Lee did not stop running until the abandoned administrative building disappeared behind the western trees.
His lungs burned.
A dull ache pulsed behind his eyes where the masked figure had touched his shadow connection.
Each heartbeat carried an echo of the voice that had entered his mind.
You want the strength to protect them.
The words had not sounded threatening.
That made them worse.
Threats could be resisted.
Enemies could be fought.
The voice had spoken like a friend offering help.
Emerson grabbed Lee’s shoulder and pulled him behind a stone maintenance shed.
Lilith and Declan arrived seconds later, both breathing hard.
“Where’s Halvek?” Lilith asked.
Emerson peered around the corner.
Lantern light moved between the cedar trees.
“Coming from the south.”
“That route was supposed to be clear,” Declan whispered.
“He changed it after we arrived,” Lee said.
Declan looked toward the lights.
“So he knew we were here.”
“Or someone warned him.”
The communication token at Lee’s waist pulsed.
William’s voice came through in a strained whisper.
“There are two more patrols approaching from the dormitory path.
They’re closing the eastern exit.”
Lilith drew one of her daggers.
“We can cut through the northern wall.”
“It’s warded,” William said.
“The map shows an alarm lattice running along the entire perimeter.”
Declan leaned against the shed.
“Any routes that don’t involve fighting Academy officers or triggering magical alarms?”
Silence answered.
Declan sighed.
“I was afraid of that.”
Lee looked toward the surrounding darkness.
The patrols were not searching randomly.
Their lanterns swept through the trees in a coordinated pattern, closing every obvious route toward the dormitories.
Halvek was trapping them.
“We don’t need to reach the dormitories,” Lee said.
Emerson glanced at him.
“Where else can we go?”
“The eastern training yard.”
“That’s on the other side of the Academy.”
“Garrett is there before sunrise.”
Declan stared at him.
“Sunrise is several hours away.”
“He keeps equipment in the barracks beside the yard.”
Lilith looked toward the nearest patrol lights.
“And you think he’ll protect us?”
Lee remembered Garrett’s reaction when he mentioned Elandor’s examination.
The captain kept secrets, but Lee trusted him more than Halvek.
“He’ll listen.”
The communication token pulsed again.
“Decide quickly,” William warned.
“You have less than a minute.”
Lee pointed toward a narrow drainage channel running beside the maintenance shed.
“Where does that lead?”
William was silent for several seconds.
“According to the original plans, it feeds into the Academy irrigation system.”
“Can we fit?”
“Probably.”
“Probably?” Declan repeated.
“The plans were designed for water, not students.”
Lilith sheathed one dagger.
“Better than waiting here.”
They lowered themselves into the channel.
The stone trench was barely wide enough for Lee’s shoulders.
Cold water soaked through his boots as they crouched beneath the edge of the path.
Emerson moved first.
Lilith followed, then Declan.
Lee entered last.
The moment he lowered himself below the path, voices approached from the trees.
“Search the maintenance structures.”
Halvek.
Lee flattened himself against the bottom of the channel.
The darkness around him felt unusually thin.
His Shadow affinity responded to his fear, trying to spread across his skin.
He forced it down.
Using the affinity might conceal him, but the masked figure had already detected his shadow once.
Lee did not know whether another connection could be followed.
Boots struck the path above them.
Lantern light passed over the channel.
Lee held his breath.
A patrol officer stopped only a few feet away.
“Nothing here,” someone said.
“Check beneath the shed,” Halvek ordered.
The light shifted.
Declan’s boot scraped softly against stone farther down the trench.
Lee’s heart tightened.
The patrol went silent.
Halvek stepped toward the channel.
Lee could see the outline of his boots through the iron drainage grate above.
“Did you hear that?”
No one answered.
Halvek crouched.
His hand reached toward the grate.
Then a deafening crash sounded from the western dormitories.
Orange light flashed above the rooftops.
An alarm bell began ringing.
The patrol officers turned.
“What was that?” one asked.
A second bell joined the first.
Halvek stood.
“Western residence hall.
