The next morning came too soon.
Miko woke with a jolt, heart hammering, sheets twisted around her legs like restraints.
She couldn't remember the dream exactly — only flashes: black claws, crimson light, a voice that wasn't hers laughing inside her skull.
Her hand flew to the seal. It was warm, almost feverish, but not burning. Not yet.
East tower. Again.
She dragged herself through the halls, uniform still wrinkled, hair barely tamed into a messy ponytail.
The academy felt different today — quieter, watchful. Students avoided her eyes. Whispers followed her like smoke.
When she pushed open the training room door, Kael was already there.
He didn't look up from the small knife he was spinning between his fingers — a casual motion that somehow looked dangerous.
"You're late," he said.
"Three minutes." Miko dropped her water pouch on the bench. "Give me a break."
Kael caught the knife mid-spin and sheathed it at his waist.
"Three minutes is enough time to die in a real fight."
She rolled her eyes but didn't argue.
Yesterday's lesson still stung — not the physical part, but the way he'd looked at her when she hesitated. Like she was already a liability.
"Same drill?" she asked.
"No. Today we push."
He walked to the center of the room. The silver runes in the floor lit up faintly at his approach.
"Dual summons. One shadow from you, one from me. We link them. You follow my rhythm. Don't lead."
Miko raised an eyebrow. "Link them?"
"Think of it like a dance. If one partner steps wrong, both fall."
She almost laughed at the metaphor coming from him. Almost.
They faced each other, three meters apart.
Kael lifted his right hand. A thin black ribbon uncoiled from his palm — smooth, controlled, almost elegant.
"Your turn."
Miko exhaled and reached.
The seal answered eagerly this time.
A matching ribbon rose from her palm — darker, threaded with faint red, trembling slightly at the edges.
Kael nodded once. "Now follow."
He moved his ribbon in a slow arc.
Miko mirrored it — clumsy at first, then smoother.
Their shadows met in the middle, touched — and locked.
The moment they connected, Miko felt it: a faint tug, like a string tied between their hearts.
His control flowed into her. Steady. Cold. Precise.
She could feel how he shaped the shadow — not with force, but with intent.
She tried to copy it.
The red in her ribbon dimmed a little. The shaking eased.
"Good," Kael said quietly. "Keep breathing with it."
They moved together — slow circles, then figure-eights, then sharper angles.
The linked shadows danced between them like a living thing, beautiful and deadly.
For the first time since she arrived in this world, Miko didn't feel like she was fighting the seal.
She was… moving with it.
Then the pull came.
Not the usual hunger — something sharper. Hungrier.
Coming from outside.
Miko's ribbon jerked.
Kael's eyes narrowed. "Hold it."
"I'm trying—"
The shadows twisted violently.
Hers lashed sideways; his followed like a chain.
They slammed into the wall — the runes flared bright silver — then snapped back.
Miko stumbled. Kael caught her elbow before she hit the ground.
For a second they were too close.
She could feel his heartbeat through the grip on her arm — fast, despite how calm he looked.
Then he let go like she burned him.
"What was that?" he asked, voice low.
"I don't know. It… pulled. From somewhere else."
Kael scanned the room.
The runes were still glowing faintly — brighter than before.
One of the floating orbs flickered and died.
He stepped back, shadows coiling protectively around his hands.
"Again. Slower."
They tried once more.
This time the pull came faster — sharper.
Mid-motion, Miko's shadow wrenched itself free and shot toward the far wall.
It hit the stone and didn't stop.
It sank in — like the wall had become liquid — and disappeared.
A heartbeat later the runes pulsed red.
Then the wall cracked.
Not a big crack.
Just a hairline fracture — barely visible.
But from it leaked the faintest trace of black mist.
Kael's face went stone cold.
"That shouldn't be possible," he said. "The training wards are triple-layered."
Miko stared at the crack.
The seal on her collarbone burned — not painfully, but triumphantly.
She pressed her hand over it.
"Something's awake," she whispered.
Kael didn't answer.
He was already moving — fast, silent — toward the door.
"Stay here."
"No way."
He shot her a look that could have frozen fire.
But she followed anyway.
They stepped into the corridor.
It was empty.
Too empty.
The floating lights that usually lined the hall were dim.
Several were out completely.
Kael's shadows spread outward like radar.
Then he froze.
"There."
At the far end of the corridor — where it turned toward the stairwell — stood a figure.
Not a student.
Not an instructor.
Tall. Hooded. Face hidden in shadow.
It didn't move.
It just watched.
Then it raised one hand.
A thin crimson thread — identical to the veins in Miko's seal — extended from its sleeve and pointed straight at her.
The thread pulsed once.
Miko's seal answered — flaring so bright it hurt to look at.
The figure tilted its head — almost curious.
Then it turned and vanished around the corner.
Gone.
Kael was already running.
Miko sprinted after him.
They rounded the corner.
Empty corridor.
No footsteps. No trace.
Only one thing left behind.
On the floor — burned into the stone — was a single symbol.
A circle.
A spiral inside it.
And at the center… a tiny, perfect handprint.
Miko's handprint.
She stared at it.
Kael crouched beside it, shadows probing the edges.
"This wasn't here yesterday," he said.
Miko's voice came out small.
"It knows me."
Kael looked up at her.
"Then we find out who — or what — it is."
He stood.
"Training's over for today."
He started walking.
Miko didn't move.
"Kael."
He stopped.
She met his eyes.
"If it's after me… I don't want anyone else to get caught in the middle."
He looked at her for a long moment.
Then he said the last thing she expected.
"Too late."
He turned and kept walking.
Miko stared after him.
The seal pulsed again — slower this time.
Almost gentle.
Like it was saying:
Soon.
To be continued…