“Why?”
“Because not everything wandering Shadowick tonight belongs to the Priestess.”
Well, that was deeply upsetting information.
We moved quickly down the narrow street while fog wrapped around our ankles. Every building looked older the farther we traveled from the compound.
Something moved at the far end of the street, and I froze instantly.
The figure disappeared behind a building before I fully saw it, but the movement had been wrong somehow. Too fast and too smooth all at once.
Barlen didn’t stop walking.
“What was that?” I whispered.
He slowed for a brief spell. “Don’t look directly at them.”
My pulse spiked as I looked down the street. “Them?”
“The shadow walkers sometimes wander when the Priestess grows agitated.”
Excellent.
Fantastic.
Absolutely wonderful.
We crossed beneath a massive stone archway, and the village slowly began thinning around us just like before. We were getting closer.
The farther we traveled, the quieter everything became until even our footsteps sounded muffled beneath the fog, and Barlen trudged ahead as if nothing would stop him.
And there it was.
Shadowick Academy.
My breath caught painfully in my chest as the massive structure rose from the darkness ahead of us, half-hidden beneath silver mist and twisted black trees. Towering spires clawed toward the sky while enormous windows reflected moonlight like dull mirrors. Parts of the Academy looked abandoned entirely, with ivy swallowing whole sections of stone walls, but other portions…
Other portions glowed faintly beneath the surface as if they were still coming alive.
“It’s changed,” I whispered.
Barlen nodded slowly beside me. “It’s waking.”
The shadow mark burned hotter instantly, and the Academy responded.
I could feel it. It wasn’t just magic. It was recognition.
The enormous iron gates stood partially open now, creaking softly as fog and shadows drifted through them into the courtyard beyond. Statues lined the path leading toward the entrance, but many had crumbled over time.
The place felt abandoned and alive at once, and looked even more beautiful at night.
“We should hurry,” Barlen murmured.
I nodded slowly as the Academy towers disappeared into low clouds, while dim silver lights flickered occasionally behind the upper windows. But it wasn’t from lanterns.
It was movement…possibly magic.
A deep groan echoed from somewhere inside the structure, followed by the distant clang of metal.
