Todos os capítulos de Ember Academy : Capítulo 31 - Capítulo 40

"We have to find her." Sera was already moving toward the east gate, the letter crumpled tight in her fist, fire flaring bright and dangerous at her fingertips despite the late hour. "She said they found her. Now, Dorian, that means now.""Sera, wait." Dorian caught her arm, urgent but not restraining. "We don't know where she is. Running blindly into the dark won't help her if we can't even find the right direction.""Then we ask Oren." Mira was already turning back toward the practice yards, voice tight with worry. "He'll know where she'd go. He has to."They found Oren in the practice yard exactly where Sera expected, and the moment he saw the letter in her hand, his face went pale in a way she'd never seen from him before."Show me." His voice was clipped, urgent, and he read the note twice before looking up, jaw tight with barely restrained fear. "This is her hand. Genuine, not forged. Something's gone very wrong.""Where would she go?" Sera demanded. "If she's in danger, if she'

Dorian reached the staircase first, taking the stone steps two at a time, and slammed his shoulder hard against the narrowing gap just as it closed to less than a foot wide. Stone grated against stone, grinding slow and inexorable, and for one terrible moment Sera thought they'd simply be crushed trying to force something that had been built to seal."It's not stopping!" His voice was strained with effort, both hands braced against the shifting rock. "Sera, I need fire, now, whatever you can give me!"Sera didn't hesitate. She ran to his side, pressing her palms flat against the ancient mechanism, and reached for her flame with everything she had left in her, desperate and raw, no longer the careful, controlled will Oren had spent weeks teaching her, but something closer to pure need.The stone resisted at first, ancient and indifferent to her panic, but slowly, agonizingly, she felt it respond, the grinding slowing, then stalling entirely, the gap holding steady at barely wide enough

Sera ran the entire way to the infirmary, Mira close behind her, and found Vell propped against a narrow cot, face pale and drawn, a bandage wound tight around her ribs, dark bruising visible along her jaw where someone had struck her hard enough to leave a lasting mark."You're alive." Sera's voice cracked with relief as she dropped to her knees beside the cot. "I thought, when we found the cottage, the blood—""I got out before they finished what they came to do." Vell's voice was hoarse, weak, but steady. "Barely. I've spent the better part of a day hiding in the hills, moving only after dark.""Who attacked you?""House Corvane's own household guard. Not the polished escort Cassia paraded through your gates. Quieter men. Better trained for exactly this kind of work." Vell's hand found Sera's wrist, gripping tight despite her obvious exhaustion. "Listen to me carefully, Sera, because I don't know how much time I have before I need to rest, and what I have to tell you matters more t

"A month." Mira's voice was tight with worry as the two of them walked toward the dining hall the next morning. "A month until every noble house on the continent descends on this academy to decide what to do about you.""I'm trying not to think about it." Sera's voice came out steadier than she felt. "Right now I just want to get through today's lesson without the whole world ending in the middle of it.""Small victories." Mira managed a tired smile. "I can respect that."Renna had posted the rank advancement schedule outside the main lecture hall, and a cluster of students had already gathered around it, murmuring excitedly about the trial dates now fixed only three weeks out."Ember rank trials," Sera read aloud, scanning the parchment. "Control under compound pressure, sustained affinity output, and a written examination on elemental theory.""Written examination." Mira groaned. "I'm considerably better at making water do interesting things than I am at explaining, on paper, precis

"You held that compound sequence longer than I did." The voice was quiet, clipped, and Sera turned to find a girl she recognized only vaguely from theory lectures, pale hair pulled back severe and tight, frost affinity marked by the faint chill that seemed to cling to her even in the warm afternoon air. "Renna singled you out again today. Third time this week.""I didn't realize anyone was counting.""Someone always counts." The girl's voice carried an edge Sera hadn't noticed from her before, something brittle beneath the composed surface. "I'm Ilara. Frost affinity. Third year, technically, though I've been held back at Flame rank for two seasons now, while you, two months into your first year, are already outperforming students who've trained for years longer than you have.""I didn't ask to outperform anyone.""No." Ilara's mouth thinned, something cold and unreadable flickering behind her pale eyes. "You never do. That's rather the maddening thing about you, isn't it. Everything