Lyra's POV
I woke up to someone screaming my name.
"LYRA ASHFORD, OPEN THIS DOOR RIGHT NOW!"
Nova's fist pounded against our dorm room door so hard the walls shook. I scrambled out of bed, my heart racing. Had the Covenant found us? Had something happened to my grandmother?
I yanked the door open, ready for disaster.
Nova stood there holding what looked like a smoking metal box covered in blinking lights. Her curly red hair stuck up in every direction, and her goggles were sliding down her nose. She looked completely insane and completely thrilled.
"It works!" she shouted, shoving the device in my face. "My Disturbance Detector actually works! And do you know what it's been detecting for the past three hours? YOU! You're radiating magical energy like a walking power plant, and don't you dare tell me it's nothing because I've lived with you for three years and you've never registered above a candle flame before!"
I tried to pull her inside, but she was already past me, pacing around our small room like a excited puppy.
"Also, I saw you yesterday," she continued, barely taking a breath. "After everything went crazy with Professor Winters and your grandmother and the floating-in-the-air thing, I followed you. Well, I tried to follow you, but then this super scary guy in all black grabbed me and told me to go back to the dorm. But I'm pretty sure that was Kael Voidstrider, which means you're working with Kael Voidstrider, which means something huge is happening."
She finally stopped pacing and stared at me with wide brown eyes that held absolutely no fear. Only excitement.
"So here's the deal," Nova said firmly. "I know you're up to something dangerous and probably life-threatening. I know it involves ancient magic and secret conspiracies and probably a bunch of people trying to kill you. And I want in."
"Nova—"
"Don't even try to protect me with that 'it's too dangerous' speech," she interrupted. "I'm your roommate. I'm your friend. I stood by you when everyone else believed Cassia's lies. Where you go, I go. End of discussion."
Looking at her determined face, I felt something tight in my chest loosen. After so much betrayal, having someone fight to stand beside me felt like oxygen after drowning.
"Okay," I said quietly. "But if I tell you everything, your life changes forever. You can't unhear it."
Nova grinned and flopped onto my bed. "Try me."
So I told her. Everything. The Codex, the seals, my parents, the Eclipse Covenant, Kael's sister, Professor Winters' betrayal. I showed her the glowing marks on my arms and explained what a Cipher was.
Nova's eyes got bigger and bigger until I thought they might fall out of her head.
"Holy magic," she breathed when I finished. "You're like... the chosen one. The actual chosen one. And I'm your awesome sidekick who builds stuff!"
Despite everything, I laughed. "I don't think I'm chosen for anything good."
"Are you kidding? You're chosen to save the world!" Nova jumped up and started pulling tools and materials from her desk drawers. "We need to get organized. I can build devices to detect seal weaknesses, create communication devices that can't be intercepted, maybe even design something to block Covenant members from tracking you—"
A knock on the door interrupted her excited planning.
We both froze. Nova grabbed a wrench like a weapon. I called up my power, feeling the marks on my skin start to glow.
"It's me," Kael's voice came from the other side. "And I brought someone you should meet."
I opened the door carefully. Kael stood there in his usual black clothes, looking as intimidating as ever. But next to him was a boy I'd never really noticed before—tall and lean with messy light brown hair and the kind of easy smile that made him seem friendly even when standing next to someone as scary as Kael.
"Lyra, this is Zephyr Cross," Kael said. "My only friend and someone we can trust."
"Wow, thanks for that glowing introduction," Zephyr said, rolling his eyes. But he was looking at me with genuine curiosity, not the suspicion or pity I'd gotten used to. "So you're the girl who made the Ice Prince actually care about something other than revenge. Nice to meet you."
"Zephyr specializes in wind magic and information gathering," Kael explained. "His family runs one of the largest intelligence networks in the magical world. If anyone can help us track Covenant movements, it's him."
"Plus I'm hilarious and make everything more fun," Zephyr added. He spotted Nova wielding her wrench and grinned. "Oh good, we have a weapons specialist."
"I'm Nova Brightspark, artificer and Lyra's best friend," Nova announced. "And this is not a weapon, it's a precision tool. The weapons are over there." She pointed to a shelf of devices that definitely looked dangerous.
Zephyr's grin widened. "I like you already."
For the next hour, the four of us sat crowded in my tiny dorm room, planning. Zephyr pulled out a magical map that showed recent disturbances across campus. Nova compared it to her detector readings. Kael outlined what we knew about the Covenant's structure. I shared what the Codex had taught me about the seals.
It felt strange, having a team. People who chose to fight beside me instead of against me. People who saw me as strong instead of weak.
"The next seal is under the Training Arena," Kael said, pointing to a spot on Zephyr's map. "It's been showing unusual activity for three days. If the Covenant breaks it—"
The lights in my room suddenly went out.
All of them. Every light on campus.
Through my window, I watched Stellarium Academy plunge into complete darkness. Students screamed in the distance. Alarm bells started ringing.
Then, worse than the darkness, I felt it—one of the seals had just shattered.
The Codex's voice screamed in my mind: THE FOURTH SEAL IS BROKEN! LYRA, SOMETHING'S COMING THROUGH!
From somewhere below the Academy, a roar shook the foundations. It sounded like the earth was tearing itself apart. It sounded like nightmares given voice.
Kael was already at the window, his magic crackling around him like black lightning. "That's coming from the Archives. The Forbidden Archives where you found the Codex."
"What is that?" Nova whispered, her face pale in the darkness.
I closed my eyes and asked the Codex for answers. When it showed me what had broken through the shattered seal, my blood turned to ice.
"It's a Primordial Guardian," I breathed. "A creature made of pure creation magic. The Architects created them to protect the seals, but if a seal breaks completely, they go insane and destroy everything in sight."
Another roar, closer this time. Through the window, I could see something massive moving in the darkness near the Archives—something that glowed with sickly green light and had too many limbs.
"How do we stop it?" Zephyr asked, already moving toward the door.
I thought about what the Codex had shown me, and my heart sank.
"We can't," I said quietly. "Only a fully trained Cipher could contain it. And I've had my powers for less than two days."
"Then we evacuate," Kael said firmly. "Get everyone away from—"
The creature burst through the Archive building like it was made of paper. In the moonlight, I saw it clearly now—a nightmare of twisted magic and rage, fifteen feet tall with six arms that ended in claws and eyes that burned with madness.
It turned toward the student dormitories. Toward us.
And then I felt it—hundreds of students trapped in those buildings, frozen with terror, about to die because I couldn't control powers I barely understood.
"No," I said, power flooding through me. My marks blazed bright enough to light the room. "I'm the Keeper. This is my responsibility."
"Lyra, you can't—" Kael started.
But I was already running out the door, racing down the stairs, my friends shouting behind me.
The Guardian saw me emerge from the building. It opened its mouth, and I saw infinity inside—raw magic that could unmake reality itself.
Behind me, I felt Kael, Nova, and Zephyr take their positions. My team. My allies. My friends.
The Guardian roared and charged.
And I realized with absolute certainty that I was about to die.
Unless I could somehow do the impossible.