At 10:42 p.m., the lights in the freshman dormitory went out.
Not dimmed.
Not lowered for curfew.
Every light shut off at once.
The room fell into darkness.
William stopped midway through pulling a blanket over himself.
“Is that normal?”
“No,” Emerson said from the desk.
“The hallway lights are still on.”
A thin strip of white illumination showed beneath the door.
Declan sat upright on his bed.
“Maybe the academy tracks how fast we fall asleep.”
“That would be deeply unethical,” Emerson replied.
“So probably.”
Lee stared at the silver band around his wrist.
The hidden message had vanished hours ago, but he remembered every word.
REPORT TO SUBLEVEL SEVEN AT 2300 HOURS.
His wristband showed 10:43.
Hermes’ voice entered his thoughts.
Remain here.
Lilith said we needed to talk before eleven.
Then speak with her.
Do not descend beneath the academy merely because an unknown person commanded it.
Lee rose from his bed.
William watched him.
“Where are you going?”
“Bathroom.”
“The bathroom is over there.”
Lee looked toward the open bathroom door.
“I’m getting water.”
Declan pointed toward the bottle on Lee’s desk.
“You’re bad at this.”
Lee released a slow breath.
His friends already knew too much for weak excuses.
“My wristband gave me a private message during orientation.”
Emerson immediately stood.
“What message?”
“It told me to report to Sublevel Seven at eleven.”
William pushed his blanket aside.
“You were going to mention that when?”
“After I figured out what it meant.”
Ella’s voice came from the hallway.
“It means someone wants him alone.”
The boys turned.
Ella stood outside their room with Michelle beside her.
Lilith waited several steps behind them, the silver band around her neck reflecting the hallway light.
Sophia was not with them.
Ella entered and closed the door.
“We covered for Lilith with the dorm supervisor,” she said.
“We don’t have much time.”
Emerson looked toward Michelle.
“How much does she know?”
Michelle folded her arms.
“I know Lilith came back from her evaluation wearing a tracking collar.
I know Lee’s stone turned black, and I know all of you keep exchanging looks whenever something strange happens.”
“It isn’t a collar,” Lilith said.
Michelle looked at the silver band.
“Can you remove it?”
“No.”
“Then it’s a collar.”
Lee met Michelle’s eyes.
He had spent the entire summer hiding his true abilities from her.
Now she stood inside his room after curfew while the others discussed a secret summons beneath the academy.
He could not explain everything.
Not here.
But another lie would only confirm her suspicions.
“Something went wrong during my evaluation,” Lee said.
“I noticed.”
“The stone detected more than it displayed.”
Michelle’s expression tightened.
“What kind of ability do you have?”
“Several.”
Silence settled across the room.
William winced.
“That was probably not the gentlest way to reveal it.”
Michelle looked between them.
“You all knew?”
Ella nodded reluctantly.
“Since the day after the Convergence.”
Michelle took a step back.
“And no one told me.”
“We weren’t trying to exclude you,” Ella said.
“That is exactly what you did.”
“It wasn’t our secret.”
Michelle turned toward Lee.
“What are you hiding?”
Lee felt the Aether Soul pulse.
Fire warmed his chest.
Shadows pressed beneath his shoulders.
Hermes remained silent.
Lee could tell her about the fire.
Perhaps even the shadow affinity.
But Mimicry, Harvest, and the Void were different.
Those abilities could turn trust into fear.
“I can use fire and shadow Aether,” Lee said.
“My physical enhancement is also stronger than the evaluation showed.”
Michelle studied him.
“That still doesn’t explain why the stone formed an eye.”
“No.”
“What does?”
“We don’t know yet.”
Lilith stepped forward.
“I might.”
Everyone turned toward her.
The silver band around her neck pulsed once.
Lilith lowered her voice.
“The evaluators showed me possible futures.
Most were broken pieces, but several involved Lee going beneath the academy tonight.”
“What happened?”
“In one, he never returned.”
William stopped smiling.
“In another, the academy alarms activated and soldiers surrounded the dormitory.”
“And the others?” Lee asked.
Lilith looked at him.
“In one, you found something they were hiding.”
“That sounds like the good outcome,” Declan said.
“No,” Lilith replied.
“It was the one where you looked most afraid.”
Lee glanced toward the clock.
10:47.
“Who sent the message?”
“I don’t know.”
“Was it the Anunnaki evaluator?”
“Maybe.”
Emerson picked up his academy tablet.
“Sublevel Seven is not shown on the campus map.”
“Of course it isn’t,” William said.
Emerson enlarged the building schematics.
“The evaluation tower has four public levels above ground and three registered levels below it.”
Ella looked at the display.
“So Sublevel Seven is four floors deeper than anything listed.”
“Assuming the numbering is sequential.”
Declan glanced toward the door.
“How are we even supposed to get there?”
Lee looked at his wristband.
The silver band vibrated.
Blue light formed across its surface.
A small arrow appeared, pointing toward the hallway.
The summons had activated.
DEPART NOW.
Michelle stared at it.
“That is not creepy at all.”
Hermes appeared beside Lee.
Only Lee could see him.
Do not follow it.
Lilith said there’s something hidden below.
There are many hidden things beneath this academy.
That does not mean you should enter their cages voluntarily.
Lee looked toward Lilith.
“Can you see what happens if I stay?”
Her eyes flickered silver.
She inhaled sharply.
The band around her neck flashed.
Lilith grabbed it with both hands.
“What is it?” Ella asked.
“I can’t.”
“Can’t what?”
“Look past eleven.”
A thin line of blood appeared beneath Lilith’s nose.
Ella moved toward her.
Lilith wiped it away.
“The moment I try, something notices me.”
Hermes’ attention shifted toward the silver band.
The device is interfering with her sight.
Can you remove it?
Not without alerting whoever placed it.
The arrow on Lee’s wrist turned red.
FINAL NOTICE.
William stood.
“You’re not going alone.”
“No one is going,” Ella said.
