"I won't let you do this," Jace said. His voice was quiet, but the weight behind it was heavy. I looked up at him. His face had shifted—his usual easy smile was gone, replaced by something harder. "I'm not going to watch you walk into those mountains," he continued. "You'll die. And I'll be the one who has to explain to someone that I let my only friend go off to get himself killed." "You don't own me, Jace." "No, but I'm not going to just sit here and let you throw your life away." He stepped closer. "You want to get stronger? Fine. We'll find another way. But the mountains aren't the answer." "Then what is?" "I don't know yet. But I'll help you find it." I wanted to tell him he didn't understand—that staying here meant slowly being crushed by Sebastian and his kind, that every day I stayed weak was another day they could take something from me. But looking at his face, I couldn't say any of that. Instead, I just nodded. --- The next morning came faster than I

The rabbit blinked.I didn't know if that was an answer. But I was starting to think it might be.I sat there for a long time, the book open in my lap, the rabbit curled beside me. My mind raced with questions. What was she? Why had she chosen me? And what did the violet light mean?Maybe I need to do something before she can evolve, I thought. Maybe the book is just the beginning.I closed my eyes and tried to reach out again. The warmth was still there—faint, but present. Not Darian's presence. Not my own. Something else.I didn't know what it meant. But I was determined to find out.---The next morning, I woke before the others.The rabbit was already awake, sitting at the foot of my cot, her cloudy eyes fixed on the window. She was watching the mountains again.I dressed quietly, my mind already turning over the previous day's events. The class. The mana test. The violet light. Vasa's reaction.I needed to know more.Jace stirred as I was lacing my boots. "You're up early.""Coul

I walked back to the dorm in a daze. The corridors were empty, the torches casting long shadows across the stone floors. My footsteps echoed in the silence, each one matching the rhythm of my racing heart. Someone who loved her. Before you were born. I replayed the old man's words over and over, turning them in my mind like a stone I couldn't put down. What really happened seventeen years ago? Who loved my mother? And what could possibly be happening in those mountains? The questions burned in my chest. If my mother isn't a mere maid as the strange woman said... if the old man is keeping her picture in this great school... and my father is a member of House Vex... then having a rabbit as my beast can't be a coincidence. I looked down at the rabbit padding beside me. Her cloudy eyes were fixed ahead, her ears twitching at every sound. And the fact that the rabbit is strange... that was beginning to disturb me. I reached the dorm door and pushed it open gently. Jace

The corridor was narrow, the walls rough stone.I moved forward, one hand trailing along the cold surface, the other pressed against my chest where the rabbit lay hidden. Her warmth was the only comfort in the suffocating darkness.The passage was old. I could feel it in the uneven floor, the damp air, the way the walls seemed to close in around me. Every few steps, my foot would catch on a loose stone, and I'd freeze, my blood roaring in my ears, waiting for the sound to echo back at me.But nothing came. Just the silence. Just the dark.I couldn't see my hand in front of my face. The darkness was absolute—thick and heavy like water. I kept my other hand on the wall, using it as a guide, trusting it to lead me forward.The air smelled of wet stone and something else—something older. Mold, maybe. Or decay. I tried not to think about it.The rabbit pressed closer to me. Her body was still, but I could feel her breat