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"You know what?"

"Maybe." Dax waits. I don't answer. Not my problem. Yet.

At twenty-one fifty-seven, I hear running. Not military movement. Not ordered. Running. Fast. Messy. Someone trying to move faster than their body allows. I stand before I know why.

A messenger comes through the eastern entrance. Young. Human. Sweat running down his face. Chest heaving. One hand clenched around a folded letter. He looks around wildly.

"Chief—" He sees me. "Sir."

I step forward. "What." The man tries to breathe. Doesn't manage.

Holds out the letter. "It's..." Another breath. "The Academy." Everything inside me stops.

Rhyven hears him. I know because the command tent goes silent behind me. I take the letter. Varethian seal. Broken relay mark. Sent urgent. My fingers feel cold. "What happened."

The messenger swallows. "A report came through the eastern relay."

"From Varethia?"

"Yes."

"What happened."

He looks terrified. Not of me. Of the words. "A first-year disappeared from their bed last night."

Silence. No.

"Last night?" I ask.

"After deployment."

"Time?"

"Unknown."

"Name?"

"I don't have—" Movement behind me. Rhyven. He doesn't ask. Doesn't wait. He's already walking toward the exit.

"Rhyven." Nothing. I turn. He's gone past the command table. Past the Riders. Straight toward the landing grounds. No coat. No weapons beyond what he's already wearing. Nothing.

I follow. "Rhyven." He keeps moving. Faster now.

I catch him outside. Grab his shoulder. He turns.

The look on his face stops me for half a second.

I've never seen it. Not like this. Not when Theryn vanished. Not during the First Breach. Not when Vyrael was injured last year. Nothing. Rhyven looks wrong. Control isn't gone. It's shattered.

"Move." He says. His voice has gone cold.

"No."

"Caelen."

"We don't even know who disappeared."

"I don't care." His voice is low. Too low.