Lyra's POV
The Primordial Guardian's claws missed my head by inches.
I rolled sideways, feeling the wind from its strike ruffle my hair. Where I'd been standing, the stone ground exploded into dust. This thing could kill me with one hit.
"Lyra, move!" Kael shouted, throwing a blast of void magic at the creature's face.
The Guardian screamed—a sound that made my bones vibrate—and turned its burning eyes toward Kael. Three of its six arms swung at him simultaneously.
Kael disappeared into shadows and reappeared behind it, but the Guardian was fast. Too fast. One arm caught him across the chest and sent him flying into a wall.
"No!" I screamed, power exploding from my hands.
Silver light hit the Guardian square in its chest. The creature stumbled backward, roaring in confusion. For a moment, I thought I'd actually hurt it.
Then it looked at me and smiled.
Smiled.
"Oh, that's bad," Zephyr muttered, wind whipping around his hands. "Lyra, when ancient monsters smile at you, that's super bad!"
The Guardian lunged. Nova's device exploded between us, creating a wall of crackling energy that stopped it for maybe three seconds. Then the creature smashed through like the barrier was made of paper.
I raised my hands again, calling up every bit of power I had. The marks on my skin blazed so bright they hurt. Magic poured out of me in waves—
And the Guardian absorbed it all.
It grew bigger. Stronger. Its eyes burned brighter.
Lyra, stop! the Codex shouted in my mind. You're feeding it! Primordial Guardians eat raw magic!
"Now you tell me!" I yelled, diving behind a destroyed pillar as the Guardian's fist pulverized the spot where I'd been standing.
Students were screaming, running in all directions. Professors tried to evacuate them, but there were too many people and too much panic. I saw a group of first-years frozen in terror as the Guardian turned toward them.
Kael appeared in front of the kids, his void magic forming a shield. "Get to the safe zones!" he ordered. "NOW!"
The first-years ran. The Guardian's arm came down like a hammer.
Kael caught it. Somehow, impossibly, he caught a strike that should have crushed him. His arms shook with effort, his void magic crackling wildly, but he held it back.
"Lyra," he gritted out through clenched teeth. "Figure out how to stop this thing. Because I can't hold it much longer."
My mind raced. The Codex had said only a fully trained Cipher could contain a Guardian. But I wasn't fully trained. I barely knew what I was doing. How was I supposed to—
You're thinking like a human, the Codex interrupted my panic. Stop trying to overpower it. You're a Cipher. You don't fight Primordial Magic. You negotiate with it.
"Negotiate? It's trying to kill everyone!"
Because it's confused and in pain! The seal breaking drove it insane. But underneath, it's still a Guardian. It still remembers its purpose. Remind it.
I didn't know how to do that. But Kael was starting to slip, his shield cracking under the Guardian's strength. Nova and Zephyr were throwing everything they had at the creature, but nothing worked. Students were dying.
I had to try.
I closed my eyes and reached out with my Cipher magic—not attacking, just touching. Gently. The way you'd approach a scared animal.
The Guardian's mind hit me like a tidal wave. Rage. Confusion. Pain. Thousands of years of guarding a seal, then suddenly being ripped free, its purpose destroyed, its existence meaningless. It didn't know what it was anymore.
"I know," I whispered, and I meant it. "I know what it feels like when everything you thought you were gets ripped away. When people make you feel like you don't matter. Like you're nothing."
The Guardian paused. Its burning eyes fixed on me.
"But you're not nothing," I continued, taking a step closer even though every instinct screamed at me to run. "You were a protector. A Guardian. That's still true. It'll always be true, no matter what happened to your seal."
I showed it my memories. Cassia's betrayal. Dorian's silence. Standing in front of everyone who thought I was worthless. The pain of having my purpose stolen.
And then I showed it what came after. Finding the Codex. Discovering my real power. Standing up when Professor Winters threatened my grandmother.
Choosing to be strong even when I felt broken.
The Guardian's rage... softened. Just a little.
"You can choose too," I said. "You can choose to remember what you really are. Not a monster. A Guardian."
The creature lowered its arms slowly. Its eyes dimmed from burning rage to something almost... sad.
Then it looked past me, and its eyes flared bright again.
I spun around.
Headmaster Graves stood on the steps of the main building, watching everything with a cold smile. Beside him were Professor Winters and a dozen robed figures I recognized from the courtyard attack.
The Eclipse Covenant.