“If Lee doesn’t report, they’ll know he ignored the order,” Emerson replied.
“That may create more suspicion.”
Michelle looked at the academy tablet.
“Then we make it look like he went.”
Everyone turned toward her.
She enlarged the map.
“The dormitory’s identification system tracks our wristbands, right?”
“Yes,” Emerson said.
“During elemental camp, the bands lost accurate positioning whenever we trained near strong electrical fields.”
Understanding spread across Emerson’s face.
“You can disrupt the local tracking network.”
“For a few minutes.”
Ella looked toward Lee.
“And while they think he’s walking toward Sublevel Seven?”
“We find out where the signal is going,” Michelle said.
Emerson tapped the tablet.
“If the summons is sending navigation instructions to Lee’s band, I might be able to trace the command source.”
“From here?” Lee asked.
“Probably not.”
Emerson looked toward the arrow.
“We need to follow it far enough for the wristband to connect to the internal system.”
Hermes sighed.
This plan contains multiple points of failure.
You have a better one?
Remain in bed.
One that gets us answers.
Hermes did not respond.
Lee looked at his friends.
“We follow the route, but nobody enters Sublevel Seven.
We stop before the final checkpoint and trace the signal.”
Ella shook her head.
“This is how people end up trapped underground.”
“We stay together.”
Lilith’s expression darkened.
“In the futures where everyone went with you, more people were hurt.”
That silenced them.
Lee felt a familiar pressure settle against his chest.
The fourth Trial of Heracles.
The burning village.
The choice he could not make without leaving someone behind.
“What did you see?” he asked.
“Not enough.”
“Who was hurt?”
Lilith looked toward Michelle.
Then Ella.
“I don’t know.”
Michelle noticed.
“You saw one of us.”
Lilith’s silence answered.
Lee made the decision.
“Emerson comes with me.”
Ella stepped forward.
“No.”
“He can trace the signal.”
“And the rest of us can protect you.”
“Which creates more chances for Lilith’s vision to happen.”
William folded his arms.
“You’re doing it again.”
“Doing what?”
“Deciding what risks everyone else is allowed to take.”
Lee looked at him.
William continued.
“You told us the truth because you said we deserved a choice.
That choice doesn’t disappear whenever things get dangerous.”
Lee had no answer.
Hermes’ voice was quiet.
He is correct.
Lee glanced toward the god.
You told me not to go.
I did not say you should command others through fear.
Ella looked at the time.
10:51.
“We need a decision.”
Lee turned toward the group.
“We go together until the evaluation tower.
Michelle disrupts the tracking.
Emerson traces the signal.
Lilith stays above ground with Ella.”
Lilith shook her head.
“The silver band may be part of the system.
I need to come.”
“If it alerts them—”
“It already knows where I am.”
Declan raised one hand.
“What do William and I do?”
“Remain here and cover for us,” Lee said.
William stared.
“That sounds suspiciously like being left behind.”
“If the dorm supervisor checks the room, we need someone here.”
Declan nodded slowly.
“We can build fake bodies beneath the blankets.”
Emerson looked at him.
“That only works in stories because adults become temporarily blind.”
“We could use pillows.”
William sighed.
“I’ll stay.
If anyone enters, I’ll say you’re all in the bathroom.”
“All five of us?” Ella asked.
“It’s a large bathroom.”
Lee looked toward Declan.
“You stay with him.”
Declan opened his mouth.
Buster’s absence seemed suddenly noticeable.
Had he been there, Declan might have claimed the dog needed him.
Instead, he lowered his hand.
“Fine.”
Lee checked the time.
10:52.
“Let’s move.”
The academy after curfew felt different.
During the day, the corridors had been filled with students, instructors, and floating displays.
Now the hallways stood nearly empty.
White lighting ran along the floor, illuminating dark classroom doors and security cameras mounted at every intersection.
Michelle walked at the center of the group.
Tiny arcs of electricity moved between her fingers.
“Not yet,” Emerson whispered.
“The disruption will be obvious.
Save it until we reach the tower.”
Lee followed the arrow on his wrist.
It led them down three flights of stairs and through a glass passage connecting the dormitories to the academic buildings.
Outside, the training fields glowed beneath floodlights.
Armed patrols moved along the perimeter walls.
Anunnaki drones drifted overhead, silent and triangular.
Ella glanced upward.
“Are those cameras?”
“Probably cameras, weapons, and communication relays,” Emerson said.
“You could have stopped after cameras.”
The arrow directed them toward the central evaluation tower.
Its crystalline exterior emitted pale blue light.
No students moved near the entrance, but two human guards stood behind a security station.
Lee stopped in the shadow of the adjoining building.
“We can’t walk through the front.”
Emerson examined the map.
“There’s a maintenance entrance on the east side.”
“That sounds less guarded,” Ella said.
“It sounds differently guarded.”
They moved around the building, staying beneath the covered walkway.
Lilith suddenly caught Lee’s arm.
“Wait.”
Everyone froze.
A security drone passed around the corner.
Michelle raised her hand.
A subtle breeze moved through the walkway.
The drone shifted several feet sideways as if struck by an unexpected gust.
Its camera turned toward the opposite courtyard.
The group slipped behind a row of maintenance vehicles.
The drone corrected its path and continued.
Michelle released her breath.
“Small gusts,” she whispered.
“Nothing the system should flag.”
Lee nodded.
Her control had improved considerably during summer training.
They reached the maintenance entrance.
The door had no handle.
A silver reader glowed beside it.
Lee’s wristband vibrated.
The door opened.
Ella stared.
“It’s expecting you.”
“That was the idea,” Emerson said.
“It doesn’t make it less disturbing.”
They entered.
The door closed behind them.
A narrow stairwell descended beneath the tower.
The arrow changed.
SUBLEVEL ONE
They followed it down.
Each floor looked more secure than the last.
Sublevel One contained storage rooms and maintenance equipment.
Sublevel Two held medical laboratories visible through reinforced windows.
