The Light of Dawn

A low whisper cut through the stale air of the dormitory.

“Kallen.”

The voice came from the doorway. Gus stood there, barefoot on stone floor, the moonlight from the small overhead vent casting his wiry frame in sharp relief. Behind him, Alice crouched, her white eyes flicking between the rows of sleeping children. Luca leaned against the doorframe, arms crossed, while Maeve hovered at the back, twisting a lock of snow-white hair around her finger—the same bone-white shade they all shared. Like ghosts in this tomb, Kallen thought

He rolled over, blinking sleep from his eyes. “What?”

“Get up,” Gus hissed. “Luca says there’s a drone air-carrier wreck at the yard. First one there gets to pick whatever’s inside.”

Kallen sat up, the cold biting his feet as they hit the floor. “And you believe him?”

Alice smirked. “Unless you’d rather stay here, hugging your sad little pillow.”

Luca snorted. “This is already a bad idea. More bodies, more noise.”

“Says the guy who got caught twice last month,” Maeve muttered.

“Exactly why we need him,” Gus muttered. “You’re just mad we’re bringing Maeve.”

Luca raised his hand in defence. “She’s just as weak as Kallen, at least he’s useful.”

Maeve scoffed. “I can hear you, you know, and I just had my awakening.”

Gus ignored them and turned back to Kallen. “You in or not?”

“See, I want to say no, but then you’ll all go anyway, probably do something incredibly dumb, and guess who’s gonna have to fix it?” Kallen jabbed a finger at himself. “It’s always the unawakened one, Me”

Gus crossed his arms. “Then quit whining and let’s go.”

“Oh, no no no.” Kallen stood, pointing at each of them. “I am not going on another disaster mission without some ground rules. One: No splitting up. Two: No getting caught. Three: If I say ‘run,’ you run. And four—” He sighed. “I really hate this.”

Maeve grinned. “So… you’re in?”

“Unfortunately, yes.”

Young Nico yawned from his bed and stretched. “All of you gotta be back before roll call,” he muttered, rubbing his face. “I ain’t covering for any of you.”

Luca huffed. “You always have to ruin everything.”

Kallen exhaled slowly, rolling his shoulders as if that would ease the knot of tension tightening in his gut. Gus was already moving, his bare feet silent against the floor as he motioned for the others to follow. Maeve nudged Kallen in the ribs, smirking.

“Lead the way, oh wise and cautious one.”

Kallen shot her a glare but said nothing. Instead, he took point, weaving through the dimly lit dormitory. They slipped past the rows of bunks, past Nico—who had already turned over, pulling his blanket tight.

The Orchard was a fortress of steel and glass, its walls tangled with vines that embedded themselves deep, forming luminescent diagonal lines. Silent orbs drifted overhead, their glow casting eerie patterns as they scanned the grounds. Cameras watched from the shadows, while sentries patrolled the halls, their cold lenses sweeping for any sign of movement. Escape was nearly impossible.

Nearly.

Kallen eased the door open, peering out. The hallway stretched before them, empty. The guard’s routes played through his head like a drilled formation. He motioned to Gus, holding up three fingers before jabbing a thumb toward the far corridor. Gus nodded. He and Maeve slipped forward first, sticking to the wall. Kallen and the rest followed.

The sentry orb floated past, its glow casting long streaks across the floor. They pressed flat against the wall. Five seconds. Four. Three. The orb hummed, scanning the space ahead.

Then it moved on.

Kallen exhaled through his nose. They darted forward, each step carefully placed. The pantry was just ahead. One last stretch.

Nearly there.

Kallen had spent his fre time watching, counting, memorizing. The orbitals weren’t random—each moved in a precise loop, scanning the hallways in predictable cycles. The watchers, those floating sentries drifting overhead, had a reach that extended just short of the pantry entrance. He had tested it once, standing just at the edge of their detection range, heart hammering as the orb passed within inches. It never saw him.

That knowledge was his advantage.

He crouched at the corner now, watching as the dim glow of an orbital swept across the hall. Two seconds too slow at the far end. Three seconds faster near the stairwell. They waited till the moment the light flickered away, and moved.

Silent steps. Quick. Precise.

