Chapter 15: Breach
971 Words
The alarm echoed through every hallway of Hidden Moon Academy.
Once.
Twice.
Three long bells.
Students abandoned their books, conversations, and classes as crimson lights illuminated the castle.
Professor Wren snapped her book shut.
“We have to move.”
“What about the Library of Echoes?” Evelyn asked.
“The enchantments will seal it.”
The hidden room shimmered before disappearing behind an ordinary stone wall.
If Evelyn hadn’t seen it herself, she never would have believed it had existed.
⸻
Professor Wren hurried Evelyn into the corridor.
Students were running in every direction.
Some looked frightened.
Others looked excited.
A group of dragon shifters sprinted toward the training grounds instead of their dorms.
“They’re going the wrong way!” Evelyn shouted.
Professor Wren shook her head.
“They’re second-years.”
“They’re part of the academy’s emergency response team.”
⸻
The castle felt completely different.
The warm, welcoming halls had become organized chaos.
Professors directed students toward safe areas.
Older students escorted frightened first-years.
Enchanted suits of armor marched through the corridors carrying glowing spears.
Portraits shouted instructions from the walls.
“Take the west stairwell!”
“Keep moving!”
“Stay away from the windows!”
One old knight slammed his painted fist against the inside of his frame.
“I haven’t seen an alarm like this since the War of Ashes.”
Evelyn glanced toward him, but Professor Wren gently urged her forward.
⸻
As they reached the main staircase, Professor Ashcroft was already there.
His voice thundered over the noise.
“First-years to your residence halls!”
“Second-years, report to your assigned stations!”
“Third- and fourth-years with combat clearance, to the eastern wall!”
Students immediately obeyed.
Professor Ashcroft spotted Evelyn.
“Miss Carter.”
She stepped forward.
“Stay with Professor Wren.”
“I can help.”
His expression softened just enough to notice.
“I know you want to.”
“But you don’t know your abilities yet.”
She hated that he was right.
⸻
Just then, Lucas appeared at the bottom of the staircase.
He was slightly out of breath.
“Evelyn!”
Relief washed over her.
“There you are.”
“I’ve been looking everywhere.”
Professor Wren nodded approvingly.
“Good.”
She turned to Lucas.
“Take her to Moon Hall.”
Lucas frowned.
“What about you?”
“I’ve been assigned to the library.”
Professor Ashcroft added,
“We’ll handle the breach.”
⸻
As Lucas and Evelyn hurried through the castle, they nearly collided with Maya, Finn, and Celeste.
“There you are!” Maya exclaimed, pulling Evelyn into a quick hug.
“We thought you got trapped somewhere.”
Finn adjusted the stack of books he was somehow still carrying.
“I grabbed our emergency packs.”
Maya blinked.
“You packed books?”
Finn looked offended.
“And snacks.”
Celeste sighed.
“Mostly snacks.”
Despite the chaos, Evelyn smiled.
For one brief moment, it felt normal.
⸻
Then the castle shook.
A deep roar echoed from outside.
Dust drifted from the ceiling.
Students screamed.
The laughter disappeared instantly.
⸻
They reached a stained-glass window overlooking the eastern wall.
Evelyn’s breath caught.
The academy’s shimmering silver barrier—the magical shield protecting the campus—was flickering.
Dark cracks spread across its surface like lightning.
Beyond it…
Dozens of shadowy creatures stood at the edge of Silverwood Forest.
Some resembled wolves.
Others looked almost human.
All of them wore black cloaks.
Standing at the front was a tall figure carrying a staff carved from black wood.
Their hood concealed their face.
“They’re not Blood Hounds,” Lucas whispered.
“No.”
Evelyn had never seen anything like them.
⸻
The hooded leader lifted the staff.
A bolt of dark magic slammed into the barrier.
The entire castle shook.
Students stumbled.
One of the stained-glass windows cracked from top to bottom.
Outside, professors rushed onto the walls, raising shimmering shields of blue and silver magic.
Dean Blackwood stood at the center of the battlements.
His voice carried across the entire campus.
“Hold the barrier!”
Streams of magic shot upward from dozens of professors.
The cracks in the shield slowly began to mend.
Hope flickered.
⸻
Then the hooded leader laughed.
The sound carried through the valley like ice scraping across stone.
They raised the staff again.
This time…
Someone stepped out of the forest beside them.
She wore polished silver armor etched with crescent moons.
Long black hair flowed over her shoulders.
Silver eyes locked onto Evelyn.
The courtyard seemed to disappear.
Everything else faded away.
On the woman’s wrist…
Was a bracelet identical to Evelyn’s.
“No…”
Lucas followed her gaze.
“What is it?”
“That bracelet…”
The woman slowly lowered her hood.
She looked only a few years older than Evelyn.
Not identical.
But close enough that they could have been family.
The woman smiled.
Not cruelly.
Sadly.
She pressed two fingers over her heart before silently mouthing two words.
Find me.
Before Evelyn could react—
The hooded leader slammed the staff into the ground.
Dark energy exploded outward.
The barrier fractured.
Silver light burst across the sky.
With a deafening crack…
The academy’s shield shattered into thousands of glowing fragments.
The pieces drifted through the air like falling stars before disappearing.
A chilling horn echoed from the forest.
The cloaked army surged forward.
The invasion had begun.
As chaos erupted across the academy, Evelyn couldn’t take her eyes off the mysterious young woman.
She hadn’t attacked.
She hadn’t smiled like an enemy.
She’d looked at Evelyn like someone who had been waiting a very long time to meet her.
And somehow…
Evelyn knew this wouldn’t be the last time they saw each other.
- Writer