Empty examination beds stood beneath mechanical arms.
Clear containers lined the walls, some holding fragments of glowing stone suspended in liquid.
Sublevel Three required Lee’s wristband to open a second door.
Beyond it, the architecture changed.
Human concrete and metal gave way to smooth black walls marked by Anunnaki symbols.
Golden lines pulsed beneath the floor.
Hermes appeared beside Lee.
His expression tightened.
This section was built before the public academy conversion.
How long before?
Months.
Possibly longer.
The Anunnaki had announced themselves only three months ago.
The implications settled heavily.
“Something wrong?” Ella whispered.
“Hermes says this was already here.”
Michelle looked around.
“Before the academy?”
“Yes.”
Her face lost color.
Emerson activated his tablet.
“No public network signal.”
The arrow pointed toward another stairwell.
SUBLEVEL FOUR
They descended.
At the next landing, Michelle raised one hand.
“This is where I disrupt the trackers.”
Electricity spread across her fingers.
Ella rested a hand against Michelle’s shoulder.
Wind gathered around them, containing the sharp smell of ozone.
Michelle released a controlled pulse.
The lights flickered.
Every wristband went dark.
Emerson immediately connected a thin cable from his tablet to a maintenance panel.
Symbols filled the screen.
“How long?” Lee asked.
“Give me a minute.”
“We might not have one.”
The lights flickered again.
Lilith looked toward the lower staircase.
“Someone’s coming.”
Lee summoned his armor.
Golden light crossed his body.
The Olympian cuirass formed beneath his academy shirt, hidden from sight.
Vambraces covered his forearms under his sleeves.
He left the helmet, shield, and sword inside the Void.
Displaying divine equipment in the middle of an Anunnaki facility would reveal too much.
Ella felt the change.
“You said no powers.”
“I said we weren’t entering Sublevel Seven.”
“That isn’t what I meant.”
Footsteps echoed from below.
Slow.
Measured.
Emerson continued working.
“Almost there.”
Michelle’s electrical field trembled.
“I can’t hold this much longer.”
A figure reached the landing beneath them.
The Anunnaki woman from Lee’s evaluation stepped into view.
She wore dark robes beneath silver armor.
Her metallic eyes reflected the golden lines beneath the floor.
Lee moved between her and his friends.
The woman stopped.
“You were instructed to come alone.”
Lee’s wristband remained dark.
“Then you should have said why.”
Her gaze moved over Ella, Michelle, Emerson, and Lilith.
When she saw the band around Lilith’s neck, something changed in her expression.
Not surprise.
Displeasure.
“Who placed that device on you?” she asked.
Lilith touched the silver band.
“The evaluators.”
“Which evaluator?”
“I don’t know his name.”
The woman stepped closer.
The air around Lee tightened.
“Show me.”
Lilith backed away.
Lee remained between them.
“Answer my question first.”
The Anunnaki woman looked at him.
“My name is Sarratum.
I serve as a liaison to the Celestial High Council.”
“You were at the gate.”
“I detected an impossible reading.”
“And covered it up.”
“Yes.”
Emerson looked up from the tablet.
That answer surprised everyone.
Sarratum continued.
“The official scanner recorded minor physical enhancement.
The device in my hand detected a structure concealed beneath your Aether.”
“What structure?”
“I do not know.”
Hermes watched her.
She speaks carefully.
Is she lying?
Not yet.
Lee did not lower his guard.
“Why summon me underground?”
“Because Academy Director Zal’thar ordered your immediate detention.”
Lee went cold.
Ella’s breath caught.
Michelle looked between them.
“Zal’thar is the academy director?”
“He holds authority over the Anunnaki administrative council,” Sarratum said.
“His involvement in a freshman evaluation is unusual.”
Lee remembered the vision inside the Aether Soul.
Zal’thar standing before Lilit’s throne.
“He knows what I am.”
“But he knows you concealed something from the Evaluation Stone.”
“Why would you help me?”
“I have not decided to.”
Her gaze moved toward Lilith again.
“The device around her neck carries Zal’thar’s personal seal.”
Lilith looked down at the band.
“He said it was a monitor.”
“It is.”
Sarratum’s voice hardened.
“It records visions.”
The golden lines beneath the floor pulsed.
Lilith grabbed the band.
Every future she had seen since returning from the evaluation might have been transmitted directly to Zal’thar.
Including the visions of Lee.
“Can you remove it?” Ella asked.
“Yes.”
Sarratum raised one hand.
Lee did not move aside.
“What happens when you do?”
“The system alerts Zal’thar.”
“Then no.”
Lilith looked at him.
“He already knows we’re here.”
Emerson stood.
“I found the summons source.”
Everyone turned toward the tablet.
A map appeared.
The signal did not originate from Sublevel Seven.
It came from Sublevel Four.
From the corridor directly behind Sarratum.
She looked toward the screen.
“I sent the message.”
Emerson enlarged another section.
“That isn’t all I found.”
A list of student files filled the display.
Hundreds of names appeared beneath classification headings.
RECRUITMENT CANDIDATES
RESEARCH CANDIDATES
CONTAINMENT PRIORITY
Lee’s name occupied the top position under containment.
Lilith’s appeared beneath research.
Michelle’s name rested near the top of recruitment.
Ella, Emerson, William, and Declan were also listed.
Michelle stared at her classification.
“Recruitment for what?”
Sarratum’s expression remained controlled.
“I do not have access to those files.”
“You’re a council liaison,” Ella said.
“Zal’thar operates outside standard authority.”
Lee looked toward the lower stairs.
“What’s on Sublevel Seven?”
Sarratum did not answer.
That was enough.
Hermes stepped closer to Lee.
Leave.
We need to know.
You know enough.
Zal’thar controls the academy.
He is monitoring your friends.
Remaining here risks everything.
Lee thought of the fourth trial.
He could not save everyone by charging toward every danger.
Information had value.
So did knowing when to stop.
