-Alexia-
The silence that followed the completion of the ward was absolute, broken only by the soft brush of wind through the courtyard leaves. I stood pressed between Finn's heat and Soren's cool shadow, my own chaos settled into a deep, powerful hum. The unbreakable knot of our combined power—woven into the heart of Whisperwind's wards—thrummed beneath our hands. It was the deepest moment of peace I'd felt since returning to this school.
This is what we fight for, I thought. Not just survival, but the right to this peace, the right to this connection.
But the world never waits for peace.
Soren's shadow magic, which had been purely protective, shifted. His arms, wrapped around my waist, tightened momentarily, and his eyes—the deep, lightless black of a moonless night—snapped away from mine. He wasn't looking at the darkness; he was looking into it, reading a silent message I couldn't yet perceive.
"Alexia," he murmured, his voice a low note of warning. "Asher is here. He has something."
The moment shattered. I felt the familiar, unwelcome rush of adrenaline, replacing the calm with sharp, strategic focus. The silver light of my chaos magic, which had been placid, began to coil around my fingertips like impatient metal springs. I pulled away from Finn, though his dragon growl was a low, unhappy rumble at the abrupt end of our solace.
"Bring him in," I commanded. Asher wouldn't interrupt this moment—wouldn't risk intruding on our bond—unless the information was critical and actionable.
Soren released me and became a whisper of shadow, reaching into the alcove perimeter. He returned a moment later, pushing Asher into the faint moonlight.
Asher looked utterly exhausted, his clothing dusted with courtyard grit, his powerful wolf energy tightly leashed. He was hunched, avoiding eye contact, particularly with Finn, and he went straight to the problem, his report falling out in a rush, desperate to prove his worth.
"I found a trace," Asher said, his voice clipped and precise. "A residual energy signature near the Observatory Annex. It was weak—a low-grade spell—but it was mixed with vanilla and chalk dust. The magical signature belongs to a lower-grade witch. Someone who works in the chemistry lab."
He paused, finally forcing himself to look at me, a profound mixture of hope and fear in his eyes.
"I know you don't trust me," he continued, the words raw with conviction, "but I followed my instincts to the letter, and this is solid. The witch is a pawn. Whatever she was using, it was meant to be a simple magical tripwire. The Council is only using fear."
Finn's heat immediately spiked with aggressive frustration. "A student? A spy? We should pull them out now and find out who coerced them."
"No," I countered instantly, holding up a hand to stop Finn from escalating. My mind was already dissecting the data: low-grade witch, low-grade spell, scent of the chemistry lab. Asher's information was exactly what Soren's earlier, inconclusive surveillance had suggested.
"Soren, your sweep reported the charm was activated when we started training, correct?"
Soren nodded once. "It sent a report to an outside party. The activating signature was that student's. Asher's tracking confirms the profile of the caster."
"The Council isn't subtle," I explained, drawing a pattern in the dew on the standing stone with a silver thread of chaos magic. "They didn't recruit a powerful agent. They coerced a frightened one. If we confront this student publicly, she panics, and the Council gets exactly what they want: a public scandal and proof we are recruiting students for secret, illicit training."
I looked at my mates, the silver threads of my chaos magic coiling impatiently around my fingertips. This required precision, not brute force.
"We turn the spy," I decided, my voice gaining its customary iron edge. "The Council thinks they have an open communication line. We use it to feed them disinformation. We use the student to plant a false flag that throws them off our scent and makes them rush their Accords."
"How do we do that without terrifying her into silence? She's clearly already compromised," Finn challenged, his arms crossed over his chest, his skepticism clear, though his anger was now directed at the Council, not the student. "If we press her, she might collapse."
"We offer her a choice," I stated. "She is already living in fear of the Council and whatever leverage they hold over her. We show her that the Council's fear is a prison, but ours is a shield. We give her loyalty a better, stronger anchor."
I looked directly at Asher, giving him the chance he craved, the chance to serve the light, not the shadow. "Asher, can you find this student now, discretely? Get eyes on her dorm room and confirm her status without making a sound."
Asher, looking profoundly relieved that his information had been accepted and instantly used, nodded instantly. "I know which dorm and which window. She'll be asleep."
"Good," I said, my gaze hardening. "Soren, you will accompany Asher. He will provide the location; you will provide the shadow and the extraction point. I want the witch in Headmistress Shade's office within the hour. No noise, no witnesses. Finn, you stay here. Lock down the central nexus. I want only our energies near these standing stones for the next forty-eight hours."
I paused, realizing the weight of the order. We were moving from pure defense to active counter-attack, using a student as bait. It was a cold, hard strategic choice, but there was no other choice that kept the school safe.
I stepped away from the stone, the peace entirely gone, replaced by the cool, calculating focus of a leader preparing a trap. I reached out and squeezed Finn's hand, then gave a firm nod to Soren.
"The bond holds the walls," I reminded them. "Now we hold the ground. Go."