Noah Mercer had missed his afternoon drills.
William repeated the information as though saying it a second time might make it less concerning.
It did not.
Lee stared at the enrollment record spread across the dining hall table.
Noah was fifteen.
A first-year student.
He lived in the western residence hall and had attended every scheduled class since arriving at the Academy.
Until today.
Around them, students continued trading rumors about Ethan’s elemental accident.
The official announcement had done little to calm anyone.
If anything, the lack of information had made the stories worse.
One student claimed Ethan had awakened a forbidden affinity.
Another insisted Captain Clarissa had burned half the elemental hall.
A group at the next table whispered about possession.
That rumor was closer than they knew.
Buster slept beneath Lee’s chair with his chin resting on one paw.
The noise of the dining hall did not appear to bother him.
Lee wished he could say the same.
“What did Ethan want?” he asked.
The others looked at him.
“The ember offered him something.
Garrett said it grows through desire.”
Declan leaned back in his chair.
“Power?”
“That’s too general,” Lilith said.
William adjusted the pages in front of him.
“Ethan’s assessments describe his Water affinity as stable but limited.”
“Limited how?” Emerson asked.
“Weak offensive output.
Slow progression.
Below-average combat performance.”
Emerson understood first.
“He wanted another affinity.”
William nodded.
“Possibly.”
Lee remembered the black-orange fire spreading beneath Ethan’s skin.
The Covenant had given him exactly what he believed he lacked.
Or made him believe he lacked it.
“And Noah?” Ella asked.
Lilith looked toward the crowded hall.
“Insurance.”
“Or motivation,” Emerson said.
“They could have promised to protect him.”
Lee remembered Hermes’ warning.
The bargains were not always lies.
That was what made them dangerous.
Perhaps Ethan had joined the Covenant willingly because he wanted to protect his brother.
Perhaps someone had threatened Noah first.
Perhaps the Covenant had created the problem and then offered Ethan the solution.
Either way, love and fear had become chains.
Declan leaned forward.
“We need to find Noah.”
“Garrett told us to wait,” William said.
Declan gave him a flat look.
“You don’t believe that.”
William glanced toward the enrollment record.
“No.”
Lilith stood.
“I know where the first-years gather after afternoon drills.”
Emerson rose with her.
“We observe only.”
Declan groaned.
“Why does everyone keep saying that?”
“Because every time we don’t, you start a fight,” William said.
“That happened once.”
“Three times.”
“We’re counting the market court?”
“Yes.”
“That was Lee.”
Lee stood.
“William, keep searching.
Check Noah’s class attendance, dorm records, and anyone assigned to supervise him.”
William frowned.
“Why am I always left behind?”
“Because you can access records faster than any of us.”
William considered that.
“That is true.”
Lee turned toward Michelle.
“Can you sense the embers if they’re nearby?”
She hesitated.
“Maybe.”
“That does not sound confident,” Declan said.
“I sensed the corruption around Ethan because he was standing ten feet away and setting a classroom on fire.”
“A fair distinction,” Emerson said.
Michelle closed the Academy directory and stood.
“I’ll know if something feels wrong.”
Ella joined her.
“And I can listen.”
Declan looked toward her.
“To the wind?”
“Yes.”
“Does it ever say anything useful?”
Ella met his eyes.
“It says you talk too much.”
Lilith smiled.
Declan looked offended.
William picked up Garrett’s communication token.
“And when Garrett learns you ignored his instructions?”
Lee looked toward the dining hall entrance.
“We tell him we were observing.”
Lilith’s smile widened.
“He’ll love that.”
The western first-year residence hall stood near the Academy’s lower wall.
Pale stone reflected the late-afternoon sunlight, and ancient oak trees shaded most of the courtyard.
Students filled the open space after drills.
Some practiced with wooden weapons.
Others traded food vouchers, compared schedules, or rested beside the fountain.
Nothing about the courtyard appeared dangerous.
That made Lee distrust it immediately.
The Covenant preferred ordinary places.
