Full Chapter – Of Monsters, Marks, and Mad Girls in Love
Location: Ashenwell Academy – Daybreak. The Flameborn return. And nothing is quiet for long.
Arrival
The gates of Ashenwell loomed tall as ever—glass vines coiling along the towers, timewarded runes whispering secrets only the Headmaster could decode.
Grim stepped through first.
No fanfare. No drums. But every step carried a resonance. A change. Something in the ether recognized him now.
The others followed—Tristan flipping his collar like he owned the place, Hadi cartwheeling ahead to annoy the guards, Max silent and regal, Ayesha watching from the rear like a hawk in human form.
Students paused. Eyes widened.
"Are those… secondyears?"
"Wait—is that him?"
"I heard he has a sword that talks to ghosts!"
"I heard he kissed a princess, then murdered a noble."
"That was Tristan," someone whispered. "Definitely Tristan."
Marked by Fire
As they walked, Grim's jacket shifted, revealing something new beneath his collar—a mark etched in faint white flame.
The dragon's brand. A scaled rune, still pulsing faintly.
Sparks flickered beside him, still incorporeal, her voice low in his mind.
"It's glowing more today."
"Maybe it feels what's coming," Grim muttered.
"You mean her?"
He looked up.
The Monster Gift
Lys stood at the top of the academy steps.
Eyes wild. Hair windswept. And behind her—
A slain ClassB monster, its head still steaming, bound in chains of frost and bone.
She dropped it at his feet like an offering. Like tribute.
"They said gifts were romantic."
Grim blinked.
Sparks let out a tiny, corrupted laugh in his mind. > "You're so dead."
Lys took two steps forward. Her voice dropped to a whisper, just for him.
"Next time you vanish for two months, take me with you."
"It wasn't a vacation," he replied.
"It doesn't matter. I missed you. And so did the beast in me."
She ran a hand along his cheek.
The academy courtyard went silent.
Max leaned to Tristan. "On a scale of one to ten, how concerned should we be?"
Tristan smirked. "We're at a twelve, and I love it."
Sibling Jabs and Sparks' Mood
Ayesha gave a slow clap. "Adorable. Now can we go inside before this turns into a public mating ritual?"
Hadi bounced beside Sparks' glitching projection. "Still no body, huh?"
"Thanks for the reminder, Pinklight."
"No problem, Soulless Sparkle."
They grinned at each other like sisters who might stab each other.
Back Inside
As the group reentered the academy halls, familiar and strange all at once, Grim murmured:
"Feels different."
"Because we are," Sparks replied.
In the distance, the Headmaster's voice echoed through the corridor—halfasleep, midaged, and amused:
"Ah, the disasters have returned. I've already reordered the infirmary supplies. And Lys, dear, try not to kill anyone on school grounds again."
"No promises," she purred.