Move.”
The patrol hurried away.
Lee waited until the lantern light vanished.
The communication token pulsed.
William sounded breathless.
“You’re welcome.”
Emerson continued crawling.
“What did you do?”
“I overloaded the heating rune in the third-floor washroom.”
Declan grinned in the darkness.
“You started a fire?”
“A very small fire.”
“That is the most interesting thing you’ve ever done.”
“I resent that.”
Lee allowed himself a brief smile.
Then he looked back toward the abandoned building.
The masked figure had known someone was listening.
Halvek had changed the patrol routes immediately afterward.
The connection between them was no longer a theory.
It was real.
The drainage channel carried them beneath the western market court and into the lower gardens.
By the time they climbed out, their clothes were soaked and covered in mud.
Declan looked down at himself.
“I want it recorded that I opposed this plan.”
“You asked for a route without fighting,” Emerson said.
“I expected a better route.”
Lilith wiped dirt from her sleeve.
“You could have stayed behind.”
“And miss this?”
Declan spread his arms.
“This is the closest we’ve been as a group.”
Lee led them through the empty gardens.
Most students and instructors were moving toward the false fire alarm.
The distraction gave them enough time to cross the central grounds without being seen.
The eastern training yard was dark when they arrived.
Lee approached the barracks and knocked three times.
No answer.
He knocked again.
A lock clicked from within.
Captain Garrett opened the door wearing dark trousers and a loose shirt.
A short sword rested in his right hand.
He took in their wet clothes, muddy boots, and exhausted faces.
His gaze settled on Lee.
“You were supposed to report to the disciplinary hall.”
“I was busy.”
Garrett looked toward the distant alarm bells.
“I noticed.”
William’s voice came through the communication token.
“Tell him the fire is contained.”
Garrett raised an eyebrow.
Lee removed the token from his belt.
“William created a distraction.”
“I gathered that.”
Garrett stepped aside.
“Inside.”
The barracks contained little beyond two tables, several weapon racks, and rows of equipment cabinets.
A narrow staircase led to sleeping quarters above.
Garrett lit a single crystal lamp and locked the door behind them.
“Explain.”
Lee started with the protection racket.
He described Halvek’s behavior in the market court, the disciplinary complaints William discovered, the stolen Aether materials, and the reports of secret recruitment meetings.
Then he told Garrett about the abandoned building.
The black flame.
The masked speaker.
The promises of power.
The voice that had entered his mind.
Garrett did not interrupt.
When Lee finished, the captain remained silent.
Lilith shifted impatiently.
“You don’t look surprised.”
“I am not.”
Lee studied him.
“You knew.”
“I suspected.”
“How long?”
“Since before the Academy opened.”
Declan stared.
“You suspected there was a secret group recruiting students through magical fire before the Academy opened?”
“No.”
Garrett placed his sword on the table.
“I suspected the Academy would attract enemies.”
“That’s not the same thing,” Lee said.
“No, but it is the reason some of us argued against gathering every newly awakened student in a single location.”
Emerson crossed his arms.
“Who is ‘us’?”
“People who understand that an academy is both a fortress and a target.”
Garrett looked at Lee.
“You said the flame was black.”
“Yes.”
“And the speaker wore a blank mask?”
“No eyes or mouth.”
Garrett’s jaw tightened.
“Do you recognize it?” Lee asked.
“I recognize the description.”
“From where?”
Garrett walked to one of the equipment cabinets and unlocked it.
Inside were several rolled maps, old journals, sealed metal boxes, and weapons that did not resemble standard Academy equipment.
He removed a thin stone tablet.
A symbol had been carved into its surface.
A circle divided by a jagged vertical line.
Seven smaller flames curved toward the center.
The same symbol Lee had seen inside the meeting hall.
Lilith stepped closer.
“That’s their mark.”
Garrett placed the tablet on the table.
“It belongs to the Ember Covenant.”
William’s voice emerged from the communication token.
“I’ve never found that name in the Academy archives.”
“You wouldn’t.”
Garrett looked toward the token.
