The moon was only a thin silver crescent above the horizon when Kael Aldrich and Elias slipped beyond the academy gates.
The night was calm, yet there was a strange current in the air a pressure Kael could feel thrumming in his chest, steady and alive, like the heartbeat of the world itself.
They walked side by side along the mossy path that curved behind the east tower. Crickets chirped in the grass, and the old warding stones lining the boundary shimmered faintly, each one carved with runes that pulsed a soft blue. Beyond them lay darkness the Whispering Forest, vast and forbidden.
Kael had never been this close to the forest before. The students often told stories about it: that it breathed, that it whispered your name if you lingered too long, and that sometimes, shadows with eyes moved through it after midnight.
Normally, he would have stayed within the safety of the walls. But tonight, something called him.
"Are you sure this is wise?" Elias asked quietly. He held his staff loosely, its crystal tip glowing a faint amber. "If the instructors find out, we'll be scrubbing cauldrons until the next solstice."
Kael gave a faint smile. "You don't have to come."
"Someone has to keep you from accidentally burning down the forest."
Kael huffed out a laugh but didn't argue. The truth was, he needed to be here. For days now, his magic had been restless, stirring like a storm just beneath his skin. He could feel it even when he wasn't channeling like a whisper in the back of his mind.
The trees swayed as a cool breeze rolled past, carrying with it the faint scent of damp earth and something else something metallic, sharp, like ozone after lightning.
Elias paused, frowning. "Do you feel that?"
Kael nodded. "The air's… wrong."
The hum of the wardstones dimmed as they neared the edge. The forest beyond seemed almost to lean forward, its branches arching inward as though guarding whatever lay inside. The shadows here were thicker, heavier, their edges trembling faintly in the half-light.
Kael hesitated. Every instinct in him screamed don't go further. But his power pulsed again stronger now, almost demanding. He stepped across the boundary.
For a heartbeat, the world shifted.
The air grew colder. The sound of insects vanished. Even the stars above seemed dimmer, swallowed by the forest canopy.
Elias stepped in after him, muttering a soft incantation that sent ripples of light circling around them. "This is insane," he said under his breath.
They didn't have to wait long before the forest answered.
At first, it was only a sound a low vibration beneath their feet, like something large moving underground. The wind stilled, and the faint shimmer of magic brushed across Kael's senses.
Then came the growl.
It was deep and guttural, echoing between the trees until it felt like the forest itself was speaking. Kael's pulse spiked, magic coiling instinctively at his fingertips.
Elias lifted his staff, whispering, "Kael behind you."
Kael turned just as the darkness at the edge of the clearing rippled. The shadows moved, peeling away from the trees, gathering into a single shape. A beast no, a mass of smoke and claws stepped forward, its body constantly shifting. Its eyes were like molten gold, bright against the black mist that composed its form.
The creature exuded cold. It wasn't the absence of heat but the kind of cold that sank into bone a silence that consumed sound itself.
Kael's breath caught. "What… what is that?"
Elias's voice was tight. "A shadow beast. But it shouldn't be anywhere near the wards."
The creature lowered its head, nostrils flaring as it sniffed the air. The moment its gaze met Kael's, the world seemed to tilt. Something recognized him.
And then it lunged.
Elias slammed his staff down, conjuring a wall of light that burst upward between them and the beast. The creature struck it with a thunderous impact, the barrier flaring but holding—barely.
Kael raised both hands instinctively, calling fire. Orange light exploded around his fingers, heat rippling outward. He thrust his palms forward, and a torrent of flame surged from his hands, engulfing the beast.
But the fire didn't consume it. It split. The shadows absorbed the light, the flames vanishing like sparks into water.
Kael's heart pounded. "It ate the fire!"
"Try something else!" Elias shouted, straining to maintain the barrier as claws of darkness raked against it.
Kael switched focus, pulling at the wind. Air pressure built in his chest and burst outward in a wave, slamming into the creature with explosive force. This time, the beast staggered, its form unraveling into smoky ribbons before reassembling with a furious snarl.
It came again, faster than before.
Elias's barrier shattered. The impact threw both of them backward into the dirt. Kael rolled, tasting blood. The beast loomed above, claws glowing with sickly violet light.
