The path out of Windrest Village wound through rolling hills and pale-green fields. Lyra had walked it hundreds of times in her life…
but never with a High Mage at her side.
Silence stretched between her and Aldric Vale as they moved farther from the village. Only the soft crunch of gravel and the rustle of grass broke the quiet.
Lyra kept glancing at him, trying to understand who he really was.
Why had he defended her?
Why take someone like her someone the entire village pitied into the greatest magic school in Arcania?
Finally, she found her voice.
"Why… why me?"
Aldric didn't stop walking, but his tone softened.
"Because power like yours doesn't appear by accident."
Lyra hugged her arms around herself. "I didn't even know I had power."
"That's precisely the problem," he said. "Untrained magic is unstable especially ancient magic. Without guidance, it reacts to instinct rather than intention."
Lyra remembered the crate bursting into crimson fire. The shockwave. The fear in the villagers' eyes.
"Did I really do that?" she murmured.
Aldric's golden eyes flicked toward her.
"You did. And you also prevented anyone from being harmed. That alone is remarkable."
Lyra blinked. "But… I didn't think. I barely knew what was happening."
"Instinct can be stronger than thought," Aldric replied. "Especially when protecting someone."
Lyra looked down, unsure what she felt.
Pride?
Fear?
Confusion?
All three twisted inside her.
As they continued walking, a faint shimmer appeared in the distance as if heat warped the air on the horizon.
Lyra squinted. "What's that?"
"The boundary," Aldric said.
"Boundary?"
He raised a hand, and the shimmer brightened. Wind swept around them, pulling them forward.
"Emberveil Academy isn't connected to normal roads. It exists behind a protective veil hidden from ordinary travelers. Only those permitted may enter."
The air thickened, humming with energy. Lyra's skin prickled.
Suddenly—FWOOM.
They stepped through something invisible and cold, like passing through a sheet of glass that wasn't really there.
Lyra gasped.
The world around her had transformed completely.
Towering spires rose toward the sky, each carved from dark stone etched with glowing runes. Bridges of light connected the towers, gently arcing overhead. A gigantic waterfall flowed upward instead of down, sparkling like floating diamonds.
Students dressed in robes of blue, green, white, and brown moved across the courtyard chatting, practicing spells, summoning small glowing orbs
Magic filled the air.
This wasn't a school.
This was an entire world.
Lyra's mouth fell open. "This is Emberveil?"
Aldric nodded. "Your new home."
She stared, overwhelmed. She had always imagined magic schools from books,small towers, old libraries, a few teachers.
But this…
this felt alive.
Breathing.
Watching.
As they approached the main gates, students began to notice Aldric. They bowed their heads respectfully.
"Headmaster."
"Good afternoon, Headmaster."
"Welcome back, sir."
Then they saw Lyra.
And the smiling faces froze.
A few whispered.
A few stared at her clothes,plain and worn compared to the polished uniforms.
But most stared at her with the same curiosity Windrest villagers had as children: the look people gave something different.
Unusual.
Unexpected.
Unwanted.
Lyra's stomach tightened.
Aldric must have sensed it.
"Do not mind them," he said quietly. "New students always draw attention."
"Do they all arrive like this?" Lyra asked.
"No," Aldric said. "Most arrive by carriage. But your case is… special."
Special.
She wasn't sure she liked that word.
They entered the grand hallway,ceiling high, walls lined with ancient portraits and floating lamps. Light danced along the marble floor, creating patterns like rippling water.
Aldric stopped at a large door carved with a phoenix.
"In here."
Lyra hesitated. "What's this room?"
"The Assessment Chamber," Aldric said. "Before you may begin your studies, the academy needs to understand what your magic truly is."
Lyra's pulse quickened.
"I… I don't know how to use it."
"That's why you're here."
He pushed the door open.
The chamber inside was enormous, circular, and empty except for a glowing sigil etched into the floor. It pulsed slowly like a heartbeat.
Lyra stepped inside, the door closing behind her with a soft thud.
Aldric moved to stand beside a panel of runes on the wall.
"Stand in the center of the sigil."
Lyra walked toward the middle, feeling the air change;thicker, charged, electric.
The moment she stepped onto the sigil,
It lit up.
Bright red.
Not soft red.
Not warm red.
Crimson.
A shockwave pulsed outward, shaking the entire chamber. The lamps flickered wildly. Somewhere outside, she heard students shouting.
Lyra's breath caught.
"I-I didn't do anything!"
Aldric's eyes widened not with fear, but recognition.
Then he whispered:
"…It's stronger than I thought."
The sigil blazed brighter.
Lyra lifted her hands to shield her eyes
And suddenly, everything around her vanished.
The chamber dissolved into darkness.
The floor disappeared beneath her feet.
A cold wind howled in her ears.
She wasn't standing anymore.
She was floating.
In a void.
Endless.
Silent.
Empty.
Then a voice echoed through the darkness.
Not Aldric's.
Not human.
"So… another one has awakened."
Lyra spun, heart in her throat.
A figure formed from drifting red smoke,eyes glowing like dying embers, voice dripping with ancient exhaustion and fury.
"Crimson flame returns…
And with it, ruin."
Lyra stumbled back. "Who—who are you?"
The figure leaned forward, its ember-eyes burning into her.
"I am the one this world fears."
Her blood ran cold.
She knew the name before he spoke it
"I am the Crimson Calamity."