-Asher-
The iron bolt on the outside of our dormitory door didn't just signal our imprisonment; it felt like a challenge. The sound of it sliding home was a heavy, metallic clack that echoed through the West Commons, followed by the retreating, rhythmic thud of the Silencers' boots.
I didn't turn away from the window. My eyes were fixed on the North Spire, a jagged finger of stone clawing at the moonlit sky. Somewhere up there, behind cold stone and iron bars, Alexia was being "cleansed." The word made my stomach turn. I knew the Council's definition of cleansing. It was a stripping. A hollowout.
They were going to take the very thing that made her her, and I was standing here behind a locked door.
"Jasper," I rasped. My voice sounded like it had been dragged through gravel. "Open it."
Jasper didn't ask which "it" I meant. He moved across the room, his fingers tracing the familiar grooves of the mahogany bookshelf. The others—Finn and Soren—were pacing like caged lions, their magic sparking and grounding out against the dampening stones of the room. But I was still. I was the eye of the storm.
"I'm opening the crawlspace," Jasper murmured, finding the hidden catch behind a leather-bound volume. "But Asher, it's tight. A man your size won't fit through the junctions, especially not the vertical shafts near the Spire."
I looked at him then, and I saw the moment he understood.
"I'm not going as a man," I said.
The bookshelf groaned—a sound so faint it was more of a vibration—and swung inward to reveal a narrow, dark passage that smelled of dust and ancient secrets. I handed the silver fox to Soren. The little creature whimpered, its large eyes reflecting the moonlight as it pawed at my chest, but I stepped back.
"Keep it safe," I commanded.
I didn't wait for an answer. I closed my eyes and reached for the thing that lived beneath my skin. Usually, the shift was a struggle—a battle for control. But today, the wolf was already there, pacing the cage of my ribs, snarling at the scent of the Council guards. I didn't fight it. I let the heat of the transformation take me.
The sound of bones popping and resetting echoed in the quiet room. My vision shifted, the colors bleeding away into a sharp, high-contrast world of greys and silvers. My sense of smell exploded—I could smell the ozone on Finn's skin, the cedar wood of the shelf, and the faint, unmistakable scent of Alexia's lavender and starlight lingering on the air.
I was smaller now, sleeker, my paws silent against the floorboards. I let out a low, vibrating huff and slipped into the dark passage.
The tunnel was a labyrinth of shadows. To a human, it would have been a claustrophobic nightmare, but to the wolf, it was a hunting run. I moved with a fluid, predatory grace, my claws clicking softly against the stone. I could feel the school breathing around me. The masonry was cold, but the pipes running alongside the tunnel hummed with a warmth that felt like a pulse.
I climbed the vertical shaft, my powerful hind legs driving me upward. I bypassed the floors where the Council guards were patrolling—I could hear their heartbeats through the walls, steady and arrogant. They thought they had us contained. They thought they were the apex predators in this house.
They were wrong.
I reached the North Spire junction. The air here was different—sharp and biting, tasting of artificial magic and old copper. I followed the scent of the man I hated most: Elder Thorne. His scent was like rotting parchment and stagnant water.
I found the ventilation grate overlooking the primary laboratory. I didn't breathe; I didn't move. I simply watched.
The lab was bathed in a sickly violet light. Alexia was there. My heart—the wolf's heart—hit my ribs like a hammer. She was strapped into a stone chair, her wrists and ankles bound by glowing cuffs. She looked so small against the massive dampening crystals that surrounded her.
Thorne stood over her, his hands glowing with a muddy, grey energy. He held a glass conduit against the base of her throat, and as he chanted, I saw thin, golden threads of magic being pulled out of her skin and into a vial.
He was stealing her light.
I let out a sound—a low, guttural vibration that never left my throat. If I had been a man, I would have roared. As a wolf, I was a shadow. I watched as Thorne leaned closer, his voice an oily whisper.
"Fascinating," Thorne murmured. "The connection isn't just magical; it's cellular. The school isn't just protecting you, Alexia. It's feeding you. And soon, it will feed the High Council."
"You're… a thief," Alexia rasped. Her voice broke my heart. It was weak, exhausted, but the fire was still there in her eyes.
"I am a steward," Thorne countered.
I looked at the grate. I could bend the metal. I could be on his throat in three seconds. But I saw the Silencers standing by the door—four of them, their pikes ready. If I jumped now, I'd be a rug before I touched Thorne. I needed a distraction. I needed to know if there was anyone else in these walls.
I backed away from the grate, my paws silent on the stone, and headed toward the hidden chamber behind the Headmistress's quarters. I knew Shade was restricted, but she knew the school better than anyone.
As I rounded the corner of the duct, I ran headfirst into a wall of silver-grey fabric.
I growled, my lips curling back to reveal teeth that could crush bone. But the figure didn't flinch. A hand, thin and smelling of ancient ink and dried herbs, reached out and touched the top of my head.
"Steady, Asher," Shade whispered.
I froze. She was draped in a heavy cloak, her eyes reflecting the faint light like a cat's. She looked tired, her face lined with the stress of the day, but her presence was a steadying force. She didn't seem surprised to see a massive black wolf in her vents.
"I knew Jasper would open the doors for you," she said, her voice barely a breath. "And I knew you wouldn't be able to stay in that room while she was up here."
I huffed, a questioning sound.
"He's building a bridge, Asher," Shade said, her expression turning grim as she looked toward the laboratory wall. "Vane and Thorne aren't just here to secure the school. They're here to anchor Gideon. They're using Alexia as a battery to pull him through reality and directly into the heart of Whisperwind tonight."
The fur on my neck stood up. Gideon. Here.
"We need the others," Shade said, reaching into her cloak and pulling out a heavy brass key—the master key to the school's physical locks. "But most of all, we need that fox. It isn't just a pet, Asher. It's the missing piece of the school's core. Gideon stole it years ago, and bringing it back here… it's the only way to wake the school up fully."
She looked me in the eyes, and for a moment, the wolf and the Headmistress understood each other perfectly.
"Go back," she commanded. "Tell Jasper to prep the West Commons. When the moon hits the peak of the Spire, Thorne will begin the final siphon. That's when we strike. I'll be waiting at the base of the tower."
I let out a sharp, short bark of agreement. I turned and sprinted back through the tunnels, my heart racing. I had a mission now. I wasn't just a prisoner; I was the messenger of a revolution.
As I slipped back through the bookshelf and shifted back into my human form, I didn't even care that I was naked and shivering in the cold air. I looked at Jasper, Soren, and Finn, who were all staring at me with wide eyes.
"Get ready," I said, my voice finally steady. "We're not just saving Alexia. We're taking back the school."