A localized shadow began to bleed into the center of the iron bars beneath the black fabric. [Warning. High-density shadow mana detected. Proximity: 12 meters.] Grey's voice rang directly in the center of my mind, and entirely detached from the panic rising in the classroom. [Lord Symon, I'm suppressing your sympathetic core resonance. Keep your breathing steady.] I gripped the edge of my desk, forcing my chest to rise and fall as Grey quietly locked down my own mana before it could react to the ambient pressure. In front of the dais, the black fabric draping the birdcage suddenly caught fire—not with light, but with a freezing, ink-black flame that consumed the cloth without leaving ash. The heavy iron bars groaned, twisting outward as if melted from the inside out. From the ruined cage, a cloud of thick, billowing black smoke spilled onto the table, dissolving into wisps of pure shadow as it hit the stone floor. Then, the creature stepped out. It was a massive, predatory wol

AMELIA'S POV The shattered pieces of the testing orb lay scattered across the stone floor like a warning. The silence in the room was absolute, heavy enough to drown out the ringing in my ears. "You," the creature repeated from atop the ruined table, its small, human-like face twisting into a mocking grin. "Finally." "Did it... did it just speak?" someone stammered from the back rows. Vance didn't answer. He didn't even move. The instructor's eyes were wide, staring at the simian frame, the translucent dragon wings, and the dull golden scales lining its spine. His hand was white-knuckled against the hilt of his blade, his breathing completely arrested. I could bet the same thing was on his mind. Symon had a way of exceeding your expectations. It was almost as if he always meant to. To leave you wondering what kind of person he was. But right now, I think he had exceeded his own expectations. I had only seen him like this once; that time we faced a Berserker. "What is that?" Flai

"Can I come?" Vax paced at the foot of the bed like a puppy wanting a walk."No, you cannot come." I tightened the straps of my bag once more. I'd done that a dozen times now, my hands shaking the whole time I packed."How long will you be away?" She came and sat next to the bag.I made a counting face to annoy her. She hissed and slapped my arm. "Don't do that." I laughed and ruffled her hair."At most, two moons.""That's awfully a long time.""Astrid is going to look after you for me. Even Amelia.""And who's going to look after you?" Her eyes stayed locked on me, unblinking. I set the robe down and pulled her into my arms. "You forget your big brother is the strongest Flowborn." I patted her head."You still get hurt when I'm not looking.""I'm bringing three powerful friends with me. I'll be fine."She ended up helping me pack the rest of my clothes anyway, and forced a book into my bag so I'd at least study spells while I was gone.By the time I came down into the main courtyard,

DAY 2 Daybreak came sluggishly, and I resented every second of it. I hadn't slept, not really — not with what waited behind my eyes the moment I closed them. The Fifth Moon Collegium was burning. I could hear students screaming as the roofs caved in on top of them, could see my own familiar perched calmly on a girl's shoulder, and when she turned, it wasn't a stranger's face at all. It was Mazikeen, smiling at me with teeth stained red. At her feet lay Amelia, drained of blood, skin gone paper-white. Lucifero stood frozen among the ruins, body stiff, eyes turned to glass. To my left, Baron impaled against a wall while Ace knelt in the ash, choking on her own blood as she tried to speak. Mazikeen looked at me and said it was my fault. That I was the doom that had done this. I sat up so fast I slammed my skull against the bed frame, and after that, sleep didn't return no matter how long I lay there. By the time I made it down the stairs, the rest of the party was already strapping

The climb took most of the afternoon. Thick brush caught at our clothes the whole way up, and the trees grew close enough together that we lost the sky for long stretches at a time, nothing but green light filtering down through leaves. Nobody talked much. There wasn't a lot of breath to spare for it.We found the clearing just past a ridge — a small shelter, more lean-to than house, built from mismatched wood that had clearly been someone's home for a while. A fire pit sat at its center, still smoking faintly.Baron knelt beside it and pressed his palm flat against the ash."Still warm," he said. "He hasn't been gone long.""So he knows we're coming," Lucifero said, arms crossed, favoring the shoulder he'd taken the chain hit near."Or he just doesn't like company." Ace dropped onto a fallen log, wiping sweat from her forehead. Then her eyes found mine, and whatever patience she'd been holding onto for the last hour ran out. "Okay. Enough. Why does this man matter so much?""Ace—""N