People lowered their guard when nothing looked wrong.
Emerson selected an unused lecture hall across the path.
Its second-floor windows overlooked the courtyard, and the western stairwell connected to an archive corridor that led toward the main academic wing.
Inside, dust covered the abandoned desks.
Several chairs had been stacked against the rear wall.
Emerson moved toward the windows.
“Stay back from the glass.”
Declan looked outside.
“How are we supposed to see?”
“Without placing your face against the window.”
“That seems unnecessarily difficult.”
Emerson pulled the curtains halfway closed.
“No silhouettes.”
He moved two desks away from the opening and checked the hallway.
“Western stairs are our primary exit.
Eastern corridor leads toward the faculty wing.”
Lilith examined the room.
“And if both routes are blocked?”
Emerson looked toward the balcony.
“Lee and you could make the drop.”
Ella frowned.
“What about the rest of us?”
Emerson did not answer immediately.
Lee noticed.
They had found an escape route.
Not an escape route for everyone.
He stored the mistake away.
“William sent Noah’s description,” Emerson said.
“Brown hair.
Gray eyes.
Thin.
Scar along the left side of his chin.”
Declan scanned the students below.
“That describes half the Academy.”
Lilith pointed toward the fountain.
“Near the northern bench.”
A boy sat alone on the stone edge.
Brown hair.
Thin frame.
His shoulders hunched forward as he studied a folded piece of paper held between both hands.
A faint scar marked the left side of his chin.
“That’s him,” Lee said.
Noah looked younger than fifteen.
Or maybe fear made him appear that way.
“Positions,” Lee said.
The group spread through the room.
Emerson remained near the hallway and watched both exits.
William’s communication token rested on the desk beside Lee.
Lilith studied Noah and the students moving around him.
Declan watched the rest of the courtyard.
Michelle stood several feet behind the window with her eyes half-closed.
Ella opened the upper section of the nearest window.
A faint breeze entered the room.
Lee glanced at her.
“The wind?”
“The wind.”
She extended one hand.
The air moving through the window curved across her fingers.
Ella did not create a stronger current.
She guided the one already passing through the courtyard.
Lee felt the difference.
Before Captain Clarissa’s lesson, Ella would have forced a gust toward Noah and hoped it carried something useful.
Now she listened first.
Several minutes passed.
Declan shifted his weight.
“This is the quietest we’ve ever been.”
William’s voice came through the communication token.
“Please don’t ruin it.”
Declan stared at the device.
“You’re not even here.”
“I can still hear you.”
Michelle raised one hand.
“Someone used Aether.”
Everyone looked toward her.
“Where?” Lee asked.
She concentrated.
“Near the fountain.”
Lee searched the courtyard.
Students walked past the benches.
Two first-years practiced footwork beneath an oak tree.
Nothing appeared unusual.
“I don’t see anything.”
“I know.”
Michelle frowned.
“It was small.
Controlled.”
She pointed.
“North side of the fountain.”
Noah looked up.
Two older students approached him.
Neither had been among the collectors Lee fought in the market court.
One wore a red sash tied around his left arm.
The other carried a narrow leather case.
Noah’s shoulders tightened.
The student with the sash sat beside him.
The second remained standing.
Lilith narrowed her eyes.
“They expected him to stay.”
“How do you know?” Lee asked.
“They didn’t block his path.”
Declan watched the courtyard.
“Maybe they’re trying not to scare him.”
“They already scared him.”
Lilith’s attention stayed on the two seniors.
“The one with the case is watching the exits.
The other is watching Noah.”
Lee looked closer.
She was right.
The senior beside Noah leaned back as though they were having a casual conversation, but his hand rested near the boy’s wrist.
The second student glanced toward every path leading from the courtyard.
Not relaxed.
Prepared.
Ella closed her eyes.
The breeze shifted.
Fragments of conversation reached the lecture hall.
“…your brother…”
Then laughter from another group drowned out the words.
Ella adjusted the current.
