Ashthorne Academy woke under a trembling dawn.
Not trembling from weather.
Not trembling from storms.
But from something deeper—
a pressure woven between stones and corridors,
a hum pulsing beneath the floors,
a whisper brushing the edges of every sleeping mind.
Reality itself was uneasy.
The East Wing tear was closed…
but the academy still felt fractured.
Students shuffled through the halls in anxious clusters.
Instructors moved with clipped urgency.
Wards flickered pale and tired.
The Dominion Council tower glowed with ceaseless sleepless light.
But two things were unmistakable:
The seals beneath the academy had shifted again.
Caelum Veylor was the reason nobody dared speak loudly.
And today, the academy was preparing to act.
Not against the anomaly.
Against him.
Dorm Nine — Morning Threadshock
Lira did not wake gently.
She jolted upright with a cry caught in her throat, eyes wide with a terror that didn't belong to dreams but to something older, deeper… woven into her soul.
Her chest throbbed with a pulse that wasn't fully hers.
Threads shimmered faintly beneath her skin.
She shivered uncontrollably.
Marenne was already sitting up in the corner, quill frozen above her notebook.
Jalen had fallen out of his bed with a thud, clutching his blanket like a shield.
"L-Lira? What happened?" Jalen's voice trembled.
"It's—"
Lira clutched her chest.
"Something's pulling me. I felt it— something moved—something woke up—"
Marenne's eyes widened.
"The bond?"
Lira nodded, trembling.
And then—
A knock.
No.
Not a knock.
A soft thread-vibration against the door.
Lira froze.
"He's here."
The door opened without waiting for an answer.
Caelum stepped in.
His presence shifted the air instantly—tension tightening, threads straightening, like even the walls recognized the hierarchy in the room.
Lira's trembling slowed.
Marenne stopped breathing.
Jalen hid halfway under his bed.
Caelum looked at Lira first.
Her thread pulsed weakly toward him.
He approached.
Her breath caught.
"…Did you feel it too?" she whispered.
Caelum nodded once.
"Yes. The seal pulse reached your side of the bond."
Lira swallowed.
"I-I don't like it…"
"You aren't supposed to."
The answer wasn't comforting.
But his tone was steady, stable—
a constant in the storm.
Lira exhaled shakily.
Caelum lifted his hand.
"May I?"
Her heart thundered.
She nodded.
He placed two fingers lightly over the thread-mark between her collarbones.
Her breath hitched—
not from pain—
but from the overwhelming warmth that spread through her chest like a controlled sunrise.
The thread stabilized.
Caelum withdrew his hand.
Lira's trembling stopped entirely.
He turned toward Marenne and Jalen.
"She will be fine for now."
"T-Thanks…" Jalen croaked.
Marenne lowered her notebook, frowning.
"Caelum… has the bond gotten stronger? Or are we just… noticing it more?"
Caelum analyzed the threads in the room.
Then answered truthfully.
"Both."
Marenne's grip tightened.
"That means… something is coming."
Caelum nodded.
"Yes."
Jalen whimpered.
Marenne inhaled slowly.
"Then we need to be careful."
Caelum shook his head.
"No."
The room froze.
"What do you mean 'no'?" Marenne demanded.
"There is no caution that will protect you," Caelum said calmly.
"The academy has already decided."
Jalen's voice cracked:
"D-Decided what?!"
Caelum's eyes glinted with cold reflection.
"They intend to separate the Threadbond."
Lira's heart stopped.
"W-What?"
Caelum turned to her.
His voice was no longer soft—
it was precise, sharpened, surgical.
"They believe it is dangerous. Unpredictable. They think breaking it will stabilize the academy."
Marenne cursed under her breath.
Jalen looked ready to faint.
Lira stared at him, throat tightening.
"C-Can they?" she whispered.
"No."
The answer was instant.
Absolute.
Certain.
Lira felt her breath return.
But Marenne stiffened.
"Caelum… when you say they can't… do you mean they don't know how— or that they'll die trying?"
Caelum didn't blink.
"Both."
Marenne sank into her chair.
"Oh gods."
Jalen slid fully under the bed.
Lira whispered:
"…What are we going to do?"
Caelum stepped toward her again.
"What we always do."
Something in his voice darkened.
"We do not react.
We act."
The Academy Moves First
The announcement came during morning assembly.
Headmaster Serath's voice boomed through every hallway:
"All students of Dorm Nine are to report to the East Wing infirmary for mandatory sigil-stability screening."
Students murmured nervously.
Lira's stomach dropped.
"They're trying to isolate me," she whispered.
Marenne frowned.
"And make it look like a safety procedure."
Jalen peeked out from behind Caelum.
"W-What if they try to grab her—?!"
"They will," Caelum said.
No hesitation.
Lira's breath stuttered.
"But I thought— they wouldn't dare—"
"They fear what they don't understand," Caelum said.
"Fear makes them predictable."
Marenne swallowed hard.
"Then… what's the plan?"
Caelum looked at Lira.
"You go."
Her eyes widened.
"What—?! Caelum— no, they'll—"
"I'll be there."
The bond pulsed.
She nodded, trusting him more than she trusted herself.
East Wing — Sigil Infirmary
The infirmary was massive—white stone walls, humming diagnostic sigils, glowing scanners shaped like upright coffins.
Nurses in silver-threaded gowns moved briskly.
