Eryndor pushed open the dorm door, still feeling the lingering heat from Seraphina's presence. The room was dim, lit only by a small crystal lamp on Kaelus's desk.
Kaelus was lying sideways on his bed tossing a wind pebble in the air while Darius sat at the window, half-shrouded in the faint dark mist that always seemed to follow him when he wasn't paying attention.
Both looked up the moment Eryndor stepped in.
Kaelus grinned first.
"Oh good, you're alive. Thought the principal roasted you in the hallway."
Eryndor exhaled, shutting the door behind him.
"Not roasted. But… something close."
Darius arched a brow. "What happened?"
Eryndor didn't bother easing into it.
"I'm fighting Rein Clark tomorrow. At dawn. Ember Arena."
Silence.
Kaelus's pebble fell and hit him on the forehead.
He sat up fast.
"WHAT?! Rein Clark?! The guy who almost kicked my ribs out of my back on day one?!"
Eryndor nodded.
Darius blinked slowly. "Isn't he… one of the academy's strongest second-years?"
"Mm," Eryndor said.
Kaelus walked up to him and grabbed his shoulders dramatically.
"No. No, no, no—you don't just say 'mm.' That guy launched me like a leaf. A LEAF."
Eryndor gave him a look. "You're exaggerating."
Kaelus jabbed a finger into his chest.
"You weren't the one who turned into airborne furniture."
Darius let out a short breath that might've been a laugh.
Kaelus pointed again, this time at Eryndor's face.
"You have to pay me back for that kick. I don't care how strong Rein is—you cannot let him walk around thinking he can treat my spine like a warm-up stretch."
Eryndor smirked.
"Of course. It's me, after all."
Kaelus grinned instantly. "That's what I like to hear."
Darius leaned back in his chair. "Just… don't die. The academy's paperwork is a nightmare."
Eryndor chuckled.
"I'll be fine."
Kaelus flopped back onto his bed. "Dawn at Ember Arena… gods, the whole academy is going to show up."
"They probably will," Eryndor admitted.
Darius nodded slowly. "Rein is strong. But you're not exactly normal either."
Eryndor shrugged. "I'll do what I need to."
Kaelus pointed at him again from across the room.
"And what you need to is to punt Rein at least once. For my dignity."
"We'll see," Eryndor said.
Kaelus groaned. "Terrible friend."
Eryndor laughed under his breath and stretched, muscles finally cooling from the earlier tension. The day felt longer than it should have — ether control, the Astral Sky, Seraphina, Rein… tomorrow was going to be something else.
He moved to his bed, sat down, then lay back slowly as Kaelus and Darius settled into their own quiet.
The room dimmed further. Outside, the academy towers glowed faintly under the moon.
Eryndor closed his eyes.
Lightning hummed faintly under his skin.
Wind whispered in his breath.
Storm gathered behind his heartbeat.
Tomorrow…
He inhaled deeply.
Tomorrow, the Ember Arena would witness something worth remembering.
The storm would move.
And with that final thought, exhaustion wrapped around him, pulling him into sleep.