“…tonight…”
“…safe…”
“…only one…”
The rest disappeared.
Lilith looked at Lee.
“They’re using Ethan.”
“Or promising to help him,” Emerson said.
“Noah doesn’t believe them,” Declan replied.
Lee turned.
Declan had stopped watching the recruiters.
His attention remained on Noah.
“He keeps rubbing his thumb across the edge of the paper.
He’s trying not to shake.”
Lee looked again.
Noah’s hands appeared steady from a distance.
Declan was right.
The second senior placed the leather case on the bench.
Michelle inhaled sharply.
“The case.”
“What about it?” Lee asked.
“I can barely sense it.”
“Barely?”
“Everything has an Aether signature.
The case has one.”
Her face tightened.
“But whatever is inside does not.”
The communication band on Lee’s finger pulsed.
Once.
Michelle’s head turned toward him.
“It reacted.”
The senior opened the case.
Several small glass vials rested inside.
Black sparks drifted within them.
Binding embers.
Lee’s first instinct was to move.
He stopped himself.
They did not know how many Covenant members watched the courtyard.
They did not know whether Noah had already accepted an ember.
They did not know what would happen if the vials broke.
Observe before acting.
The communication band pulsed again.
Garrett’s voice emerged.
“Do not move.”
Everyone froze.
Declan looked around the empty lecture hall.
“How does he always know?”
Garrett continued.
“Clarissa is approaching from the northern path.
Cole is covering the wall.”
Lee looked toward Emerson.
“Cole?”
Before Emerson could answer, a blond-haired man appeared on the roof of the residence hall.
He wore a green field uniform and carried a long knife across his chest.
Captain Cole.
He stood near the roof’s edge, almost completely exposed.
No one below noticed him.
Ella looked up.
Her expression tightened.
“He’s been there.”
“How long?” Lee asked.
“Almost two minutes.”
“You noticed him?”
“I noticed something disturbing the current.”
Ella glanced away.
“I wasn’t certain.”
Clarissa’s lesson returned.
Ella straightened.
“He’s on the western roof.
Three paces behind the chimney.”
Lee could barely see him even after she pointed.
Clarissa entered the courtyard.
The two seniors noticed her immediately.
The student holding the leather case snapped it shut.
Clarissa continued walking as though she had seen nothing.
Noah rose.
The senior with the red sash placed one hand on his shoulder.
Clarissa stopped.
“Remove your hand.”
Her voice crossed the courtyard without effort.
Conversations died.
Students turned.
The senior slowly withdrew his hand.
“Captain.”
“Return to your dormitory.”
“We were only talking.”
“I did not ask what you were doing.”
The second student shifted the leather case behind his leg.
Clarissa looked at it.
“Place the case on the ground.”
His face tightened.
“It belongs to me.”
“I am aware.”
Cole dropped from the residence roof.
He landed behind the two seniors without making a sound.
The student holding the case spun around.
Cole’s hand already rested on his knife.
“Put it down.”
The leather case hit the stone.
Clarissa looked toward Noah.
“Come with me.”
The boy stared at the two seniors.
The student with the red sash smiled.
It was not friendly.
Noah’s fear deepened.
Clarissa stepped between them.
“You are under Academy protection.”
The senior’s smile widened.
“For how long?”
Cole moved.
Lee almost missed it.
One moment, the senior was standing.
The next, he lay face down on the stone with Cole’s knee pressed between his shoulders.
The courtyard erupted.
Students scattered.
The second senior reached for the case.
Clarissa pointed one finger.
A white ring of fire closed around his wrist.
He stopped.
“Do not.”
Academy guards entered from both ends of the courtyard.
Not Halvek’s patrol.
These guards wore silver markings along their collars.
Garrett’s people.
Cole pulled the red sash from the first senior’s arm.
A black Covenant mark burned beneath it.
The communication band pulsed again.
“Remain where you are,” Garrett said.
Declan sighed.
“He really doesn’t trust us.”