“Official records classify the group as extinct.”
“Official records are wrong,” Declan said.
“They often are.”
Lee touched the edge of the tablet but felt no unnatural warmth.
“What is the Ember Covenant?”
“A mortal order that served Djinn rulers during previous Awakenings.”
“Which Djinn?” Emerson asked.
“That changed over time.”
Garrett folded his arms.
“The Covenant began as a group of scholars who believed humanity could survive supernatural invasions by negotiating with stronger races.
They offered information, territory, and service in exchange for protection.”
“That doesn’t sound entirely unreasonable,” William said.
“It wasn’t.”
Garrett’s expression hardened.
“Not at first.”
Lee understood.
“What changed?”
“Protection became dependence.
Dependence became worship.”
Garrett tapped the seven flames surrounding the central symbol.
“Each branch of the Covenant eventually served a different Djinn patron.
Some became diplomats and intermediaries.
Others became spies, slavers, and recruiters.”
“And the black fire?” Lee asked.
“A sign of a binding ember.”
The phrase stirred the pain behind Lee’s eyes.
Garrett continued.
“The ember reveals a person’s strongest desire and magnifies it.
Once accepted, it forms a connection between the recipient and the Djinn who provided it.”
“Like a contract?” Emerson asked.
“Not exactly.”
Garrett looked at each of them in turn.
“A contract contains defined terms.
A binding ember grows through use.
Every time the recipient accepts power, the connection deepens.”
“Until what?” Lilith asked.
“Until the Djinn no longer needs permission.”
The barracks fell silent.
Lee remembered the students standing in rows.
Some had been frightened.
Others had sounded eager.
“Could the students already be controlled?”
“Some may be.”
“How can we tell?”
“We cannot, unless the ember manifests.”
Declan glanced down at his arms.
“What does that look like?”
“Changes in behavior.
Unnatural abilities.
Fire beneath the skin.
Symbols appearing around the eyes or chest.”
Garrett paused.
“In advanced cases, the person ceases to distinguish their own desires from the will of their patron.”
Lee looked at the stone tablet.
“Is the Ember Covenant serving Iblis?”
Garrett did not answer immediately.
“Possibly.”
“Hermes said Iblis recruits this way.”
“He does.”
Garrett’s gaze sharpened.
“But Iblis is not the only Djinn capable of granting binding embers.”
“Then we don’t know who is behind this.”
“No.”
Lee thought about the final exchange he had overheard. The source of this chapter is g.com.
The masked figure had mentioned Iblis by name.
“They know Iblis is searching for someone.”
Garrett became very still.
“What exactly did they say?”
Lee repeated the words.
Iblis has searched for centuries.
He will not tolerate another false report.
Garrett walked away from the table.
For several moments, he said nothing.
Lee followed him with his eyes.
“You know what they’re searching for.”
Garrett stopped beside the weapon rack.
“I know several possibilities.”
“Am I one of them?”
“I don’t know.”
“That’s not good enough.”
Garrett turned.
“It is the truth.”
“They knew my name.
They entered my mind.
They showed me my father.”
Lilith looked at Lee.
“You didn’t mention that.”
He had not wanted to.
Garrett’s expression darkened.
“What did you see?”
“My father alive.”
The words felt heavy.
“They showed me killing the cyclops who murdered him.
Then he was standing behind me like none of it had happened.”
“What did the voice offer?”
“Strength.”
“Did you accept anything?”
“No.”
“Did you answer it?”
“No.”
Garrett crossed the room in three quick strides.
He placed one hand against Lee’s chest.
The captain’s Aether moved through him.
Unlike Elandor’s gentle examination, Garrett’s energy swept through Lee’s channels with military precision, searching for contamination.
Fire responded first.
Shadow shifted beneath it.
The Aether Soul pulsed.
Garrett pulled his hand away.
“I don’t sense an ember.”
Lee released a breath.
“Then I’m safe?”
“No.”
Garrett picked up the stone tablet.
“You resisted the first offer.
That means they will search for a better one.”