Hearts were pounding as sensor lights flickered to life ahead. A quick hand signal—halt. Gus barely stopped in time, sucking in a sharp breath. Kallen counted down. Four. Three. Two. The light blinked off.

Move.

They slipped through the hall in perfect sync, shadows against the cold stone walls. Footsteps echoed from a distant corridor, steady and deliberate. Luca tensed but stayed quiet.

The pantry was in full vision, tucked behind a stack of crates. They reached it in five strides, fingers curling around the latch. Another glance—clear.

Alice dropped to one knee beside the heavy latch, fingers moving in precise motions. Luca stood guard, sharp eyes locked on the hallway behind them.

“Hurry,” Kallen whispered, barely moving his lips.

Alice exhaled sharply, and the lock clicked open. They spilled inside, shutting the door just as a watcher passed by.

Darkness swallowed the room, but Kallen knew where everything was. Shelves lined the walls, stacked with ration packs and dried goods. His hand moved automatically, finding the stash he always reached for on nights like these—dried fruit, a handful of nuts, whatever he could take without it being noticed.

This was his backup plan. On days when training left him sprawled in the dirt, too slow, too weak, this was how he made up for it. And if he played it right, a favor or two from the others when they needed something he had.

Kallen smirked to himself as he bit into a strip of dried meat. Everyone needed an advantage. This was his.

Alice moved first, stepping from the shadows without a sound. Her gaze flicked from the stash in Kallen’s hands to the half-chewed strip of dried meat between his teeth. Arms crossed, posture sharp as a blade, she tilted her head ever so slightly.

“How impressive, you’re able to see,” she murmured, voice cool, unreadable. “And here I thought you were gonna lose some weight . guess that’s not happening any time soon.”

Kallen swallowed, forcing down both the food and the prickle of unease creeping up his spine. “Well, not really. And I can’t let all this delicious food go to waste, can I?” Kallen glanced back toward the pantry door. No alarms. No footsteps. For now, they were clear.

The old pipeline waited at the back, it was small—just wide enough for them to squeeze through, even him. Hidden behind old stacks of crates that never moved, Rust clung to its edges, flaking under his fingers as he tested the metal. It was cold, damp, but solid. More importantly, it had gone unnoticed for who knows how long. He had found it months ago, hidden in plain sight.

Alice knelt by the rusted pipeline hidden behind crates of ration bars. “Still think this is worth it?”

“No.” Gus gripped the edge and swung his legs through. “But—.”

“Only one way to find out,” Luca didn’t wait. He slipped inside first, barely hesitating as he dropped into the tunnel first.

Meave shot Gus a look, already bracing herself to follow. “If we get caught, I’m blaming you.”

The air turned thick with mildew. Kallen crawled last, his palms scraping rust from the pipe walls. Ahead, Luca’s voice echoed, too loud. “Told you this’d be good.”

“You also said the mess hall pudding wasn’t poisoned,” Maeve shot back. “We saw Nico puking.

The tunnel swallowed them whole, its damp walls pressing close as they crawled forward, rust flaking beneath their palms. Wary of every creak of metal, every echo that might give them away. The air thickened with the scent of mildew and stale earth, a stark contrast to the crisp night beyond the Orchard’s walls.

Maeve shifted uneasily, glancing back. “This is a mistake,” she whispered. “We’ll get caught.”

Luca, ahead of her, let out a short laugh, running a hand through his unkempt hair. “Relax. You’ve got the strongest invoker in Sochi-Village watching your back. You’re gonna thank me for this.”

Kallen doubted it.

Alice scoffed. “Please. You couldn’t invoke your way out of the laundry pit.”

Luca turned to her, raising an eyebrow. “Oh yeah? Say that again when I’m blasting mana through my fists.”

Maeve smirked, stepping closer. “Last time you tried, you knocked yourself flat on your ass.”

Gus sighed. “Can you guys be quiet?”

Kallen, simply watched, his gaze flicking toward the fence. The break in the fence was small, a loose panel near the base, barely wide enough for them to squeeze through. Gus slipped out first, then Alice, then Maeve. Luca followed, grumbling under his breath. Kallen hesitated.

He hated this part.

Gus reached back, grabbing his arm and yanking him through. “You need to lose some weight Kal.”