The boy was a shadow among shadows.
Kael Ardyn crouched by the abyss edge, his bony frame half-hidden beneath the broken ribs of a rusted airship. His fingers trembled as he picked scraps of metal from the wreckage. The abyss wind howled, carrying the stench of salt and dust.
For the villagers above, he was nothing. For the abyss below, he was food waiting to fall.
Yet somehow, he lived.
⸻
"Boy."
The voice snapped him to attention. Kael froze, clutching the scrap like a weapon.
From the cliff path, a man approached—a tall figure with iron-gray hair tied at the neck, a single arm wrapped in bandages, the other carrying a crooked staff. His eyes glowed faintly with Resonance, though dulled, as though once-brilliant flames had burned themselves to ash.
Kael knew the stories. This was Ashen Vox—a once-feared Resonant who had disappeared after shattering his own frequency.
"Stay back," Kael hissed, though his voice cracked. "I don't have anything."
Ashen studied him. Not with pity. Not with disgust. With calculation.
"You're the child who survived the abyssal attack last month."
Kael flinched. His chest burned with the memory—the beast, the fall, the silence.
"I don't know what you're talking about," he muttered.
But Ashen's gaze sharpened. "Don't lie. No one survives the Veil. Yet you returned. Whole. Breathing. Eyes… touched by something."
Kael's heart raced. He wanted to run, but his legs wouldn't move. The abyss wind howled louder, and for a moment he thought he heard it—the hum again, faint in his chest.
Ashen finally spoke:
"You're coming with me."
⸻
The High Dominion Academy was nothing like the slums Kael had known. Its gates loomed higher than fortresses, carved with glyphs that pulsed faintly with Resonance. Inside, spires clawed at the sky, bridges stretched across chasms, and crystals the size of houses pulsed with living light.
It was a world built for gods, not for him.
Kael's bare feet scraped against marble as Ashen led him inside. Students in fine cloaks and polished boots streamed past, their laughter like knives.
"Another charity case?" one sneered.
"Look at his clothes. He smells of the Hollow."
"Why would Vox waste his time with him?"
Kael kept his head down. The more they looked at him, the more he wanted to disappear.
Ashen didn't slow. His voice carried sharp across the courtyard.
"This boy will be tested like the rest of you. If he fails, he leaves. If he passes…" His gaze flickered to Kael. "…then you'll understand why I brought him here."
The crowd muttered, some in disbelief, others in amusement.
At the center of the courtyard, crystalline pedestals stood waiting. Each pulsed faintly, tuned to measure a student's Resonance.
"Step forward. Reveal your frequency," the examiner announced.
One by one, students placed their hands on the crystals. Golden wings burst forth. Blades of stormlight. Fire shaped into serpents. The courtyard erupted with applause each time.
Then came Kael's turn.
Whispers rose like a tide.
"That's him—the Hollow child."
"He doesn't even have a crest."
"Watch the crystal reject him."
Kael stepped forward, throat dry, palms slick. Ashen's eyes were on him—hard, expectant.
He pressed his hand to the pedestal.
…Nothing.
The crowd laughed instantly.
"Worthless."
"I knew it."
"Vox has finally gone senile."
Kael's hand began to shake. He wanted to tear it away, to run—but then he felt it.
The hum.
Deep in his chest, faint, impossible. A silence that wasn't empty but alive.
The crystal's glyphs flickered. Then died.
The entire pedestal shut down in absolute silence.
The laughter stopped. Students stumbled back, panic replacing mockery.
"He… erased the resonance?" an instructor whispered.
"That's not possible…" another hissed.
Ashen's eyes widened for the first time. His jaw tightened, but his voice was calm.
"…So. It wasn't a lie."
From the crowd, a sneer cut through the silence.
"Pathetic."
A boy stepped forward—tall, elegant, flame-shaped crest glowing on his uniform. His aura shimmered with controlled heat, eyes sharp with cruel precision.
Shin Ravek.
"You're no Resonant," Shin spat. "You're a flaw in the system. A mistake. And when the time comes, I'll burn that mistake out."
The courtyard erupted into whispers again.
Kael's chest thudded. His gaze dropped—but the hum inside him remained, steady, waiting.
He didn't understand it. He didn't trust it. But it was his.
And for the first time, as the academy turned its eyes on him, Kael realized one thing.
The silence that saved him would either destroy him—or the world.