Declan frowned.
“How many offers do people usually get?”
“As many as necessary.”
“That seems unfair.”
“Temptation rarely follows rules.”
Garrett looked toward the windows.
“The Academy will begin searching for you before sunrise.”
“Because Halvek knows we were there,” Emerson said.
“Yes.”
“What do we do?” William asked through the token.
Garrett considered the question.
“You return to your dormitories before the western lockdown ends.”
Declan looked at his mud-covered clothes.
“And pretend none of this happened?”
“For tonight.”
Lilith stepped toward him.
“We found an organization serving a Djinn inside the Academy, and you want us to sleep?”
“I want you alive.”
Garrett’s voice ended the argument.
“You have information, but little proof.
Halvek controls the official account.
If you accuse him now, he will portray you as students trespassing in a restricted building after curfew.”
“He already has disciplinary records against us,” Lee said.
“Against Lilith and you.”
Garrett nodded.
“He will use them.”
“Then help us expose him.”
“I will.”
The answer came without hesitation.
“But not by charging into the commandant’s office with a story about black fire.”
Garrett placed the stone tablet back inside the cabinet.
“We need evidence that cannot be dismissed.”
Lee looked at the others.
They had seen the gathering, but only Lee had heard what happened inside.
The masked figure had entered his mind, leaving no visible mark.
Halvek’s patrol change could be explained away.
They knew the truth.
They could not yet prove it.
“What kind of evidence?” Emerson asked.
“A binding ember.
A Covenant ledger.
A direct connection between Halvek and the masked recruiter.”
Garrett locked the cabinet.
“Preferably all three.”
Lilith smiled faintly.
“So we continue investigating.”
“No.”
Her smile vanished.
Garrett looked at Lee.
“You continue attending class and training as though nothing happened.”
“That is not going to stop them.”
“No.”
The captain’s expression became grim.
“It will encourage them to approach you.”
Lee understood.
“You want me to become bait.”
“I want them to believe you do not understand what you saw.”
“That sounds like bait.”
“It is.”
Emerson stepped forward.
“No.”
Garrett’s eyes moved to him.
“He is already their target.”
“That doesn’t mean we make it easier.”
“No,” Lee said.
“It makes sense.”
Emerson turned.
“They entered your head.”
“And they’ll try again whether we hide or not.”
Lee remembered the promise whispered into his thoughts.
We can give it to you.
“If they think I’m afraid, confused, or desperate, they may show me more.”
Lilith studied him.
“And if they offer your father again?”
Lee did not answer.
He did not know what he would do if the illusion became convincing enough.
Garrett did.
“That is why you will not face them alone.”
He opened another cabinet and removed five narrow metal rings.
Each had a tiny blue crystal embedded in its surface.
He placed them on the table.
“Communication bands.
Encrypted.
Short range.”
Declan picked one up.
“You had these the entire time?”
“Yes.”
“They would have been useful tonight.”
“You were not supposed to be spying on a Djinn cult tonight.”
“That is fair.”
Garrett handed one band to Lee.
“If the ember attempts contact, activate this.”
“How?”
“Press Aether into the crystal.”
Lee slid the ring onto his finger.
“What will it do?”
“Alert the others and record fluctuations in your Aether.”
William spoke through the token.
“There are only five.”
Garrett glanced at the communication artifact.
“You are not going into the field.”
“That is discriminatory.”
“It is strategic.”
“It feels discriminatory.”
Garrett ignored him.
“Lee, you will report to the disciplinary hall at the scheduled time.”
“It’s already past the scheduled time.”
“You will report at sunrise.”
“To Halvek?”
“To whoever he sends.”
“And admit I was at the building?”
“No.”
“Lie?”
“Answer only what they ask.”
Garrett stepped closer.
“They may attempt to provoke you.
They may threaten expulsion.
They may accuse your friends.”
His voice lowered.
“Do not reveal what you know.”
Lee nodded.
“Understood.”
“Good.”
Garrett looked toward the distant bells.
“The fire alarm will be contained soon.
