Chapter 4

The night was quiet—but not peaceful.

Kadven Academy never truly slept. It only pretended to. The torches lining the outer halls flickered low, humming with weak magic. They cast more shadow than light. The wind outside clawed against the windows, whispering warnings no one heard.

I moved through the darkness like smoke. Silent. Controlled.

The eastern tower was the oldest part of the academy. No students trained there. No instructors taught. It stood crooked against the moonlight, its stone darker than the rest of the school. The air grew colder the closer I got. Like the tower didn't belong here. Like it didn't want to.

I passed the guard post near the east wing. Empty.

Strange.

They always patrolled that area—except tonight.

Someone wanted me to reach the tower.

The note I found days ago burned in my memory: "Meet me at the eastern tower. Midnight. Come alone."

I followed its words, because I had no choice. In Kadven, ignoring a call like this could be more dangerous than answering it. And I was already being watched. That much I knew.

The wooden door creaked open without effort. Dust swirled in the air. The scent of rot and magic drifted from within.

I stepped inside.

The tower swallowed the moonlight behind me.

The staircase spiraled upward, crumbling in places. Magicless torches lined the walls, long since burned out. Spiderwebs clung to the corners like faded memories. As I climbed, I felt the weight of centuries press against my shoulders.

This place was forgotten for a reason.

Stone scratched beneath my boots. Each step echoed up and down the walls, like the tower was listening.

Halfway up, I paused.

The air shifted. Colder.

A whisper—too low to hear clearly—brushed my ear.

I drew the short blade hidden beneath my coat. Not for a fight. Just for comfort. The blade was dull. Old. But it was mine. I trusted it more than I trusted magic.

When I reached the top floor, I found the chamber waiting.

Circular. Hollow. Quiet.

A massive seal was carved into the stone in the center of the room. Ancient runes, twisted lines, half-buried in dust. Some were faded. Some glowed faintly, pulsing like a dying heartbeat.

Something had been here once.

And maybe, it still was.

I stepped closer.

As my foot touched the edge of the seal, light flared to life. Blue and silver. Cold and silent.

I did not flinch.

A soft hum filled the room. The air thickened. The torches lit on their own, casting flickering light across the stone walls. Shadows danced along the carvings—symbols I didn't understand, but recognized.

Not from books. From dreams.

Nightmares.

Then came the voice.

Not spoken, but felt. Inside my head.

"You came."

It was not human. Female, perhaps, but distant. Cold. The kind of voice that didn't speak often. The kind that only spoke when it had something dangerous to say.

"Who are you?" I asked.

Silence.

Then: "You do not belong here."

I stepped forward. "Neither do you."

The seal glowed brighter.

From the center, smoke rose—thick and black. It formed into a shape. A figure. Cloaked in shadow. No face. Just eyes. Eyes like broken mirrors, reflecting nothing.

It hovered above the ground.

"You are the first," it whispered, "in a long time."

"The first what?"

"To survive the seal's call."

It moved, not walking—gliding across the air.

"Why am I here?"

"Because something in you doesn't fit. Not with the nobles. Not with the commoners. Not with the rules."

I stared at the figure. My heartbeat stayed calm. I was used to monsters. This one just had a voice.

"I didn't come here by choice," I said.

"You did," the figure said. "You read the note. You followed. You chose."

I clenched my jaw. "Someone sent that note."

The figure tilted its head.

"No. Something sent it."

My blood went still.

"Kadven was not always an academy," it said. "Before the walls were built, before magic wore crowns, there was something else here. Something buried."

It floated back toward the seal.

"And now, that thing is stirring."

"Why me?" I asked.

It paused.

Then: "Because you're not afraid to look in the dark."

The seal began to dim.

The smoke retreated. The figure faded.

But before it vanished, it left one last word.

"Soon."

The light died. The torches went cold. The seal stopped glowing.

I stood alone in the silent chamber.

I looked down at the seal. The runes had changed.

A new symbol now burned faintly at the center—one I had never seen before, but understood completely.

It was my name.

Written in a language no one alive should know.

I left the tower before dawn.

The halls were still empty.

But I wasn't.

Something had seen me. Spoken to me. Marked me.

I felt the change inside. Not power. Not fear.

Awareness.

I wasn't just being watched anymore.

Now—I was expected.