“We’re leaving,” Lee said.
Sarratum inclined her head.
“That is wise.”
Lilith touched the band at her throat.
“What about this?”
Sarratum moved closer.
This time, Lee allowed her to approach.
She held two fingers beside the silver band without touching it.
Golden symbols appeared across its surface.
Sarratum’s eyes narrowed.
“This is not merely recording your visions.”
“What else is it doing?”
“Influencing them.”
Lilith froze.
Ella stepped beside her.
“How?”
“It introduces selected images into the pathways your mind uses to interpret possible futures.”
Lee remembered Lilith’s warnings.
Anukar standing over him.
Golden armor covered in blood.
The academy burning.
Some visions might have been real.
Others might have been planted.
“To make her manipulate us,” Lee said.
Sarratum looked at him.
“To make you act.”
The sound of a door opening echoed from below.
Multiple footsteps followed.
Sarratum turned.
“Security is coming.”
Michelle released the electrical field.
The wristbands reactivated.
Every band flashed red.
CURFEW VIOLATION DETECTED
RETURN TO ASSIGNED DORMITORY
Emerson disconnected the tablet.
“How do we get past the guards upstairs?”
Sarratum placed her hand against the wall.
A section slid open, revealing a narrow passage.
“This leads to the western training complex.”
Lee looked at her.
“Why are you helping us?”
“Because Zal’thar believes your existence is dangerous.”
“That doesn’t answer the question.”
Sarratum’s metallic eyes met his.
“I want to know whether he is correct.”
Footsteps climbed the stairs.
Sarratum entered the passage.
“Move.”
They followed.
The wall sealed behind them.
The hidden corridor emerged inside an equipment storage room near the combat fields.
By the time Lee and the others returned to the dormitories, it was 12:36.
William opened the door before they knocked.
“You were gone almost an hour.”
Declan looked up from the floor.
He had arranged pillows beneath the missing students’ blankets.
Emerson stared at the shapes.
“One of them has three heads.”
“I panicked.”
Ella closed the door behind them.
William looked at their expressions.
“What happened?”
Lee glanced toward Michelle.
She now knew about Zal’thar.
She knew Lee possessed multiple abilities and had concealed his evaluation.
But she still did not know about Hermes, the Void, Mimicry, or Harvest.
“We found out the academy director is interested in us,” Lee said.
“In a good way?” Declan asked.
“No.”
Lilith touched the band around her neck.
“It’s changing my visions.”
The room went silent.
Ella explained what Sarratum had revealed.
William’s expression darkened.
“Can we break it?”
“Not without alerting Zal’thar,” Lee said.
“He already has us on a containment list.”
“Yes.”
“So what exactly are we protecting?”
“Our advantage.”
Emerson placed his tablet on the desk.
“They don’t know we accessed the files.
The electrical disruption may appear to be a systems malfunction.”
Michelle shook her head.
“Sarratum knows.”
“We have to assume she’ll report us,” Ella said.
Lee remembered the Anunnaki woman’s final words.
She wanted to know whether he was dangerous.
“She won’t.
Not yet.”
Michelle looked at him.
“You trust her?”
“No.”
“Good.”
Her tone remained cool.
Lee felt the distance between them.
He had told her only part of the truth.
Enough to place her in danger.
Not enough to explain why.
“We should tell her everything,” Ella said quietly.
Michelle looked toward Ella, then Lee.
“I’m right here.”
Lee glanced toward Hermes.
The god appeared near the window.
His expression warned against it.
But William’s earlier words returned.
His friends deserved a choice.
Michelle had already been marked as a recruitment target because she stood near them.
Keeping her ignorant would not protect her.
Lee sat on the edge of his bed.
“It started with the lightning strike.”
Then he told her.
Not every detail.
He did not describe his father’s death in the vision.
That pain remained too personal.
But he explained the Aether Soul.
Hermes revealed himself.
Michelle stared at the god for nearly a full minute without speaking.
Hermes offered a graceful bow.
She explained the Elysian Void, Milo, Ajax, Mimicry, and the Trials of Heracles.
Lee told her about Harvest last.
The discomfort in Michelle’s face mirrored Ella’s reaction months earlier.
“You can permanently take someone’s ability?”
“Yes.”
“Could you take mine?”
The question struck harder than Lee expected.
“I don’t know.”
Hermes answered.
“He could.”
Michelle’s gaze snapped toward him.
Lee glared at Hermes.
“You could have let me answer.”
“You intended to soften the truth.”
Michelle stood.
Electricity moved faintly across her fingertips.
Lee remained seated.
“I’m not going to use it on you.”
“You used it on the man in the alley.”
“He was about to kill people.”
“So you decide when someone deserves to lose part of themselves?”
“No.”
“Then who does?”
Lee looked down.
“That’s what I’m trying to figure out.”
Michelle’s electricity faded.
She studied him for several seconds.
“At least that answer sounds honest.”
“It is.”
“I’m still angry.”
“Everyone seems to say that after I tell them.”
Ella folded her arms.
“There may be a pattern.”
Michelle sat beside her.
“I won’t tell anyone.”
Hermes watched her.
“Why?”
Michelle looked toward him.
“Because Zal’thar already has my name on a recruitment list.
Whatever he wants from me, I’d rather understand it before he knows what I know.”
Hermes nodded slightly.
“A practical answer.”
“Lee’s mother would like you.”
Lee looked at him.
“You listened to that conversation?”
“I reside within your soul.
Privacy is relative.”
Declan stared.
“That sounds terrible.”
“It is,” Lee said.
The dormitory speaker activated.
“Curfew violation detected on the third floor.
Students will remain in assigned rooms pending morning review.”
Everyone froze.
Footsteps entered the hallway.
William moved toward the door.
“What do we do?”
Ella looked toward the connecting bathroom.
“The girls go through there.”
A knock struck the door.
“Dormitory inspection.”
Michelle and Ella rushed toward the bathroom.
Lilith followed.
