Chapter 8: First Blood
There was no warning.
It started in the middle of the night, long after curfew, while the academy halls were silent and the stars shimmered quietly above Philistines.
A distant boom shook the walls. Then another. Faint, but real.
Kiel sat up instantly in the dorm room, reaching for the blades beside his bed. Anna was already awake, one hand sparking with magic. Elesio rolled out of bed and grabbed his rifle without saying a word. Noban was the last to move—but her scythe was in her hand before her boots hit the floor.
Then the alarm bell rang—deep and echoing. Not a drill.
Real danger. Real breach.
They hit the outer courtyard fast, along with half the academy's staff and students, only to find it empty—eerily so. No flames. No attackers.
Just fog.
Thick, white fog curling over the stones, hiding the trees, swallowing torches. It clung to everything like it was alive.
Professor Dirak met them by the main gates, armor half-on, eyes sharp.
"Something got in," he said grimly. "We don't know what. It bypassed every ward. The fog is not natural—keep your heads. We're deploying senior teams to the west and south. You four—east perimeter. Find the breach point and report. Do not engage unless you're surrounded."
Anna gave Kiel a quick look. He nodded.
This was real.
They moved together.
Elesio led, rifle ready. Anna cast a light ward that hovered just above their heads, glowing pale gold. Noban walked beside Kiel, her scythe resting against her shoulder like a silent threat.
They didn't talk much. But they didn't need to.
The forest beyond the east wall was silent.
Too silent.
Then—they heard it.
A low clicking sound. Slow. Rhythmic. Insect-like. Bones and wet stone.
Elesio raised his hand. "There. Left side."
Kiel saw it too—just a shape at first. Then movement. Then eyes in the fog. Dozens of them.
The creature that stepped out didn't belong to any book they'd read in class.
Its body was long and twisted, like something halfway between a serpent and a spider. Bone plates covered its sides, and its mouth opened the wrong way—upward.
Anna whispered, "That's not from our world."
It charged.
Kiel moved first, intercepting with blades drawn, ducking a claw strike and slashing low. The creature shrieked, but more poured in from behind it.
Anna launched a burst of flame, forcing them back. Elesio took out one with a perfect shot through the skull. Noban swept wide, her scythe singing through fog and flesh.
They moved as one.
Not flawlessly—but together. Covering each other. Learning each other's timing, pace, rhythm.
At one point, Anna stumbled—but Kiel caught her and pulled her back just in time.
Noban blocked a strike meant for Elesio without blinking.
Elesio shouted positions and cover points like a tactician—cool, sharp, calm.
When the last creature fell, twitching and steaming in the mist, there was a long silence.
Then Anna broke it.
"Okay," she said, panting. "We definitely weren't ready for that."
"Speak for yourself," Noban said, leaning on her scythe.
Elesio looked around. "We didn't just defend. We held ground. We fought like a team."
Kiel turned slowly, wiping blood from his blade. "That wasn't an accident. Someone sent them."
Anna agreed. "That fog... that breach... it was planned."
Noban narrowed her eyes. "Then we need to be ready for the next one."
Kiel sheathed his swords, voice steady.
"Then we stick together."
Later that morning…
Back at the academy, the sun rose slowly over frost-covered trees. The attack had ended. The fog had vanished. No one could explain it.
But one thing was clear: Team Ardent—Kiel, Anna, Elesio, and Noban—had passed a trial no training could've prepared them for.
They sat in the commons together, eating quietly. No one said much at first. Then Anna broke the silence.
"We nearly died last night."
"Multiple times," Elesio said, drinking tea like it was no big deal.
"Are we going to talk about how Kiel flipped over a creature twice his size and stabbed it in the neck mid-air?" Anna grinned.
Kiel blinked. "I did?"
"You did," Noban said flatly. "It was impressive. I might have smiled a little."
Elesio glanced at her. "That was a smile?"
She shrugged.
Anna leaned back in her chair. "We're a real team now. Not just people thrown together."
Elesio nodded. "We have each other's backs. That's enough."
Kiel looked around the table.
Anna, bright and bold, still brushing ash from her sleeves.Elesio, calm and steady, the marksman who never missed.Noban, sharp and quiet, her scythe resting against the wall beside her.
His friends.
Not allies. Not partners.
Friends.
He smiled for the first time in days.
"Then let's make it official," he said. "From today on…"
Anna grinned. "We're not just students."
Elesio gave a rare nod. "We're not just survivors."
Noban looked up. "We're adventurers."
And that was it.
The beginning of something real.
Four people. One promise.To protect each other.To face whatever came next.And to keep moving forward—together.