The great hall’s doors loomed like the jaws of a predator, each slab of carved oak etched with curling serpents and blazing suns. Eli stood at the base of the marble steps, staring up at them, unable to ignore the weight of the chanting crowd pressing at his back.“Inside,” the headmaster ordered again. His voice carried no rise, no fury. It was colder than that—like frost crawling across glass.For one trembling moment Eli almost refused. Every muscle in his body screamed at him to turn, to melt back into the crowd, to let them sweep him away in their chants and their defiance. He felt Lena’s hand clutch his own, the strength in her grip belied by how pale her knuckles were. Callum hovered at his shoulder, silent as always, a shadow bound to him now more than ever.Refuse, and the Crest might erupt tonight. Accept, and he was walking straight into their cage.Lena leaned closer, her breath feathering against his ear. “Whatever you choose—make it yours.”He glanced at her, saw the stu

The silence after the twelfth toll was unbearable.Dust hung in the air, glowing faintly in the light pouring from the jagged wound in the sky. The serpent’s shadow writhed against the fractured wall, its coils withdrawing with a sound like grinding stone, its scream still echoing in Eli’s bones.The students who hadn’t fled were huddled at the edges of the hall, pale and wide-eyed. Some clutched each other, others pressed themselves flat against the pillars as if hoping to melt into the stone. Professors crouched with their sigils half-formed, their power spent or broken. The council’s robes littered the floor like discarded skins where they’d scrambled into hidden exits.Only Eli stood in the center, chest heaving, the mark on his arm blazing like a brand of fire. His throat was raw, his body shaking, but the light still burned in him, defiant, alive.Lena was at his side, her hand gripping his sleeve so tightly her knuckles were white. Callum lingered a step behind, his face carved

The council chamber smelled of old stone, wax, and something sharper—fear, barely masked behind ritual.The elders had convened less than an hour after the serpent vanished. Their summons had gone out silently, carried by whispers and hidden hands, and now every surviving power of the Crest was gathered within the circular hall carved into the heart of the tower. Candles lined the walls in thick iron sconces, their flames sputtering in the draft that curled endlessly around the chamber.At the center sat the table. It was not wood but black marble, veined with silver, a circle so wide it swallowed voices if they weren’t raised. Symbols were etched into its surface, old runes that glowed faintly as each elder pressed their palms upon them. The marks burned brighter the moment the Headmaster entered.He moved slowly, robes torn from the hall’s collapse, but his posture remained unbroken. His eyes were colder than usual, shadows pooled beneath them as though the fight with the serpent ha

The stairwell breathed like a throat.Each step Eli took sent a faint vibration through the stone, a low hum that rose from beneath his feet and crawled into his bones. The walls pressed close, damp with moisture, streaked with faint veins of gold that pulsed in rhythm with the cube he carried.Behind him, Lena’s shoes scuffed on the stone, her breath loud in the confined air. Callum followed last, his muttering half-swallowed by the dark.“Of course,” he grumbled, voice brittle. “Of course the cursed cube has a hidden basement to drag us into. Why not? Perfectly normal evening.”Eli ignored him. His focus was fixed on the way the cube glowed brighter with each step, its spirals expanding, reconfiguring, like a living thing that knew exactly where it was going. He tightened his grip, the edges biting into his palm.The staircase wound downward far longer than it should have, spiraling deeper than the chapel’s foundation could ever allow. Eli felt it in the air—the same way he had felt

The passage narrowed until Eli had to duck, the ceiling pressing close enough to scrape his hair. His hand slid along the stone for balance, each step measured, every breath harsh in the stale air. Lena moved behind him, muttering curses under her breath, flashlight beam jittering with every tremor that rattled through the ground. Callum brought up the rear, quiet as ever, his gaze sharp and calculating even in half-darkness.The hum of the machine-pit still echoed in Eli’s bones. He couldn’t shake the sensation that the cube was pulsing faster now, syncing not only with his heartbeat but with something deeper — the labyrinth itself.They came to a fork. Two archways yawned in opposite directions, both etched with faint carvings. Eli wiped the dust with his sleeve. The left bore a serpent swallowing its tail. The right was marked with an open eye, the iris stretched wide as if in terror.Lena frowned. “One way’s a circle. The other’s watching.”Callum crouched, fingertips brushing the