You have twelve minutes before the patrols return to normal routes.”
Declan examined his soaked uniform.
“What explanation do we use if someone sees us?”
Garrett opened the rear door of the barracks.
“Morning conditioning.”
“It’s the middle of the night.”
“You trained poorly.”
Declan nodded.
“That is believable.”
They returned to the dormitory minutes before the western grounds reopened.
William waited inside with Buster.
The French bulldog launched himself at Lee the moment the door opened.
Lee caught him against his chest, nearly stumbling backward.
“I’m fine.”
Buster sniffed his face, neck, and chest.
Then he growled.
Not at Lee.
At something behind him.
Everyone turned.
The hallway stood empty.
Lee carried Buster inside and closed the door.
William looked over their soaked clothes.
“The drainage route worked?”
Declan removed his muddy jacket.
“That depends on how you define worked.”
“You survived.”
“My dignity did not.”
Emerson locked the door.
Lilith placed one of Garrett’s communication bands on the table.
“Garrett knew about the Ember Covenant.”
William’s exhaustion disappeared.
“The what?”
They explained everything.
The Covenant.
The binding embers.
The way desire created a connection between a mortal and a Djinn.
William wrote as they spoke, filling several pages with notes.
When they finished, he sat back.
“So our evidence consists of an extortion network, missing supplies, a compromised patrol officer, an abandoned building full of students, and a mind-altering flame none of us brought back.”
“That summarizes it,” Emerson said.
“We need a sample of the ember.”
Lilith looked at Lee.
“The masked figure may give him one.”
William stopped writing.
“That is a terrible plan.”
“Garrett thinks they’ll approach me,” Lee said.
“Garrett also makes you run while carrying shields.”
“His methods are unpleasant, not necessarily wrong.”
Declan dropped onto his bed.
“I would like to recommend a new plan where we leave the Academy and find somewhere without secret cults.”
“Where?” Emerson asked.
Declan thought about it.
“I’ll work on the details.”
Lee sat on the edge of his bed.
Buster remained pressed against his leg.
The others continued discussing the investigation, but their voices gradually faded beneath his thoughts.
The masked figure knew his desire.
Strength to protect the people he loved.
That was not a secret.
Anyone who knew Lee could have guessed it.
The vision of his father was different.
It had reached into a memory he had never shared with the Covenant.
Lee closed his eyes.
He saw the battlefield again.
Smoke.
Fire.
The cyclops raising its spiked club.
His father falling.
Then the false image that followed.
His father alive.
Smiling.
Safe.
Lee opened his eyes.
“What would you choose?”
The question escaped before he could stop it.
The room quieted.
William lowered his notes.
“What do you mean?”
“If a Djinn offered you the thing you wanted most.”
No one answered immediately.
Declan stared at the ceiling.
Emerson remained beside the door.
Lilith looked down at her communication band.
William was the first to speak.
“Knowledge.”
Declan turned his head.
“That’s boring.”
“Not any knowledge.”
William adjusted his glasses.
“All of it.
The nature of Aether.
The Awakening.
The realms.
Why any of this is happening.”
“And what would you give for it?” Lee asked.
William’s expression became uncomfortable.
“That’s the problem, isn’t it?”
Emerson sat at the desk.
“I’d ask for my family’s safety.”
“That’s not power,” Declan said.
“It is to me.”
“What about you?” Lee asked.
She looked up.
“Freedom.”
“From what?”
Her expression closed.
“Everything.”
Declan sat upright.
They waited for him.
He sighed.
“I knew this was coming.”
“What would you ask for?” William said.
Declan’s usual humor faded.
“To never be afraid again.”
The answer surprised them.
He looked away.
“I didn’t say it was sensible.”
Lee understood more than Declan realized.
Fear shaped nearly every choice people made.
The Djinn did not need to invent weaknesses.
They only had to find the ones already there.
“What about you?” William asked Lee.
Everyone knew the answer.
Lee looked down at Buster.
“My father.”
No one spoke.
He ran a hand across the dog’s back.
