Sereena crouched instinctively, her back against the cold wall as she scanned the hallway. The blood was fresh—bright, smeared in a jagged trail leading around the corner. Her heart pounded against her ribs like a war drum, but she forced herself to breathe slow and quiet.Shadows in the Silence
Her first instinct was to call for help.
Her second? Follow it.
Of course she chose the second one. Because Sereena never did anything the easy way.
She crept forward, each step slow and careful, her senses sharp. Her fingers tightened on the hilt of her dagger—a precaution she had learned early in training. No archer worth her salt went anywhere unarmed, even in the so-called "safe zones."
As she rounded the corner, her breath caught.
A figure lay slumped against the wall, half-shrouded in shadow. Blood pooled beneath them, stark and dark against the stone. They groaned faintly, shifting just enough for Sereena to see the insignia on their cloak—one of the senior trainees. Kassian, she thought. The guy who always trained solo, who barely spoke.
"Kassian!" she hissed, dropping to her knees beside him. "What happened?"
He blinked up at her, pain and confusion clouding his gaze. "Attack… from the west wing. I—I didn't see them. Fast… too fast."
Panic prickled her skin. An attack? Inside the training grounds?
Sereena pressed her scarf against the worst of his wounds, trying to slow the bleeding. "I'm going to get help. Stay with me, okay?"
He grabbed her wrist, his grip surprisingly strong for someone who looked half-dead. "Don't… go alone."
She hesitated. Every instinct screamed at her to bolt, but his words held weight. If someone had really breached the grounds, running blindly might make her the next target.
"Okay. I won't," she promised, even if she wasn't sure how she'd keep that vow.
A sudden sound made her freeze—a soft scuff of a boot against stone. Not hers. Not Kassian's.
Someone else was here.
She shot to her feet, dragging Kassian's arm over her shoulder. He groaned, but moved with her, just barely. The two of them stumbled back the way she came, every shadow feeling too deep, too watchful.
Then—
"Hey!"
Lucas.
He emerged from the far end of the hallway, shirtless, a sword in hand, his eyes snapping to her immediately.
"Oh thank the gods," she muttered, half-collapsing into his support as he rushed forward. "He's hurt. Bad. Says there was an attack."
Lucas didn't waste time. He sheathed his blade and pulled Kassian from her hold with practiced ease. "Let's move. There's a med team two floors up."
As they walked, fast and focused, Sereena glanced at Lucas. "Why are you wandering around half-naked with a sword at this hour?"
His eyes stayed forward. "Same reason you are. Couldn't sleep. Something felt off. Guess I wasn't wrong."
She didn't know whether to be impressed or deeply annoyed that his instincts were that sharp. Probably both.
Once Kassian was in the hands of the medics, Sereena finally let herself breathe. But only for a second.
Because whatever happened tonight, it wasn't over.
And if someone was attacking from the inside, everything—her training, the competition, even her uneasy alliance with Lucas—was about to get a whole lot more complicated.