Chapter: Chapter 6By the time I make it back to my room, everything hurts. Not in a dramatic way or in a way anyone would notice.Just—everywhere. I shut the door behind me and lean against it for a second, letting the quiet settle in. I slowly slide down the door until I am sitting on the cool floor. I drop my head into my hands.How am I going to survive this? If I don’t find a way to escape, I am certain I will die. And I will be damned if my entrance into Eryndor is caused by this Gods forsaken school.I stand up shakily and move toward the washroom, grabbing a cloth and rinsing it under cold water before pressing it to my lip. It stings. But in a way, it’s grounding. I need to know I’m still here. I catch a glimpse of myself in the mirror and cringe. I look away before I start hating what I'm looking at. I clean the worst of the blood, ignoring the dull ache spreading through my ribs and shoulder. I've had worse. I've had a lot worse.Still, this is different. Not the pain, but the rest of it. T
Last Updated: 2026-06-11
Chapter: Chapter 5The training field is already full when I find it. Figures I'd be the one circling the academy twice before realizing I was going the wrong way.I step through the gates just as the instructor's voice cuts across the field. "Late." he bellows.Every head turns, but I don’t react. "Just on time," I correct stifling a smirk.A few students snort. The instructor definitely does not. The instructor is huge. Tall and muscular with ice blue eyes. His gaze drags over me once with a look I can't place. Shame? Disgust? Unease? Like he might kill me? "Find a place." he says, dismissing me. I stalk over and stand next to Seyla. If I'm going to be here at all, I might as well not be here alone if I can help it. She gives me a soft smile and then turns her head towards the instructor. The instructor at the center of the training field does not raise his voice, yet it carries cleanly across the training field. "I am Instructor Draven," he said, hands clasped behind his back, his gaze cutt
Last Updated: 2026-06-08
Chapter: Chapter 4I wake before the sun. For a second, I don't remember where I am. Then I do. And I wish I didn't.The ceiling above me isn't stone. No cracks. No damp. No flickering torchlight. Just smooth, unfamiliar quiet.My body is already tense, already awake, already waiting for something to go wrong. Old habits don't fade. They settle in your bones.I sit up slowly, scanning the room out of instinct. One door. One window. No immediate threats. Good enough. The silence presses in around me.I swing my legs over the side of the bed and stand, rolling my shoulders once before moving toward the washroom.The water is warm. Hot even. Skyless Keep either had freezing water or no water. I stand under it longer than I mean to, letting it run over my skin, over scars I don't look at too closely. Clean doesn't feel like mine yet. Neither does this place.When I step out, I dry off quickly, pulling on the cadet uniform piece by piece. It fits. Too well. Like I belong here. Like I was always meant to end
Last Updated: 2026-06-03
Chapter: Chapter 3The movement stops. That's what wakes me. Not a voice. Not a hand. The absence of motion. For a second, I don't open my eyes. Five years teaches you that waking up slowly is safer than waking up fast. I listen to the muted voices outside. The low, restless rumble of the ironclads. And something else. Distant. Way louder than it should be. Like the air itself is... alive. I open my eyes.The inside of the transport is dim, shadows stretching across the reinforced walls. My neck aches slightly from where I'd leaned against the side, but I ignore it as I sit up straighter.We're not moving. Which I assume means we are here. The window is too small and muddled for me to see out of. I stand, adjusting the uniform automatically, brushing invisible dust from the sleeves.The door swings open before I can reach it. Light floods in again, but this time, I don't hesitate. I step out. And stop. Aetherion Academy towers above me.It's carved into the cliffs like it belongs there—stone and iron
Last Updated: 2026-06-03
Chapter: Chapter 2The doors open. Not with a scream like the cell. Not with resistance. Just a heavy, final shift of iron that echoes deeper than anything else I've heard in five years. Then blinding light. I stop. It hits all at once. Too bright. Too open. Too much. I raise a hand, squinting against it, but I don't look away. Not after five years of being prisoner in Skyless Keep. No windows, no sunshine. I refuse to allow myself to look away. After my eyes adjust, I look around at my surroundings. The sky stretches endlessly above me, gray-blue and streaked with slow-moving clouds. I stare at it like it might disappear if I blink too long. I forgot how big it was. Forgot how... exposed it feels. Like standing under something that sees everything. "Move," the guard snaps behind me. This time, I do. The path curves away from the prison, winding along the mountainside until it opens into a wide clearing carved into the rock. And that's where I see them. Not one. Not two. A full escort. Guards
Last Updated: 2026-06-03
Chapter: Chapter 1The iron door screams as it opens. I've heard that sound every morning for five years. Metal dragging against stone. Rust grinding against rust. The sound of another day I didn't ask for.Usually, the guard shoves stale bread through the bars and keeps walking. Today, he unlocks them. I hold my breath.Chains teach you patience. Hope is a dangerous thing in a place like this."Well?" the guard barks. "You planning to rot in there forever, traitor's daughter?" He sneers.There it is. Doesn't matter how many years pass, they never forget what I am.I push myself off the stone floor slowly, joints stiff from another night pressed against the damp wall. I don't rush. I don't stumble. Weakness gets noticed here, and noticed things don't last long.I step into the thin strip of torchlight spilling through the open cell.The guard looks... disappointed. They always are. After hearing stories about the Thalorien traitors, people expect something terrifying. A monster. A girl with madness in h
Last Updated: 2026-06-03
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