"Well done, Miss Ashford," Graves called out pleasantly. "You've calmed the Guardian. Exactly as we hoped you would."
My blood turned to ice. "This was a trap."
"Of course it was a trap." He gestured, and the robed figures spread out, surrounding us. "We needed to see how far your powers had developed. Whether you could truly control Primordial Magic. You've exceeded our expectations."
Kael moved to stand beside me, his magic crackling dangerously. "You broke the fourth seal deliberately. You could have killed hundreds of students."
"Acceptable losses," Graves said with a shrug. "Besides, I knew the Keeper would save them. That's what Keepers do. They sacrifice themselves to protect others. It makes them so predictable."
Nova and Zephyr joined us, forming a defensive line. We were outnumbered at least three to one, exhausted from fighting the Guardian, and surrounded.
"What do you want?" I demanded.
"You, obviously." Graves started walking down the steps. "You're going to help us break the remaining three seals. Voluntarily."
"Never."
"Even if refusing means everyone dies?" He snapped his fingers.
The robed figures raised their hands. Magic crackled around them—not aimed at us, but at the Guardian. Dark, twisted magic that made the creature scream in agony.
"Stop!" I shouted. "You're hurting it!"
"Then do what I ask," Graves said calmly. "Come with us quietly. Help us break the seals. Or I order my people to torture this Guardian until it goes completely mad and kills every student in this Academy."
The Guardian thrashed, its pain echoing through my Cipher connection. I felt every moment of its agony like it was my own.
Kael grabbed my arm. "Don't. It's a bluff."
"Is it?" Graves smiled. "Tell me, Voidstrider—are you willing to bet five hundred student lives on that?"
Before I could answer, someone slow-clapped from the shadows behind Graves.
Everyone turned.
Cassia Thornwood stepped into the moonlight, and she looked absolutely delighted. Dorian followed reluctantly behind her.
"Perfect timing," Cassia said. "I wouldn't want to miss Lyra's second public humiliation."
My heart sank as I understood. This wasn't just about the seals. This was about destroying me completely.
"Tomorrow morning," Graves announced loudly, making sure his voice carried to all the students still watching from safe distances, "there will be a mandatory assembly. The entire Academy will gather. And Lyra Ashford will stand before everyone and confess that she's been working with dark forces. That she deliberately released the Guardian and endangered student lives."
"That's a lie!" Nova shouted.
"Perhaps," Graves said. "But after her confession, the disciplinary committee will have no choice but to expel her permanently and seal away her magic. Unless..." He looked at me meaningfully. "Unless she agrees to help us quietly. Then this all goes away. The Guardian calms. The students are safe. And she even gets to keep attending classes. Win-win."
Cassia stepped forward, her smile vicious. "Face it, Lyra. You've already lost. Again. You can either give up now and save some of your dignity, or you can drag it out and watch everything burn. Either way, I win."
The Guardian screamed again under the Covenant's torture. Students were watching. My friends were surrounded. And Graves was giving me a choice that wasn't really a choice at all.
Surrender everything I was, or watch everyone die.
"You have until dawn to decide," Graves said pleasantly. "Think carefully."
He turned and walked away, his Covenant members maintaining their torture of the Guardian. Cassia blew me a mocking kiss before following.
The second they left, the pressure released. The Guardian collapsed, whimpering. Students started crying. Professors rushed to organize healing and evacuation.
And I stood there, shaking with rage and helplessness, while Kael's arms wrapped around me from behind.
"We'll find another way," he whispered. "I promise."
But as I watched Cassia disappear into the darkness, still smiling her victorious smile, I wondered if there was any way out of this trap.
And then something worse occurred to me.
"Where's my grandmother?" I asked suddenly, my voice rising in panic. "After the courtyard attack, where did they take her?"
Kael's arms tightened around me. He didn't answer.
Which was answer enough.
"No," I breathed. "No, no, no—"
A professor ran up to us, her face pale. "Miss Ashford, I have a message from Headmaster Graves. He asked me to tell you that your grandmother is being held in the Crystal Spire as a 'guest.' She'll remain safe and comfortable as long as you cooperate."
My knees went weak. They had her. They'd had her this whole time.
And suddenly I understood the real trap. This wasn't about giving me a choice. It was about giving me no choice at all.
Dawn was only six hours away.
And when the sun rose, I would have to decide: betray everything I believed in to save the people I loved, or become the hero who watches everyone die.