The morning at Obsidian Academy began with bells. Not some soft chimes or elegant melodies. Oh no, no, it sounded like exact war bells.
Deep metallic sounds rolled through the stone corridors before sunrise, vibrating through walls and bones alike. Lilith woke instantly, years of training dragging her from sleep before conscious thought could catch up. For half a second, her hand reached for the knife beneath her pillow before reality settled back into place.
She was at the academy, not back home… not at the compound.
Her room was washed in pale gray light. Beyond the tall windows, mist rolled through the forest beneath the cliffs of Obsidian like smoke crawling across the earth.
The schedule left on her desk the night before was painfully precise. At least some things in her life rem
