The first day at Aetherion Academy was supposed to feel magical.
Instead, Lina Veris was late, sweaty, and running across the marble courtyard like she was being chased by a lion.
"Move, move, MOVE—" she hissed, dodging a levitating stack of textbooks that nearly smacked her in the face.
Students streamed around her, elegant in their midnight-blue academy coats, glowing sigils stitched across their collars. Everything looked polished, powerful, important.
Lina felt…chaotic.
Perfect way to start the year.
She skidded around a corner—straight into a wall.
A wall with a pulse.
A wall with arms.
She bounced off it and stumbled back, blinking up—and froze.
Kai Rhen.
Tall. Sharply built. Expression carved from stone. His dark hair fell over cool grey eyes that looked right through her, like he was analyzing her entire existence in one second.
Of all people to crash into… of course it had to be him.
"Are you done?" he asked calmly, as if she had personally inconvenienced his morning by existing.
Lina narrowed her eyes. "You were standing in the middle of the hallway."
"I was literally leaning on the side," he replied. "You ran into me like a meteor."
A few passing students slowed, watching the scene with interest.
Great. An audience.
"I'm having a rough day," Lina snapped. "Try not to make it worse."
"Noted," Kai said, voice smooth, annoyingly unbothered. "Though I'm failing to see how I made you late."
"I didn't say I was late."
"You didn't have to." His gaze flicked over her tangled hair, slightly crooked tie, and the panic still bright in her eyes. "It's obvious."
She opened her mouth, ready to fire back—when a familiar voice squealed from behind.
"LINA! YOU MADE IT!"
Mira Sun practically launched herself onto Lina's shoulder like an overexcited cat. "Oh wow. Kai Rhen? Already fighting on day one? I ship it!"
"We are not—" Lina started.
Kai turned away. "Please don't."
Mira gasped dramatically. "Enemies AND denial? I love this."
Lina groaned. "Mira, please. Not now."
Before Mira could stir more chaos, a chime echoed across the hall. The classroom doors slid open, revealing Instructor Verran—tall, strict, intimidating enough to silence the entire hallway.
"Inside," he commanded.
Lina hurried in, cheeks still hot with humiliation.
Of course, fate wasn't done with her.
Only one seat remained open.
Next to Kai.
She almost walked back out.
Kai didn't even look at her as she sat down, which somehow irritated her more.
Why is he so impossibly annoying?
And why does he look annoyingly perfect at eight in the morning?
Instructor Verran began lecturing about elemental resonance and academy protocols. Lina tried to focus. Really, she did.
But every time Kai turned a page, or breathed, or existed, her attention snapped toward him like a magnet out of control.
At one point, he leaned slightly closer and whispered, "Your pen is leaking."
Lina glanced down—the blue ink spreading across her notes like a massacre.
"Oh come on!" she whispered sharply.
Kai pushed a handkerchief toward her without looking.
"No thanks," she said instantly.
He withdrew it with a quiet shrug. "Suit yourself."
Mira, two seats away, mouthed: Tension.
Lina wanted to disappear.
Class ended with a burst of murmurs as students gathered their things. Lina shoved her ruined notes into her bag, praying the universe would give her a break for the rest of the day.
It did not.
The lights flickered.
A low hum pulsed through the walls.
Then—BOOM.
A shockwave shook the entire building, rattling windows and sending a ripple of panic through the halls.
Students screamed.
Sparks of unstable magic burst from the ceiling.
Lina instinctively stumbled backward—but slipped.
Strong hands caught her.
Kai.
He steadied her effortlessly, eyes sharp, jaw set with sudden seriousness.
"Stay behind me," he said.
His voice was low. Protective. Completely different from the mocking calm earlier.
Her heart thudded—not from fear.
From something she refused to name.
"What was that?" she whispered.
Kai didn't answer. His gaze was fixed ahead, darkening as the hallway filled with swirling smoke and distant shouts.
Something had happened.
Something big.
And whatever it was… they were about to step right into it.
He glanced at her, eyes intense. "This isn't an accident."
Before she could ask what he meant, another explosion thundered through the academy—closer this time.
Much closer.
Lina's breath caught.
Kai's hand tightened around her wrist.
"Veris," he said quietly, urgently. "Run."
—End of Chapter 1
© Kishtika., 2025All rights reserved.