The silver band around her neck pulsed.
The room disappeared.
For half a second, Lee saw Captain Garrett standing outside.
Then the image shifted.
An Anunnaki guard.
Then Zal’thar himself.
Lilith gasped.
“What?” Lee whispered.
She looked toward the door.
“I don’t know who’s on the other side.”
The knock came again.
“Open the door.”
Lee dismissed Hermes.
Golden light vanished an instant before William opened it.
Captain Garrett stood in the hallway.
He wore academy fatigues and carried a tablet beneath one arm.
His gaze moved across the room.
William stood near the door.
Declan sat beside his pillow creations.
Emerson stood at his desk.
Lee remained beside the bed.
No girls.
Garrett glanced toward the connecting bathroom.
Ella flushed the toilet from the other side.
William coughed.
Captain Garrett’s eyes narrowed.
“Your wristbands registered unauthorized movement.”
Emerson stepped forward.
“The system malfunctioned when the tower experienced an electrical disruption.”
Garrett looked at him.
“That sounds unusually specific.”
“The wristbands produced an error message.”
“Did any of you leave this room?”
“No,” Lee said.
Captain Garrett held his gaze.
Lee had lied to soldiers.
Federal agents.
His parents.
The instructor’s quiet stare somehow felt worse.
Garrett looked down at the tablet.
“All four bands registered inside the evaluation tower.”
Emerson adjusted his glasses.
“Then the positioning system clearly malfunctioned.”
Captain Garrett remained silent.
Finally, he lowered the tablet.
“Physical training begins at 0600.”
William looked confused.
“Yes, sir.”
“Anyone who arrives late runs an additional five miles.”
Garrett stepped back.
“Lights out.”
He left.
William closed the door.
Everyone waited until his footsteps faded.
Ella emerged from the bathroom.
“He knew.”
“Yes,” Lee said.
“Then why didn’t he report us?”
Hermes appeared again.
“Perhaps he did.”
The alarm sounded at 5:30 a.m.
Lee had slept for less than five hours.
Milo would have called that an indulgence.
His body felt ready to move, but his thoughts remained trapped beneath the evaluation tower.
Zal’thar controlled the academy.
Lilith’s visions could not be trusted.
Sarratum had helped them for reasons of her own.
Captain Garrett might know they had left the dormitory.
Lee looked toward his friends.
William dragged himself from bed with a groan.
Declan sat upright, hair pointing in several directions.
Emerson folded his blanket with exact precision, apparently unaffected by the lack of sleep.
“No one mentions last night outside this room,” Lee said.
William pulled on his training shirt.
“We know.”
“Not in the cafeteria.
Not in class.
Not even when we’re alone outside.”
Declan yawned.
“What about animals?”
“No.”
“What if they ask?”
“Especially no.”
They changed into academy physical-training gear and met the girls in the hallway.
Lilith looked pale.
The silver band remained around her neck.
Michelle avoided Lee’s eyes at first.
He did not blame her.
Sophia joined them near the stairs.
She was a short Vietnamese American girl with dark hair cut just above her shoulders.
The previous night, she had slept through the others’ secret meeting and accepted Ella’s explanation that Lilith had needed medical attention.
“Why does everyone look exhausted?” she asked.
“First-night insomnia,” Ella said.
Sophia nodded.
“I kept expecting the ship above the building to fall on us.”
“That seems reasonable,” Emerson replied.
They followed the stream of freshmen toward the training fields.
Morning air carried the scent of wet grass and distant pine.
Mist clung to the lower sections of the academy walls.
Hundreds of students gathered in marked formations beneath powerful white lights.
Human military instructors moved between the groups.
Anunnaki observers watched from elevated platforms.
Captain Garrett stood at the front of Lee’s assigned formation.
His brown hair had been cut close on the sides, and his hazel eyes moved across the students with practiced attention.
If he recognized Lee from the previous night, he gave no indication.
“Form three lines.”
Students shifted into position.
Billy Mercer moved toward the front.
He was tall for a freshman, with perfectly styled dark hair and the confident posture of someone accustomed to being noticed.
Two boys and a girl followed him.
Blue sparks moved across Billy’s knuckles.
Captain Garrett’s voice cut across the field.
“Dismiss the Aether.”
Billy opened his hands.
The electricity vanished.
Garrett waited until the formation quieted.
“Every morning begins with one hour of physical training.
Aether may enhance your body, but power without discipline creates casualties.”
His gaze passed briefly over Lee.
“You will not use active affinities unless instructed.
Students with physical enhancements will remain within assigned output limits.
Anyone attempting to impress the formation will spend the rest of the week carrying equipment for those who do not.”
Billy’s smile faded.
“Push-up position.”
The first twenty minutes consisted of calisthenics.
Push-ups.
Squats.
Mountain climbers.
Burpees.
Core holds.
The exercises would have exhausted Lee before the Convergence.
Now they barely raised his breathing.
That created a different challenge.
He had to appear tired.
He allowed his form to weaken slightly after the others began struggling.
He increased his breathing and slowed his repetitions without falling below the required pace.
William powered through the exercises with visible enthusiasm.
His regeneration did not increase his strength directly, but the summer program had taught him to recover between training sets faster than ordinary students.
Ella maintained steady form.
She did not use wind, though loose strands of hair occasionally moved around her face.
Emerson performed each repetition with almost mechanical precision.
Declan kept glancing toward a line of birds watching from the academy wall.
Michelle appeared unaffected by the heat building across the field.
Lee noticed a faint movement of cool air around her skin.
Subtle enough that instructors might miss it.
Captain Garrett did not.
“Carter.”
Michelle stopped.
“Sir?”
“Dismiss the airflow.”
Several students looked toward her.
Michelle’s cheeks reddened.
“Yes, sir.”
The breeze vanished.
“Comfort is not the objective.”
Garrett continued down the line.
Lee lowered his gaze to hide a smile.
After calisthenics came the perimeter run.
