Miss Veena's voice echoed through the nearly silent room.
"You will meet the Grandmaster."
The words clung to the air, heavier than they should have been.
I forced my expression to stay neutral, but something shifted around me. A silent current. A breath of magic woven into the atmosphere.
Who was he?
What would he see in me?
A flicker of unease settled beneath my ribs. I swallowed it down.
"There's no turning back now."
Students moved across the open fields. Some sparred, sending crackling energy through the air. Others whispered incantations under their breath, testing new techniques. The academy was alive with magic—fluid, untamed, endless.
I barely had time to take it all in before Miss Veena's voice cut through.
"Have you memorized the flying spell yet?"
I blinked. "Oh. Uh, yeah. I have it memorized."
Her gaze was unreadable, but her sharp eyes watched me with something close to expectation. "Then prove it."
I hesitated.
Not because I was scared.
But because magic—real magic—still felt too vast under my skin. Like an ocean I wasn't sure I could control.
Miss Veena raised an eyebrow. "Doubt will ground you faster than failure. Channel your magic. Speak the spell."
I exhaled, pushing everything else out of my mind. No room for hesitation.
"Placium Tha Uronowill."
The moment the words left my lips, I felt it.
A shift. A pull.
And then—
The ground vanished.
For a heartbeat, I was weightless, caught between falling and floating. Then, with a sudden burst, I was soaring—air rushing past my skin, lifting me higher.
A sharp laugh escaped me.
I was flying.
The academy sprawled beneath me—towering spires, vast courtyards, secret paths winding like veins through the land. From this height, I could see it all. The grand halls of the inner court. The enchanted forests bordering the outer grounds. The mountains beyond, their peaks lost in mist.
For the first time since arriving here, I felt free.
But then—
A spike of panic lodged in my chest.
The spell was holding, but the control was something else entirely.
I tried to slow down. Instead, I tilted forward, momentum yanking me into a sharp descent.
My stomach lurched.
"Mira!" Miss Veena's voice snapped through the wind. "Focus!"
Focus.
I tightened my core, shifted my weight, willed the magic to steady.
Slowly, the wild tilt eased. I stabilized, breath coming fast.
I turned my head. Miss Veena hovered beside me, effortlessly controlled. She wasn't even using incantations anymore—just sheer mastery.
"You're flying on your first attempt," she said, a note of approval in her voice. "That's rare. But if you can't control it, it's useless."
I clenched my fists. "Then I'll learn."
Her lips curved slightly. "Good answer."
We flew for what felt like hours and seconds at once, soaring above the academy grounds before Miss Veena suddenly changed course.
I followed, gliding behind her as we veered away from the heart of the academy toward something… different.
A place that felt hidden, even from the sky.
A dense garden stretched out before us—ancient, untouched. The air grew heavier, thicker, as though the magic here was deeper. Older.
Then, nestled in the very heart of the garden, stood a single cottage.
Small. Modest. Yet somehow more imposing than the towering spires behind us.
As we landed, the world seemed to hush. Even the wind quieted.
Miss Veena stepped forward. "This is where you will meet the Grandmaster."
I wiped my palms against my jacket. "Right. Of course. No big deal."
She arched a brow but said nothing.
Then, before I could take a single step—
The door opened.
On its own.
A slow creak, like the house itself had been waiting.
Something curled in my gut.
Not fear.
Not excitement.
Something… else.
A presence.
I swallowed hard and stepped inside.
The Grandmaster's Domain
The air inside the cottage wasn't still.
It pulsed.
Like a heartbeat woven into the walls, an unseen force pressing against my skin.
A single fireplace crackled in the dim room, the only source of warmth against the unnatural chill. Shadows stretched and flickered, bending in ways they shouldn't.
And then—
He was there.
Sitting in a high-backed chair, as if he'd been expecting me.
My breath hitched.
His presence wasn't loud. It didn't demand attention.
But it was undeniable.
A quiet power that hummed beneath the surface, deeper than words, older than time.
His silver hair, long and unbound, caught the firelight like strands of woven starlight. His robes were simple, refined—no markings of status. Because he needed none.
And his eyes…
They weren't human.
Not entirely.
A storm of silver and shadow, swirling with secrets I wasn't ready to understand.
I opened my mouth to speak, but before I could—
"You've come."
His voice was smooth, edged with something immeasurable. Something that settled over my skin like static before a lightning strike.
I swallowed. "You expected me?"
A faint smile. "Didn't you?"
The air in the room seemed to tighten.
I had dreamed of him.
Before I ever set foot in this academy. Before I knew what I was. I'd seen him in the space between sleep and wakefulness.
But why?
What was I to him?
And what had he seen in me?