CHAPTER 30C — THREE GUARDIANS, ONE STORM
Aiden didn't remember standing.
He didn't remember taking the first step.
He barely remembered the courtyard fading behind them—students staring, instructors whispering, upper-years clinging to balconies with fear sharp in their eyes.
He only remembered the hands.
Myra's hand wrapped around his arm, gripping his sleeve as if she thought he might vanish if she let go.
Nellie's smaller hand clutching the back of his coat, her steps quick, almost tripping as she tried to keep up.
Runa walking half a step ahead, hammer slung but ready, shoulders tense and broad as a wall.
And the pup—
—the pup wedged between Aiden's arms, pressed to his chest, little body still trembling with leftover storm electricity.
Every few seconds it chirped a soft, distressed spark, lightning flicking off its fur. It wasn't angry. It was terrified he might disappear again.
Aiden pressed his chin gently to its head.
"I'm not going anywhere," he whispered.
The cub sparked again, low and unhappy.
Myra glanced over her shoulder.
"You okay to walk?"
Aiden nodded. "I've… been worse."
Myra narrowed her eyes. "Does that answer mean 'yes' or 'I'm about to fall over and die quietly but don't want to cause trouble'?"
"…somewhere in the middle."
"Thought so."
She shifted closer until her shoulder brushed against his. The contact sent another ripple through his marks—green glow under the cloth, faint silver-blue beneath his skin—but not painful this time.
Just… aware.
Myra grounded him.
Nellie kept wiping her eyes with her sleeve, sniffling loudly.
"I hate this," she muttered. "I hate scary magic. I hate giant eyes. I hate tests. I hate storm marks. I hate—"
Aiden's voice softened. "Nellie…"
She glared up at him, eyes red.
"You don't get to scare me like that. I'm too small for that level of fear. My body can't handle it."
Despite everything, he almost laughed.
Runa didn't.
She slowed her pace, scanning every hallway, every doorway they passed. Her braid swung behind her like a dark rope of steel. When she spoke, her voice held something Aiden hadn't heard from her before—
—not anger
—not annoyance
—but a quiet rage.
"Anyone touches you three right now," she said flatly, "and I'll break their knees."
Nellie blinked. "All of their knees?"
"All of them."
Myra muttered, "I like her."
Aiden opened his mouth to answer—
—but a flash of silver-green cut through the air ahead.
Headmistress Elowen slipped around a corner, robes trailing behind her like moving forest.
Aiden had seen her calm.
He had seen her composed.
But this?
This was different.
Her expression was stone.
Her movements were sharp.
Her eyes—even from a distance—glittered like cut glass.
Dangerous.
Aiden felt the air thicken before she even reached them.
She stopped only a few feet away and studied him with a depth that made his skin prickle.
"My office," she said softly. "All of you."
Runa straightened. "Including—"
"Yes. All."
Nellie let out a tiny squeak. Myra took a deep, steadying breath. Aiden's pulse kicked again, lightning stirring under his ribs like a restless animal.
Elowen's gaze flicked to the pup.
The cub yipped a tiny spark at her.
She didn't flinch.
Instead, she nodded—once.
"Good. Keep him close."
Aiden swallowed. "He's… not letting go even if I try."
"Then don't try," Elowen said, turning back down the corridor. "He is the only thing keeping certain forces from approaching you right now."
Nellie choked.
"What forces—?"
"Walk."
They walked.
---
THE LONG CORRIDOR OF GLASS
Elowen led them across the upper terrace, through an arched hall lined with green-glass windows. Outside, the Academy grounds looked calm—students heading to class, the morning mist thinning, sunlight warming the stone.
Inside, the glass trembled.
Aiden slowed, staring at the nearest window.
Mist pressed against it from the outside— —but the mist on the glass wasn't white.
It was dark green, shot with threads of pale silver-blue.
The same color as the eye in the Gate.
The same color as the Warden.
Nellie squeaked and hid behind Runa.
Myra grabbed Aiden's sleeve.
Runa gripped her hammer harder.
Elowen didn't look back.
"They cannot enter. Not while my wards stand."
Aiden swallowed. "You… strengthened them?"
"No," Elowen said quietly.
"I rebuilt them."
Myra's jaw dropped.
"You rebuilt the Academy's outer wards in ten minutes?"
"Twelve," Elowen corrected. "Do not give me more credit than I deserve."
