The portal dropped them back on academy ground and none of them landed gracefully. Jolene caught herself on one knee. Dylan straightened up slowly, one hand pressed against his ribs. Terra was still catching her breath. Flint just stood there, dusting off his shirt like they hadn't just barely made it out.Master Kaelen was waiting.He looked them over one by one, the way he always did when he already knew more than he was letting on."My office."---He didn't sit when they got there. He stood by the window with his back to them for a moment before turning around."The city was more corrupt than our system initially read." He said. "Every human signature had gone dark by the time we picked it up again. There was nothing left to salvage, which is why I had you pulled out."Terra's jaw tightened. Flint felt it before he saw it. He shifted slightly and pressed his arm against hers. Just enough.She exhaled through her nose and said nothing."You fought well from the reports I'm getting.

Terra stared at him. "We won this fair and square.""I know." The boy nodded slowly. "I'm not disputing that." He glanced at Flint hanging between Dylan and Jolene. "But your friend is running out of time and you're standing here holding a diamond instead of getting him help. So what's it going to be?"Dylan stepped forward. "We're not handing you anything."Nobody moved. The two groups stood there in the dark, the only sound being Flint's shallow uneven breathing.Then the boy shrugged. "Fine. We stay then. All night if we have to." He looked at his nails. "And if something happens while we're all standing here, well. A demon attacked from nowhere. Drained their mana completely. Terrible thing. What were their names again?" He snapped his fingers. "Flint and his little group."Dylan's jaw was tight enough to crack."Hand them the diamond." Jolene said quietly.Terra turned. "What?""Hand it over.""Jolene we won. We literally found it ourselves—""I know." Her voice didn't change. "H

The tension sat heavy between them.Nobody moved. Nobody spoke. The only sound was the two of them breathing.The old man's fists were tight at his sides. His eyes hadn't left Flint once."And after all this, you take us to the academy." He said. "Right."Flint held back the urge to sigh. "I have said this already. I am not taking you to the academy. Different city. You start fresh. You build. Then you come back for everything that was taken from you." He looked at the man directly. "But you have to leave now. Master Kaelen will not stop. He wants this land and all it takes is one order. He is already close to giving it."The man said nothing.The woman beside him leaned close and whispered something in his ear. He listened. Nodded once. They went back and forth quietly for a moment, heads together.Then he turned back to Flint."How do we know you were not sent by him."Flint exhaled slowly. His hands dropped to his sides."I was contaminated by a demon." He said.Everyone behind him

"I am not going to war with him." Flint said. "I am going to talk to him. If Caravan can show him what is coming, show him what this war costs him, I think he would listen. Nobody wants to die for a plan that falls apart.""You are not walking into his office." Terra cut him off. "You have no idea what you looked like when you left. Your eyes. The marks. You were glowing in a way that scared everyone in that room." She didn't let him respond. "He told them you were turning into a Berkshire demon. He said there was someone before you, someone exactly like you, and because they ignored the signs, that person became the Berkshire King. That is the story every student in this school is carrying right now." She looked at him hard. "He gave an order. Anyone who feels threatened by you can act. No consequences. Do you understand what that means when you walk past Marcus and his people? Bale and his group."Flint raised a brow. "They were expelled."Jolene shook her head. "They were. But now

The side entrance to the library was a narrow door behind a storage shelf that most students didn't know existed.Flint had found it on his second day.He pushed it open and Instructor Dane was already inside. Standing near the back shelf with his arms crossed. He looked like a man waiting somewhere he wasn't supposed to be.Which he was."You came." Dane said."You asked." Flint said.Dane looked at him. Then at the door. "Shut it."Flint shut it."Does Master Kaelen know you are back on the premises?""No."Dane exhaled once. Looked at the ceiling. Then back. "Good. Because if he did, we would not be having this conversation.""Are we having one."Dane moved to the shelf behind him and pulled a thin folder from behind a row of books. He held it out.Flint looked at it. Didn't take it yet."What is this.""Records." Dane said. "Academy financial records. Three years ago. Before you arrived."Flint took it and opened it.Numbers. Transfer entries. Large ones. The city name stopped him