“He has reasons,” Emerson replied.
Clarissa picked up the leather case.
The black sparks struck the inside of the vials like trapped insects.
Cole raised the first senior to his feet.
His blue eyes moved toward the lecture hall.
Directly toward Lee.
Even at that distance, Lee knew he had been seen.
Cole’s expression did not change.
He raised two fingers.
Wait.
Then he escorted the senior away.
Clarissa placed one hand on Noah’s shoulder and guided him toward the northern path.
The boy glanced back once.
His eyes found Lee at the window.
Recognition appeared.
Not personal recognition.
Recognition from a description.
The Covenant had told him exactly who Lee was.
Noah mouthed two words.
Help Ethan.
Clarissa led him out of sight.
Captain Cole met them in the eastern strategy room an hour later.
The chamber looked nothing like a classroom.
A raised model of Academy 151 covered the central table.
Tiny enchanted markers moved across its surface, representing patrols, dormitories, training halls, and security checkpoints.
Colored lines marked hidden corridors and maintenance tunnels.
Garrett stood at one end of the table.
Clarissa remained beside Noah near the wall.
Captain Hailey sat next to him and held a cup of water between her hands.
Noah looked exhausted but unharmed.
The confiscated leather case rested on the table.
Black sparks drifted inside the vials.
Cole entered behind Lee’s group and closed the door.
The latch clicked.
He looked at Lee.
“You were told to wait.”
“We did.”
“You relocated first.”
Lee considered the distinction.
“Yes.”
Cole nodded once.
“Accurate answer.”
Declan whispered to Emerson.
“I like him.”
Cole looked toward Declan.
“No, you don’t.”
Declan stopped smiling.
Garrett gestured toward him.
“Captain Cole.
Tactics and survival.”
Cole placed the confiscated red sash beside the Academy model.
“Your students have poor field discipline.”
“They are not my students,” Garrett said.
Clarissa looked at him.
Garrett corrected himself.
“They are not exclusively my students.”
Cole turned toward the group.
“Who selected the observation point?”
“Emerson,” Lee said.
Cole looked at him.
“Why?”
“The lecture hall gave us elevation, concealment, and two exits.”
“Primary retreat?”
“Western stairs into the archive corridor.”
“Secondary?”
Emerson hesitated.
“The balcony.”
“Three-story drop.”
“Lee and Lilith could manage it.”
“And the others?”
Emerson did not answer.
Cole tapped the model.
“You planned for the strongest members to escape and treated everyone else as an acceptable loss.”
Emerson’s expression tightened.
“I didn’t think of it that way.”
“That is why you are here.”
Cole looked at Lee.
“You approved the position.”
“Yes.”
“You are treated as the group’s leader.”
Lee glanced toward the others.
“I didn’t ask for that.”
“Leadership is often assigned by expectation rather than permission.”
Cole pointed toward the western courtyard on the model.
“If they follow your decisions, you are responsible for where those decisions place them.”
The words struck harder than Lee expected.
Garrett watched him but did not interfere.
Cole turned back to Emerson.
“You identified routes of retreat.”
“Yes.”
“You did not establish rally points.”
Emerson looked at the model.
“No.”
“If the group separates, where do you regroup?”
“I didn’t assign a location.”
“You planned for escape.”
Cole tapped three different points around the courtyard.
“Not recovery.”
Emerson nodded.
“I understand.”
“No.
You recognize the mistake.”
Cole looked across the group.
“Understanding comes when you do not repeat it.”
He turned toward William.
“You remained in the dining hall.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“I maintained access to Academy records.”
“What information did you collect?”
“Attendance, dorm assignments, instructors, family history, and recent schedule changes.”
“What did you fail to examine?”
William frowned.
Cole waited.
“Faculty schedules?”
“Correct.”
William looked toward the Academy model.
“The Covenant moves students.”
“Someone creates opportunities for them to move.”
William immediately took out a pencil.
Garrett looked at him.
“Are you taking notes?”
“Yes.”
