The Storm Before the Gate

The wind over the Academy walls wasn't natural.

It didn't rattle glass.

Didn't rustle trees.

It whispered.

And it whispered in languages no one alive remembered.

---

Lyle felt it in his bones.

The Codex pulsed when he stepped outside.

Even sealed, the glyphs shimmered like they were under water.

> [Dimensional Gate Proximity Reached]

Time remaining: 1 day, 7 hours.

Warning: Localized distortions may intensify.

He slipped the ring from his finger, held it in his palm.

The swirling shadows inside now spun faster.

Like it could feel the pull from the other side.

Like it wanted to go home.

---

Juno joined him on the western balcony, overlooking the edge of the training grounds.

She didn't need to ask how close they were.

The sky told her.

Two moons.

One red.

The other flickering like static.

She tilted her head. "It's bleeding through."

Lyle nodded. "The seal's thinning."

"Does anyone else know?"

"They feel it. They just don't understand it."

"Yet."

---

Instructor Veil did.

She stood alone in the northern observatory, arms folded, watching the sky.

"Temporal flux," she muttered.

The scribe beside her glanced nervously at a blinking screen.

"Localized entirely around Cadet Greenbottle."

Veil exhaled.

Then smiled.

"Good. Let it open. Let's see who knocks first."

---

Down below, on the eastern training ridge, three upper-year cadets practiced silent step glyphwork.

None of them noticed the hairline fracture that formed in the stone at their feet.

Just a shimmer.

Like glass being stretched.

Something watching.

Something near.

---

Lyle sat at the edge of his bunk that night, staring at the ring.

Juno lay on the other bed, not asleep—just waiting.

"Are you scared?" she asked quietly.

"Yeah."

"Good. Means you're still human."

He glanced at her.

"You don't have to come."

She rolled her eyes and turned over. "You're an idiot."

---

And far away, beyond the reach of seals and laws and the rewritten Codex...

A bell rang.

Low.

Clear.

And Quinn—

The Bloodwalker—

Stood before his court.

"Prepare the southern cavern," he said. "We have a visitor incoming."

One of the guards bowed. "Shall I summon the council?"

"No."

He smiled.

"I want to greet him myself."