“They already showed me what it would look like.”
Emerson leaned forward.
“It wasn’t real.”
“I know.”
“Do you?”
The question hurt because it was necessary.
Lee met his eyes.
“Yes.”
At least, he believed he did.
A knock sounded at the door.
Everyone froze.
It came again.
Three slow taps.
Then silence.
Emerson drew his sword.
Lilith moved beside the wall, one dagger appearing in her hand.
Declan slid off the bed.
William gathered the notes and shoved them beneath his mattress.
Lee stood.
Buster’s growl deepened.
“Who is it?” Emerson called.
No answer.
Lee approached the door.
The communication band on his finger remained dark.
He reached for the handle.
Emerson shook his head.
Lee summoned a thread of fire around his fingertips and opened the door.
The hallway was empty.
A small black box rested on the floor.
No markings.
No visible lock.
Buster barked once and retreated.
Lee did not touch it.
William came closer.
“That was not there when you entered.”
“No.”
Lilith crouched a few feet away.
“Could it be an ember?”
“Possibly,” Lee said.
Declan looked down both ends of the hall.
“How did they reach the dormitory before us?”
“Maybe they were already here,” Emerson replied.
The thought made the room feel colder.
Lee closed the door, leaving the box outside.
“We tell Garrett.”
A voice whispered through the wood.
You do not have to open it tonight.
Everyone heard it.
Declan’s face went pale.
William stepped backward.
The voice continued.
The offer will remain.
Lee’s communication band flashed.
Once.
Twice.
Then the crystal turned black.
A thin line of smokeless flame appeared beneath the door.
It moved across the floor like spilled ink, forming a circle divided by a jagged line.
Seven flames curved toward its center.
The mark of the Ember Covenant.
Buster lunged forward.
“No!”
Lee caught him before he reached it.
The dog struggled in his arms, barking and snarling at the symbol.
The black fire did not burn the floor.
It remained for several seconds.
Then vanished.
The communication band returned to blue.
Emerson stared at the closed door.
“They know where we live.”
Lilith tightened her grip on the dagger.
“They always knew.”
William looked toward Lee.
“What are you going to do?”
Lee held Buster against his chest.
He could still hear the voice.
Patient.
Certain.
It believed time favored the Covenant.
Perhaps it did.
The box would remain outside.
The offer would wait.
Lee looked toward the others.
“We follow Garrett’s plan.”
Declan swallowed.
“You’re going to let them approach you?”
“Yes.”
“And when they offer you what you want?”
Lee looked at the door.
The image of his father appeared in his thoughts once more.
Warm.
Alive.
Impossible.
“I find out what they want in return.”
Master Halvek stood at the far end of the disciplinary chamber shortly after sunrise.
Lee sat alone before a long stone table.
The room contained no windows.
Pale recording crystals floated near the ceiling, observing everything from multiple angles.
Halvek wore a formal Academy uniform instead of the patrol armor from the previous night.
Two disciplinary officers sat beside him.
Neither had introduced themselves.
Halvek opened a thin folder.
“You failed to report for disciplinary review yesterday.”
“I was unavailable.”
“Doing what?”
Lee remembered Garrett’s warning.
Answer only what they ask.
“Training.”
Halvek looked at Lee’s freshly cleaned uniform.
“At midnight?”
“You didn’t specify what time the training occurred.”
One of the officers hid a smile.
Halvek did not.
“You were seen near the western administrative grounds after curfew.”
“By whom?”
“I am asking the questions.”
“Then ask one.”
Halvek closed the folder.
“You believe yourself protected.”
Lee said nothing.
“Captain Garrett trains you.
Hermes takes a personal interest in your advancement.
You possess unusual affinities and have attracted attention from several senior instructors.”
Halvek leaned forward.
“Do you think that places you above Academy rules?”
“No.”
“Yet you assaulted three students.”
“They attacked me.”
“No witnesses have confirmed that.”
“Several dozen students were present.”
“And none supported your account.”
Lee had expected that.
“What happened to the first-year they were extorting?”
