Chapter 1
The sky bled with the pale light of dawn when the carriage stopped before the towering gates of Lunareth Royal Order Academy. Mist swirled across the courtyard, curling around blackstone pillars carved with ancient sigils.
Avaiá stepped down slowly, her boots touching the cobbled path like it might burn her. The air felt thick — too alive, too aware — as though the academy itself was watching. Her fingers brushed the golden pendant at her neck, tracing its unfamiliar crest.
The gates loomed ahead — tall, gothic, and sealed shut. Just as she took a hesitant step forward, a whisper of wind passed through the trees, and the heavy iron doors groaned open on their own.
A faint glow rippled through the sigils carved upon them — the glow of recognition.
Students nearby gasped softly. But Avaiá didn’t flinch. She merely tilted her head, her expression unreadable as the light faded.
Inside, the academy stretched like a palace torn from legend — marble halls, chandeliers glowing faintly blue, and portraits whose eyes seemed to follow every move.
She found her classroom after several wrong turns and two whispered warnings to “stay out of the eastern wing.”
When she entered, chatter paused. Every pair of eyes turned toward her — the new girl with moonlit hair and a quiet, cold presence that didn’t fit the noise of youth.
The professor, a tall woman in silver robes, adjusted her glasses. “You must be the transfer student. Please introduce yourself.”
Avaiá stepped to the front, voice calm but carrying an edge of command that silenced even the whispers in the back.
“Avaiá Heaven Dravenhart,” she said. “Just Avaiá is fine.”
Her gaze swept the room once — assessing, unafraid. She noticed a group near the back, lounging like they owned the place. At the center sat a boy with ink-dark eyes and a grin too sharp to be friendly — Kai Zane Sinclair.
He didn’t bother hiding the way he watched her.
Predatory. Curious.
Avaiá turned away first, taking an empty seat near the window. The moment she sat, a low murmur filled the room again — questions, speculations, envy.
It didn’t matter. She’d learned long ago that silence was sharper than words.
Still, when the breeze brushed through the window, carrying the faint scent of storm and ash, her heart faltered. Something deep inside her stirred — restless, awake.
Outside, the academy bells tolled.
Somewhere in the depths of Lunareth, ancient magic shivered — as if recognizing one of its own had finally returned home.
~To be continued
