Chapter 36
The stars above Sanctum Astrae had begun to dim—not visibly, not yet—but in the sense that all who looked at them now felt a pressure behind their eyes. As if something in the firmament had shifted its gaze.
Astern didn't sleep that night. Not truly.
Visions haunted the edges of his thoughts. Whispers curled around him like smoke. The blade—though hidden—was alive in his spirit now. It throbbed with thought, silent commands, and memories not his own. In his dreams, he saw the faces of angels lost to time, and the shattered silhouette of the ghoul who once carried the Severer.
He awoke to find his pillow soaked in sweat and his wrist markings glowing faintly beneath the cloth.
Kaela was already up, running drills outside. Lunaria meditated by the window, her eyes watching the horizon.
"We're being watched," she said without looking at him.
"I know."
She finally turned. "Your aura has changed. Even the wind bends around you."
Astern stepped into his boots and buckled his uniform. "Then I'll walk where it doesn't."
---
That morning, during Spellweaving Class, the head instructor—a tall, thin angel named Professor Varnel—halted mid-lesson. His golden eyes locked on Astern.
"You. Step forward."
The entire class fell silent.
Astern obeyed.
Professor Varnel extended a tuning orb—used to measure resonance between soul and spell. "Project your spiritual energy into this."
Astern did so.
The orb shattered.
Varnel blinked. "...Interesting."
He smiled, but there was no warmth in it.
"You're dismissed. I'll be sending a report to the Tower."
As Astern turned to leave, murmurs broke out across the room. Rylen and Faye exchanged glances. Neither looked surprised.
---
That afternoon, Kaela pulled Astern aside. "You broke the tuning orb?"
"I didn't mean to."
She narrowed her eyes. "You're going to draw attention you can't fight off yet."
Lunaria joined them, flipping a page in her field journal. "Too late. The inner council already knows. They'll want to test you again. Publicly."
"Let them," Astern said.
Kaela looked incredulous. "You really want to show them that?"
"No. But if I don't, they'll dig until they do anyway. Better to control what they see."
Lunaria gave a thin smile. "Spoken like someone raised in shadows."
---
That evening, a courier arrived.
A message sealed in crystal:
To Cadet Astern of Dorm D,
You are hereby summoned for Ascendant Evaluation under Section VII of the Arcane Protocol. Your presence is required at the Aetherium Hall at dawn.
This assessment is mandatory.
Signed,
Instructor Lyssan, Council of Authority
Kaela read it over his shoulder. "They're testing you like a second-year."
Lunaria folded her arms. "This isn't about evaluation. It's a spectacle."
Astern said nothing.
He folded the letter and placed it beneath his pillow.
---
The next morning, the sky over Sanctum Astrae would be clear.
Too clear.
The kind of sky that waited for something to fall.