Eleanor's eyes burned. When she dragged herself out of bed, her wings protested with a dull, grinding ache, and every muscle felt like a knot of barbed wire. The physical pain was nothing compared to the hollow ache in her chest.
Her parents were gone. Forever.
And Meredith, the water angel, treated Eleanor's grief like a technical fault in need of repair.
The smell of fried eggs drifted through the house. Eleanor's stomach growled despite everything. She stumbled toward the kitchen.
Meredith sat at the small wooden table, steam rising from her teacup. She didn't look up when Eleanor entered.
"You're late."
Eleanor squinted at the window. The sun had barely risen. "It's not even sunrise."
"I've been awake since five." Meredith pushed a plate across the table. "Eat. Today won't be easy."
Eleanor slumped into her chair and looked at the eggs. They stared back at her, pale and without any seasoning. "Do you own any pepper? Or, flavor in general?"
Meredith didn't blink. "Pepper is for people who can land a hit on me first. It's a waste otherwise."
Eleanor speared an egg with her fork. "Challenge accepted." She took a bite and made a face. "Though eating these might be harder than your training."
Eleanor forced the eggs down. Meredith watched her with cold blue eyes.
"Your parents told you about your bloodline," Meredith said suddenly.
Eleanor nodded. "They had mentioned Sun powers. But they never showed up."
"Your Solar Line ability has a natural block, a neural seal, we call it. It's a failsafe to keep children from nuking the neighborhood," Meredith stood and walked to the window. "We aren't waiting for the seal to fail; we're breaking it now. The trigger is shock and adrenaline."
"How?"
"Pain."
Eleanor's fork stopped halfway to her mouth. "What?"
"Get dressed. Meet me outside in five minutes."
The backyard stretched out like a field of gold under the low morning sun.
Meredith pointed to the center of the field. "Stand there."
Eleanor walked to the spot, her boots crunching on dry grass. "Now what?"
"Now you wait."
"For what?"
"For your power to wake up." Meredith crossed her arms. "Don't move. Don't sit. Don't give up. When you feel something change, hold onto it."
Eleanor felt a cold stone settle in her gut. She planted her feet firmly and gripped her axe tighter.
Minutes ticked by. The sun climbed higher, beating down on Eleanor's shoulders. Sweat beaded on her forehead. Her wings felt heavy, drooping under the heat.
An hour passed. Then two.
Her legs began to shake. Her vision blurred. The axe felt like it weighed a hundred pounds.
Then something flickered.
A golden shimmer ran along the axe blade, so quick she almost missed it. A sharp inhale pulled Eleanor upright. "Did you see that?"
But when she looked toward the house, Meredith was gone. The back door hung open, swaying in the breeze.
"Great," Eleanor muttered. "Left me hanging."
The sun reached its highest point in the sky. Eleanor's shirt clung to her back, soaked. Her knees trembled. Her mouth felt like sandpaper.
The axe pulsed again, stronger this time. Light danced across the metal, and Eleanor felt a distinct warmth stir deep in her chest. It was like a flame trying to catch.
She focused on the feeling, willing it to grow.
The air around her began to shimmer.
A shadow fell across the grass.
Eleanor looked up, expecting a cloud. Instead, she saw wings. Black wings, cutting through the sky like knives.
Her blood turned to ice.
The figure dropped into the field twenty feet away. He was tall and lean, with skin pale as bone and eyes like burning coals. His smile showed too many teeth.
"Well, well," he said, his voice smooth as silk. "A little angel, all alone. Lunch came to me."
Eleanor raised her axe with shaking arms. "Stay back."
The Black Angel laughed. "Oh, I can smell it on you. Divine blood. Fresh and untouched." He flexed his claws. "I haven't had a proper meal in weeks."
He moved like lightning.
Eleanor threw herself sideways, hitting the ground hard. The Black Angel's claws whistled through the air where her head had been.
She rolled, came up swinging. The axe blade caught sunlight but nothing else. Her opponent danced away, still grinning.
"Too slow, little spark."
Eleanor's legs felt like jelly. Hours of standing in the heat had drained her. The axe weighed a ton.
The Black Angel lunged again. This time, his claws raked across her shoulder, tearing through fabric and skin. Blood welled up, hot and red.
Eleanor cried out and stumbled backward. The Black Angel's smile widened.
"There it is," he whispered. "Fear. Pain. That's what brings out the good stuff."
He raised his claws for the killing blow.
Eleanor's mind went blank. All she saw was her mother's face and the gray ash from the tea shop floor. Dying here, alone, over tasteless eggs, felt like the ultimate insult. Something inside her snapped.
Heat flooded her veins. Her skin began to glow, soft at first, then brighter. The axe in her hands burst into golden flame. This was the Sunfire of her ancestors.
The Black Angel's eyes went wide. "Impossible. You're just a girl."
Eleanor swung with everything she had.
The flaming axe carved through the air like a shooting star. It hit the Black Angel in the chest, and he screamed as golden fire erupted from the wound. The flames spread across his body, consuming him from the inside out.
In seconds, he was nothing but ash on the wind.
Eleanor dropped to her knees, gasping. The glow around her flickered and died. The axe clattered to the ground, normal metal once again.
"Not bad."
Eleanor spun around. Meredith stood at the edge of the field, her expression unreadable.
"You... you set that up?" Eleanor's voice cracked with exhaustion and fury. "You used a live Black Angel just to trigger my powers?"
"I was watching the whole time," Meredith corrected, walking over. "It was either this or waiting for Mariam to find you again. I sensed that particular Black Angel was hunting a mile out, so I guided him here. You needed the trauma to break the seal, and he was the most efficient tool." Meredith nudged the pile of ash with her boot. "He paid for it."
Eleanor struggled to her feet. Her legs shook, but she stayed upright. "You almost got me killed for a science experiment."
"But I didn't," Meredith countered, her tone absolutely even. "Your power finally surfaced. Rough, uncontrolled, but real. That was actual Sunfire, the Divine Art of your line."
"So what now?"
"Now we do it again. Tomorrow. And the day after that." Meredith turned toward the house. "Until you can call that fire whenever you need it. And don't forget your axe, its covered in evil dust now. You can clean it tonight."
Eleanor stared at her mentor's retreating back. "Wait, you're making me clean up the murder residue?"
Meredith called back without turning around. "The Zenith Guard doesn't pay for cleanup crews, Eleanor. And definitely not for pepper."
Eleanor looked from the pile of ash to the normal-looking axe. She sighed, a tired, cynical sound. At least she wouldn't have to eat those eggs again. She felt dangerous, and incredibly annoyed.