Cole continued.
“Good.”
He faced Lilith.
“You planned to move closer.”
“Yes.”
“Alone.”
“I am quieter than the others.”
“You are also predictable.”
Lilith’s eyes narrowed.
“How?”
“You believe independence makes you difficult to control.”
Cole tapped the northern path.
“It makes you easy to isolate.”
Lilith said nothing.
“What did you notice about the recruiters?” he asked.
“The one beside Noah expected obedience.”
“Why?”
“He didn’t block the boy’s escape.”
Cole nodded.
“What else?”
Lilith thought.
“The second senior wasn’t watching Noah.”
“Who was he watching?”
“The exits.”
“And what does that tell you?”
“They had separate roles.”
For the first time, Cole’s expression showed approval.
“Now you are observing the team.”
He turned toward Declan.
“You leaned over the window far enough to expose your head and shoulders.”
Declan looked surprised.
“You saw that?”
“I saw all of you.”
“That is unsettling.”
“It should be.”
Cole crossed his arms.
“What did you observe?”
“The crowd.”
“What did they tell you?”
“That nobody cared until Clarissa arrived.”
“And?”
Declan hesitated.
“They trusted her?”
“No.”
Declan replayed the moment.
His expression changed.
“They watched her because they were waiting to see how dangerous the situation was.”
Cole nodded.
“People often decide how afraid to be by watching authority.”
Declan looked toward the courtyard marker.
“So the crowd wasn’t ignoring Noah.”
“They did not understand what they were seeing.”
Cole’s eyes returned to him.
“You observe people naturally.
Learn to interpret them before deciding what their reactions mean.”
He turned toward Michelle.
“What did you detect?”
“The Aether near the fountain.”
“Be precise.”
“Someone activated a small amount before the recruiters opened the case.”
“What else?”
“The vials had no Aether signature.”
William looked toward the leather case.
“That should be impossible.”
Michelle nodded.
“Everything else in the courtyard had one.
The stone.
The trees.
The students.”
She studied the black sparks.
“The embers weren’t empty.
They felt disconnected.”
Clarissa watched her carefully.
“Disconnected from what?” Cole asked.
Michelle struggled for an answer.
“Everything.”
The room quieted.
She continued.
“They behaved like they belonged somewhere else.”
Cole looked toward Clarissa.
“Useful?”
“Very.”
Michelle glanced between them.
“What does it mean?”
Clarissa stepped closer to the case.
“You stopped describing what you sensed.”
Michelle frowned.
“I did?”
“You began interpreting it.”
Clarissa’s black eyes settled on her.
“Continue doing both.
Never confuse the interpretation with the observation.”
Michelle nodded.
Cole looked toward Ella.
“You carried sound approximately forty meters.”
Ella shifted.
“Forty-two.”
William looked up.
“You counted?”
“I estimated.”
Cole ignored the exchange.
“What did you hear?”
“Fragments.
Ethan.
Tonight.
Safe.
Only one.”
“What did you stop monitoring?”
“The rest of the courtyard.”
“And?”
“The roof.”
“You noticed me after I had already established position.”
“Yes.”
“Why did you delay reporting it?”
“I wasn’t certain.”
Cole glanced toward Clarissa.
She remained silent.
Ella released a slow breath.
“Observation delayed is observation wasted.”
“Correct.”
Cole pointed toward the Academy model.
“The environment is never one thing.
Sound, movement, airflow, temperature, pressure.”
He looked at her.
“If you isolate one current and ignore the rest, your gift becomes a tunnel.”
Ella nodded.
“I won’t make that mistake again.”
“You will.”
She blinked.
Cole continued.
“You will make it until you train it out of yourself.”
Finally, he stopped in front of Lee.
“You assigned responsibilities.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“I couldn’t watch everything.”
“No.”
Cole gestured toward the others.
“You realized you should not.”
Lee looked around the room.
Michelle had sensed what no one else could feel.
Ella had heard what no one else could hear.
