CHAPTER THREE: THE GATES BETWEEN NAMES (Part five)
They didn't speak on the way back.
Even Yolti, who usually filled silence like breath, kept her words behind her teeth.
The Lyceum halls passed around them like veins—glass arteries glowing faintly with living pulse.
But Zephryn wasn't seeing them.
He was seeing a shimmer behind his eyelids.
Not light.
Not dream.
A flicker of silver through dark water—
Something distant.
Something deep.
The pendant tapped softly against his chest as he walked.
Every step made it echo.
Kaelen finally broke the silence.
"That glyph…"
He didn't finish.
Zephryn slowed, but didn't turn.
His voice came quiet, like it was being unwrapped.
"You've seen it before?"
Kaelen hesitated. Then: "My father drew it. Once."
Selka stopped walking.
Yolti glanced between them.
Zephryn looked over his shoulder, voice even lower now.
"What did he call it?"
Kaelen's eyes narrowed.
"The First Seal."
A breath passed between them that didn't feel like anyone's.
Yolti's voice broke through. "Wait. Is that… like a Pulse Glyph or something deeper?"
"No," Selka said softly.
They turned to her.
She was still facing the hallway ahead—
but her eyes weren't focused on it.
"It's older."
Zephryn blinked. "Older than the Lyceum?"
She nodded.
"Older than the Choir."
The words dropped like stone into water.
Bubbalor's hum returned.
Soft. Uneasy.
Like it was remembering too.
They passed through the final corridor in silence, and the outer doors opened onto the pale daylight outside.
Rain had stopped.
The world felt cleaner—washed in memory, not clarity.
As they crossed into the square again, a few other students turned to glance at them.
Nothing was said.
But something was felt.
Zephryn wasn't new anymore.
He was seen.
The gate glyph had spoken.
Now the Lyceum would listen.