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CHAPTER 65: THE ASHES OF THE TOWER
The white light sputtered out.Just like that, the tower was only a tower again.Ronan stood over the wrecked altar, chest still heaving. Dust and something darker clung to the edge of his rusted sword. Blown-out candles smoked nearby. The priests lay scattered on the floor, slowly shifting back to themselves as the Sixth's twisted magic faded.“Is it over?” Kael asked, wiping blood from a cut above his brow. “Did we get him?”Ronan shook his head. “He ran.”Kael spat. “Of course. Coward.”On the altar, the Hollow’s body was still. The sickly white glow had vanished. Their breathing sounded steady, and Mira was already checking their pulse.“They’re okay,” she said, relief thick in her voice. “The ritual didn’t work.”Lyra watched from the doorway and whispered, “Thank the gods.”Ronan met her eyes, a little bitter. “What’s left of them, anyway.”No time to linger.The Academy was stirring awake, and chaos was spreading like wildfire. Wards flickered, barely holding, like a lantern gu
CHAPTER 64:THE UNSEEN ENEMY
Nobody had time for celebrations. All that mattered now was running.They stepped out of the Grand Sanctum, and everything changed. Torches in the halls sputtered out, the usual floating lights disappeared, and darkness swallowed the corridors. Somewhere deep within the stone walls, a grinding sound echoed it felt like the whole Academy was shuddering in pain.Ronan froze, sword halfway out. Kael glanced around. “What’s happening?” Silas, blindfolded as always, tilted his head and listened. “The Sixth,” he whispered. “Cardinal Vane wasn’t just escaping he’s triggered something.” Vaelin’s voice was barely audible. “The wards. Old magic tied to the stones themselves. If the Sixth corrupts them…” Ronan finished for her, “The Academy turns into a trap.”They quickened their pace, heading for the Forbidden Division. The air got colder. Shadows stretched after them. Ronan kept spotting something at the edge of his vision a dark flicker, white robes but when he turned, nothing.“They’re
CHAPTER 63: THE HIGH COUNCIL
The High Council of the Order of the Scales gathered in the Grand Sanctum. It wasn’t a place that welcomed outsiders or heretics, for that matter.Ronan waited in the antechamber, listening as muffled voices drifted through the heavy oak doors. Judges, arbiters the most powerful in the kingdom all crammed in one room, and all of them were there to decide if he’d live or die.Vaelin stood beside him, robes perfect, silver scale shining, not a single crease out of place. She’d prepared all night. Wrote her petition. Collected evidence. Practiced her arguments over and over until she could’ve recited them in her sleep.“You’re nervous,” Vaelin said quietly.“I’m fine.”“You’re counting your steps again.”Ronan glanced down, caught himself drumming his fingers against his thigh. He stopped. “I’m fine,” he insisted.The doors swung open.Inside, the Grand Sanctum echoed with silence a massive circular space, rows and rows of arbiters in grey robes rising high above the stone floor. The acc
CHAPTER 62: THE RETURN TO THE GATES
The Academy’s walls rose out of the early mist, looking like the ribs of some ancient, sleeping beast.Ronan paused at the tree line, just staring.Six weeks had slipped by since he’d last been here. Six weeks since he’d fought Seraphina in the arena. Six weeks since the Inquisitor branded him a heretic and sent paladins chasing him through the woods.The place hadn’t changed. Towers still caught the morning light, banners still snapped above the battlements, colors bright and proud despite the cold breeze. But everything felt different now. The place seemed smaller. Almost breakable.Or maybe he was the one who’d changed.Vaelin stepped up next to him.“The wards are still up,” she said. “I can feel them buzzing. That’ll keep the Church out if they try anything big.”“But they won’t stop us?”“Nope. The wards still recognize students and staff. You’re still on the rolls. So are the others.” Her gaze lingered on him. “But the second the High Arbiter finds out you’re here, he can revok
CHAPTER 61: THE TOWN OF ASHES
They hit the edge of the Academy’s territory by the end of the fourth day, and the first thing anyone noticed was smoke.Ronan pulled up at the top of the ridge and raised a hand to stop the group.Down in the valley, what used to be a town sprawled in ruin. Buildings were nothing but charred bones. No one moved in the streets. Thick gray smoke curled into the evening, drifting up from what used to be the temple in the center.“Raiders?” Darius asked him.“No,” Vaelin answered. Her voice was cold and flat. “The Church.”Ronan glanced back at her.“The Order of the Scales has orders to stamp out heresy wherever someone claims it’s lurking,” she said. “The Church sends them in as muscle, really. If a village is accused of sheltering heretics, the Order sweeps in. They torch the temple. They drag away the leaders. The rest? Starve or scatter. They don’t care.”“They burned the whole town?” Mira could hardly get the words out.“They burned the temple. The flames spread.” Vaelin kept her e
CHAPTER 60: THE CROSSROADS
They walked for three days, silent and tired. On the third day, the world finally showed its new face.They came across a village at the base of the mountain pass. Just some wooden houses clinging together, a lonely well, and a temple roofed in white. The kind of place you pass through and forget about.Except there was a crowd in the square something was off.Ronan stopped at the edge of the road, his hand sliding to his sword. “Something’s wrong,” he said.Silas picked up on it, too. His eyes narrowed. “There’s fear here,” he said, soft. “Panic. Something happened.”They crept closer, keeping to the trees on the edge. Ronan stayed low, the others right behind him.In the square, there was a platform. A handful of men in white robes stood there—priests, all marked with the sigil of Aelira. Kneeling in the dirt in front of them was a young man. His hands were tied, his face bruised and swollen. His shirt hung in tatters.“Please,” the young man begged, choking back tears. “I didn’t do
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