**Kaels pov** I woke with my heart pounding. For several seconds, I didn’t know where I was. The corridor from my dream still surrounded me, the blood, the darkness, and advisor Duskbane’s calm smile. And then I remembered Headmaster Alaric, he was just standing in the distance.Watching. Not stopping anything, not even helping my family, he was just watching. I sat upright in bed, my breathing came out unevenly. The room slowly returned around me, the dark curtains, the wooden desk, the books scattered across the floor, and the faint light of dawn slipping through the window. It was only a dream, but it had not felt like one. I pushed out of bed and dressed quickly, I did not bother eating, and I did not bother informing anyone. I simply left, because there was only one person I needed to speak to.Headmaster Alaric.***** The Headmaster’s tower was quiet when I arrived. I knocked once, and there was no answer so I knocked again, but there was still nothing. So I

**Aurora’s pov** My heart sank, they knew. I had spent the entire night searching through forbidden records, convinced I had discovered a secret powerful enough to save Kael. Instead, I had walked directly into a trap. Adrian stood at the end of the corridor, advisor Duskbane stood beside him, and Lyra was between us. For a moment, nobody spoke, then Adrian looked at me.“What did you find?” I said nothing. Advisor Duskbane’s expression remained calm, almost gentle, and that was what frightened me most.“Princess Aurora,” he said. “You should have come to me.”“Should I?”His eyes narrowed slightly. “You are frightened.”“I’m not.”“Then why are you standing as though you expect us to attack you?” I glanced at Adrian, he looked troubled. Not angry, not cruel, but troubled. That almost made it worse.“Adrian,” I said quietly.His expression shifted. “Aurora.”“Do you know what they’re planning?”His jaw tightened. “Planning?”“Kael.”Silence.I looked between them.

**Kaels pov**“You cannot separate what was never meant to be apart.” The voice echoed through my mind, as I stood frozen in the center of the training arena. The crimson energy surrounding my body flickered, then it vanished. For several seconds, I heard nothing except my own heartbeat, it was too loud, too fast, and too familiar. I had heard that voice before, it was not in a dream, or in a memory, it was iInside me.I turned toward Alaric. “Did you hear that?”The Headmaster’s expression had changed, and that alone was enough to make my stomach tighten. “Hear what?”“The First King.”Headmaster Alaric’s eyes narrowed. “What did he say?”I repeated the words, and his silence stretched.Aurora stood beside him, her face pale. “What does it mean?” she asked.I looked toward the floor, and the ancient king’s voice still lingered in my mind. “You cannot separate what was never meant to be apart.”Headmaster Alaric slowly walked toward the center of the arena. “It may mean that the

**Kaels pov** Dawn had barely broken over Blackthorn Academy when the bells began to ring. Our deep, solemn echoes rolled across the academy grounds, replacing the usual sounds of students preparing for another day of lessons. Today, there would be no classes, no lectures, and no sparring tournaments. Today, we would decide the fate of the entire world. I stood on the balcony outside my room, staring at the gray sky. Thick clouds drifted overhead, swallowing the morning sunlight before it could reach the stone courtyards below. It almost felt as though the heavens themselves were watching.A knock sounded at my door.“You should eat before we begin,” Aurora said as she stepped inside.She carried a small tray with two cups of tea and fresh bread, I looked at the tray before looking back at her.“You remembered.”She smiled. “You always forget breakfast before important days.”I couldn’t help returning the smile. “You’ve been paying too much attention to me.”“I’ve been payin

**Kaels pov**“Aurora!” My voice echoed through the ruined chamber, but there was no answer. I threw aside broken pieces of crystal, my crimson aura illuminating the dust that still hung in the air. The place where Aurora had been standing moments ago was nothing but shattered stone and the remains of the fourth pillar, there was no blood, and no body. It was as though she had simply vanished.“Kael!”Adrian grabbed my shoulder before I could jump into the crack itself. “You can’t go down there!”I shoved him away. “She was right here!”“I know!”“I won’t leave her!” Another wave of ancient power erupted from the abyss, forcing all of us backward, as the First King hadn’t moved. He simply stood on the broken seal with his hands behind his back, watching us like a king observing children. His smile never faded.“You search for the witch princess.”I glared at him. “Where is she?”He tilted his head. “Do you truly think I would answer that?”My vampire aura burst around me. “I