The old bell tower rarely chimed anymore.
Rust coated the great bronze tongue, and the winding stairs had long since been abandoned by students. But the tower stood tall at the academy's edge — a quiet sentinel surrounded by ivy and silence.
Kai climbed the steps alone.
Night fell like ink.
Kai moved through the academy's outskirts, wrapped in his dark cloak, his footfalls utterly silent. Shadows clung to him as if they recognized him — a fellow creature of the unseen.
The Hollow Grounds lay behind the east wing, past overgrown courtyards and broken stone arches where time had eaten away at grandeur. Once, this section of the academy had been a training ground for summoners and beast tamers — long before an incident buried it in whispers and warding seals.
Most students thought it was forbidden because it was dangerous.
They were right.
