One week bled into another, and the manor settled into a rhythm of quiet paranoia. Airalai remained bound and watched in shifts, her aura dimming more each day under the parasite's silent hunger. Bridge trained his nocturnal wolf until dawn most nights, its howls cutting through the stillness. And in between, Kain planned, instructed, and prepared.
But the season didn't wait for him. With the end of summer break, it was time for the students of Dark Moon College to return. It felt like yesterday that he'd first joined Dark Moon College, and now he would be entering his third year.
The sky above the academy's sprawling campus shimmered with the protective wards that had stood for centuries. Towers of black stone stretched toward the clouds, etched with glowing sigils. The air itself seemed heavier here—more saturated with spiritual power than anywhere else in the capital.
