There existed a thin trace of chill that clung to the corridors of early morning, wafting against the walls with an air of almost deliberate slowness. Kael walked with deliberate steps, so that he might allow his thoughts to fall into a rhythm as slow as the throb at the base of his mind. The voice he had sensed within the Archive still resonated within memory, fading gently back into silence as if it had merely sought recognition before fading once more. Nevertheless, its departure caused a hollow echo within its trace, much as if a room had been vacated.
Brion waited for him there, leaning on the railing with a tired attempt at smiling. "I'm going to assume you slept horribly because I most certainly slept terribly, and I refuse to suffer alone."
Kael almost smiled. "Your expectations are correct."
"I knew it. Misery truly thrives in company." Brion fell into step beside him, his voice dropping as more trainees gathered in the hall. "Are there any more strange… incidents?"
"Not directly," Kael replied. "But things are different now compared to before."
"That's even more terrible," Brion muttered. "Are you going to remind Avel again?"
"Yes
Brion looked worried still, but a glimmer of relief crossed his features at Kael's response.
They arrived at the training site as a gray sky hung low on the horizon. The morning sun attempted to shine through the clouds with a consistency that seemed muted. Avel stood toward the center, her cloak swishing against the dust at her boots as she surveyed the trainees. She scanned the ranks, her eyes resting on Kael for an instance before continuing.
"Today's activity centers on endurance and awareness of your surroundings," Avel said. "You will be led on the Quiet Path. You are to remain with your group. Be alert. Should anything strange occur, alert someone."
Brion's muscles tensed as he stood side by side with Kael. "Why does she act as if it were an everyday event?"
"It's Avel," Seris said, approaching them with her characteristic composed confidence. "She warns us for things she has already calculated three steps ahead."
Mirren followed soon after, adjusting the strap on his satchel. "The Quiet Path isn't hard to navigate. It's meant to unsettle, not harm."
"That doesn't help," Brion said.
"It should," Mirren said. "If they wanted to test danger, they would have chosen a different location."
Brion looked at him as if he were betrayed. "How can you make these statements so calmly?"
"It is better to be calm than unprepared."
Avel raised a hand to signal the start of their trek. Naturally, people grouped together, and Kael found himself with Seris, Brion, and Mirren. It was an unstructured grouping that had been developing within the previous weeks.
The Quiet Path began at the edge of the academy grounds and the forest. It was a trail lined with tall trees on either side, and path markers made out of faint runes glowed softly in the dim light. There was a moist, earthy aroma wafting through the air, and yet there was something more beneath it, something almost like stillness at the bottom of a very deep well. There were no birds singing among the treetops, and no insects buzzing. The forest stood silent, as if watching the party with rapt curiosity.
Seris walked on Kael's left side, her gaze darting among the trees and the ever-changing underbrush. "This area feels. controlled."
Mirren nodded. "It's meant to reduce sensory stimulation. It forces your brain to rely on your instincts and your memory."
Brion looked at a mess of roots with caution. "I would like some distractions. Distractions are soothing."
Kael tried to focus on the trail before them. The trail tendriled gently up and down, with no challenge in sight, but some sort of muffled pressure weighed against the party. Each footfall rang out with abnormal amplitude, and the scattering of leaves beneath their feet rang with a fractional lag, as if the forest were taking a moment to absorb it.
An hour passed thus—steady walking, no threats, no challenges except for the eerie ambiance.
Kael expected a dulling of the silence eventually, but instead, it intensified. The more they walked, the more he noticed the silence. There were no small creatures scrambling across their path. The branches above were still, though a gentle wind blew through.
Sometimes there would be a sense that something had passed just out of sight, but whenever he looked toward it, there would be nothing. The trees loomed overhead, unswaying and unmoving, with long and thin shadows across the forest floor.
"What exactly are they testing here?" Brion whispered.
"Your capacity to remain tranquil as your senses become confused," Mirren replied.
Kael looked at the area between the trees, allowing his eyes to wander without settling on anything. A dull weight followed the path of his gaze—never sharp, never sinister, but there nonetheless. It brought back memories of the weight he had experienced at the Archive, but it was a different sort altogether. The shadow at Archive had been watching with an unwarranted curiosity. The forest just waited with a cautious balance, as if employing itself with curiosity as to whether the party would disrupt it.
Seris let out a soft breath. "I don't like the air here. It's too still."
Kael nodded in agreement.
Avel brought them deeper, and then the path opened into a circular arena. Pale stones were arranged there in an pattern Kael couldn't identify, but they seemed to hold a subtle meaning that they were not random. Avel raised a hand for silence, but there was no need. No one had spoken for several minutes.
"This is the midpoint," she said. "You will rest here for thirty minutes before continuing on. Do not wander. Do not leave the circle. The forest will not take kindly to movement outside the path."
