The hallway beyond the archive wing was the kind of forgotten that made silence feel alive.
Dust had gathered in thick layers over the marble tiles, dimming the sigils carved into the floor centuries ago. Kaelen moved slowly, every step a hush of shifting grime beneath his boots. Behind him, Seraphine traced her fingers across the stone wall, eyes narrowed with unspoken memory. Selene brought up the rear, her cloak drawn close, every bit the silent shadow.
They shouldn't be here. Even Mira had hesitated at the door, and Mira didn't hesitate for much.
"This wing hasn't been opened in decades."
Kaelen could still hear her voice in his head, the low rasp of warning hidden behind curiosity. She had stayed behind to distract the librarian, but he'd seen the flash of worry behind her mask when she handed him the black key sigil.
"This door doesn't just keep people out. It keeps things in."
He hadn't asked what she meant. Part of him didn't want to know.
The hall ended in a sealed archway of ironwood, laced with glyphs so old they shimmered faintly even in shadow. He knelt, brushing his fingers over one—instinct guiding him. His glyph responded immediately, flickering with pale silver.
Selene's voice was low. "You're not hesitating."
Kaelen gave a quiet smile. "If I start hesitating now, I won't move again."
Seraphine stepped beside him, arms folded. "Then let's not give you the chance. I'll watch the corridor."
Selene didn't move. Her gaze was fixed on him, too long, too thoughtful.
He felt it again—that pull.
Not quite affection. Not quite fear.
Just… recognition. Like a string drawn tight between them, even if neither of them knew which end they held.
The door clicked open.
The archive room wasn't a library. Not anymore.
It had the shape of one—rows of long-forgotten bookshelves, desks with cracked inkpots, scroll racks eaten by dust. But something in the air bent sound. Every breath came out just a little too quiet. Every footstep felt muted, like the room swallowed noise.
They moved through it carefully, eyes scanning.
Kaelen paused near a half-fallen shelf, his glyph flickering again, almost trembling.
Selene stopped beside him. "It's resonating again, isn't it?"
"Yeah. Like it knows where we are."
Seraphine knelt near a sealed pedestal at the far end of the room. Her voice was calm, but there was tension beneath it. "This isn't random. That door needed a glyph to open, and this room hasn't been disturbed in decades."
"Then what's this?" Kaelen asked softly.
"Evidence," Seraphine replied. "Or a trap."
Selene didn't respond. She walked ahead, to a shattered mirror set against the wall. It was ringed in silver and gold, but cracked down the center. Her reflection stared back in broken lines.
Kaelen's voice found her. "You see something."
"No." She frowned. "I don't. That's what bothers me."
He stepped beside her. His reflection shimmered faintly in the fractured glass. Selene's didn't appear at all.
Seraphine crossed the room quickly and knelt before the pedestal. "Found something."
She brushed her hand over the sigil lock. It was faded, but not dead. A heartbeat of power pulsed through the floor.
Kaelen felt his glyph flare in answer—just enough to make his spine tighten.
"Wait—"
Seraphine pressed the lock.
The room shifted.
Not violently. Not with any sound. It simply changed. The air turned sharp, tinged with copper and ozone. Glyphs lit faintly across the walls—patterns that hadn't been visible before. The mirror no longer showed anything at all. Not even Kaelen.
The pedestal cracked open.
Inside was a thin black volume bound in old leather. It looked… unremarkable.
And yet Kaelen couldn't take his eyes off it.
Seraphine picked it up gently. "It's humming."
Selene stepped closer. "That book's older than the Academy."
Kaelen reached for it.
And the moment his fingers brushed the cover—
The world bent.
Flashes. A shattered city. A burning sky. Glyphs unspooling like chains. A scream he knew but had never heard.
And two figures standing over a dying god, their hands entwined.
Hers.
And his.
He gasped, stumbling back. Selene caught him before he hit the ground, one arm steadying him, the other bracing his shoulder.
Her voice was barely audible. "What did you see?"
Kaelen's heart thundered. He shook his head. "I don't… know."
But he did. Or part of him did.
Not a memory. A warning.
Seraphine closed the book with a frown. "We shouldn't be here."
Kaelen looked at her. "Then why is this place calling to me?"
Selene's gaze was unreadable. "Because it remembers you."
They left the room quickly, resealing the lock behind them. Mira was waiting outside, arms folded, not asking questions. She never did.
Back in the dormitory tower, the tension lingered like storm air.
Kaelen couldn't sleep.
The book was hidden in the false drawer of Seraphine's desk. No one would touch it for now. But its memory hadn't left him. The vision. The blood. The voice.
He stood near the balcony, letting the night air cool his thoughts.
And then he heard the door creak open.
Selene.
She didn't speak. Just stepped beside him, arms folded on the railing, eyes on the distant tower that pierced the horizon.
They stood in silence for a while.
Then she said, "That place changed you."
Kaelen didn't deny it.
Selene turned to him. "You ever wonder why I stayed?"
He looked at her.
"You think it's duty. Or curiosity. Or that I'm just watching you for someone else." She paused. "But the truth is… I don't know anymore."
Kaelen's breath caught.
She stepped closer. Not touching, but just enough to share his space. The moonlight caught in her silver lashes, and for a heartbeat, she looked like something pulled out of the vision itself—half-real, half-remembered.
Selene whispered, "I keep seeing you in places I've never been."
Kaelen's voice was quiet. "That makes two of us."
He didn't move.
She didn't step away.
And in that fragile silence, something passed between them. Not quite a kiss. Not yet. Just the space where one might happen if either of them dared.
But they didn't.
Not tonight.
She turned before it broke, her voice a murmur. "Goodnight, Kaelen."
He watched her go, heartbeat still not steady.
And when he looked up at the Tower again, it didn't seem so distant anymore.