-Jasper-
The air in Shade's office was still shimmering with the aftershocks of the school's magic. I could feel the stone beneath my boots vibrating, a low hum that made my teeth ache. We had freed Shade, and we had repelled Gideon's reach, but the victory felt hollow. The atmosphere in the room wasn't one of triumph; it was the heavy, breathless quiet that comes right before a second strike.
I looked at Asher. He was standing near the window, his frame blocking the moonlight, his arms wrapped tightly around that mysterious silver fox. He hadn't said a word, but the intensity radiating off him was different now. The jagged, panicked energy he'd carried since the fortress had smoothed out into something lethal and focused. He looked like a man who had finally stopped running and started digging in his heels.
"We need to move," I said, my voice cutting through the ringing in my ears. I looked at the scorched mark on the floor where the breach had been. "If Gideon can reach through the wards like that, the Council already knows we're here. They're probably halfway up the stairs."
"Jasper's right," Shade said, straightening her torn robes. She looked exhausted, her usual silver-grey elegance marred by the soot of her captivity, but her eyes were sharp with the authority that had kept this school running for decades. "The moment the school's magic surged to repel that breach, every alarm in the High Council's headquarters would have gone off."
"Then we go out the back way," Finn suggested, his fingers sparking with restless lightning. "The maintenance tunnels behind the library. We can hide in the West Commons until we figure out a plan."
"There is no 'back way' anymore, Finn," a cold, synthetic voice echoed from the hallway.
The heavy oak doors to Shade's office, which Soren had practically torn off their hinges moments ago, were suddenly flooded with light. Not the warm, flickering light of the school's torches, but the harsh, oscillating violet glow of Council dampening crystals.
A phalanx of Silencers stepped into the room. These weren't the standard academy guards. They wore matte-black plate armor etched with anti-magic runes. They moved with a synchronized, mechanical precision that made my stomach turn. At their center walked Elder Vane.
Vane didn't look like the scholar I remembered from Council sessions. He looked like a man who had finally been given permission to be a monster. Behind him followed Elder Thorne, his eyes tracking Alexia with a clinical hunger that made Zeus let out a guttural, vibrating growl.
"Headmistress," Vane said, his voice amplified by a resonance spell. "I see you've been 'rescued.' A pity your security protocols weren't as resilient as your students' penchant for rebellion."
"Vane, stop this theater," Shade snapped, stepping in front of us. "You've brought an army into a sanctuary. Dismiss these men and explain why you're flying Council flags over my battlements."
"'Your' battlements?" Vane chuckled, a dry, humorless sound. "The High Council has declared a State of Emergency. Given your failure to prevent Gideon's infiltration—and your subsequent abduction—your authority is hereby suspended. This institution is under reformation. You are a guest here now, Shade. Nothing more."
The Silencers leveled their pikes. The crystals at the tips hummed, creating a null-field that felt like a weight pressing down on my chest, trying to snuff out my connection to the school.
"Asher, hand over the creature," Thorne commanded, pointing a gloved finger at the fox. "And Alexia, you will follow us. We have the North Spire prepared for your 'Cleansing.' We cannot have Chaos-tainted weavers wandering the halls."
I felt Asher shift beside me. He didn't draw a weapon, but the way he moved was like a mountain sliding into place. He stepped directly between Thorne and Alexia, his shoulders squaring. He was holding the fox with one arm, the other hanging at his side, his fingers curled into a fist that looked like it was carved from granite.
He didn't speak. He didn't have to. The silent vow he'd made minutes ago was written in every line of his rigid posture. He was done being the man who chose distance; he was going to be the wall they broke themselves against.
"He said no," Soren growled, stepping up to Asher's left. Finn moved to the right, his eyes flashing blue.
"Enough!" Alexia's voice cut through the tension. She placed a hand on Asher's arm. I saw his whole body shudder at the contact, his muscles jumping under her touch, but he didn't move. He stood his ground, a silent guardian.
"I'll go," Alexia said softly.
"Alexia, no!" Finn shouted.
"I have to," she replied, her gaze meeting mine. I saw the calculation there—she was playing for time. She knew we were outnumbered ten-to-one in a room with a collapsed ward. "If I go, you leave them alone. You let Shade stay in her quarters, not a cell. And the fox stays with Asher."
Vane hesitated, looking at Zeus. The German Shepherd let out a low, breathy sound—the classic Shepherd 'settle'—but his golden eyes never left Vane's throat.
"Fine," Vane spat. "But they are restricted to the West Commons. If one foot is found in a restricted hallway, the 'Cleansing' becomes a full extraction. Guards! Take the Headmistress to her rooms. And move the girl to the Spire."
The guards surged forward, their pikes creating a barrier of violet light that forced a wedge between us and her. They moved Alexia toward the door, and for a moment, the room felt like it was losing its oxygen.
As they led her away, I saw Asher's hand fall. He stood there, watching the door groan shut, his eyes fixed on the spot where she had been. He looked like he was vibrating with the effort not to tear the stones out of the wall.
"Jasper," he rasped. It was the first time he'd spoken to me directly since the fortress. "They're going to hurt her."
"Not if we move fast," I said, looking up at the high, vaulted ceiling where the secret maintenance shafts were hidden behind the gargoyles. "They think they've locked us in a cage. They forgot who built the cage."
The Silencers shoved us toward the hallway. "Move. To the West Commons. Now."
We were marched through the corridors, the sound of our boots a hollow, rhythmic beat against the cold stone. Every student we passed lowered their heads, ducking into doorways to avoid being seen with us. The fear in the air was palpable, a physical weight that made the school feel smaller, tighter.
When we reached our dormitory, the guards shoved us inside and slammed the heavy oak door. The sound of the iron bolt sliding home echoed through the room like a gunshot.
Asher walked straight to the window, staring out at the North Spire, the fox still huddled in his arms. He didn't look back at us. He just stood there, the silent guardian of a girl who was now miles of stone and a thousand guards away.
I didn't waste time. I walked to the bookshelf and reached for the loose stone behind the third volume of Ancient Ley Lines.
"We have work to do," I said. "And Vane is about to find out exactly how many secrets this school still keeps from the Council."