Brion leaned in close to Kael. "What does that mean?"
Mirren replied reassuringly. "It means exactly what she said."
"That doesn't help."
"It never does," Mirren replied.
Avel sent them all away for the break. Some of the trainees sat on the rocks. The rest stood, as if the earth itself might be uncomfortable to touch. Kael lingered on the edge of the circle, watching the magical stakes that bordered it. Their light beat with a very slow pulse, a breathing rhythm that did not correspond with humanity's.
Seris settles beside him, stretching her legs out before her. "How are you feeling?"
"Alert," Kael said. "More than necessary."
"That's the point, isn't it?"
"Yes
A quiet moment passed.
Mirren walked toward them with an expression as if he had been studying the forest very carefully. "The boundary is older than the academy."
Kael turned to him. "How do you know?"
"The runes are cut in an antiquated fashion. You can see it in the cuts. These predate the modern usage by several hundred years."
Seris frowned. "Why would the academy use something so old?"
"Because whatever this place is, the original boundary was probably set up either to contain or maybe prevent something," Mirren said. "The academy probably just grew around it."
Brion tensed. "Contain what
Mirren didn't respond, and that spoke volumes.
Kael again sensed the tremble within himself, a sensation like a string pulled taut—and again it passed before he could properly define it. He looked about the forest, but there was no sign of movement.
"I feel… pressure," Kael said quietly.
Mirren stared at him. "What kind of pressure?"
"As if the forest were leaning toward us."
Brion made a strangled noise. "Why do you always make statements like that?"
Seris placed her hand lightly on Kael's forearm. "Do you feel it as before?"
"No," Kael said. "This is something different. This place is. attentive."
Mirren's gaze shifted towards the trees. "It is."
Again, they lapsed into silence. Even the presence of the other trainees seemed quiet. The moments dragged on, and the silence of the forest began to be drawn out, as if there were not enough air.
As soon as Avel indicated that they were done with the break, the party stood up with visible relief. They grouped and geared up for the return journey.
The forest seemed different on the return journey. The silence had grown more oppressive. It seemed as if every step they took was deliberate, and that the trail seemed a shade narrower than it had before—even though Kael knew it couldn't be so. The canopy above reduced the light by a small but perceptible amount, as if a gauze screen had been drawn across the sky.
Brion stood very close to him at this point, with no trace of his usual attempts at humor. Seris kept a sharp eye out, and Mirren's expression had sharpened, displaying a side he rarely revealed.
At themidway point on thereturn journey, Kael detected movement.
He didn't hear anything. He didn't see anything. Yet something shifted–off in the distance, deep within the forest, beyond recognition yet near enough that he could feel it resonating against him. A tremor passed beneath his feet, so subtle that Kael wondered if he was sensing it at all.
Brion froze. "Tell me you felt that."
Kael nodded once.
Seris's hand rested beside her belt, though no weapons were allowed in this drill. "Where?"
Mirren turned his head very slightly. "Right side. Far."
Avel brought the group to a standstill and raised her hand. Her eyes surveyed the woods with deliberate calculation, but she gave no indication that she intended to investigate the commotion. The runes on the stakes lining the path blinked erratically for a brief moment, as if responding to something outside.
For several tense moments, nothing happened. The forest changed only because of a gentle breeze stirring through the leaves, and that seemed muffled.
Avel dropped her hand and turned back to her group. "Continue. Stay together."
Everyone followed her orders without a question.
Their formation was tighter now. The forest closed around them. The path looked more precarious, a thread of safety among something that had never wanted them there. Kael tried to focus on the stakes and will them to hold. Their light flickered once, then steadied and pulsed with a rhythm that beat like a heart.
A different sensation touched Kael's consciousness—a humming, which thrummed within his chest for an instant. It passed, leaving an echo that shimmered with the essence of an unformed thought.
Seris noticed the subtle change in his expression. "What's wrong?"
"Something reached toward us," Kael whispered. "Only for a moment."
"Mirren let out a slow breath. 'We should move faster
Avel didn't accelerate but changed her stride with nuanced intention, modifying her pace without disrupting the unity of her group. The forest became increasingly radiant on the edge of the academy's territory. The silence relaxed, as if a pent-up breath had been let out.
Finally, as they passed outside the mark, the change became immediate. The calls of birds sounded from the branches. The wind blew unencumbered once more. Nature began functioning as it should.
Brion slumped in relief. "I'm going to pretend the last two hours never happened."
Seris rubbed her arms as if trying to shake off something that clung to her. "The forest wasn't normal today."
"It never is," Mirren replied. "But something changed." Kael looked back at the tree line. The shadows among the trunks were swaying with the wind, but there was something beneath that remained static. The whisper within Kael began to stir in recognition, not from fear but from realization. Something had been watching them in the forest. And whatever it was, it had drawn nearer.