CHAPTER THREE: THE GATES BETWEEN NAMES (Part one)
"That's enough."
Her voice didn't echo—but the silence that followed felt louder than anything said before it.
Instructor Liraen Vosk landed without a sound. Her long coat barely shifted in the pulse-weighted air, and her gaze—one pale, one ink-dark—slid between them all like wind cutting through mist.
Riko stepped back before she even looked at him.
Kaelen's breath was tight in his chest, but he didn't break eye contact with Zephryn. Not yet.
Zephryn didn't move either. Just kept staring at the stone beneath his feet… like it was whispering something to him he wasn't ready to remember.
Liraen's voice was quiet. "To the Lyceum."
They walked. Not in a line. Not together.
But not apart either.
Bubbalor trailed behind them like a shadow with breath. The hum had gone quiet again, but the feeling of it… hadn't.
The corridors curved in long arcs of white and silver, etched with pulse-lines that glowed when anyone passed. Most days, the shimmer felt warm—like the Lyceum itself was watching with interest.
Today, it felt like it was waiting.
No one spoke. Even Yolti didn't try.
Kaelen walked behind Zephryn.
Selka walked in front of him.
Every few steps, she glanced back—but said nothing.
Zephryn's eyes stayed locked on the shifting floor.
He wasn't seeing the halls.
He was remembering a voice.
"Say her name again like that…"
He could still feel it—how the words had left his mouth before he even thought them.
Sharp. Clear. Like something that had to be said.
He didn't regret it. But something inside him had shifted.
Liraen stopped.
They stood in front of the Gate.
Not the gate. Not the arena one.
This one was different—arched like a crown, stone etched with markings that looked like veins carved from memory itself.
Kaelen froze.
He'd seen that shape before.
In his father's notes.
It hadn't made sense then. It almost made sense now.
"Step forward," Liraen said without looking at anyone.
Zephryn did.
And the moment he crossed beneath the arch,
his pulse flared.
Like something ancient had just taken a breath.