Empress Khione: Her Revenge

Cruel training

A deep mist entered the opening of the mountain, indicating the early hours of the ice cold morning. However, despite the supposed cold weather, a deep burning sensation rooted itself right in Khione's core. It was so strong that she felt as if it was consuming her whole. 

With a gasp, she sat upright and tried to make sense of her surroundings. The skies were only then brightening but with Khione's wolf senses, she was able to see everything clearly. Yet despite that, she felt a sense of confusion and panic within her. 

Only when she saw Princess Electra sitting beside her did she remember everything that had happened. Her breathing eased out and a soft smile of happiness began to show on her face only to disappear as soon as it appeared. 

The heat within her body intensified making her groan out of discomfort. She didn't feel any pain which she was fortunate about but the feeling was so uncomfortable that she felt complete unease. 

"My Qi has not accepted you as it's host so it is trying to escape," Princess Electra explained to Khione. "Until you prove yourself, the burning won't subside."

"H-How?" Khione asked, a tear dropping down her face. She wasn't sure the root of the tear as she did not feel any emotion strong enough to release the tears, but slowly more and more tears began to stream down her face. 

"We need to train you. If you stay as you are, the Qi will consume you whole and eventually take your life."

That brief sense of happiness she felt upon waking up completely disappeared. It seemed no matter what she did, there would be some sort of complication. But if she wanted to live, she had no choice but to stay strong. 

"Teach me everything," she told the princess. "Make me strong." 

Princess Electra nodded her head and stood up, indicating for Khione to follow suit. Khione stood up and only then did she realise that she was laying in an ice bath. Her body was so hot that she did not realise that ice was touching her. 

However, she did feel the immediate effect of leaving the ice. Her already hot burning was now ablaze. She was beginning to feel completely breathless.

"The Qi picks its owner based on mental strength. As a result, I cannot withhold your pain from you. I apologise," Princess Electra told Khione. "You must endure until the end if you want to survive." 

Khione gulped but nodded nonetheless. She tried straightening up but somehow her bent position made everything less painful so she did not manage to stay upright for long. 

"I'm willing to do anything," Khione gasped out, her desperation clear through her pained eyes. "Just tell me what to do." 

Princess Electra pressed her lips together and stared at Khione in thought. 

"It won't be easy," she told the she-wolf. "It might take months or even years to train you." 

Khione couldn't lie, she did feel intimidated but her stubborn and competitive nature made her want to succeed even more after hearing the princess's words. 

"But even so, that won't guarantee success. The Qi only accepts one if they are truly worthy. You could train for years only to lose to the Qi in the last moment. Do you really want to take such a risk?"

Khione met Princess Electra's electrifying gaze and then slowly but surely stood to her full height, ignoring her body's loud plea.

"If you did not think I were worthy, we would not be having this conversation right now, would we?" she rhetorically asked the princess. "I will succeed no matter what." 

Princess Electra looked as if she liked Khione's response quite a lot. She nodded before she began to speak once again. 

"Your Qi belongs to the fox spirit. Your will need to put aside your wolf qualities and train like a fox. It won't be easy but it's your only chance at survival." 

"I can do it," Khione said with strong determination. 

She did not know what she was getting into but she knew that if she wanted to live and if she wanted to exact her revenge, then she needed to stay alive. 

"I want to live," she told the princess, her voice barely above a whisper. 

Her words sounded so pitiful that the princess even felt slightly guilty. After all, Khione was in this situation because of her. 

Although Khione did not have the Princess's mind-reading abilities, she knew exactly what was going through her head. 

"It was my choice," Khione told her. "Had it not been for you, I would have died a very painful death." 

The princess did not respond although she did feel glad khi one was not blaming her for the outcome of the situation. Instead, she handed Khione a towel to wrap around her naked body. 

Once again, Khione had not realised that she did not have clothes on as she was completely burning up even though the weather was in the minus. She thanked the princess and wrapped it around her warm body until she managed to find something to put on. 

"Have you ever done any strength training before?" 

"No," Khione shook her head. "Girls don't train with the boys in my, well, my old pack. Our job was to support the men from behind. Only men are warriors." 

Because Khione had grown up in that environment, she did not think that mindset was odd. However, seeing Princess Electra's disapproving expression, she somewhat felt ashamed. 

"In the Kingdom, some of the most powerful warriors are women. If you want to infiltrate the royal family, you need to forget everything you learnt from your pack. To be an Empress, you must be the strongest woman in the kingdom. I will train you to be not only powerful mentally, but you will also become one of the strongest female warriors." 

Khione felt exhilarated. She had never once thought of herself as anything more than a wife and a mother because that was the teachings of her pack. However, the thought of becoming something more, of becoming one of the most powerful women in the kingdom at that, made the blood in her veins pump in excitement. It really did sound like an unattainable dream but she trusted Princess Electra and knew that that would eventually become her reality. 

"We will start you off with endurance training," Princess Electra informed Khione. "Only once you have mastered the art of endurance will we move on to physical strength."

"Endurance as in aerobic exercises?" Khione asked. 

She was not very familiar with exercise since she barely worked out herself but Ruben was very into exercise and she remembered him telling her that endurance training was an excellent way to get the heart pumping. So she had always assumed it was a fancy name for cardio. 

Princess Electra scoffed, a cynical smile growing on her face. 

"I am talking about mental endurance," the princess said, her Cheshire grin adorning her face. "The type of training that will help you get through every and any circumstance you are put through." 

Khione was still not understanding what she meant.

"As you know," Princess Electra said, taking a step closer to Khione so that she was only a breath's width away. "My greatest power is mind manipulation. I can block out certain parts of you brain so you stop feeling."

"Yes," Khione slowly nodded, waiting for the princess to elaborate.

"But I can also activate certain feelings and sensations that don't actually exist." 

Just as she said that, a sharp pain that was reminiscent of the rejection pain Khione felt wrecked her body causing her to drop to her knees. Fortunately it ended as quick as it started and this time, it did not take Khione long to understand what was happening.

"We will only proceed once you learn to endure such deep pains. Only once you train all of the cells in your body to numb out such feelings will you be unbeatable."

For the first time since meeting Princess Electra, Khione felt genuine fear. 

"Your feelings will be your worst enemy," the princess told her. "And they will be your demise. You must conquer them before they conquer you." 

"You'll kill me!" Khione said feeling exasperated. The pain she went through when she was rejected was unbearable both mentally and physically. She would never be able to handle such a pain again. She felt as if the princess was setting her up for failure!

"If death is your fear, I suggest you end this mission before we get any further," she told Khione. "Make death your friend, not your enemy." 

When Khione did not respond, the princess bent to the ground so that they were at eye level and looked her in the eye, her face void of any emotion.

"I apologise, but this is for your own good," she said before an agonising piercing sensation made its way into Khione's heart. 

And thus began her cruel training that would either make her the empress she so desperately wished to be, or break her and turn her into one of the many other beings that once walked the earth but were now long forgotten.