Arcana was too quiet.
Not peaceful. Not calm.
Just… quiet.
The kind of quiet that made it feel like something was missing.
Or worse—
Like something was waiting.
I stood at the edge of the Hollow Stone, staring out over the village like I could force something to change if I just refused to look away.
Nothing ever did.
Same rooftops. Same winding paths. Same people moving through the same lives they'd lived yesterday… and the day before that… and the day before that.
"I'm not staying here."
Behind me, Nikolai didn't look up.
"You say that every morning."
"That's because it's still true."
I turned, crossing my arms. He was crouched near the surface of the Hollow Stone again, brushing dust away like he expected it to reveal something new if he just tried hard enough.
"You've been staring at that thing for weeks," I said.
"It's not a thing."
"It's a rock."
"It's carved."
I rolled my eyes. "By who? No one here even has tools like that."
"That's exactly why it matters."
He traced one of the faint lines etched into the surface. I'd seen them before—everyone had—but no one ever paid them much attention.
Until now.
The lines curved.
Not randomly.
Deliberately.
Repeating patterns that almost looked like they were trying to say something.
"…That's new," I said.
"No," Nikolai replied quietly.
"It isn't."
I frowned. "Then why has no one noticed it before?"
"They have," he said. "They just didn't understand it."
Before I could respond—
The wind stopped.
Not slowed.
Not shifted.
Stopped.
The trees froze mid-sway. The smoke rising from chimneys hung still in the air.
Every sound disappeared.
My chest tightened. "Nikolai…"
"I know."
The Hollow Stone began to glow.
Faint at first.
Then brighter.
Then—
Alive.
The fracture running through it pulsed with light like something beneath it had just opened its eyes.
I took a step back. "Okay… that's definitely new."
Nikolai didn't answer.
He was staring past me.
I turned—
And felt it before I saw him.
The air bent.
Not visibly.
But wrong.
Like the world had tightened around a single point.
And then—
He was there.
No footsteps.
No sound.
No arrival.
The Archmage simply existed.
Standing a few paces away.
Still.
Watching.
Everything about him felt… absolute.
Not threatening.
Not welcoming.
Just—
Unavoidable.
My throat went dry. "Was he—"
"Yes," Nikolai said quietly.
We didn't move.
We couldn't.
The Archmage's gaze passed over the village once.
Then settled on us.
Not curious.
Not impressed.
Certain.
Chosen.
"You have been called," he said.
His voice wasn't loud.
But it didn't need to be.
It felt like it settled into everything around us—into the stone, the air, the silence itself.
I stepped forward before I could stop myself. "For the trials?"
The Archmage regarded me for a moment.
Then—
"Yes."
That was it.
No explanation.
No warning.
Just certainty.
My heart started pounding.
This was it.
Nikolai stood slowly. "The Temple of Cipher?"
The Archmage inclined his head.
"You will begin there."
I glanced at Nikolai, then back at the Archmage.
"Then let's go," I said.
Nikolai opened his mouth—probably to say something cautious—
But the Archmage had already raised his hand.
Two fingers.
Something about that gesture made my chest tighten.
Like instinct was trying to warn me—but I didn't know what about.
"Wait—" Nikolai started.
The Archmage closed his fingers.
**Snap.**
The world folded.
Arcana stretched inward, like it was being pulled into something smaller than it should have been.
The Hollow Stone vanished.
The village blurred.
Light bent.
Sound disappeared.
And then—
Stone beneath my feet.
Cold.
Unfamiliar.
I stumbled forward, catching myself as the world reformed around us.
Walls rose around us.
Massive. Endless.
Carved with glowing runes that shifted when I tried to focus on them.
The air felt heavier.
Alive.
"…Where are we?" I asked.
Nikolai didn't answer immediately.
He was looking up—eyes tracking the impossible height of the structure surrounding us.
"…The capital," he said finally.
I turned slowly.
The space stretched far beyond what it should have been.
Columns lined the chamber. A ceiling lost in shadow. Doors taller than anything I had ever seen stood ahead, sealed with glowing sigils.
And everywhere—
People.
Acolytes.
Dozens of them.
From places I didn't recognize.
From villages I had never heard of.
We weren't the only ones chosen.
We were just two of many.
I scanned the room instinctively—
Looking for the one person who brought us here.
The Archmage—
Was gone.
Like he had never been there at all.
A slow breath left my chest.
"…So this is it," I murmured.
No one answered.
No one needed to.
Because whatever this place was—
Whatever waited for us here—
Had already begun.