Elira didn’t sleep. She sat frozen in her chair, the whisper still ringing in her ears, Her name.
The blueprint—a document older than the Academy itself—had spoken her name. It wasn’t possible. It shouldn’t have been possible. But she’d heard it.
A slow dread curled through her. She couldn’t move. I couldn’t breathe.
Had she triggered something? Had she been marked? Had something… seen her?
The candle, flat on the seething wooded floor unlit, flickered once more, albeit this time gently , throwing shadows against the walls of her cramped dorm. The blueprint lay before her, silent now as if it hadn’t just shattered every rule of reality.
Maybe she imagined it. Maybe exhaustion was getting to her. Maybe Aidan’s warnings had wormed into her subconscious.
But no. She knew the truth.
It was real.
And worse—it was aware.
A shiver ran down her spine. She rubbed her arms, trying to shake the deep cold in her bones.
What was she supposed to do now?
Destroy it?
No. Not yet.
Her mother had died for this.
And that meant answers were buried within these lines—secrets someone had fought to keep hidden. If she walked away now, she’d be burying the truth alongside her mother’s memory.
She picked up her quill, exhaled slowly, and began to write.
??? ?? ???
Hours Later…
Aidan was waiting in the courtyard.
The second Elira spotted him, she hesitated. His stance was rigid, arms crossed, jaw tight. He wasn’t just annoyed—he was bracing for a fight.
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And honestly? He probably should be.
“Tell me you destroyed it.”
Elira didn’t answer.
Aidan let out a sharp breath. “Gods, Elira—”
“I need more time.”
“Time?” His voice pitched higher, frustration bleeding through. “Time for what? You have no idea what you’re messing with—”
“No, Aidan, you don’t understand.” She met his glare head-on. “This isn’t just some forbidden relic. It’s tied to something bigger. My mother was looking for this—”
He stilled.
The anger drained from his face, replaced with something else.
Confusion. Realization.
“…Your mother?”
Elira swallowed hard. She had never told him. Not about her mother’s disappearance. Not about the endless pages of research, she left behind. Not about the obsession that had ultimately cost her everything.
Aidan’s expression shifted. “You think this is connected to her?”
Elira nodded. “I know it is.”
For a long moment, he studied her. Then, with a heavy sigh, he ran a hand through his hair. “Alright,” he muttered. “Tell me everything.”
??? ?? ???
Nightfall – The Underground Library
They met in the Catacombs.
The Academy had secrets. Dark ones. But none more dangerous than those buried beneath its stone foundations.
Few knew of the Underground Library. Fewer dared to enter.
Elira and Aidan stood at the base of a forgotten staircase. The air was thick with dust and the weight of centuries-old whispers. Torches flickered along the walls, stretching shadows against the endless shelves of forbidden texts.
Elira laid the blueprint on a stone table. Aidan sat across from her, arms folded tight. “Alright,” he muttered. “Let’s see what’s so important you’re willing to die for it.”
Elira hesitated, then carefully unrolled the parchment.
The symbols glowed faintly in the dim torchlight.
Aidan’s expression darkened.
“This isn’t just a blueprint,” he said.
Elira frowned. “What do you mean?”
He leaned forward, finger tracing the sigil at the center, which had reacted to her touch.
“This is a binding seal.”
Elira stiffened.
She had seen similar symbols before. But never like this.
“This isn’t a map or a design,” Aidan continued. “It’s holding something in place.”
Her throat went dry.
Holding what?
She reached out, fingertips brushing against the sigil.
The ink moved.
The torches dimmed.
A chill swept through the air, seeping into her bones.
And then—faint. She was so faint that she almost couldn’t hear it.
A whisper.
“Elira.”
Her breath caught. She yanked her hand back, pulse pounding in her ears.
Aidan’s eyes were wide. “Did you hear that?”
Elira nodded slowly.
He cursed under his breath. “That’s not supposed to happen.”
She forced herself to speak. “What does it mean?”
Aidan didn’t answer at first. He stared at the blueprint, shoulders rigid with a growing, unmistakable fear.
Then, finally, he met her gaze.
His voice was grim.
“It means whatever is on this blueprint…”
He swallowed hard.
“Isn’t supposed to wake up.”
Based on everything so far, what do you think is sealed inside the blueprint?
