⚔️ **CHAPTER 33 — Nightmares and Steel**
That night, the forest fell silent, the mist holding still in a way that made the darkness oppressive. Kael lay awake beside the fire, visions flickering at the edge of his mind—children screaming, black soil, collapsing villages—but now he could face them without panic.
He focused on his breath. Step by step. Thought by thought. Each image he encountered, he forced to the edge of awareness, observing, not reacting.
Caelin watched him quietly. "You're becoming stronger," he said softly. "Not just in body, but in mind. That resistance… it's rare."
Kael exhaled slowly. "I still see them. I can't… ignore them."
"No," Caelin replied. "You don't ignore them. You face them without letting them control you. That's the difference. That's what will let you survive what's coming."
The fire crackled, shadows dancing across the mist. Kael felt a strange calm amidst the unrest, a steady pulse beneath his fear. He knew the nightmares would return. Stronger. Sharper. Testing him further. But he also knew he had begun to fight back—and that his resistance, slow and deliberate, would become a weapon as much as his sword.
The forest waited, patient and watchful. The mist pressed in. Shadows lingered.
But Kael, for the first time, met them on his own terms.