Declan had noticed fear in Noah’s smallest movements.
Lilith had read the recruiters.
Emerson had prepared the position.
William had built the background.
None of it would have worked if Lee had tried to do everything himself.
Cole continued.
“You trusted their specialties.”
“Yes.”
“Then you ignored Emerson’s failure to plan for their limitations.”
Lee looked toward the model.
“I should have checked the escape routes for everyone.”
“You should have asked him to.”
Cole stepped back.
“Leadership does not require you to perform every task.”
His gaze remained fixed on Lee.
“It requires you to make certain every necessary task has been performed.”
Garrett folded his arms.
“They’re beginning to function.”
“They are beginning to trust specialization,” Cole said.
Clarissa looked toward the students.
“That is considerably harder.”
Hailey smiled faintly.
“Most young teams believe cooperation means everyone doing the same thing.”
Cole shook his head.
“Cooperation means everyone doing something different toward the same objective.”
He looked across all seven students.
“The Covenant will exploit every weakness you possess.”
His gaze moved from one to the next.
“Stop trying to become copies of each other.”
He pointed toward Lee.
“Decision-making.”
William.
“Evidence.”
Emerson.
“Systems.”
Lilith.
“Intent.”
Declan.
“Behavior.”
Michelle.
“Aether.”
Ella.
“Environment.”
Cole lowered his hand.
“Become exceptional at what only you can do.”
No one spoke.
Not because they did not understand.
Because, for the first time, they did.
Garrett moved beside Noah.
“He has agreed to tell us what happened.”
Everyone turned toward the boy.
Hailey placed the cup in his hands.
Noah stared into the water.
“My brother joined them because of me.”
Clarissa crouched beside him.
“You are not responsible for Ethan’s choice.”
“He thought he was protecting me.”
Noah’s voice shook.
“The collectors kept taking my training credits.
I couldn’t use the practice halls.
I fell behind.”
He swallowed.
“Ethan complained.
Halvek threatened to suspend him.”
Lee’s anger rose.
The communication band remained quiet.
No spark.
No foreign pressure.
Only his own reaction.
One of Halvek’s patrols had enabled the collectors.
Then Halvek punished anyone who resisted.
“One of the senior students offered Ethan another way,” Noah continued.
“They said they could give him enough power that no one would threaten us again.”
“The Fire affinity,” William said.
Noah nodded.
“He wanted to become strong enough to protect me.”
Lee looked down at his hands.
The similarity was impossible to ignore.
He had taken Fire from a man in an alley because he believed he needed every advantage to protect the people he loved.
The method had been different.
The desire had not.
“What did they ask from him?” Emerson asked.
“At first, information.”
Noah’s grip tightened around the cup.
“Names of students who were angry.
Students who couldn’t pay.
Students who hated their instructors.”
“Recruitment candidates,” Lilith said.
Noah nodded.
“Then they made him carry vials.”
Clarissa looked toward the leather case.
“The binding embers.”
“He didn’t know what they were at first.”
“And later?” Garrett asked.
Noah’s eyes filled with tears.
“He knew.”
The room stayed silent.
“He tried to stop,” Noah said.
“That’s when they threatened me.”
Hailey placed one hand on his shoulder.
“They told Ethan if he left, they would give me an ember.”
Noah looked toward Lee.
“You resisted them.”
Lee felt every adult in the room watching.
“That’s what Ethan said.”
“I refused the first offer.”
“Can you help him?”
Lee wanted to say yes.
He wanted to promise Ethan would survive.
That Clarissa could remove the corruption.
That Garrett would arrest Halvek.
That Noah would be safe.
He remembered Garrett’s lesson.
Determine what must remain intact.
A promise Lee could not keep would protect nothing.
“I don’t know,” he said.
Noah’s face fell.
Lee continued.
“But we’re going to try.”
Clarissa watched him.
Approval appeared briefly in her black eyes.
Noah nodded.
It was not hope.
Not yet.
But it was enough for him to keep listening.
