The combat field was silent long after the shadow fissure disappeared.
Students huddled together, whispering in frightened bursts. Instructors barked orders, trying to regain control. Two mages performed barrier restoration spells. A healer rushed toward a fainted third-year.
But none of that reached Auretria.
Her ears rang with a soft, rhythmic throb—Aether pulsing too close to the surface, refusing to calm. The world around her felt distant, like she was trapped underwater looking up at distorted shapes moving above the surface.
Cyras had not moved away.
He still stood in front of her, sword drawn, his breath uneven—not from exertion, but from shock.
"You didn't cast defensive magic earlier," he said quietly. "Your body did."
Auretria swallowed hard. "I didn't mean to. I don't know how to—"
"That's the problem." His eyes narrowed. "You don't know. And there's something—someone—out there who does."
Before she could respond, Professor Elyra strode toward them, her usual calm replaced with grim urgency.
"Lady Auretria," she said, voice low, "you are to come with me immediately."
Cyras stepped in front of Auretria again. "Professor, with all due respect—she's shaken. She needs—"
"She needs protection," Elyra interrupted sharply. "And answers. Both of which she'll get in my office. Now move, Vellhart."
Cyras didn't budge.
Auretria tugged weakly on his sleeve. "It's okay… I'll go."
He looked at her—really looked—the way someone studies a dangerous magical device. Cautious, curious, calculating.
Then he slowly lowered his sword and stepped aside.
Elyra placed a hand on Auretria's back and gently guided her across the field. Students parted on instinct, shifting away as if afraid the Aether lingering around her might detonate.
Auretria kept her gaze down, ignoring the whispers.
Is she cursed?
Why did the monster go after her?
Did she summon it?
Every step she took, the coils of Aether inside her tightened.
Professor Elyra's Office — A Door Locked to the World
Elyra did not stop until they reached a heavily warded door at the far end of the east tower. She pressed her palm against the sigil carved into the wood. It glowed, humming as layers of magical locks shifted open.
The door swung inward.
Auretria stepped inside slowly.
Bookshelves towered from floor to ceiling. Glass tanks held swirling stardust samples. Blueprints of Aether formations were pinned across the walls. A large, circular table sat in the center—etched with runes Auretria had never seen before.
Elyra closed the door behind them and activated four more barriers.
Auretria frowned. "Why… all this security?"
"Because what I'm about to tell you," Elyra said, "is forbidden knowledge."
There was no warmth in her voice—only steel.
Auretria sat, clutching her hands tightly. Her knuckles were white.
"Professor… that thing last night. And today—the shadow monster. Is it following me?"
Elyra inhaled slowly. "Yes."
Auretria felt the floor tilt. "Why?"
Instead of answering, Elyra walked to a cabinet and removed a large crystal orb filled with drifting blue smoke. Runes glowed faintly at its base.
"This device records Aether movement across the Academy. I checked it the moment your surge last night was reported."
Elyra placed the orb on the table.
The smoke inside shifted.
A silvery outline of the Academy appeared—tiny lights flickering at various locations, representing Aether users.
Auretria watched, confused.
"What am I looking for?"
Elyra exhaled. "A signature that does not belong."
She tapped the base.
The smoky display zoomed in… centering on Auretria's dorm.
At first, Auretria expected to see her own blue aura.
Instead, she saw two signatures.
One bright and unstable—her own.
And another—
black.
Liquid black.
It pulsed like a slow heartbeat, coiling through shadows, slipping into her room from beneath the floor.
Auretria's breath caught.
"That…" she whispered, "that's the one from last night."
"Yes," Elyra said softly.
"But why didn't the guards see it? Why can't anyone detect it?"
"Because," Elyra said darkly, "that Aether signature belongs to a type of magic the Empire declared extinct a decade ago."
Auretria felt a chill creep up her spine.
"What magic?"
Elyra met her gaze.
"Aether corruption."
Auretria blinked. "Corruption?"
"The thing you saw—it was not a beast, not a spirit, not a spell." Elyra's voice dropped even lower. "It was a fragment of a corrupted Sorcerer Queen."
Auretria's heart stopped.
"What…?"
Elyra continued. "When the Sorcerer Queens vanished ten years ago, the Empire claimed they died. But they didn't die naturally. They were consumed by something. Something that twisted their Aether into a poison."
