Jason stood stiffly in the chamber of the High Circle, a cold pit twisting in his stomach. The chamber was vast, circular, lined with towering pillars carved with runes. Shadows clung to the cloaked figures seated around the edges, their faces hidden beneath deep hoods.He felt like a bug on display, Elias stood at his side, arms folded. His presence was the only anchor keeping Jason from bolting. The eldest councilor’s voice rasped from the darkness, ancient and dry.“Jason Miller. Bearer of the shard. You stand accused of recklessness and endangerment, having destabilized the Arcanum’s foundations during training.”Jason’s mouth went dry. He opened it, but Elias placed a hand on his shoulder. Don’t speak, Another voice cut through the chamber, smooth and mocking. Jason recognized it instantly.Kael.“With all due respect,” Kael drawled, “this was not a minor accident. The boy unleashed uncontrolled force strong enough to collapse a reinforced chamber. If Elias hadn’t contained it, w

The restraints bit into Jason’s wrists as he staggered back to his quarters. Every muscle screamed, and his scar still pulsed with aftershocks of fire.He pushed the door closed and collapsed onto the cot, staring at the ceiling beams. His breath came ragged. I can’t keep this up. They’ll break me before the shard does.A knock echoed. Sharp, deliberate.Jason sat up, wary. “Who is it?”The door creaked open without waiting for an answer. Kael stepped inside, eyes gleaming in the torchlight. Jason’s hands curled into fists. “You.”Kael smirked, letting the silence stretch before he spoke. “Word travels quickly. Shackles already? Impressive. Usually, they wait until the third incident.”Jason forced himself not to rise. “What do you want?”“To offer perspective.” Kael’s gaze flicked to the glowing restraints. “You’re a prisoner wearing the illusion of a student.The Council doesn’t trust you, Elias barely keeps you afloat, and the shard? It’s eating you alive.”Jason’s jaw tightened. “

Elias’s voice dropped, low and fierce. “Do you think I don’t know the price? Every time you indulge it, you let it root deeper. You give it leverage. And when the moment comes, Jason… it won’t be you holding the dagger. It will be the shard.”Jason yanked his arm free, chest heaving. “Maybe that’s the only way I can survive!”The silence after was sharp as glass. Elias’s expression hardened, pain flickering behind the steel.“You sound like Kael.”Jason froze. Elias stepped back, his voice colder than the morning air. “If you walk his path, I can’t protect you. Not from the Council. Not from yourself.”The words cut deeper than any blade. Jason opened his mouth, but Elias turned and strode away, leaving him alone in the ruin of his choices. The shard pulsed inside him, hot and eager.Jason pressed a hand against his chest, shaking. “What… what are you turning me into?”The shard offered no answer. Only heat. The Council chamber reeked of incense and judgment. High arches framed the ma

The Council chamber was colder than Jason remembered. Not the drafty chill of stone halls, but something deeper, woven into the marble itself, like the air had been carved from judgment and sealed with finality.High arches loomed overhead, etched with sigils that glowed faintly in the torchlight. The ceiling soared into darkness, making Jason feel small, like he was being swallowed whole by the very structure.He stood at the center of the chamber floor, his wrists bound by the siphoning restraints that hummed faintly against his skin. The bands drained at his core with every breath, a slow, gnawing ache that left his limbs heavy. The weight of silence pressed on him, heavier than the chains.Above him, seated on a crescent dais of white stone, the Council watched. Five robed figures, their eyes sharp and merciless, each draped in the authority of centuries. Jason had seen them before from a distance, but never this close. Never like this, as the accused.“Jason Miller,” came the voi

The world narrowed to the dagger’s glow. Jason’s chest rose and fell in ragged bursts, his arms trembling as though his own bones no longer belonged to him.The fire coiled along the blade in ribbons of white-orange heat, crackling with a life of its own. Smoke licked the marble floor beneath him, curling upward in lazy spirals.Around him, the Council chamber pulsed with voices. Gasps, commands, the quick shuffle of armored boots, but Jason heard none of it clearly.Everything was muffled, drowned beneath the roar of blood in his ears and the thunder of the shard in his veins. They wanted to cage him. Bind him. Seal him away like some dangerous relic. But he had won.The hellspawn was ash. The trial, passed. He should have proven himself, earned their recognition. Instead, Varis had condemned him the moment he showed his strength.Jason’s jaw clenched, teeth grinding. They don’t see me. They only see the fire.The first sentinel lunged. A staff of black steel swung down, its head cro