Kael thrust out his hand. A pulse of energy erupted from his core uncontrolled, raw. The air shimmered, and for an instant, his magic expanded in every direction. His vision blurred with streaks of light and shadow, and suddenly he could see the creature differently: its body wasn't made of smoke at all it was woven from twisted magic threads, fragile but alive.
His instincts took over. Kael focused on the pattern, reaching toward it not to destroy, but to disrupt.
Light gathered around his palm, a bright silver that pulsed like a heartbeat. He pressed it forward.
The world exploded in a flash.
The beast screamed, its voice like metal grinding on stone. Shadows peeled away, burning with silver fire. For the first time, Kael saw something inside it a core of darkness, round and pulsing, surrounded by cracks of crimson light.
He was so close he could feel its energy pressing against his mind. And then
"You are one of us."
The voice wasn't sound. It bloomed directly inside his head, cold and heavy.
Kael stumbled back, eyes wide. "What…?"
The shadow's form wavered, unraveling like smoke caught in a breeze. Its molten eyes softened into something like recognition almost sorrow. Then it turned and dissolved completely, melting into the forest until nothing was left but silence.
Kael stood trembling, his breath ragged.
Elias pushed himself up, face pale. "That thing… it spoke?"
Kael nodded slowly, unable to tear his gaze from where the beast had stood. "It said I was one of them."
Elias frowned. "That's not possible. Shadow beasts don't talk. They're fragments what's left when corrupted magic consumes the soul."
Kael didn't answer. He could still feel the echo of that voice inside him, deep and ancient, like something that had always been there waiting.
Then he noticed the ground.
The soil where the creature had vanished was scorched black, but at its center lay something glinting faintly under the moonlight. Kael knelt and brushed away the ash. A shard crystal-like, dark purple shot through with veins of red pulsed faintly in his palm.
Elias crouched beside him, studying it. "That's not just residue. That's condensed essence. But" His brow furrowed. "I've only seen corrupted essence react that way near forbidden zones."
The crystal pulsed once, faintly. Kael felt warmth spread through his fingers not burning, not painful, just… familiar.
Then an image flashed in his mind: a burning sky, fields of shadow, and a tall figure cloaked in flame and darkness standing at the heart of it all eyes glowing with the same red veins as the shard.
Kael gasped and dropped it. The image vanished.
Elias caught his arm. "What happened?"
"I saw something. I think… it's connected to me."
Elias hesitated. "Then we need to take it to Master Lorian "
"No," Kael said sharply. He met Elias's eyes, determination burning behind the fear. "Not yet. If the instructors find out, they'll take it, study it, and I'll never learn what it means. I need time to understand this."
Elias looked torn but finally nodded. "Then we hide it. But Kael promise me you won't use it. Not until we know what it does."
"I promise."
Kael wrapped the shard in a strip of cloth and slipped it into the inside pocket of his cloak. He could still feel its pulse faintly against his chest like a second heartbeat.
The two began the slow walk back toward the academy. The forest seemed quieter now, though the silence didn't feel like peace. It felt like waiting.
When they reached the wardline, the runes flared brightly as Kael stepped across. For a brief moment, the magic around the stones reacted not to Elias, but to him. A faint ripple of light spread outward, like water disturbed by a stone.
Elias stopped, eyes widening. "Kael… the wards just"
"I saw," Kael whispered.
Neither spoke again until they were safely inside the courtyard. The familiar towers of the academy loomed against the moonlit sky, their windows glowing warmly. Yet, as Kael looked up, he couldn't shake the feeling that the place felt… smaller now. More fragile.
That night, Kael didn't sleep.
He sat by the window in his dormitory, the crystal lying on his desk. Moonlight washed over it, bringing out faint glimmers within the dark stone. Sometimes, if he stared long enough, he could almost see movement inside tiny streaks of silver, pulsing like veins.
He reached out, hesitated, then pulled his hand back.
He didn't understand what was happening to him. His power was growing, changing. The shadow beast had recognized him"you are one of us. But what did that mean?
And why had the wards reacted when he crossed?
As dawn crept over the horizon, painting the sky pale gold, Kael made a quiet vow.
He would find out what he was.
And he would uncover the truth behind the shadows that even the Academy feared.
Because something had awakened that night something ancient and watching.
And for reasons he couldn't yet grasp, it had chosen him.