Auretria's hands trembled violently.
"Why would a corrupted Sorcerer Queen come after me? I never met her. I don't—"
"Auretria," Elyra said, "look at your reflection."
Auretria blinked.
Elyra lifted a small mirror.
Auretria stared at herself—golden hair, ocean-blue eyes glowing faintly with energy.
"Those features," Elyra said, "are not just beautiful. They are the royal inheritance of Aether. Only a Sorcerer Queen's bloodline carries them."
Auretria felt her throat close.
"No," she whispered, "my family… we're nobles, but we're not—"
"You are," Elyra cut in gently. "You were born during the Night of the Oracle. You carry an Aether capacity no child should possess. Your magic reacts to danger on its own. And most importantly…"
Elyra leaned in.
"…the corrupted Queen is seeking you. She seeks her successor."
Silence crushed the room.
Auretria felt faint.
"I—I don't want to be that. I don't want any throne or crown or—"
"This isn't about wanting," Elyra said. "This is about survival."
Auretria looked up sharply.
"What do you mean?"
Elyra took a shaky breath.
"The corruption hunts potential vessels. If it cannot claim you…"
Her words trailed off.
Auretria swallowed.
"…it will kill me, won't it?"
Elyra didn't confirm it.
She didn't need to.
A Knock That Shouldn't Exist
Before Elyra could continue, someone knocked on the door.
Sharp. Three times.
Elyra stiffened. "No one should be able to enter this tower without my permission."
Auretria felt her skin prickle.
Elyra lifted a warding spell, her hands glowing with silver magic. "Stay behind me."
The knock came again.
Harder.
Elyra whispered three incantations. Runes glowed, locking the room tighter.
"Who is it?" she demanded.
The answer was not a voice.
It was a whisper breathed straight into Auretria's bones.
Child of Aether…
Auretria's blood turned to ice.
Elyra's eyes widened—she had heard it too.
"Auretria, stay back!"
Another impact slammed into the door. Dust rained from the ceiling. Shelves rattled. Books trembled.
Elyra's protective wards flickered.
"No—this shouldn't be possible," Elyra muttered. "This is holy Aether reinforcement—only a high-ranking Sorcerer could break—"
The door cracked.
From the outside, shadowy tendrils seeped through the splintering wood, writhing like black veins.
Auretria stumbled back. Her mind raced.
It followed me.
It found me again.
It won't stop.
Elyra grabbed her wrist. "We have to escape. Through the lower chambers."
"What chambers—?"
"No time."
Elyra dragged her across the room toward a large rune etched into the floor. The lines glowed as Elyra poured magic into them.
A trapdoor opened, revealing a spiraling staircase descending into darkness.
Auretria hesitated.
Above them, the door cracked again—this time splitting straight down the center.
A pale, masked silhouette appeared through the opening.
Elyra shoved Auretria downward.
"Run!"
Auretria fell onto the first step just as the door shattered and darkness flooded into the room above.
Cyras's voice suddenly echoed from the corridor.
"Professor Elyra—!!"
Another sound followed—metal clashing, a grunt of pain, the crackle of magic.
Auretria shot up in panic. "CYRAS!"
"Don't!" Elyra snapped. "If you go back up, you'll die!"
Auretria trembled. "But he—"
"Move!"
The shadows were already pouring down the stairs.
Auretria's fear snapped something inside her.
The Aether burst outward without her casting anything—like a desperate scream turned into power. Light spiraled around her arms, forming luminous tendrils that whipped through the air, holding back the shadows for a brief moment.
But only briefly.
"We can't outrun it," Auretria gasped.
"No," Elyra said, eyes fierce, "but we can confront it where its magic is weakest—the old chambers beneath the Academy."
"Why are they weak there?"
"Because," Elyra said grimly, "that is where the Sorcerer Queens were last seen alive."
Auretria froze.
The shadows surged again.
There was no time left.
No choices.
No turning back.
Auretria gritted her teeth and ran into the dark.
Toward the truth.
Toward danger.
Toward whatever hunted her.
And somewhere behind them…
The masked figure followed.
Silently.
Patiently.
As if the hunt had only just begun.
---