My body ached from the repeated attempts, my nails tearing, my palms raw. Once, my entire arm scaled over, gleaming white and clawed before snapping painfully back to human.

  Revik made commentary every time. “Nice arm. Shame about the rest of you.”

  “Is your tail supposed to twitch like that?”

  “At this rate, you’ll be a whole dragon by nightfall. Sort of.”

  I wanted to smack him.

  But finally—finally—I felt the shift click.

  The heat surged from my chest down into my arms, gathering sharp in my fingertips. My nails hardened, lengthened, curving into black claws. My skin shimmered faintly, lined with fine, pale scales.

  I stared at my hands, chest heaving, exhilaration bursting through me. “I did it,” I whispered. “I actually did it.”

  For the first time, I felt in control of the change instead of dragged helplessly by it.

  Raiden’s eyes swept over my claws, and something flickered in them—approval, maybe even pride—but it was gone so quickly I almost doubted I saw it. He only gave me a small nod. “Not bad, little thief.”

  It shouldn’t have meant so much. But it did.

  We stopped briefly for food, my stomach growling in protest the moment I sat down. My muscles screamed with exhaustion, but it was drowned out by the thrill of progress humming in my veins.

  Revik sprawled against a rock, still rubbing his shoulder where my tail had hit him earlier. “Well,” he said, smirking, “at least you’re less likely to accidentally kill me now. Probably.”

  I threw a pebble at him.

  Raiden tossed me a strip of dried meat. His face was as unreadable as always, but his tone softened by a fraction. “Eat. You’ll need it. Training’s only just begun.”

  I sank back against the rock, turning my claws over in the light before letting them fade. My body ached, my chest burned, but my lips curved anyway.

  For the first time, I felt a small flicker of pride in myself.

  …but even as the pride warmed me, I couldn’t shake the feeling that I wanted more. More power. More control. And—dangerously—maybe even more of him.