The banners of the High Arbiters rose like silver spears against the sky.
In every city, from the stone plazas of Velharn to the market shrines of the Eastern Reach, their words echoed through enchanted crystals and messenger flame.
> "On the ninth day of Frostwane, the village of Colva was attacked and razed to the ground. The perpetrators were soldiers of the Demon Realm. There were no survivors."
Clean. Measured. Absolute.
The announcer's voice did not tremble. It was the voice of authority, practiced and precise.
And the world believed it.
Why wouldn't they?
After all, no one ever questioned the Arbiters.
---
At the Grand Arcanum Academy, nestled between cloud-kissed cliffs and wards older than nations, three students watched the news in silence.
Aya stood motionless beneath the crystal projection, her lips parted in disbelief. The report played again and again—Colva, gone. Demon Realm, responsible. No survivors.
Her voice finally broke the stillness.
"No... that can't be right."
Kaela gripped the edge of the table, knuckles white. "They said no survivors."
Theo said nothing.
His fists were clenched. His eyes locked on the image above the flames. Not of Colva—but of the seal of the Arbiters, stamped like truth on every word.
His breath trembled. Just once.
Then steadied.
Aya turned to him. "Theo… your family… Aisu…"
"I know."
Silence crushed them. The kind that settles into the bones and stays.
Kaela's voice cracked. "Can't we go back? Just to see?"
Theo shook his head. "We're not allowed to leave the academy mid-term. They'd never approve it."
"Then what do we do?" Aya whispered.
No one answered.
Because there was nothing to be done.
Not by them.
Not here.
---
They gathered beneath the night sky, where the moonlight could not soften the weight they carried.
The wind whispered through the blossom trees lining the academy paths. But none of them moved. The stars above blinked like silent witnesses.
"Aisu always said we'd go together," Kaela murmured. "That the academy was just the beginning."
Theo stared up at the sky. "He used to laugh at everything. Even when things went wrong."
Aya closed her eyes, tears slipping down her cheek. "He was supposed to be here with us."
The academy bell tolled in the distance.
Duty called them back.
Life continued.
Even when hearts did not.
---
In the Arbiters' records, Colva was a casualty. Another town fallen to the endless war against the Demon Realm. One more reason for fear. For obedience.
And in the eyes of the world, Aisu Erlic died that day.
But some truths do not die so easily.
They burn.
Quiet.
Waiting.