My eyes flicked to the woman standing before . The na Lady Shiva rang in my ears, and even before Ra’s spoke it, sothing in had already recognized her as soone different, soone above the rest of the League’s assassins.
She didn’t need to announce herself. Her presence alone did that.
She stood with effortless stillness, the kind that only ca from absolute control of her body, of the space around her, of the danger she carried like an unspoken promise.
Her gaze was cool and unwavering, studying with the detached curiosity of a predator assessing a new opponent.
I had seen skilled fighters before, but she was sothing else entirely. No wasted movent, no unnecessary tension in her fra. Just quiet, waiting power. The kind that didn’t need to be flaunted because it was simply fact.
Her black outfit hugged her figure like a second skin, but it was her eyes that caught my attention.
“Lady Shiva…” I repeated under my breath, more to myself than anyone else. I’d heard the na before—whispers, rumors, stories of a woman who could dismantle an army with her bare hands.
Now, she was standing in front of . But why was she?
“Impressive,” Shiva said at last, her voice smooth, unhurried. A single word, but it carried weight.
I wasn’t sure if it was praise or rely an observation.
Ra’s, watching the exchange with quiet amusent, finally spoke again.
“I thought it only fitting that you et.” His gaze flicked between the two of us, as though he was placing pieces on a board. “After all, if you wish to be the best… you must learn from the best.”
My jaw tightened slightly. I had trained under so of the League’s most brutal instructors, pushing my body beyond limits I thought possible. And yet, sothing told this was about to be different.
Lady Shiva. The world’s deadliest assassin, as I’ve heard in random whispered conversations among the others at the training ground.
I couldn’t help the sarcastic smirk that curled on my lips as I stood up straighter, eyeing her with more interest than I cared to admit. “Great. Just what I needed. Another ‘professional’ to show the ropes.”
Ra’s, sitting there so composed, didn’t even flinch at my sarcasm. Instead, his lips curled slightly. “She will be in charge of your combat training. She will help you wield and channel the overwhelming feeling of bloodlust you struggle with.”
I snorted. “Right. Like that’s gonna work. I’m a lost cause.”
Ra’s raised an eyebrow, his gaze hardening slightly. “Do not mistake , boy. You may believe your rage is your ally, but it will consu you. It will destroy everything you could beco.”
Lady Shiva’s eyes narrowed slightly, and she took a step forward, her movents like water, fluid and graceful. She wasn’t looking at like I was an annoying brat. No, she was sizing up, evaluating , her sharp eyes flicking over like a hawk assessing its prey.
“You think you can control it?” Shiva’s voice was smooth, almost taunting. “That it’s a matter of will? Of desire? You are wrong.”
I raised an eyebrow at her, the sarcasm returning in full force. “You sure know how to make a guy feel confident about his future.”
Shiva didn’t flinch. Instead, her lips twitched into sothing like a smile—only colder, deadlier. “I am not here to stroke your ego, boy. I am here because Ra’s asked for a favour.”
She stepped closer, her gaze never leaving mine. “Ra’s is right. Your rage is your weapon, but it is also your weakness. What you think of as strength is nothing more than a blind impulse. You have no control. And that’s where I co in.”
I crossed my arms, leaning against the table, still skeptical. “And how exactly are you going to do that? Teach to ditate, chant so matras?”
Shiva didn’t smile at that, but I could see a flicker of sothing dark in her eyes. “I’ll teach you to fight with purpose. I’ll show you how to channel that violence, because you will never be rid of it. You can only learn to master it.”
I rolled my shoulders, cracking my neck in a way that suggested I wasn’t convinced. “Right. And what makes you think you can teach sothing I haven’t already figured out?”
I taunted, trying to make it seem like I wasn’t all that desperate for her help. After all, Ra’s asked a favour from her with little to no regard of my thought on the matter.
Shiva took a long pause, then replied, her voice low and certain, “Because you’ve been fighting the wrong way, Jason. You’ve been using your rage as a crutch. But if you learn to fight without it controlling you, you will beco unstoppable.”
I paused at that. Sothing in her words struck a chord deep within . It wasn’t just the way she spoke. It was the certainty in her voice. The promise of sothing more.
I wasn’t sure if I was ready for it, but I was damn sure curious.
“Fine,” I said, pushing off from the table and walking toward her. “But don’t expect to make this easy.”
Shiva’s cold smile returned. “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
The room fell silent for a mont, and even Ra’s didn’t break the tension between us. His eyes flicked between and Shiva, a subtle approval in his gaze.
I could feel the weight of what I was about to undertake settling over . This wouldn’t be easy. In fact, it would be hell. But I had survived worse, and if there was anyone who could teach to control the beast within, it was her.
