The courtyard behind the Convergence Hall was nearly empty. Students filtered out in pairs and trios, their voices low, movements tense. The evening sun cast long shadows across the stone, and the air felt just a little too still.
Kieran sat on the low edge of a dry fountain, arms resting on his knees. His team clustered around him quiet, uncertain.
No one spoke at first.
Rei finally broke the silence. "So that's it. One weapon. Seven hundred of us. And a ghost watching from the dark."
Talon leaned against a column, arms crossed. "Lyra. You think she's already picked someone?"
"No," Selene said softly, her eyes scanning the courtyard. "But she will."
Calla stood beside Kieran, arms folded. "It doesn't matter. We focus on our team. On what we can control."
Rei scoffed. "Control? We're about to be thrown into a meat grinder. You think that Tyrant-core weapon's going to the smartest or the strongest?"
Talon answered without looking up. "No. It's going to whoever's willing to bleed the most."
They fell into silence again.
Kieran's fingers brushed his palm unconsciously, where the golden feather had once burned. He hadn't told them it still glowed faintly some nights. That sometimes it pulsed like something asleep remembering how to breathe.
He looked at the stone floor. His shadow stretched long behind him, the light catching it at a strange angle.
It didn't move.
Not this time.
---
A deep bell rang across the courtyard.
They turned.
A board of polished black stone shimmered to life across the far wall, letters etched in shifting light. Dozens of students began crowding around it.
> CONVERGENCE PRELIMINARIES – TRIAL ONE
Format: Squad-based elimination
Teams of 3–5 only. Independent placement. 48-hour window.
Assigned terrain: dream Scape.
Rei leaned in to read, then whistled low. "dream scape? Where is that."
Talon frowned. "It's beneath the acemble ground."
Calla scanned the bottom line. "Squad-based. That means coordination. We can't brute force our way through."
"No gear restrictions," Selene murmured. "But the message is clear. They're expecting casualties."
Rei smirked, bitter. "A perfect warm-up for a bloodbath."
Kieran stepped back and looked over the crowd. Not everyone present was from Umbravale anymore. Other faces were showing up sharper eyes, darker uniforms, different insignias.
He didn't recognize them.
But one day soon, they'd be fighting.
And not all of them would walk away.
---
As they turned to leave, Kieran's shadow dragged half a beat behind him.
He didn't notice.
But Selene did.
She didn't say a word.