The rooftop garden above the Aurora Tower smelled like lavender and cardamom.
Soren Vale stood near the edge, the city lights flickering far below like scattered embers. Pale pink lanterns floated overhead, bobbing gently in the breeze, it was soft and warm, like the tower itself was trying to pretend nothing was wrong.
But everything was wrong.
He heard her before he saw her.
The brush of silk boots. The snap of irritation in each step.
"You were supposed to succeed this time."
He didn't turn. Just kept watching the horizon, his hands resting on the cold railing. His voice was calm, but tight.
"We almost did."
The girl moved into view, her robes were a shade of pink and cream, stitched with charm-seals and auric thread. Her eyes were ringed in eyeliner and were sharp as knives. A badge of Aurora Tower shimmered at her hip showing her status as a third year.
"You almost did," she said, seething. "But you didn't. Again."
Soren tilted his head slightly, finally facing her. "We weren't the ones who interrupted. The field was stable until that moon legion member-"
"Oh, spare me the excuses," she snapped. "We're not being judged on interruptions. We're being judged on results. Three orbs, two failures. The Mediator is watching."
At that, a flicker of unease passed across Soren's face. Just a flicker. But it was enough.
"He's not exactly known for patience," the girl said.
"He's not known for mercy either," Soren replied quietly.
A silence fell between them. The city glimmered below. The wind picked up, curling around the garden like a whisper.
Then he spoke again. "We'll get it right next time."
The girl raised an eyebrow. "How?"
"I've found a target," he said. "Someone with resonance. High sensitivity. The orb reacts to them."
"You're sure?"
Soren nodded. "I watched it. Just a brush of proximity and it pulsed. It wanted them."
Her expression shifted, uncertainty mixed with curiosity. "Channeler?"
"Yes."
"Who?"
"Doesn't matter," he said. "Not yet. I just need a few minutes near them. Enough to let it unfold."
"I can shield you," she offered. "Hide the aura spike. Maybe… two minutes max."
"Two minutes is enough."
She hesitated. "You really think it'll open?"
"It has to."
"Because if it doesn't…" Her voice cracked, just a little. "He said he'd take us apart."
Soren didn't answer.
Because he remembered exactly what the Mediator had said.
"Failure is not a delay. It is a debt."
Suddenly,
The lanterns went out.
All of them.
At once.
Darkness crashed down like a wave, instant and absolute.
The warmth vanished.
Not dimmed but it evaporated.
Soren froze.
So did she.
Neither spoke as the wind stopped.
Then the pressure came, heavy, suffocating and wrong. Like the air itself was holding its breath.
And behind them, without warning, without sound, there was a presence.
Not seen but felt.
The sensation hit like being dragged under deep waters. A cold, clawing weight that wrapped around their spines and squeezed.
The girl made a soft sound, barely more than a breath. Her hand twitched toward a charm-seal on her belt but didn't reach it.
Because suddenly, he was there.
A man.
Standing in the shadows behind them.
One moment, there was nothing.
The next, there he was.
Talland still. Cloaked in deep, layered robes that shimmered like smoke. His face was hidden behind a mask of obsidian, it was smooth, perfect, and unreadable. No footsteps. No aura.
Just silence.
And then he spoke.
"Two times," the Mediator said.
His voice wasn't loud.
It didn't need to be.
But still they felt crushed.
Like it was layered over itself, one voice speaking from inside another.
"You were given three openings," he said, stepping forward. "You used none."
The girl flinched. "We tried our best."
"Trying," he said, "is a word the dead use."
Soren didn't breathe. He couldn't.
The Mediator's presence was impossible. Like gravity twisted around him. Like the rooftop tilted.
"You waste time," the Mediator continued. "Hunting the perfect vessel. Luring one child at a time. It is inefficient."
He paced between them.
Soren's heartbeat pounded in his ears.
"We thought-" the girl whispered.
"You didn't think," he snapped. "You hoped. And hope is poison."
"You said the orb reacted. And still… you let it slip."
Soren swallowed hard. "There were complications."
"There are always complications," the Mediator said. "And now there are consequences."
He raised one hand.
The girl gasped.
Soren stepped back. Not voluntarily, his body moved without permission.
But the Mediator didn't strike.
Instead, he lowered his hand again.
And said, "You will stop this game."
They stared at him, frozen.
"Forget the vessel," he said. "Forget the target. Forget the plan."
Soren blinked. "But."
"Make more orbs."
The rooftop went even quieter.
"As many as you can," the Mediator continued. "Flood the academy. Don't wait for openings. Make them."
The girl's voice shook. "But if the Channelers find them, what will we do?"
"They will," he said. "That is the point."
The shadows around him deepened, his shape blurring like smoke in the wind.
"And when the cracks widen…" He smiled beneath the mask. "We will pour through."
Then, as suddenly as he'd come, He vanished.
No glyphs. No light. No sound.
He was simply gone.
The lanterns didn't return.
The silence didn't ease.
The chill remained.
The girl collapsed to her knees, gasping for breath. Her hands trembled against the stone.
Soren stood completely still.
Because he couldn't move. Not yet.
The air still felt… stained.
"I thought…" she whispered, not looking up, "I thought he was going to erase us."
Soren didn't answer.
He was still staring at the place where the Mediator had stood.
The darkness clung to it.
"What do we do?" she asked.
Soren finally turned, slowly, like every part of him had to check that he still existed.
He looked pale. Paler than usual.
His voice came quiet.
"We start crafting. We have to create as many as possible. I don't know what his plan is but we have to comply."
The girl nodded shakily.
He swallowed.
And for the first time, let the truth into his own mind.
They weren't in control.
They never were.
The Mediator had never needed them to win.
Just to open the door.