The bells tolled thrice.Not the morning chime — this was a summoning alarm.
Lyn froze mid-step in the corridor, the echo crawling through the marble halls like a shiver through bone. Students poured out of classrooms, confused and anxious. Professors exchanged hurried glances, clutching their summoning sigils.
He didn't need to ask. He already knew.They were calling him.
Umbra's essence stirred faintly within the crest, a deep growl rumbling in the back of Lyn's consciousness.
"They've marked your presence. The Council hunts with eyes unseen."
"I figured," Lyn muttered, scanning the hall. He couldn't risk going back to his dorm — every corridor would be sealed.
A voice called out from behind him. "Ashveil!"
He turned to see Kael, his closest ally in the tamers' division — sweat streaking down his face, eyes wild. "The Council declared an emergency lockdown. They say a hostile resonance escaped containment — they mean you!"
"Then you shouldn't be here," Lyn warned, stepping back.
Kael grinned weakly. "And miss the fun? Not a chance."
Before Lyn could protest, a deafening pulse shook the corridor. A wave of blue sigils flared across the ceiling — containment wards. The academy was sealing the upper levels.
Kael cursed. "Too late. They're closing the Gate Lines."
Lyn's mind raced. "There's one path they won't expect."
"The Forbidden Wing?" Kael asked, voice low.
Lyn nodded grimly. "Exactly where Mira disappeared."
The Forbidden Wing sat at the northern edge of the academy — a place older than the rest, left untouched after the first rebellion. No lights, no patrols. Just silence and dust thick enough to choke on.
They slipped through the shadows, the sound of distant spells shaking the halls behind them.
"Lyn," Kael whispered, "if they catch us—"
"They won't."
A rune-lit spear exploded against the wall beside them, cutting off the words. Both dove for cover as a squad of Runeguard Inquisitors appeared — their armor black, their visors glowing with cold mana.
"Target confirmed! Binding formation—"
Umbra's voice thundered through Lyn's mind.
"Do not let them cage you again."
Lyn raised his hand. The crest burned gold, light bursting from beneath his sleeve as spectral shadows erupted around him — Umbra's shape flickering in a dozen forms.
The air roared as the corridor filled with spiraling tendrils of violet flame. The Inquisitors shouted in alarm, their wards shattering one after another.
Kael blinked, awed and terrified. "That's not normal summoning, Lyn— that's—"
"Something they never taught us," Lyn said, voice cold.
They reached the end of the hall — a dead-end wall covered in cracked runes.
Lyn placed his hand on the surface, the crest pulsing once more. The runes flared — not blue, not gold, but black-violet, bending space itself.
The wall melted away.
Beyond lay a spiral stair descending into darkness. The air below shimmered faintly, thick with mana — and voices.
Whispers in forgotten tongues, echoing like distant hymns.
Kael swallowed hard. "What is this place?"
Lyn stared down into the glowing abyss."The place the Council buried their lies."
And as they stepped into the darkness, the bells above tolled once more — but this time, they sounded less like alarm… and more like a warning.
The Forbidden Wing has awakened.