Samuel had been gone three days when the stranger showed up at the academy gates.
Victor heard about it secondhand first, through the usual current of rumor that moved faster through the student body than any official announcement. A visitor, unaccompanied, requesting a meeting with academy administration about matters related to the recent Dark Forest incident. Nobody seemed to know more than that, which only made the rumors spread faster.
"You think this is Samuel's contact?" Caleb asked, the four of them gathered in their usual corner of the training yard, drills abandoned for the moment.
"Bit fast, if it is," Nyx said. "He only left three days ago."
"Maybe they were already close by."
"Maybe." Victor didn't like the word much either way. Too many maybes stacking up around this entire situation, and none of them close to becoming anything solid enough to plan around.