Halvek’s eyes sharpened.
“No student reported extortion.”
“Because they’re afraid.”
“Or because it did not occur.”
The officer to Halvek’s left shifted in his chair.
Halvek continued.
“You damaged Academy property, used an elemental technique in a civilian market court, and threatened senior students.”
“I stopped them from robbing someone.”
“You interfered in a private dispute you did not understand.”
Lee thought about the phrase.
Private dispute.
Halvek was using the same language as someone protecting an organization.
“What should I have understood?”
For the first time, Halvek smiled.
“That actions have consequences.”
A faint warmth touched Lee’s hand.
He looked down.
A tiny black spark rested against the communication band.
The recording crystals above them did not react.
Halvek could not see it.
Or pretended not to.
The spark entered the ring.
Garrett’s device pulsed in response.
Recording.
Halvek opened the folder again.
“The Academy is willing to resolve this matter informally.”
“What does that mean?”
“You will issue a written apology to the three students, compensate the Academy for the damaged stonework, and accept a two-week suspension from the western training halls.”
Lee almost laughed.
The students had demanded payment for access to those same halls.
Halvek slid a document across the table.
“Sign.”
Lee read it.
The statement admitted that he had initiated the confrontation without provocation.
It also claimed the three seniors had attempted to de-escalate the situation.
A lie.
“What happens if I refuse?”
“A formal disciplinary hearing.”
“Good.”
Halvek’s smile disappeared.
“You misunderstand.”
“No.
I understand.”
Lee pushed the document back.
“A formal hearing creates records.
Witnesses can be questioned.
Patrol assignments can be reviewed.”
The officers beside Halvek exchanged a glance.
“You are making accusations without evidence,” Halvek said.
“I haven’t accused anyone.”
“You implied corruption.”
“I asked for a hearing.”
The temperature in the chamber dropped.
The black spark inside Lee’s communication band pulsed.
A voice brushed his thoughts.
You see how they protect their own.
Lee kept his expression neutral.
The voice sounded different from the masked figure’s.
Closer.
They will never give you justice.
A vision formed at the edge of his awareness.
Halvek kneeling.
Broken.
Begging Lee for mercy.
The image carried a rush of satisfaction that did not belong to him.
Lee tightened his hand beneath the table.
The voice continued.
Take the strength to punish them.
He focused on Elandor’s lesson.
Fire transforms.
It did not determine what something should become.
That choice belonged to the wielder.
Lee looked at Halvek.
“I want the formal hearing.”
The vision shattered.
The black spark vanished from the ring.
Halvek stared at him for several seconds.
Then he gathered the papers.
“Very well.”
One of the officers spoke.
“The hearing must be reviewed by the Academy tribunal.”
Halvek turned toward her.
“I know the procedure.”
“The recording crystals will need to be preserved.”
“I said I know.”
Lee noticed the tension between them.
Halvek did not control everyone in the disciplinary office.
That mattered.
The second officer handed Lee a notice.
“Your hearing will be scheduled within seven days.
Until then, you are prohibited from contacting the three students involved in the incident.”
Halvek added, “You are also restricted from entering the western administrative grounds.”
Lee accepted the notice.
“I understand.”
Halvek leaned back.
“You may leave.”
Lee stood.
As he reached the door, Halvek spoke again.
“Lee.”
He turned.
The patrol master’s expression remained calm, but the mask had slipped from his eyes.
Anger burned beneath it.
“You should consider how many people may suffer because you refuse to let this matter end.”
The threat was subtle.
The other officers heard only a warning about disciplinary consequences.
Lee heard something else.
His friends.
His family.
Anyone the Covenant might use against him.
He opened the door.
“Maybe you should consider the same thing.”
Then he walked out.
The communication band pulsed against his finger.
The recording had captured everything.
For the first time since discovering the Covenant, Lee possessed evidence.
Not enough to destroy the organization.
Enough to create a crack.
Elandor had taught him that he did not need to shatter the entire structure at once.
He only needed to find the right weakness.
Then encourage it to break.