Classes began at dawn.
There were no bells. No announcements. Just a ripple through the air—a shift in the magic that seemed to whisper, Wake up. Begin.
Aria stood in front of a mirror inside her dorm suite, tying the last strap of her standard-issue uniform. Deep navy and gold-lined, it fit her better than expected. Functional, crisp, elegant. She brushed a stray curl behind her ear, her golden eyes staring back at her with quiet intensity.
Nyra leaned on the doorframe behind her, stifling a yawn. "I forgot how early this place starts. It's like they're trying to weed out the weak through sleep deprivation."
"Sounds about right," Aria said dryly. "What's our first class?"
"Runic Theory with Master Cael. Rumor says he once cracked an arcane vault using only a spoon and a hymn."
"Let me guess—he's terrifying."
"No. Worse." Nyra grimaced. "He's disappointed."
As they made their way down the spiral staircase of the North Tower, the academy was already alive. Carriages drawn by shadow-foxes glided over stone pathways, delivering professors to towering halls. Elementals in uniform patrolled quietly, their forms flickering between mist and flame. Aria caught whispers of enchantments woven into walls—spells older than kingdoms.
The Runic Hall stood like a colossus, its entrance lined with statues of past Sealbearers and Archmages. Aria's gaze lingered on one with a long, cracked staff and no eyes.
A carved plaque beneath it read:
"Strength is not in destruction, but in what you choose to protect."
She swallowed. Her steps slowed.
Was that what she was meant to become?
Inside, the classroom resembled an amphitheater. Desks carved from obsidian arranged in arcs around a central platform. Master Cael stood at the center—tall, robed in storm-gray silk, hair like starlight and a gaze that swept over them all like he was measuring the weight of their souls.
Without a word, he waved a hand. Runes burst to life in the air—hundreds of them, floating, spinning, alive with meaning. Some pulsed with warmth. Others buzzed with barely restrained danger.
"Each of these symbols," he said, voice calm and deep, "has ended wars, rewritten histories, and shattered continents. You will learn them. Or you will leave."
Aria's fingers tingled.
The runes whispered.
One glowed gold as she looked at it. Her breath caught. It reacted to her.
Cael's head snapped toward her.
"Valemir," he said.
Of course he knew her name.
"What do you see?"
She hesitated. "It's… singing."
A murmur rippled through the class.
"Describe the song."
"Like… it's calling something out of me. Not words. Just meaning. Purpose."
A pause. Cael's eyes narrowed.
"I see," he murmured. "Stay after class."
Nyra mouthed you're dead behind her parchment.
After what felt like an hour of mind-warping theory and Cael's relentless questioning, the class ended. Students filed out quickly, grateful to escape.
Aria stood.
Cael didn't turn around as he spoke.
"That rune shouldn't respond to first-years. It represents Transcendence. Mastery of the self and the breaking of limits."
She blinked. "I didn't do anything."
"That," he said sharply, turning to face her, "is the problem. You're a vessel spilling over, and you don't even know what you contain."
He reached into his robe and pulled out a small silver orb.
"This will bind to you. It will monitor your magical flux. If it surges again like that, it will notify the Academy."
"Are you saying I'm dangerous?"
"I'm saying you're unstable." His tone was clinical, not unkind. "And that makes you very, very interesting."
Aria stared at the orb as it floated to her shoulder and embedded itself beneath her collar like a second heartbeat.
Outside the hall, Nyra was waiting. "Well?"
"I'm being watched now."
Nyra patted her on the back. "Welcome to the elite club. We have snacks and frequent mental breakdowns."
They walked toward their next class, the sun rising higher over the towers.
But Aria felt it—that something had shifted again.
Not just her magic. Not just the runes.
Fate.
Something was moving behind the scenes. Something waiting to be awakened.And she had the awful feeling… she'd be the one to wake it.