Garrett turned toward William.
“What did you find in the attendance records?”
William placed several pages on the strategy table.
“Ethan missed three elemental sessions during the last two weeks.
Each absence occurred after a private meeting at the western administrative building.”
He pointed toward another list.
“Four other students showed sudden changes in performance during the same period.”
Cole examined the names.
“Locations?”
“Different dormitories.
Different academic tracks.”
Lilith studied the list.
“They spread them out.”
“So no single instructor would see the pattern,” Emerson said.
Michelle leaned over the table.
“Were any of them in the elemental hall today?”
William scanned the names.
“No.”
Garrett looked toward Clarissa.
“We isolate them before the next session.”
“We observe first,” Cole said.
Garrett’s eyes narrowed.
“We already have evidence.”
“We have names associated with a pattern.
Not proof that each student accepted an ember.”
Clarissa touched one of the markers.
“If we arrest them all, the Covenant disappears.”
“And if we wait, another student may be possessed,” Garrett replied.
The instructors fell silent.
Lee understood the problem.
Act too early, and the Covenant escaped.
Wait too long, and someone else became Ethan.
A knock sounded at the strategy-room door.
An Academy healer entered without waiting for permission.
His breathing was uneven.
“Captains.”
Every instructor turned.
Clarissa stood.
“What happened?”
The healer looked toward Noah.
“Ethan regained consciousness.”
Noah rose so quickly his chair nearly fell over.
“Can I see him?”
The healer hesitated.
Then he looked toward Lee.
“He’s asking for him.”
Every eye in the room turned toward Lee.
The communication band on Lee’s finger pulsed.
Blue light spread through the crystal.
Once.
Then the light vanished.
Blackness grew beneath the surface.
Not like ink.
Like something moving beneath glass.
Michelle’s head snapped toward it.
“Captain.”
Garrett looked immediately.
“What?”
Michelle stared at the ring.
“I can’t feel it.”
Lee looked at her.
“What do you mean?”
“It had an Aether signature.”
The blackness continued spreading.
“Now it doesn’t.”
William stepped closer.
“That isn’t possible.”
Michelle slowly shook her head.
“It was there.”
Her voice dropped.
“Something removed it.”
Ella stiffened.
Her eyes widened.
“The air.”
Clarissa turned toward her.
“What happened?”
Ella raised one hand.
Nothing moved.
No breeze touched her fingers.
No current passed through the room.
The flames within the wall lanterns remained still.
Not flickering.
Not bending.
Still.
Ella’s breathing quickened.
“I can’t hear it.”
“What can’t you hear?” Hailey asked.
“The air.”
Cole drew his knife.
Garrett’s hand went to his sword.
Hailey pulled Noah behind her.
The leather case rattled.
Every vial vibrated at once.
The trapped embers struck the glass.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
William stared.
“They’re reacting.”
“No,” Clarissa whispered.
The black sparks turned toward the same point beneath the Academy model.
“They’re answering.”
The lights flickered.
Then died.
Darkness swallowed the strategy room.
Noah gasped.
Buster growled beneath the table.
A whisper entered the chamber.
It did not come from the communication band.
It did not come from the leather case.
It seemed to rise through the floor and walls.
Soft.
Patient.
Ancient.
“The door…”
Lee felt every instinct scream.
Michelle stepped backward.
For the first time since he had known her, she looked completely lost.
She could sense nothing.
Beside her, Ella reached for a current that no longer existed.
“…is opening.”
Noah stopped breathing.
“That’s Ethan.”
The voice had come from the secure infirmary halfway across the Academy.
Yet every person in the strategy room heard it as clearly as if Ethan stood beside them.
Garrett drew his sword.
Clarissa seized Lee’s wrist before he could move.
“Do not answer.”
Her voice remained calm.
Her grip did not.
The black crystal in Lee’s communication band cracked.
A jagged line spread across its surface.
Then stopped.
No one moved.
No one spoke.
Somewhere beneath Academy 151, something had awakened.