The freshman track extended around the entire western section of the academy, nearly three miles through paved paths, training fields, and artificial hills.
Captain Garrett raised his whistle.
“Tier classifications do not determine effort.
Finish within your assigned time.”
The whistle sounded.
Students surged forward.
Billy immediately took the lead.
Electricity flickered around his legs before an instructor shouted his name.
The sparks vanished, but his enhanced physical conditioning kept him near the front.
Lee settled into the upper third of the group.
It felt painfully slow.
Milo had made him run mountain paths carrying chained beams.
The academy track barely challenged him.
He focused on matching the breathing of the students around him.
Near the second mile, Sophia began falling behind.
Her ability had not been revealed to the group, and her physical conditioning appeared ordinary.
Ella slowed beside her.
“Keep going.”
Sophia shook her head.
“I can’t breathe.”
“Yes, you can.
Shorter steps.”
Ella matched her pace.
Lee wanted to help but remained where he was.
Drawing attention to himself by dropping from the front group would look suspicious.
William saw them and slowed without hesitation.
“Come on,” he said.
“We finish together.”
Billy passed them on his second lap around a training curve.
He looked over his shoulder.
“This isn’t a charity run.”
William ignored him.
Lee crossed the finish line seventh.
He could have taken first without effort.
Captain Garrett recorded his time.
“Woods.”
“Sir?”
“You finished twenty seconds faster during preliminary testing.”
Lee’s pulse shifted.
“I’m tired.”
“From what?”
“Moving into the dormitory.”
Garrett stared at him.
Lee held his gaze.
The captain entered something into his tablet.
“Report to combat fundamentals at 1300.”
“That’s already on my schedule.” Enjoying the story? Read on at g.com.
“I know.”
Garrett moved to the next student.
Hermes spoke within Lee’s mind.
He suspects you are concealing your capability.
I noticed.
Your attempt to appear average is too calculated.
Should I be worse at it?
You should understand what ordinary looks like before imitating it.
Lee watched William, Ella, and Sophia cross the finish line together.
Captain Garrett recorded their times without comment.
Academics occupied the first half of the day.
The academy had not abandoned ordinary education, but every subject had been rewritten around the Convergence.
In mathematics, students calculated Aether-output ratios and energy loss across crystalline conductors.
Science covered the biological changes found in awakened humans.
World history began with an uncomfortable discussion about myths that might have been distorted records of earlier inter-realm contact.
Their instructor displayed images of Sumerian carvings, Greek temples, Egyptian reliefs, and ancient Sanskrit texts.
“Human civilizations interpreted advanced beings through the beliefs available to them,” she explained.
“The Anunnaki claim many pantheons originated from distinct inter-realm species or ascended beings.”
Hermes appeared beside Lee’s desk.
“An oversimplification.”
Lee kept his eyes on his notes.
You want to correct the teacher?
“Desperately.”
Please don’t.
“Cowardice disguised as caution.”
Lee ignored him.
Unlike the original government announcements, the academy curriculum did not claim Aether enhanced everyone’s intelligence.
Some students learned faster after awakening, but others showed no cognitive changes at all.
Emerson absorbed the material quickly because he had always learned quickly.
William struggled to stay awake.
Declan spent much of history listening to pigeons outside the window.
At lunch, the group claimed a table near the rear of the cafeteria.
Lilith barely touched her food.
Ella watched her.
“Are the visions still happening?”
Lilith glanced toward the nearest students.
“Not here.”
Michelle sat across from Lee.
The distance from the previous night remained, but she no longer avoided his gaze.
“You could have passed Billy during the run.”
Lee lowered his voice.
“Probably.”
“By how much?”
“I don’t know.”
Hermes laughed inside his mind.
Michelle noticed Lee’s expression.
“Was that him?”
“Who?”
“Hermes.”
Lee glanced around.
She was adapting disturbingly quickly.
“Yes.”
“What did he say?”
“That I’m bad at pretending to be normal.”
Michelle considered him.
“He’s right.”
Before Lee could respond, a tray landed at the edge of their table.
Billy stood beside it.
His three friends spread out behind him.
“Well,” Billy said, “the Graham farm club found the worst table in the cafeteria.”
Declan continued eating.
“That was the goal.”
Billy’s smile tightened.
He looked toward Michelle.
“You’re Carter, right?
Tier Three atmospheric affinity.”
Michelle did not answer.
“You should sit with students in the advanced tracks.”
Ella leaned forward.
“She is.”
Billy glanced toward Lee.
“Minor physical enhancement.
Tier One.”
His eyes moved down the table.
“Tier One beast talker.
Tier Two healing battery.
Tier Two wind.”
Emerson adjusted his glasses.
“You memorized our evaluations.”
Billy’s friends laughed.
Billy ignored them.
“You’re wasting your time with people who will be stuck in standard tracks all year.”
Michelle rested her fork on the tray.
“And you’re introducing yourself by insulting my friends.”
“I’m offering advice.”
“No one asked.”
Blue electricity moved across Billy’s fingers.
The cafeteria lights above him flickered.
Lee felt fire answer beneath his skin.
He forced it down.
Billy noticed Lee watching.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“You think Tier One physical enhancement makes you tough?”
Lee remembered the Minotaur.
The Nyxreaver.
The man in the alley surrounded by fire.
Billy was a freshman with private training and an inflated opinion of himself.
He was not a threat.
That made the temptation to embarrass him more dangerous.
“No,” Lee said.
“I think you want everyone to believe you’re tough.”
The students nearest the table went quiet.
Billy’s expression changed.
Electricity crawled farther up his wrist.
William stood.
Ella caught his sleeve.
Captain Garrett’s voice cut across the cafeteria.
“Mercer.”
The electricity vanished.
Billy turned.
Captain Garrett stood near the entrance with a woman wearing a white medical uniform beneath a dark military jacket.
She appeared to be in her thirties, with blond hair pulled into a neat ponytail and bright blue eyes.
The insignia on her collar identified her as Captain Hailey Morgan, the academy’s senior medical officer.
