Early evening carried a strange stillness across the university grounds a quiet hum beneath the cooling sky, the kind of silence that comes after the majority of students have already left but a few linger behind for late classes, club meetings, or study sessions.
The low sun painted the courtyard in long amber streaks, and the breeze pushed dry leaves across the stone path like restless whispers.
Aesir stepped out of the lecture hall into that quiet glow, the weight of his backpack pulling unevenly over his shoulder. He inhaled deeply, letting the cold air settle his nerves. His heartbeat had been strange all day quicker, almost anticipatory, like he was bracing for something he couldn’t name.
Jessica hovered two steps behind him.
She was his project partner for the assignment being g
