Alex emerged from the Hollow's depths under a bruised sky.
Clouds churned overhead, heavy with a storm that had yet to break. The sunlight was thin and gray, casting a sickly pall over the broken trees and the moss-draped ruins that lay scattered outside the ancient gateway. Birds had fled this place. The forest was too quiet.
He pulled his hood up.
The weight of the Warden's Blade across his back felt heavier today—not just because of what it was, but what it represented. Each step away from the Hollow felt like a step deeper into the war that waited beyond it.
Kaer Thalor had gone quiet again. Resting. Or perhaps… watching.
Alex reached the edge of the hill and paused. In the distance, he could see the spires of Arcanum Academy rising like black thorns from the horizon. Home, for now.
His mind flashed back to the summoners—their serpent masks, the hunger in their spellcasting. They had sent a Hollow Beast after him.
They knew.
He had to be smarter now. Stronger.
---
By the time he returned to the outer gates of Arcanum, the guards barely registered his approach—just a nod from the veteran with the scarred cheek who recognized his cloak. Students weren't expected back for another two days. But Alex never followed expectations.
He entered without a word.
The academy grounds were nearly empty. Training fields lay silent under the wind, banners hung limp. The main tower loomed ahead—its runes faintly glowing in the approaching dusk.
Alex slipped inside, heading for the lower dormitory halls.
It wasn't until he passed the old library wing that he felt it.
A gaze.
Not just watched. Observed.
He froze.
The sensation prickled at his neck, like ice sliding beneath skin. He turned slowly—and saw nothing.
But the shadow in the archway across the corridor… it lingered a breath too long before fading.
He narrowed his eyes.
Kaer Thalor stirred. "Not one of the Order. Something else. Older."
Alex continued walking.
He reached his quarters and locked the door behind him. The room was simple—stone walls, a desk, a bed, a trunk. He stripped his cloak and laid the Warden's Blade carefully across the desk.
The moment it touched the surface, it pulsed again—dimly.
Alex frowned. "Is it reacting?"
Kaer Thalor answered, "Not to me. There's another presence nearby. One that recognizes the sword."
Alex sat down, thoughts spinning. The Hollow, the blade, the Order's agents… and now this watcher.
Too much, too fast.
He needed answers.
---
The next morning, he found Nikki in the east courtyard, loosing arrows at practice dummies with surgical precision. Her braid was tight, her stance fluid, but the moment she saw him, her eyes widened.
"Storms, Alex—you look like hell."
He gave a tired smile. "Feel like it too."
She tossed him a flask of water. "You weren't due back until tomorrow."
"I couldn't wait. Something happened."
Her eyes sharpened. "What kind of something?"
"A beast. Magic. And the Order."
She lowered her bow.
Together, they sat in the shade of a twisted old tree. He told her everything—well, almost everything. He left out the visions. The voice of the Warden. The pull he'd felt.
When he finished, she was silent for a long while.
Then: "You need to be careful. If the Order knows about you, they won't stop."
"I know."
She looked at him. "Then we're in this together."
He didn't argue.
That night, as the academy lights dimmed and the stars emerged like cold pinpricks above, Alex sat at his window.
Far below, beyond the stone paths and the trees, something moved.
A figure in gray.
Watching.
Alex didn't move.
But he didn't look away either.
He was no longer prey.
And whatever hunted him… would learn that soon enough.
---