Chapter 56 – What if I’m the Crazy One?

  Kaelin’s footsteps echoed down the quiet stone corridor, muffled slightly by the tapestries fluttering gently along the walls. The academy was still in its nighttime hush, most students were asleep, and only the distant, rhythmic clinks of patrolling guardians disturbed the silence. Moonlight filtered in through the arched windows, pale and soft, streaking across the floor in long, silvery bars.

  Her arms were crossed tightly over her chest, not because of the cold, but out of habit, something to ground her. Her thoughts churned like stirred mud.

  Aric.

  Was that even Aric anymore? She’d gone to speak with her mentor, to share the progress she’d made in Future Sight. She thought he’d be proud, maybe surprised. Almos tno time mage in existence could peek more five seconds ahead. She was seeing 10. She’d been excited.

  But when she’d opened the door to his office, when she saw him muttering and pacing in a trance-like rhythm, eyes unfocused, arguing with no one, when she saw him shake, speaking in a voice that was his, but in a way which wasn’t...

  That excitement had died like a candle snuffed in a storm.

  She didn’t remember how long she’d stood there. Long enough to see the flickers in his face, like he was trying to wear two masks at once. Long enough to hear him argue with himself, she didn’t recognize him at all. “This is for you, don’t forget it. Remember. Remember, please just remember.”

  Long enough to know something was terribly, horribly wrong.

  She hadn’t stayed to listen to more.

  Now, she pushed open the door to her dorm room, stepping inside as quietly as if noise itself might shatter her. The heavy wooden door creaked faintly before clicking shut behind her. Inside, the room welcomed her with stillness.

  Moonlight spilled in through the open window, bathing the space in silver. Her books were stacked precisely where she’d left them, a few textbooks she used for revision, topped by the far more well-worn novels from her favourite writers. A mug of tea sat untouched on her desk, long gone cold. She barely noticed.

  Kaelin moved like a shadow through the space, collapsing onto her bed without even kicking off her boots. Her mind was racing, images looping in her head like a skipping thread.

  She closed her eyes, trying to will the chaos away. But the world clearly had other ideas.

  ***

  The sky cracked open.

  It began with the scent, ash and metal, sharp and acrid. Her lungs burned as she inhaled, her breath catching in her throat. Wind scraped across her skin, dry and angry, carrying grit that stung her eyes.

  Kaelin blinked.

  She was standing on a mountain, overlooking a wasteland.

  A vast plain of scorched earth stretched out before her, painted in shades of black, rust, and grey. Jagged shards of broken buildings sat, discarded at the sides of a clear, flat circle. It had to be at least a few kilometers across. Twisted remnants of what had once been a city, pushed to the side like an afterthought. The sky above loomed, a bruised gold tinged with crimson. Clouds crawled sluggishly across it, moving unnaturally, as though time itself stuttered.

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  A low hum filled the air, more felt than heard. It reverberated in her chest, like some immense power pulsing beneath the surface of the world.

  She turned.

  To her right, the mountains stood crooked, ancient peaks she recognized from geography maps. From hikes outside the city.

  That’s the capital. This is—was—Luneah.

  But nothing remained.

  No towers. No gates. No glass-domed halls. Only rubble and scorched soil. Where once stood the Jewel of the South, the heart of Erundal, there was only desolation.

  A tremor passed through the ground. Subtle. Like the heartbeat of something deep below.

  She took a step, and the ash crunched beneath her boots. Each breath hurt now. The air was thick, heavy, and tinged with a bitter taste like copper. A sharp whine cut through the wind, then another. Metal shrieking in the distance. It wasn’t machinery. It couldn’t be. Nothing made that sound. Nothing she knew of anyway.

  Then she saw something, it started at the edges of her vision, a subtle shimmer, like heat rising from a summer road. Then it thickened, growing in intensity, the world bleeding into hues not found in nature. A river of deep cerulean flowed across the sky, followed by swirling ribbons of bright emerald. They pulsed in time with the hum, seeping into the sky like veins.

  Her balance swayed. The ground tilted.

  And the voices followed.

  They didn't speak in words. Not at first. Just fragments. Disjointed syllables warped by distance and time.

  Yes...

  At last...

  The most promising one...

  What did i tell you about her, eh? I knew she had it in her.

  Of course she did well. This is her third time...

  Then came the pressure.

  It crushed her thoughts, pushing them aside like sand beneath waves. Something, or someone, was trying to reach her. Not with speech. With intent. The feeling of being watched magnified, pressing down from every angle. Kaelin staggered, her body lurching under the weight of something far larger than herself.

  Shapes moved through the colours now, indistinct silhouettes walking without walking. Floating. Shifting. Their forms constantly warping. One of them turned.

  It had no face. But she knew it was looking at her.

  She still has one more...

  She isn’t finished. Let it happen. It knows best

  It knows best.

  It knows best.

  It knows best.

  She screamed.

  Kaelin sat bolt upright in bed.

  Her body was drenched in sweat. The sheets tangled around her legs like vines. Her heart thundered in her chest. Her lungs pulled in breath after breath, sharp and shallow.

  The window glowed gold.

  Morning.

  Birdsong drifted in, light and pure. A clear semblance of sun peeked in through from above the horizon out her window. The normalcy of it struck her like a slap.

  She stared at her shaking hands.

  What did I just see?

  The vision clung to her. Not like a dream, she could smell the ash. Taste it even. Feel the heat. Hear the voices echoing in her skull.

  It knows best.

  It knows best.

  It knows best.

  They swarmed her mind, bouncing around in her head. Not a single cohesive thought in sight.

  And those mountains. She knew those mountains. She’d seen them on maps, out beyond the capital’s edge. Heck, she’d seen them in real life. Who could miss them? They formed a ridge across the border between their lands and the next. What was that place called?

  Doesn’t matter.

  Kaelin pushed herself out of bed, walking over to the window. Outside, the sun had just begun to climb, painting the academy courtyard in golds and soft orange. Students were beginning to stir, the quiet of morning breaking slowly.

  But she didn’t feel the warmth of the sun.

  All she could feel was that pulsing hum.

  The voices.

  And the taste of ash on her tongue.

  Disgusting.