Lahat ng Kabanata ng The Academy of The Ascendant - Book 1 Marked by Starlight: Kabanata 11 - Kabanata 20

(Lyra’s POV)By morning, the frost had melted—but the words on the mirror hadn’t.You are not the first.I stared at them until my vision blurred, blinking hard like that would change what I’d seen. But it didn’t. No matter how many times I scrubbed the glass, the letters stayed. Frozen into the surface. Etched by a hand that hadn’t needed to touch the ice at all.When the knock came, I didn’t move.Three short, sharp raps.I opened the door to find Instructor Varran. Again.His voice, as always, was a blade dulled only slightly by years of use. “You’ve been summoned to the field.”“For what?” I rasped.His pale eyes raked over me, unimpressed. “Your first Trial. Ascendants are tested in public. You’ll be evaluated by the Court.”A cold rock settled in my stomach. “Already?”He didn’t answer.Instead, he turned and walked—clearly expecting me to follow.The training field wasn’t a field. It was a coliseum, carved into the side of the mountain like a giant had scooped it out with a cla

(Lyra’s POV)I didn’t sleep.Not really.After the dream — the throne, the stars, the name — I stayed curled beneath the rough wool blanket, watching my breath fog in the cold.The mark on my wrist had only just stopped glowing. It still pulsed, faintly, like a second heartbeat. Like it knew something was coming.And it was right.The knock came just after dawn.Three times. Firm. Unapologetic.I didn’t move. Not right away.But the door opened anyway.Because of course it did.“Get dressed,” said a voice that made the air itself tighten.Riven leaned against the doorway, hood half-pulled over his dark curls, arms crossed like he was born to be a problem.I sat up slowly. “You knock now?”“I do lots of things no one expects.” He glanced pointedly at the sparking veins under my skin. “But I’m not here to flirt.”“Shame.”He smirked. “You’re being summoned.”That got my attention. “For what?”“Official duel. One-on-one. Ranked.” He straightened. “You’ve been challenged.”I stared at him.

(Talon’s POV)The symbol burned into my mind before I ever saw it up close.Four interwoven spirals, each representing one of the primal elements: fire, water, earth, air. But surrounding them — barely visible to the untrained eye — was the fifth arc.The shadow.The absence.Void.The symbol had been outlawed over a century ago. Erased from texts, banned from magical heraldry, its use punishable by exile. Or worse.And now, it sat beneath her skin.Lyra. Or… Lyriana, if the whispers were to be believed.And I was the only one trying to understand it.I should have walked away after her duel with Cassian.He didn’t speak of it, but I saw the shake in his hand afterward, the way he avoided the training grounds, the way fire no longer leapt to his fingers without conscious effort.He’d touched something ancient inside her — and it had rattled even him.Riven, of course, was basking in it.He always leaned toward destruction like a wolf toward blood.But me?I leaned toward knowledge.And

(Lyra’s POV)The desk still smelled like him.Leather, ash, and that something else I hadn’t placed — cold steel and winter wind.Talon had left before dawn.He didn’t say goodbye.Not that I’d expected him to. Not with the way we tangled our bodies like secrets the stars weren’t allowed to hear. Not with how many truths we’d left unsaid between gasps.But still.I’d wanted… something.Even if it was just a look.Instead, I got summoned.The Headmistress didn’t knock.She didn’t need to.The magic that rippled through the air when she approached my room was so thick, the torches on the wall bowed inward. The wards whispered warnings. My mark pulsed beneath my skin.She stepped into the room like royalty, all star-draped robes and glowing eyes. I stood automatically, spine straight, heart hammering for reasons that had nothing to do with fear — and everything to do with knowing this wasn’t a normal visit.“You’ve been busy,” she said.I swallowed. “If this is about the duel—”“It’s not.

(Lyra POV)The wall still pulsed behind us.Its glow reached the floor in thin, violent arcs. The shadows it cast were not static — they moved, like the Void wasn’t just responding to us.It was watching.Wanting.Claiming.But I didn’t care.Because Riven’s mouth was on mine again, rough and desperate and almost angry with how much we needed this — needed each other.He forced me against the wall by grabbing my hair with one hand and holding my waist firmly with the other as though he believed I would disappear.I didn’t.I pressed into him. Moaned into his mouth.And that’s when it hit me.Not fear. Not pain.Just need.A need that lived deeper than my bones. A want that felt like it had been growing inside me since the day I fell into this world.Since the first time he looked at me like I was fire and he was the only one willing to burn.His body retreated as he gasped for air while his eyes took on an unprecedented darkness.“Last chance,” he rasped. “Tell me to stop.”I shook my