Midnight loosened its grip on Arclight Academy, but I didn't sleep. I lay still, listening to the wind hum against ancient stones. My mind replayed the day's fragments: the worry in Elane's eyes, Cassandra's cold warning, Liora's silent gift, and the threads of rumor wrapping tighter with each passing hour.
By morning, I moved through the halls as a ghost among the living. Even the most trivial exchanges now seemed weighted by unspoken expectations.
Tension in the Air
Breakfast was a quiet affair. Students gathered in their usual cliques, conversation lower than usual, eyes drifting whenever I entered a room. Mireille appeared at my side with quiet efficiency, taking her seat as though she'd always been there.
"We train after classes," she murmured—no greeting, no question.
"Every day?" I asked, trying not to sound overwhelmed.
She offered a rare, sardonic smile. "Until you stop looking over your shoulder."
That sounded unlikely. Still, I nodded, grateful for a focus beyond surviving rumors.
Seraphina breezed past, pausing long enough to leave a small vial at my elbow. "For nerves," she whispered. "Or poison. Depends how you use it."
I almost laughed—almost.
Unnerving Lessons
In Spell Theory, Elane chose the seat beside mine, hands trembling just slightly as she opened her notes. Between lines of arcane formulae, she'd scrawled three words I couldn't ignore: You're not alone.
I smiled back—genuine, if weary.
Liora was unusually close all day, appearing in doorways and disappearing again with barely a sound. When I found a slip of parchment tucked inside my lunch satchel bearing only a hastily drawn watchful eye, I guessed its origin.
Cassandra intercepted me in the corridor before our last lecture, hand shielding her mouth as she spoke. "Stay near crowds. Something's brewing."
Her warning proved prescient. As the sun dipped, a tense hush fell across the campus.
The Storm Breaks
I headed for the training grounds to meet Mireille, but the path was blocked—a cluster of older students, faces unfamiliar and expressions hard. Their leader, an upper-year with the House Arenth crest, stepped forward.
"You're Ulric?" he said, pronouncing my name like a challenge.
Mireille emerged in a flash, sword at her hip but voice icy and controlled. "He's with me. I suggest you move."
A few bristled. Others, recognizing her, quickly averted their gazes. The confrontation thinned as Cassandra and Seraphina arrived simultaneously—one projecting authority, one amusement laced with threat.
"We're done here," Cassandra said, tone final. The upper-years retreated, but not before one tossed a sneer over his shoulder. "Be careful, Ulric. Not everyone wants you around."
The silence after they left was louder than their threats.
Alone, Together
Mireille's gaze lingered on mine longer than usual. "Do you understand now?" she asked softly. "Why you need to be ready. Why we're here."
No easy answer came. I swallowed. "Do you… ever get tired of all the watching?"
She seemed to struggle with a response before finally admitting, "Yes. But that changes nothing. We move forward—even if everyone else moves against us."
In that moment, the invisible battle lines at Arclight Academy felt clearer than ever. I wasn't just a bystander swept off the page. I was the center of a storm, watched, measured, and—God help me—protected by the most dangerous classmates I could imagine.
As the five gathered, the day's tensions eased, if only slightly. For now, we faced the academy together. Whatever waited beneath the surface, I knew I would not face it alone.
[End of Chapter 9]