The moon hung low over the Academy, a ghostly sentinel in the deep velvet sky. Shadows gathered at the edges of the courtyards, where lamplight dared not reach. Somewhere in the labyrinth of halls and towers, secrets whispered like dying embers.
Kael didn't sleep that night.
He sat at the small desk in his dormitory, staring at the black amulet they had taken from Master Varick. It throbbed faintly, a slow pulse like a diseased heartbeat.
Across the room, Rynn leaned against the door, her arms crossed tightly.
"Someone placed that thing here," she said, her voice low. "Not just Varick. A network."
Kael nodded. "And if we start asking questions openly, we paint a target on ourselves."
Rynn pushed off the door and crossed to him. She placed a hand on his shoulder — warm, steady. "Then we do it the smart way. Quietly. We find out who else is involved. We find allies."
Kael met her gaze. In it, he saw no fear — only a fire that mirrored his own.
"We do this together," he said.
Her smile was small, but fierce. "Always."
The First Ally
Their first step was Serah.
After tending to her wounds in secret, they brought her to a disused hall near the stables — abandoned during the Academy's expansions years ago.
Serah limped, but her spirit was unbroken.
"I owe you my life," she said, her voice rough. "And after what I saw... I owe you the truth."
She lowered her hood and spoke in a rush, her voice shaking with urgency.
"The corruption didn't start here. It came from beyond the Bloodlands — from the Broken Isles. Someone — something — is gathering magic-users. Twisting them."
Kael's blood ran cold. He had heard of the Broken Isles — a shattered chain of lands to the east, believed cursed and uninhabitable.
Serah leaned closer. "They call it the 'Veilborn.' Those marked by ancient power... like you."
Kael stiffened.
"And they're hunting you," she added.
A heavy silence fell.
Finally, Kael asked, "Will you stand with us?"
Serah's answer was immediate. "Until the end."
Their circle was three now — still desperately small, but a beginning.
Trials of Flame and Blood
The next week passed in a blur.
The Academy, oblivious to the danger in its midst, pressed forward with its rigorous schedule.
Kael and Rynn trained harder than ever, mastering disciplines most students wouldn't touch for years: sigil weaving, elemental manipulation, weapon enchantment.
One brutal morning, they were summoned to the Chamber of Tempests — a colossal arena where the Academy tested its most promising students.
Instructor Vaelen, a grim-faced veteran, addressed the gathered hopefuls.
"You will face the Trial of Convergence," he barked. "Magic, mind, and might. Fail — and you leave the Academy."
Kael exchanged a glance with Rynn.
No pressure.
The first trial was a gauntlet — literal and magical.
They fought through summoned beasts made of shadow and flame, crossed bridges that flickered in and out of existence, solved arcane puzzles under brutal time limits.
Kael discovered new depths to his power — and new dangers.
During one fight against a summoned wyrm, he unleashed a burst of draconic energy so fierce that half the arena's wall shattered.
The instructors watched, silent and unreadable.
Rynn was no less fierce — weaving spells Kael didn't even recognize, her daggers dancing in her hands like extensions of her will.
By the end of the trials, sweat-drenched and bloodied, they stood alone among the wreckage.
They had passed.
But Kael saw the way Vaelen looked at him — not with pride, but suspicion.
The blood stirred in his veins, whispering of battles yet to come.
Nightfall Plans
That night, they met again in the old stable hall.
Serah had managed to steal records from the Head Archivist's private collection — maps, rosters, ancient tomes.
She spread them out on the cracked stone floor.
"Look," she said, pointing to a map of the Bloodlands. "There are sites where the old dragonblood once gathered — sanctuaries, hidden enclaves."
Kael traced one symbol with his finger: a mountain split by lightning.
Stormreach.
"The legend says," Serah murmured, "the Dragon King's heirs would awaken their true strength there."
Kael's pulse quickened.
"If we can reach it," Rynn said, "we might have a chance against whatever's coming."
Kael nodded. "We leave at dawn."
But as they made their plans, none of them noticed the small shadow flickering beyond the broken door.
Watching. Listening.
Betrayal Unfolding
They didn't even realize they were betrayed until it was too late.
At midnight, the attack came.
A dozen masked figures — students and instructors alike, their eyes glowing faintly with unnatural light — burst into the stable hall.
Kael barely had time to snatch up Veyrion before the first spells crackled toward him.
"GO!" he shouted at Rynn and Serah.
They fought like cornered wolves.
Kael moved through the enemy ranks with deadly precision, Veyrion blazing gold with every strike. Beside him, Rynn fought with a cold fury, her magic cutting down foes with ruthless efficiency.
But they were outnumbered — badly.
"Kael!" Rynn screamed.
A bolt of black energy lanced toward him.
Instinct took over.
Kael raised Veyrion — and something deep inside him unleashed.
A shockwave of golden fire erupted outward, vaporizing the nearest enemies.
The remaining attackers reeled back in terror.
For a heartbeat, Kael stood alone in a circle of scorched earth, his eyes burning like molten gold.
The blood had answered.
Escape to the Wilds
Panting, Kael staggered.
Rynn caught him, hauling him upright.
"We have to go!" she cried.
Kael nodded numbly.
Together with Serah, they fled into the night, vanishing into the tangled forests beyond the Academy's walls.
Behind them, the Academy burned with secret fires.
And ahead — in the dark unknown — destiny awaited.
Stormreach.The blood.The war.
It had only just begun.