Later, when Kalen returned to the dormitory, he was shaking. He was tired. He knew he shouldn't have used the Ward. But he had no choice.
"Where have you been?" Reina's voice greeted him at the entrance.
Kalen walked past him in silence. His back ached. His shoulder throbbed as if a molten bone were pulsing beneath it. He simply stepped out onto the balcony, collapsed onto the stone, and stared down at the fog-shrouded figure of Voldkrane.
The towers breathed. Smoke rose into a sky that knew neither sun nor moon. Magic bubbled like blood in an open vein.
"Did you get into trouble again?" Reina sat down next to him. "I felt your shadow twitch. She was angry."
Kalen turned slightly to face her.
— I was invited to a "test."
"And?"
"And I'm back."
She looked at him intently. Her scarlet eyes were as deep as the night.
— You don't have to tell me.
"I wasn't going to.
They fell silent. Only the sound of magical vapors could be heard behind them.
A few minutes later, a messenger owl flew into the room. It had a magical scroll in its talon.
The school day has not been canceled. Report to the school by 8:00. There will be new classes.
- Curator of Saen.
Kallen winced. He hadn't slept for almost a day. But there was no choice.
***
The morning has begun
Kallen sat in the back of the classroom, wiping his face and fighting the urge to just lie down on the floor. His head was throbbing. A shadow at the base of his spine throbbed like a nail driven into his skin.
The first lesson: "Fiction and Antimagic"
Teacher: Madame Khailinn, a dry elf with a voice of marble.
"Illusions are the first lie that magic creates. Learn to distinguish between reality and imitation, or you will die from your own fear."
Kalen heard her words, but they were like the rustling of paper.
Second lesson: "The Foundation of Epheta"
Teacher: Archmage Veres, a demonic scientist with metal implants in his mouth.
— Ephéta has no form. It is what binds energy and will. And if you have no will, you will be like shit in a toilet, hanging around and flushing yourself.
Kalen grinned for the first time that day.
Lesson 3: Hybrid Tactics
"Today is a demonstration," said Master Bron, the dwarf with the magical eye. "In the arena. Lionheart and..."
"Nah," Kallen stood up. "I'm out. I just got back from... you know."
"That's an order.
Kalen stood up and walked out. He didn't use Ward in the arena. Only his physical abilities. Only his speed and restraint. He won in three minutes. His opponent, a werewolf, never stood up again.
The class stared at him in silence.
After the ninth lesson, Kalen just fell into bed. But sleep didn't come.
My body ached. My head was filled with fog and screams.
He felt: The Shadow is alive. And it is looking at him from the depths.
"Ward," he whispered. "Do we go back there?"
And the dream sucked him in like a swamp.
***
Nightmare.
He was on his knees again, but this time he was in chains.
"Look," said the voice of the unknown executioner, "if you don't break, we'll do it for you."
First, he ate dirt. Then, he ate his own skin. Then, he was forced to eat a burnt hand.
Every time he vomited, someone would stab his eye, pull it out, and put it back in.
"It lasted for weeks. And then..."
He was screaming. But not with sound — with shadow.