The moonlight spilled over the courtyards of Elarion Academy, casting long silver shadows across the silent stone paths. Inside the dormitory commons, five very different personalities sat around a flickering hearth, the day's chaos still fresh on their minds.
The air was still crackling with the echoes of the assessment. Burnt stone, cracked floors, instructors still in recovery. The five anomalies had left quite a mark—literally and politically.
Seraphina sat cross-legged on the rug, a journal balanced on her knee. She didn't look up, just kept scribbling, the sharp strokes of her quill slicing the silence.
"You could've vaporized that instructor's spell with less energy," she muttered aloud, to no one in particular. "Too much overcompensation. Precision matters."
Ivan blinked at her from across the room. "You're critiquing the instructor now?"
"He left a hole in the southeast quadrant of his barrier," she replied flatly, not even glancing at him. "You'd know if you paid attention."
Ivan's eye twitched. "I was busy freezing the guy's leg off."
"You took six seconds too long to aim," she responded, coolly.
"Okay," Kael interjected, arms behind his head, lounging on a cushion like this wasn't the most chaotic group ever assembled. "We survived. Let's just pat ourselves on the back and not fight for one night?"
Celeste scoffed from her spot by the window, where she was filing her nails with a dagger—yes, an actual dagger. "Some of us weren't the ones who needed saving."
Seraphina finally looked up. "You're right. You mostly saved your manicure."
Lioren chuckled under his breath, slouched backwards with one leg propped up on the armrest. "The claws did look sharper than your water shield."
Celeste whirled. "Do you want to test that theory, shadow prince?"
He smirked, lazy and lethal. "Not really. I prefer my fights with people who know how to win."
"Ouch," Kael muttered.
Ivan frowned. "You know, some of us are actually trying to review the fight constructively."
Lioren raised a brow. "Oh? Sorry. I forgot I was in the presence of the Ice Philosopher."
"Don't you ever stop talking?" Ivan snapped.
"Nope."
Seraphina's pen paused. Her gaze lifted slightly toward Lioren. She was watching. Observing.
He doesn't fight to win, she thought. He fights like he's making a point. Every move is control. Clean. Precise. Calculated. Almost like...
She stopped herself.
But Lioren felt the weight of her gaze. His eyes flicked to hers for the briefest second, something unreadable in them. He didn't say anything.
Kael, sensing the tension, leaned forward. "Okay but… can we agree on one thing?"
Everyone turned to him.
He grinned. "We're kind of amazing."
Seraphina rolled her eyes.
Celeste scoffed.
Ivan folded his arms.
Lioren looked like he was about to say something incredibly sarcastic… then shrugged. "We're still alive. That's a miracle."
Kael nodded. "We've got power. And the Council doesn't know what to do with us. So… maybe that means we can do something they can't."
There was a long pause.
Seraphina tapped her pen against her chin. "Power without understanding is reckless."
"And yet," Lioren murmured, "understanding without power is useless."
Their eyes locked again—two Echo-borns, drawn together by fate, fire, and shadow. Neither would admit it, but something had shifted.
A beat.
Celeste broke the silence with a dramatic sigh. "If this is your idea of bonding, I'm switching rooms."
"Door's right there," Lioren pointed.
"I will drown you in your sleep."
"Better men have tried."
Kael was dying of laughter now. "Oh my stars, I love this group."
Ivan grumbled, "This group is going to kill me."
The fire cracked between them.
No one moved to leave.
For all their differences, their chaos, their pride and pain—something was anchoring them here. Something bigger than a school. Bigger than bloodlines.
The shadows on the wall stretched a little longer.
And the flame… always remembered.