The tunnel ahead narrowed until it felt like the throat of some stone beast, ready to swallow them whole.
Lina's flame had dimmed to a faint golden glow at her wrist, enough to light the way but not enough to drain her any further. Her body felt oddly light and heavy at the same time—as if parts of her were missing.
She tried to remember the exact moment she unleashed that last blast at the mimic.The memory was… fuzzy.
Kai walked beside her, close enough that his shoulder brushed hers whenever the tunnel curved. Reyon trailed a few steps behind, unusually quiet. Seren moved between them, fingers pressed to her temples as if holding her head together.
"The walls are louder now," Seren whispered.
Lina glanced back. "Louder?"
Seren's eyes were wide, pupils dilated. "The Soul Echoes. They're not just whispers. They're… pressing. Like hands on my mind."
Reyon managed a weak grin. "Try not to let any dead things borrow your brain, alright? We like you as you are."
She huffed out a shaky laugh—but it faded quickly as another tremor rolled through the stone.
Kai slowed. "The academy's upper levels must be reacting. Someone is hammering the wards."
"Council?" Lina asked.
"Council," he said. "Or something worse."
The tunnel split ahead into three paths—left, right, and straight. No markings. No symbols. Just darkness.
Reyon sighed. "Classic horror layout. Ten out of ten architect commitment to trauma."
Lina lifted her wrist. Her rune pulsed once.
The left tunnel remained dark.The right tunnel flickered faintly.The center tunnel hummed with a low, answering glow.
"It's reacting again," she said. "Center path."
Kai nodded. "We follow your flame."
They stepped into the central passage.
The air changed almost immediately—less stale, more… stale with intention. A faint draft brushed Lina's face, carrying a scent that made her chest ache.
Chalk.Old ink.Polished wood.
It smelled like a classroom.
"Wait," Reyon muttered. "Do you feel that?"
Lina frowned. "Feel what?"
He blinked a few times, then shook his head. "Nothing. Probably just my sanity finally slipping."
But she noticed his hand tremble slightly.
Seren slowed, her grip tightening on Lina's sleeve.
"Something's wrong," Seren whispered. "There's… there's a memory here that doesn't belong to us."
Lina's heart thudded. "A memory?"
"More than one," Seren said faintly. "It's like… layers. Like people kept standing in the same place, thinking the same fear, over and over—"
The tunnel opened.
All of them stopped.
Lina's breath caught in her throat.
They stood at the threshold of a room.Not a cavern.Not a vault.
A classroom.
Rows of desks. Floating light orbs hovering in the corners. A wide chalkboard inscribed with half-faded spell diagrams. Windows that shouldn't exist this far underground showed only static darkness.
It was almost identical to their main Aetherion classroom.
Almost.
Lina stepped inside, pulse racing. "This… isn't possible."
Kai scanned the walls. "Illusion?"
Reyon shook his head slowly. "If it is, it's partially real. The resonance is too strong. These desks have been used."
Seren wrapped her arms around herself. "There are… echoes everywhere. Panic. Shame. Fear."
Lina approached a desk in the front row.
Her breath stopped.
Carved into the wooden surface, faint but readable:
Lina Veris
Her full name.
Her knees wobbled. "No. No. That's not—I've never—"
Kai reached her in two strides, hand gripping her shoulder. "Lina. Look at me."
Her voice shook. "I've never been here before. I swear."
"I know," he said immediately. "This is something else."
Reyon's face had lost all trace of humor. "This isn't a copy of your classroom. This is a… rehearsal."
"A what?" Lina asked.
"A training stage," he said. "A shadow version. They recreated your classroom to run tests—over and over—using your name, your rune, your Resonance as variables."
Lina's stomach churned.
Seren clutched at her chest. "I can feel it. Fear repeating. Like someone sat in that seat and begged not to forget something. Over and over."
Lina whispered, "Forget what?"
No one answered.
Kai moved toward the chalkboard.
"This writing," he said. "These are flame containment equations. Modified over time. Someone's been experimenting with how to suppress or… reset a Resonance."
Lina's throat went dry. "Reset. Like… erase?"
Her flame flickered. For a heartbeat, the room blurred around the edges.
When her vision cleared, she realized she couldn't remember the last three steps she'd taken.
Her fingers shook. "I… I think I just lost a moment."
Kai turned instantly, eyes sharp. "What do you mean?"
"I was at the doorway, and then suddenly I'm here," she said, voice rising. "I don't remember deciding to walk."
Seren's eyes brimmed. "The Seventh Flame's cost… it's starting."
Reyon swore under his breath. "Because you've used too much power too quickly. And because this room is designed to trigger it."
Kai stepped closer, cupping her face gently, forcing her to meet his gaze.
"Listen to me," he said softly but urgently. "You are Lina Veris. You are in a false classroom beneath Aetherion. I am Kai. Reyon is being irritating. Seren is hearing ghosts. Nothing will take that from you. Understand?"
Her chest tightened. "You sound… scared."
He didn't deny it. "I am. You're allowed to forget a few seconds. You're not allowed to forget yourself."
Reyon cleared his throat, eyes fixed on the far wall. "Uh… we've got a bigger problem."
They turned.
At the back of the classroom, where the supply cabinets should have been, the wall had been carved open into a recess.
Inside, glowing faintly, were rows of suspended crystal shards.
Each shard pulsed with a dim, unique color.
Seren staggered back. "Those are… those are Resonance shards."
Lina frowned. "What are those?"
Reyon's voice was tight. "Leftovers. When a Resonance collapses too fast or is forcefully extracted… sometimes it splinters. Those are the splinters."
Lina's blood ran cold. "From students?"
Kai's eyes hardened. "From victims."
Seren's Soul Echoes flared—she clutched her head, tears leaking from the corners of her eyes.
"They were screaming," she whispered. "Begging. They didn't want to be erased—"
Lina reached for her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. "Hey, hey. You're here. You're with us."
A sudden pulse hit the room. Not sound. Not light.
A shift.
Lina's flame flared again—this time not in warning.
In recognition.
One shard, hidden near the back, began to glow brighter.
Gold.
Her color.
Lina stepped toward it, drawn as if hooked from the inside.
Kai grabbed her wrist. "Lina. Wait."
"I… know this," she whispered. "That shard. It's calling me."
Reyon moved closer, eyes narrowed. "That resonance signature… it's similar to yours. Older. Heavier."
Seren choked. "I can hear it. A voice. So faint. Saying… 'don't repeat my fate.'"
Lina's hand hovered inches from the shard.
"What if this belonged to the last flameborn?" she whispered.
The shard flashed.
A single, hot tear slid down Lina's cheek.
Kai's grip tightened. "If you touch it, it might fuse. Or it might overload you."
Lina swallowed. "Or it might tell me what they did to them."
The room seemed to lean toward her decision.
Flame.Shadows.Dead echoes.Forgotten experiments.
She took a breath.
And reached out.
The shard burned against her fingertip—and the world dropped away.
To be Continued© Kishtika., 2025All rights reserved.