I took a deep breath, steadying myself for what was to co.
“Alright then,” I muttered, my voice laced with determination. “Let’s see what you’ve got.”
Lady Shiva’s expression remained unreadable, but I could see the slightest flicker of a challenge in her eyes.
And that was all the invitation I needed.
The next morning, the fortress felt even colder than usual. I was already awake, sitting cross-legged in the center of my room, trying to find so semblance of peace.
I rubbed my palms against my face, trying to shake off the remnants of last night’s field training.
The poison was still in my bloodstream, but it wasn’t the physical exhaustion that was ssing with my head. No, it was the hunger for hostility that I couldn’t escape. The more I tried to push it down, the more it clawed at .
Today, Lady Shiva was going to break , or teach how to control it. And I had no idea which one was worse.
I forced myself to my feet and walked down the cold, echoing hallways of the fortress. The walls felt like they were closing in on , suffocating with their silent, oppressive air.
My mind wandered to the brief conversation I had with Ra’s yesterday. He didn’t care about how much pain I went through. For him, it was always about the end goal, the grand design. But Lady Shiva...
She had a different look in her eyes when she spoke to . Sothing about her made feel like she saw the chaos inside and recognized it, not as sothing to control, but as sothing to shape.
I arrived at the training grounds, the courtyard just beyond a set of thick stone doors. The faint morning sunlight cast long shadows across the cracked stone ground, illuminating the space where I was supposed to fight today.
Lady Shiva stood there already, waiting, her presence so still it felt like she was carved from stone, with a piercing gaze in her eyes.
I took a deep breath as I stepped out into the courtyard. “I’m here,” I said, my voice rough from the lingering effects of the poison.
Without a word, Shiva nodded, her gaze never leaving . She was studying , sizing up in a way that made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.
“Good,” she finally said, her voice as cold as the air around us. “Let’s begin.”
She moved faster than I could react, her hand darting out, aiming for my throat. I barely managed to sidestep, my instincts kicking in just in ti. But she was relentless. Each strike was precise and calculated, there was no wasted motion in her attacks.
I countered, slamming my fist into her side, but she absorbed the blow like it was nothing. She was fast, and more importantly, she was controlled.
I could feel my blood surging, aggression building. It was like a fire igniting inside , and all I wanted was to unleash it. I wanted to tear her apart.
But Shiva saw it before I did. She blocked my next punch with ease, twisting my arm behind my back with a fluid motion that sent a sharp pain through my shoulder.
“Control it,” she hissed in my ear, her grip unrelenting. “You can’t fight like this.”
Her words were like a slap across the face. She wasn’t just talking about technique. She was talking about the rage that I was too weak to control, the rage that I had relied on for over a month. I struggled, my blood roaring in my veins as I tried to break free, but she held in place with ease.
“Fight,” she instructed, twisting my arm further. “But do it without pugnacity.”
I gritted my teeth, trying to force my mind to focus. But it wasn’t easy. I could feel the rage clawing at the back of my mind, drowning out everything else.
I snapped my head back and threw an elbow into her stomach, pushing her away. She staggered back for half a second before regaining her stance.
She didn’t seem surprised by my outburst. In fact, she seed almost pleased.
“Good,” she said. “You’re learning. But you need to learn to fight through the rage, not with it. Your power cos from your mind, not your anger.”
I took a deep breath, my heart pounding in my chest. The bloodlust still bubbled beneath the surface, but I wasn’t sure how to control it. I wanted to destroy her. I wanted to continuously smash my fist into her face until it was nothing but pieces on at, blood and bone on the floor.
But Shiva had already moved again. This ti, her leg swept under mine, knocking off my feet. I landed hard on the ground, the air leaving my lungs in a rush. She stood above , her eyes gleaming, her stance relaxed.
“You cannot win by either giving in or trying to fight your aggressive instinct alone,” she said, her voice calm but carrying a weight to it. “Anger is a weakness. A distraction. It clouds your judgnt.”
I blinked up at her, my chest rising and falling rapidly. She wasn’t wrong. It felt like every fight was a struggle to maintain control, to keep my temper in check long enough to finish what I started.
Shiva extended her hand to , her expression serious. “Get up.”
I grabbed her hand, letting her pull to my feet. My muscles burned from the exertion, but it was a different kind of exhaustion now. It wasn’t the physical fatigue no more, it was sothing deeper, sothing in my mind that I couldn’t quite grasp.
“Show what you can do without the rage,” Shiva challenged, stepping back. “When you can fight from a place of calm, you’ll be unstoppable.”
I didn’t know if I was capable of that. I had always fought with rage, imrsing myself in the barely resistible thrill for violence. But as I squared up against her again, I realized sothing: she was right.
***
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