Nellie whispered, "I think you deserve more credit actually…"
Aiden watched the mist press harder, swirling with intent.
"Why now?" he asked softly. "Why are they here?"
Elowen didn't answer immediately.
When she did, her voice was low and ancient:
"Because the world has recognized you."
Aiden's stomach twisted.
"I don't want that."
"It does not matter what you want," she said. "It matters what you become."
Lightning flickered under his skin.
Myra stepped closer and squeezed his arm.
"You're not becoming anything alone."
Runa nodded. "Agreed."
Nellie tugged his coat. "We're your team. Even if the world hates it."
Aiden's throat tightened.
Elowen glanced back—just once—and though her expression didn't soften, her voice did.
"Good," she murmured. "He will need a team."
---
THE HEADMISTRESS'S OFFICE
Elowen's office wasn't large.
It wasn't grand.
It was alive.
Living vines curled around the shelves. Lanterns burned with soft blue flame. A shallow pool of water sat in the center of the floor, rippling with faint runes that changed color as she walked around it.
She gestured.
"Sit."
Aiden sank slowly into the nearest seat, the pup never loosening its grip.
Myra sat next to him, posture rigid.
Nellie climbed onto a chair but immediately scooted hers closer to Aiden's.
Runa took the seat nearest the door like a personal guardian.
Elowen moved behind her desk and placed both hands on the surface.
"Aiden."
He straightened automatically.
Her gaze sharpened.
"Tell me what spoke to you in the Gate."
Not "what did you see." Not "what attacked you."
What spoke.
Aiden swallowed.
The memory hit instantly:
Storm-child.
He shivered.
"My storm felt… recognized," he whispered. "Like whatever it was had seen me before."
Elowen nodded slowly.
"And what did it want?"
Aiden hesitated.
Myra leaned forward. "Aiden…"
He took a breath.
"It wanted me to follow it."
Nellie's eyes went huge.
"Follow it where?"
Aiden shook his head. "I don't know. It felt like a pull. Like a promise. Like… like if I stepped deeper into the Hollow, I'd learn something I'm not ready to know."
Runa's fingers tapped her hammer. "Or you'd die."
"Yes," Elowen said quietly. "Or that."
Aiden looked at her. "What was it?"
Elowen didn't answer immediately.
She walked around the pool, knelt, and touched the water. The runes rippled outward.
When she finally spoke, her voice was tired.
Older than any teacher's voice should be.
"A Warden," she whispered.
"A Fog-Warden of the First Lines."
Myra exhaled sharply.
"Those are myths."
"No," Elowen said. "They are memories."
Nellie swallowed. "Is it… evil?"
"No," Elowen said again. "But it is not good either. It serves the world itself. It judges. It intervenes only when it sees something that threatens the balance—or something that might shape it."
All eyes turned to Aiden.
He shrank slightly.
"I don't want to shape anything," he muttered.
Elowen stepped toward him, kneeling so she was eye-level with him.
"You may not want to," she said softly, "but you will. Storms rarely ask permission before they change a landscape."
Aiden's heartbeat thundered.
His marks pulsed.
The pup let out a distressed chirp.
Myra reached out and grabbed Aiden's sleeve again.
"We're not letting him face that alone," she said fiercely.
Nellie nodded, eyes bright. "We'll help him. Even if it's big. Even if it's scary."
Runa grunted. "If he's marked twice, better we know it now."
Elowen studied the three girls.
Then nodded once.
"Good."
She rose to her full height.
"Because all of you will face the storm together."
Aiden exhaled, shaking.
Myra slid closer and rested her forehead briefly against his shoulder.
"You're not going anywhere," she whispered.
Nellie hugged his arm. "Not without us."
Runa sat back, arms crossed, eyes burning with quiet promise.
"No force takes him. Not while I breathe."
Elowen watched them.
She didn't smile.
But her eyes warmed.
"The world has begun to move," she said. "The Warden has awakened. Other forces will follow."
She turned her gold gaze onto Aiden.
"And you, storm-child… must choose what you will become."
Aiden closed his eyes.
He felt the storm inside.
The fear.
The power.
The mark.
But when he opened them, he saw three sets of eyes watching him.
Three anchors.
Three promises.
Myra.
Nellie.
Runa.
"I choose them," he said quietly.
"And myself."
Elowen nodded.
"Then the world will have to adapt."
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