Dominion agents—three of them—stood near the walls, watching.
The moment Lira stepped inside, everything went quiet.
A nurse approached her with a clipboard.
"Name?"
"L-Lira Ainsworth…"
The nurse nodded gently.
"Don't worry, dear. This is just a routine checkup."
Lie.
Caelum could hear the tremor under her voice from across the hall.
He didn't enter openly.
He simply walked in.
And every Dominion agent stiffened instantly.
His presence hit them like a pressure wave.
One agent even reached for his weapon before freezing.
The nurse swallowed hard.
"I—s-sir, students only—"
"This student," Caelum said, "is not being tested without me."
The room's air tightened.
The Dominion agents exchanged looks.
Caelum stepped closer, voice low.
"Try to remove me."
None of them moved.
The nurse stuttered.
"I-I'll— I'll get the Director—"
She fled.
Caelum stood beside Lira.
Her hand brushed his cloak without thinking—
a tiny instinctive tremor of fear and comfort.
Marenne watched from the doorway.
Jalen was hiding behind a chair.
Minutes passed.
Then—
The Director arrived.
A tall woman with violet sigil-ink covering her neck, eyes sharp enough to cut stone.
Director Sareth Valen.
She stopped when she saw Caelum.
"You."
Caelum inclined his head politely.
"Director."
"This is a sealed testing environment," she said coldly.
"You are not authorized to be here."
Caelum's voice remained calm.
"She is bonded to me."
The room tensed.
Director Valen narrowed her eyes.
"We are aware of the anomaly."
"It isn't an anomaly," Caelum corrected.
"It is a connection."
"A dangerous one," Valen snapped.
"One we intend to sever."
Lira's face drained of color.
She stumbled back, clutching Caelum's sleeve.
He didn't move.
He didn't breathe fast.
He simply stared at the director.
"No," Caelum said.
Valen's nostrils flared.
"You do not have the authority—"
"Correct," Caelum said.
"You don't either."
Silence.
Director Valen's eyes glowed with violet threadlight.
"You misunderstand," she said.
"We have approval from the Dominion Council."
Caelum raised a brow.
"Do you think that matters?"
Her jaw tightened.
"You are a student. You are nothing compared to the Dominion."
Caelum took a step forward.
"Then try."
The lights flickered.
Threads shimmered around him—
calm, controlled, lethal.
Valen swallowed.
"One wrong disruption of the bond could corrupt her soul," she warned.
"She could transform. Mutate. Break."
Caelum didn't look away.
"One wrong disruption of the bond," he said softly,
"would break more than her."
Valen froze.
Lira trembled behind him.
Marenne's eyes widened.
The director's voice cracked:
"You are threatening the Dominion."
"No," Caelum said.
"I am stating a fact."
Director Valen clenched her teeth.
"We must test the bond—"
"You may observe it," Caelum said,
"but you will not interfere."
Valen paused.
"You're… offering cooperation?"
"No."
His eyes burned faintly.
"I am setting conditions."
Her breath faltered at the sheer audacity.
"Very well," she whispered.
"We will observe only."
Lira exhaled sharply in relief.
Caelum nodded slightly toward her.
"Step into the circle."
She entered the diagnostic sigil.
Threads around her chest pulsed.
The scanners lit up.
Then—
The entire room flashed white.
The lights exploded.
Sigils cracked.
Instruments screamed with arcane pressure.
Lira cried out.
Caelum stepped into the circle instantly.
The Dominion agents drew weapons.
Director Valen screamed:
"STOP HIM—"
Too late.
Caelum touched the inner circle's rune.
Threadlight flared.
The entire diagnostic sigil shattered like fragile glass.
The bond pulsed once—
twice—
three times—
Stabilized.
Lira collapsed into Caelum's arms, breathing hard.
The room shook.
Director Valen fell to her knees, staring in horror.
"W-What did you do…?"
Caelum stood with Lira in his arms, eyes cold.
"I did your job."
Dominion agents stepped back.
Director Valen whispered:
"…That wasn't stabilization…
That was synchronization."
Caelum looked at her.
"Yes."
She trembled.
"C-Caelum… that's—
That's irreversible."
He nodded.
"It was never meant to be reversed."
Valen swallowed.
"You've locked the bond."
"Yes."
"You've tied her soul-thread to yours permanently."
"Yes."
Her eyes widened.
"She will live or die with you."
Caelum's gaze sharpened.
"She will live."
Lira looked up at him weakly.
Her fingers tightened around his cloak.
Caelum didn't push her away.
He lifted her gently and turned toward the door.
"This evaluation is complete."
No one dared stop him.
Outside the Infirmary
Lira leaned against him, still dizzy.
"C-Caelum… did you really…?"
"Yes."
"You… locked it?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
He looked down at her.
The honesty in his answer was cold and simple.
"Because they tried to take you."
Her heart twisted.
Marenne stepped forward slowly.
"You made her your anchor."
"No," Caelum said.
Everyone froze.
He looked directly at Lira.
"She made herself one."
Lira's breath wavered.
Caelum continued walking, Lira in his arms.
Behind him, the Dominion Tower bells began to toll—
a sound normally reserved for one thing:
A new path has awakened beneath the academy.
Caelum didn't look back.
He whispered so only Lira heard:
"Stay close."
Her eyes softened.
"I always do."