Samira's voice broke the silence.
"That was incredible. I didnt know he could fight like that, did you Astra?"
Astra said nothing. Her gaze lingered on the dueling ring, eyes calm but glinting with quiet resolve.
Meanwhile, Kael staggered through the corridors until he reached the empty courtyard. He sat down, breath shallow.
His vision blurred at the edges, a taste of iron filled his mouth. His own blood.
I lost control, he thought. I shouldn't have used it. The backlash is worse than last time. Guess it's different in a real fight than catching a falling pen.
And yet, it hadn't felt like a weapon. The world hadn't bent beneath him, it hat found rythm. For those few seconds, everything had moves as one. His body, the blade, the air between them. It hadn't been control. It had been understanding.
He wiped his mouth, forcing a bitter laugh.
A month until I can use it again. I hope nothing happens in between.
The wind cooled his skin. Gradually his trembling eased.
They speak of Twelve Words, he thought, each born from an Eon, each bound to it's element.
Then what was mine? Not a thirteenth, not apart. Something between them. The thread that lets them touch.
He leaned back against the stone. The countdown is frustrating, but at least I learned something today.
One: if an attack lasts longer than five seconds, I'm finished.
Two: I have to think the word consciously. If Im knocked out, its useless.
Three: Turin would still crush me even with it. Power without skill isn't survival.
Kael closed his eyes and let the warmth of the breeze wash over him. When he finally stood, his strength had returned.
He stopped by the infirmary for a health potion, then returned to his afternoon lecture, already late.
The door creaked open. Three hundred heads turned.
"Student Kael," said a dry voice from the front, "what an honor to have you join us."
Kael flinched. "Apologies, Professor Hora. I was injured during training and had to see the medics."
"Understood. Just this once."
Kael nodded and slipped between Zaros and Lia.
"We have one class together and you're late," Lia whispered.
"Yeah, sorry. Turins lesson went…. Badly."
"Badly how?"
"Had to fight Liam. He hit me hard."
"And?" Zaros grinned.
"I won."
"You what?" Zaros blurted. "How? He could beat me on his good day."
"Maybe I got lucky." Kael said quickly, guilt flickering behind his calm.
Before Zaros could reply, Horas voice cut across the room.
"Silence, Student Zaros. My patience has limits."
"Yes, Professor."
"After class. My office."
"Why always me…." Zaros muttered, while Lia and Kael stifled quiet laughter.
Hora raised a small turquiose stone between his fingers.
The stone gleamed not like metal, but like frozen smoke. Translucent and yet impossibly heavy in Horas hand.
"This," he announced, "is called Motarith. It is dense, nearly unbreakable, and melts at temperatures that would turn steel into ash. But tell me… why is it the most valuable mineral in our world?"
Silence. Then a hand rose.
"Astra?"
"Motarith is the only mineral capable of nullifying the power of words," she said evenly.
"Correct. Let me demonstrate."
Hora turned the stone slowly between his fingers, the turquoise gleam shifting like frozen water.
"Now. Watch closely."
He closed his eyes. The air thickened. Sound dulled until every breath felt too loud. Even the candles leaned toward him, their flames trembling as if waiting for command.
Then Hora spoke. Or perhaps he didn't.
The students heard nothing, not a syllable, not even a whisper. But they felt it.
A tremor passed through the air, low and vast, like thunder buried deep underground. The light bent. The temperature spiked. The wax of the candles began to run before the flames even grow.
Then the fire screamed to life. It doubled in size, twisting upward in wild spirals, painting the ceiling in molten gold.
And just as suddenly… the stone in Hora's hand pulsed once, hard, like a heartbeat.
Every flame died. Darkness swallowed the room whole.
A silence followed so dense it felt alive. No one dared to move.
Hora opened his eyes. In the dim glow of the cooling stone, his face seemed carved from shadow.
"That, "he said softly, "was the word of fire. A whisper too powerful for human ears. And yet… in the presence of Motarith, even fire must kneel."
He placed the stone back onto the table. It's glow faded, leaving only the faint scent of burned wax and cold air.
No one spoke.
Kael stared at the stone. The others looked only afraid. But he felt something else. A warmth deep inside, like an echo answering a call. He had heard it. Not within his ears, but somewhere deeper.
And for a fleeting heartbeat, it felt like it had heard him too.
"It's not merely a mineral," Hora said quietly. "It's the echo of silence itself. When a word is spoken, Motarith doesn't resist… it listens. And then it takes the sound away."
A student raised a hand. "Is that why no one may use words within the empire?"
"Exactly. Every hundred kilometers stands a monument carved from this mineral. It protects our lands from reckless Words. If someone speaks one, the monument glows and the Order hunts the speaker. Only licensed Chroniclers and nobles may bear the mark that allows controlled use. Any unmarked user is executed on sight."
Kael listened quietly, thoughts spinning. He lifted his hand.
"Are monuments the only use of Motarith? Or can it be forged into other forms?"
"It can," Hora said. "But forging it is nearly impossible. Only a few master smiths can shape it and only the Emperor may commission such work."
His tone darkened.
"It's also rumored that Wordkeepers wield blades forged of Motarith and that is what makes them so deadly."
The bell rang. The students rose, still shivering from the thought.
"Class dismissed. Zaros, my office."
Zaros groaned. "This was such a good lesson. Why must I suffer now?"
"Because you talk too much." Lia teased.
"You did too!"
"My charm saves me." She said with a grin.
Kael chuckled softly, shouldered his bag and turned to leave.
"See you later." He said.
"Wait-." Zaros began but Kael was already gone.
Even as he left the lecture hall, he felt eyes on his back. Shadows stretched long in the fading light. Too long.
He walked the corridors alone. The thoughts lingered as the day dimmed. Twelve Words, twelve eons, each a pillar of creation. But pillars stand because something unseen connects them. He couldnt shake the feeling that whatever moved through him was part of that unseen pattern, the motion between stillness, the breath between seconds.
When he reached his dormitory, the door stood slightly open. Instinct flared.
He pushed it wide, sword half-drawn, but the room was empty. Nothing seemed touched. Nothing missing.
Then his eyes fell on the desk drawer, The letter was gone.
In it's place lay another one.
At your usual place, when the sun sets.
Come, if you want to know something about your past.
Kael stared at it, the paper trembling slightly between his fingers.
Outside, the light was already beginning to fade.