Astralis Academy Of Arcane Mastery

Chapter 12: Shadows That Whisper

The silence in Professor Vaelora's office stretched, thick with unspoken words.

Elara still hadn't moved from her seat, her body rigid with tension. Her mind replayed the brief flicker of something wrong—Vaelora's blackened eyes, the shift in the air like the entire room had exhaled in recognition of something ancient.

"You're wasting time," Vaelora said at last, her voice calm, but edged with something sharper.

Elara met her gaze. "What did I feel?"

Vaelora studied her for a long moment, then leaned forward, her hands clasped together. "You're not ready for that answer."

Anger flickered in Elara's chest. "Then why bring me here?"

A slow smile curved Vaelora's lips, one that didn't reach her eyes. "Because, ready or not, it knows you."

The room seemed colder now. Elara resisted the urge to wrap her arms around herself. "What knows me?"

"The same thing that knows all students who step too close to the wrong doors. The same thing that has been waiting for someone like you." Vaelora's gaze darkened. "And now that you've felt it, it won't stop watching."

Elara's fingers curled against the fabric of her cloak. This wasn't what she expected when she was called here. A scolding for losing to Lucien, maybe. Some forced lesson about control. But this?

"What do I do?" she asked.

Vaelora reached into her desk and pulled out a folded parchment. She slid it across the desk, her nails clicking against the wood. "You take this."

Elara hesitated before picking it up. The parchment was thick, old, the edges slightly frayed. A wax seal, deep crimson and pressed with an unfamiliar sigil, held it shut. The wax smelled strange—like burned metal and something sweeter beneath it.

"This is a task," Vaelora continued. "A test, if you will."

Elara lifted an eyebrow. "You're giving me homework?"

Vaelora smirked. "You could call it that."

Something about the way she said it made Elara's stomach twist. "And what if I refuse?"

"Then you'll remain ignorant of what's hunting you."

A chill ran down Elara's spine. Hunting.

Her fingers clenched around the parchment. "Where do I start?"

Vaelora's smirk faded. "You'll know when the time is right."

Typical. No straight answers, just more riddles.

Elara stood, stuffing the parchment into her cloak. She was already halfway to the door when Vaelora's voice stopped her.

"One more thing," she said. "Lucien will come for you again. And next time, he won't hold back."

Elara's jaw tightened. "Neither will I."

She left before Vaelora could say anything else.

The Academy at Night

The hallways of Astralis Academy were never truly quiet. Even in the dead of night, whispers crept through the walls, the old magic that built this place humming with its own awareness.

Elara's boots barely made a sound as she moved, her thoughts heavy with what Vaelora had said.

Something was watching her.

She felt it now more than ever. The weight of unseen eyes pressing against the back of her skull.

The parchment in her cloak burned against her skin.

She needed to read it. But not here.

She turned down a side corridor, away from the main dormitories, heading toward the Observatory Tower.

It was one of the few places left untouched by students at this hour—except for those foolish or reckless enough to wander. And tonight, she fell into both categories.

As she reached the spiral staircase leading up, she paused.

The air felt wrong.

She wasn't alone.

Elara turned her head slightly, listening.

A rustle of fabric. A slow inhale.

She gripped her wand and spun around—

Nothing.

Just the dimly lit corridor stretching behind her.

But the feeling remained.

She turned back toward the staircase and hurried up, every muscle in her body coiled tight.

The moment she stepped onto the Observatory's balcony, the tension in her chest eased—only slightly.

Stars stretched endlessly above her, casting faint silver light over the academy's towering spires. The magic in the air felt purer here, untamed, as if the sky itself was whispering secrets.

Elara pulled out the parchment and broke the seal.

The letters inked onto the page shifted.

She blinked. The words moved, rearranging themselves as if the parchment were alive.

Then, finally, they settled.

A single line of text.

"Find the Door That Does Not Exist."

Her pulse quickened.

A test, Vaelora had said.

But this felt more like a warning.

She was still staring at the words when a voice behind her nearly made her jump.

"You do realize the library's open during the day, right?"

Elara turned to see Cassius leaning against the railing, arms crossed, his usual smirk in place. But there was something else in his eyes. Concern.

"What are you doing here?" she asked.

"I could ask you the same thing."

She hesitated. Could she trust him with this?

Before she could decide, he moved closer. Not in the usual cocky way he carried himself, but with something quieter, more careful.

"Elara," he said, softer now. "What's going on?"

Something in his voice—**in the way he said her name—**made her want to tell him everything.

But before she could, the observatory's lanterns flickered.

The air grew cold.

And then—

A shadow moved at the edge of the balcony.

Elara grabbed her wand. Cassius was already moving, stepping in front of her.

The shadow whispered. Not in words, but in something older.

Something hungry.

Cassius tensed, his own magic crackling at his fingertips.

Elara's heart pounded. This wasn't just a trick of the light. Something was here.

She raised her wand, forcing her voice steady. "Who's there?"

The whispering stopped.

And then—

A low, rasping breath.

Cassius didn't wait. He **threw a spell—**a burst of light aimed directly at the figure.

But the moment it struck, the shadow vanished.

Not disappeared. Not fled.

It simply wasn't there anymore.

Elara exhaled shakily. "Did you see—?"

Cassius nodded, his expression grim. "Yeah."

For the first time since meeting him, she saw something close to fear in his eyes.

He turned to her, jaw tight. "Whatever that was—it was watching you."

Elara swallowed hard. So it wasn't just in her head.

Cassius ran a hand through his hair, exhaling sharply. "We need to tell someone."

Elara shook her head. "No."

He frowned. "No?"

She hesitated. If Vaelora wanted her to take this test alone, then she couldn't bring anyone else into it. Not yet.

"I can handle this," she said.

Cassius studied her, his gaze unreadable.

Then, after a long pause, he muttered, "You're a terrible liar."

Elara managed a smirk. "So are you."

He huffed a quiet laugh but didn't argue.

Still, when they left the observatory, Cassius walked beside her the entire way back—as if daring something else to try watching her again.