Night fell over Blackthorn Academy like a curtain of ash. The wind howled through broken windows and cracked tiles. Kael sat alone in the storage wing, far from the dorms, where failed students were sent to rot.
He didn't sleep.
He listened.
The mark on his arm glowed faintly. Not red. Not black. Something in between. The same color as silence before a storm.
Then came the sound.
Not footsteps. Not breathing.
Whispers.
From the walls. Beneath the stone. Inside the air.
"You hear them now" the voice returned, calm and cold.
Kael stayed still.
"What are they"
The beast's voice answered softly.
"The locked ones. Not all my kind were destroyed. Some were buried. Some still sleep. And some... are waiting for you."
Kael lowered his head.
"I am not ready"
"No one is. But you are closer than they think."
A small cracking sound echoed near the back wall. Kael turned slowly.
A stone brick had shifted. On its face was an old rune. Not guild made. Older. Worn from centuries of time. His hand moved toward it without thinking. The moment his fingers touched the symbol, his mind jolted.
Flashes.
A battlefield of bones.
A mountain breathing like a heart.
Eyes in the sky.
Kael gasped and pulled away.
The brick clicked back into place.
Silence returned.
"You touched a memory of the abyss" the voice said. "They are waking up now. One by one. Because they know... the Binder lives."
Kael leaned back against the cold wall.
His heart was steady.
He did not know what the abyss truly was.
But he knew this.
He was no longer alone.
The next day, a bell rang across the academy.
Students gathered at the field once more.
A special event had been called.
"The Guild Selection Trials begin next week" the instructor announced. "All ranked tamers will be tested. Those who pass will receive a sponsor. Those who fail will be cast out."
The crowd buzzed.
Kael stood at the back.
He said nothing.
He already knew what this meant.
They were going to use the Trials to get rid of him for good.
And that was fine.
Let them try.
Because this time... he would show them a beast they could not name.