Garrett approached the table.
“Active affinities are prohibited in the cafeteria.”
Billy raised both hands.
“We were talking.”
“The lights disagree.”
Captain Hailey looked toward Billy’s fingers.
“Electrical discharge in a crowded room can cause cardiac arrhythmia, burns, neurological damage, and secondary awakenings in unstable students.”
Billy lowered his hands.
“I had it under control.”
“That statement is common among patients brought to my infirmary.”
Several students laughed.
Billy’s face reddened.
Captain Garrett pointed toward an empty table across the cafeteria.
“Move.”
Billy stared at Lee.
Garrett stepped closer.
“Now.”
Billy lifted his tray and walked away.
His friends followed.
Captain Hailey watched them go.
Then she turned toward Lee’s group.
“Anyone injured?”
“No,” Ella said.
Hailey’s gaze moved to Lilith’s silver neckband.
Her professional expression tightened.
“Where did you receive that?”
“Secondary evaluation.”
“Did medical approve it?”
“I don’t know.”
Captain Hailey reached toward the band.
Lilith flinched.
Hailey stopped.
“I won’t touch it.”
She looked toward Garrett.
“I want her in the infirmary after classes.”
Lilith shook her head.
“I’m fine.”
“That device sits near major nerves and blood vessels.
I need to confirm it is not harming you.”
Garrett nodded.
“Report at 1700.”
Lilith looked toward Lee.
A flicker of silver moved behind her eyes.
Then she nodded.
Captain Hailey lowered her voice.
“If anyone gives you trouble, report it.
That includes students, instructors, and administrators.”
Her attention remained on the silver band.
Then she and Garrett walked away.
Declan waited until they were out of earshot.
“I like her.”
Emerson looked toward Lilith.
“She recognized the device was irregular.”
“Or she wants to study it,” Michelle said.
Lilith touched the band again.
Lee watched Captain Hailey leave.
At the academy, offers of help had become another source of suspicion.
Combat Fundamentals began at 1:00 p.m.
Students gathered inside a large training hall divided into padded practice areas.
Captain Garrett stood at the center.
Behind him waited six military instructors and two Anunnaki observers.
“Today establishes your baseline,” Garrett said.
“No active affinities.
No enhanced weapons.
No Aether reinforcement beyond your registered physical classification.”
His eyes moved briefly toward Lee.
“You will demonstrate stance, movement, striking, defense, and ground control.”
Students paired by approximate size.
Lee expected to train with William.
Captain Garrett had other plans.
“Woods.
Mercer.”
Billy smiled.
Lee did not.
They stepped onto the marked mat.
Billy raised his hands into a polished fighting stance.
Private training showed in his balance.
He kept his weight light, protected his chin, and moved with practiced confidence.
Lee adopted the basic stance demonstrated by the instructor.
It felt deliberately awkward after months with Milo.
Billy noticed.
“This will be quick.”
Captain Garrett stood beside the mat.
“Technical sparring.
Fifty percent speed.
No affinity use.
Stop on command.”
Billy nodded.
Lee did the same.
“Begin.”
Billy jabbed.
Lee blocked too slowly on purpose.
The glove struck his forehead.
A few students laughed.
Billy followed with a combination.
Lee deflected the second punch and retreated from the third.
Billy pressed forward.
His technique was good.
Better than most freshmen.
But every movement announced itself through his shoulders and hips.
Lee could see the attacks before they began.
Mimicry reached toward Billy automatically.
The connection remained weak at this distance, offering fragments of rhythm and muscle memory.
Lee shut it down.
He did not need it.
Billy kicked toward his ribs.
Lee stepped back.
The strike missed.
“Fight back,” Billy said.
Lee threw a cautious jab.
Billy slipped aside and drove a hook toward Lee’s body.
Lee blocked.
The impact barely registered.
Billy increased his speed.
Captain Garrett noticed.
“Control, Mercer.”
Billy ignored the warning.
He attacked with another combination, ending with a hard kick toward Lee’s head.
Lee’s training reacted before his plan did.
He moved inside the kick.
One hand caught Billy’s leg.
Lee turned his hips and swept the supporting foot.
Billy struck the mat.
The entire exchange lasted less than a second.
Silence filled the training hall.
Lee released Billy’s leg.
Billy stared up at him.
Captain Garrett’s expression did not change.
“Reset.”
Billy climbed to his feet.
Humiliation burned across his face.
Blue sparks appeared along his arms.
“Mercer,” Garrett warned.
Billy attacked.
Electricity surged into his fist.
Lee raised one hand.
Fire answered.
For an instant, orange light appeared beneath his skin.
He stopped it before it emerged.
Billy’s electrified punch came toward his chest.
Captain Garrett moved.
He caught Billy’s wrist and twisted the arm behind his back.
The electricity discharged into the mat.
Garrett forced him to one knee.
“Affinities are prohibited.”
Billy grunted.
“He used something.”
Captain Garrett looked toward Lee.
Lee held both hands open.
No fire.
No shadows.
Nothing.
Garrett looked back at Billy.
“I saw one student violate the rules.”
He released him.
“Mercer, report to disciplinary conditioning after dinner.”
Billy stood, breathing hard.
“This is—”
“Finish that sentence and you’ll spend the week there.”
Billy remained silent.
Garrett turned toward Lee.
“Your registered file indicates no formal combat training.”
Lee’s stomach tightened.
“My dad taught me some things.”
“What things?”
“Basic self-defense.”
Garrett looked toward the spot where Billy had fallen.
“That was not basic.”
“My dad is good.”
“His file suggests he would be.”
Lee stared at him.
Captain Garrett knew who his father was.
Perhaps that was normal for an instructor reviewing student records.
Perhaps not.
Garrett pointed toward the edge of the mat.
“Return to formation.”
Lee obeyed.
As he passed Billy, the other boy spoke under his breath.
“This isn’t over.”
Lee stopped.
