The alarm bell kept ringing — low, insistent, echoing across the grounds.
Kael and Miko didn't stop moving.
They skirted the outer wall, staying in the tree line — shadows cloaking their steps.
The seal was quiet now — almost smug.
Miko hated that feeling.
They reached a small service gate — one Kael clearly knew about.
He placed his palm on the lock.
It clicked open.
They slipped through — into the narrow alley between the academy wall and the outer forest.
Kael closed the gate behind them.
The bell stopped.
Silence — sudden, heavy.
Miko leaned against the wall, breathing hard.
"They know we were in the scar."
Kael nodded.
"Or they know we were in the archives.
Or both."
Miko looked at him.
"What now?"
Kael exhaled slowly.
"Now we disappear."
Miko stared.
"You mean leave the academy?"
"For now.
Until we know who's pulling the strings."
Miko laughed — short, disbelieving.
"Leave?
Where?
I don't even know this world."
Kael met her eyes.
"You have me."
She blinked.
He continued.
"I know places.
Outside the academy.
Places the rifts haven't reached yet.
Places where the seal might be… quieter."
Miko looked away.
"I don't want to run."
"You're not running.
You're regrouping."
She met his gaze again.
"And when we regroup?"
Kael's voice was quiet.
"We come back.
And we end it."
Miko felt the seal pulse — once, soft.
Like it was listening.
She pressed her hand over it.
"Okay."
Kael nodded.
"We move at dusk.
Until then — we stay hidden."
He turned toward the forest.
Miko followed.
They walked in silence for a while.
Then she spoke.
"Kael."
He glanced back.
She hesitated.
"If it comes down to it… if the seal tries to take me completely…"
He stopped walking.
Turned fully.
"I know what you're asking."
Miko swallowed.
"I don't want to hurt anyone else."
Kael stepped closer.
"You won't."
She looked up at him.
"How can you be sure?"
"Because I'll be there."
His voice was steady.
"And I won't let it happen."
Miko searched his face.
"You said you wouldn't hesitate."
"I won't."
She nodded — small, tight.
Then she kept walking.
Behind them, in the trees, something moved.
Not an animal.
Not a shadow.
A figure — cloaked, silent.
Watching.
To be continued…