The easy response would have been a threat.
The satisfying response would have reminded Billy how quickly he had fallen.
Instead, Lee remembered Ajax.
Pride made a poor shield.
“It should be,” Lee said.
Then he walked away.
Affinity specialization ended shortly before 6:00 p.m.
Lee reported to the General Enhancement track, where students learned basic Aether circulation, physical reinforcement, and recovery control.
The instructor believed he was Tier One.
Lee spent most of the class suppressing his Aether strongly enough to match the other students.
It was harder than the exercises themselves.
Across campus, Ella and Michelle attended elemental training.
Emerson entered the psionics wing.
Declan reported to the academy’s beast enclosure.
William joined a combined combat-medicine course.
Lilith spent the session under observation.
At 5:00, Captain Hailey escorted her to the infirmary.
Lee wanted to go with them.
His own instructor refused permission.
By dinner, Lilith had not returned.
Ella kept looking toward the cafeteria entrance.
“She should be here.”
Michelle checked her wristband.
“No messages.”
Lee looked toward Captain Hailey’s usual table.
The doctor was absent.
So was Captain Garrett.
Hermes spoke quietly.
You cannot assume every delay is an attack.
You said the academy director works for Lilit.
I said your vision suggests he does.
That distinction won’t matter if Lilith disappears.
The cafeteria doors opened.
Lilith entered with Captain Hailey beside her.
The silver band was gone.
Ella stood so quickly her chair nearly fell.
Lilith touched the bare skin around her neck.
Captain Hailey approached the table.
“The device was causing abnormal neurological activity.”
“You removed it?” Lee asked.
“Yes.”
“Did it alert anyone?”
Hailey’s eyes narrowed slightly.
“That is an unusual question.”
Lee said nothing.
She looked around the table.
“The device contained functions not listed in Lilith’s medical record.
I have submitted a formal report.”
Hermes appeared beside Lee.
That report will reach Zal’thar.
Lee knew.
Lilith sat beside Ella.
“What happened when it came off?” Michelle asked.
Lilith looked toward Captain Hailey.
The doctor remained within hearing distance.
“Nothing.”
Silver flashed behind Lilith’s eyes.
Her hand caught the edge of the table.
Lee leaned closer.
“What do you see?”
Lilith’s gaze fixed on something beyond the cafeteria walls.
“Trees.”
“What trees?”
“Outside the academy.”
Her breathing quickened.
“Something is moving through them.”
Declan suddenly turned toward the windows.
Dozens of birds rose from the distant forest at once.
They scattered across the evening sky.
Declan’s face went pale.
“They’re afraid.”
A low alarm sounded across the campus.
Not the sharp tone used for curfew violations.
This alarm was deeper.
Slower.
Every instructor in the cafeteria stood.
The overhead lights changed from white to red.
A recorded voice filled the hall.
“Perimeter breach detected in Sector Four.
Students will remain indoors.”
Captain Garrett entered through the western doors wearing combat armor.
“Faculty to assigned defense positions.
Students remain seated.”
The cafeteria erupted with frightened voices.
Outside, something struck the academy wall.
The impact rattled the windows.
Declan flinched.
“What is it?” William asked.
“I don’t know.”
Another impact shook the building.
Declan pressed both hands against his head.
Images flowed through his bond with the fleeing animals.
Dark trees.
Broken ground.
A smell like burned meat and stagnant water.
“Something big,” he whispered.
Beyond the windows, the forest moved.
Not individual trees.
An entire section of woodland bent as something forced its way through.
A roar rolled across the campus.
Lee felt the Aether Soul respond.
Shadow energy.
Corrupted.
Familiar.
Hermes’ expression hardened.
“They have sent a hunter.”
Lee looked toward the Anunnaki ship above the academy.
It remained motionless.
No weapons activated.
No shields appeared.
As if the beings aboard had not detected the approaching creature.
Or had chosen not to.
Captain Garrett drew a sword from the back of his armor.
Its edge glowed with refined Aetherium.
“Students remain inside!”
The outer wall exploded.
Stone and metal fragments rose above the trees.
A massive shape stepped through the breach.
It resembled a bear, but no natural bear stood twenty feet tall.
Black bone plates covered its shoulders and spine.
Six eyes glowed red across its malformed skull.
Shadow leaked from its jaws and rolled across the ground around its claws.
Smaller creatures poured through the opening behind it.
Corrupted wolves.
Dozens of them.
The giant beast lifted its head.
It did not look toward the soldiers gathering near the wall.
It looked directly at the cafeteria.
Directly at Lee.
Lilit’s voice whispered from somewhere inside his shadow.
There you are.
Deep beneath the Antarctic ice, Lilit opened her eyes.
A black pool rested before her throne, its surface showing the towering beast advancing through Academy 151.
Iblis stood beside the basin, smoke curling from his shoulders.
“It found the concentration of purified shadow,” he said.
“The champion is inside the academy.”
Zal’thar appeared within a pillar of golden light.
He wore the ceremonial robes of an Anunnaki administrator, though the sigil beneath his collar belonged to Lilit.
“The perimeter defenses will contain the lesser creatures,” he said.
“The Morvane will seek the champion directly.”
Lilit watched students gather behind the cafeteria windows.
“Your academy collected an unusual group.”
“The foresight child is already under observation.
The storm wielder can be recruited.
Several others possess useful developmental paths.”
“And the boy?”
Zal’thar’s expression tightened.
“His evaluation was concealed.
Sarratum interfered before I could detain him.”
Lilit ran one finger along the arm of her throne.
“Sarratum has always mistaken disobedience for principle.”
Iblis leaned over the basin.
“If the boy reveals himself, our agents will identify him.”
“And if he remains hidden?” Zal’thar asked.
The Morvane struck the academy’s inner barrier.
Golden light flashed across the black pool.
Lilit smiled.
“Then his friends will die while he watches.”
Her red eyes reflected the burning wall.
“Either choice will tell us what kind of champion he intends to become.”