I stared at Hopsander’s motionless body—now shrunk back to his normal size.

Blood pooled around him, soaking into the cracked stone. I couldn’t look away. There was this…dead buzz in my ears like I’d been dunked underwater. My heart hammered in my chest, but everything else felt numb.

—‘We have to do something, Erik!’

Fern’s voice in my head sounded both furious and panicked. My gaze snapped away from Hopsander’s lifeless form. The black smoke from Jiho’s infusion still coated the floor in thick, sloshing waves—at least three feet deep—though the swirling haze had begun to thin at the edges of the room.

I heard a low growl in my throat—the chimera in my bloodstream, itching to burst forth. My hands shook. I wanted to rush at Noah—my brother—and tear into him, to make him pay. But I couldn’t lose my head, not yet. Something in my head said…not yet. I glanced to my sides and saw my fellow underclassmen all waiting on me to give the signal. All the teachers around us crouched, cuffs cut, and like the others…waiting on my signal.

“Hopsander—” Fan’s voice trembled with rage. She stumbled forward, her scorpion’s stinger already arching over her shoulder. Waelid, wings crackling with spinning phoenix flames, let out a piercing shriek of his own. They both lunged at Noah, who hovered with casual arrogance above Hopsander’s corpse.

Noah flicked his hand. Thin, gleaming strands of golden chain burst from the floor. They wrapped around Fan’s arms, pinning them to her sides halting her in her tracks; another set whipped around Waelid’s torso, yanking him so hard he lost his balance midair and crashed to the ground.

“Pathetic,” Noah muttered. He didn’t even bother to look at them. With another quick gesture, more golden strands snaked over Hopsander’s body, dragging it toward the circle at the center of the warehouse floor. My stomach turned at the thought of him desecrating Hopsander’s remains like that—like a piece of trash he planned to toss aside.

Piqah, Jiho, and Jako weren’t far behind, though. They tried to rush in from the side, but the black-hooded man and the elven girl were already moving to intercept them. The fight felt like it was happening in slow motion—yet everything exploded in an instant. The elven girl shrieked and hurled a bolt of lightning that splintered across Piqah’s broad, gorilla-like shoulders. Piqah roared, ignoring the pain, and hammered the elven girl with a massive fist. The impact sent her skidding across the floor, her jaw dislocated as she tried to get up clutching her chin.

“Ow… you worthless—” she hissed, words slurring. Lotrick, face pale, flew over and mended her twisted jaw with a quick flash of magic. The girl cursed again and spat blood, while Piqah snarled at her. Before she could unleash more lightning, golden chain spells from Noah seized Piqah and clamped her mouth shut, silencing her furious roar.

Within moments, all the older students—Fan, Waelid, Piqah, Jiho, and Jako—were pinned under golden restraints. Some of them strained, half-transformed. Others lay on the ground. The Chapter Masters, taken out in the space of a few heartbeats. My gut twisted into a tighter knot than it already was in.

—‘If we are going to hide we need to stay low!’

Fern’s urgency cut through my shock.

I ducked back into the smog. Beside me were Mel, Sora, Lucius, and Nora—all trembling with a mix of fear and fury. Mel’s eyes burned with tears; she looked ready to charge out there herself, but I could see her knuckles clutching her PillarDust coated-blade dagger, waiting for my signal. We slowly moved huddled together, our heads barely above the smoke line, while the freed professors crouched around us—battered, stunned, but unbound.

—Thanks to Hopsander’s final distraction, I thought.

Some of the teachers were openly sobbing. Others clenched their teeth, eyes wet with rage. I met Al’s stare across the crowd; his eyes were wet with tears and his teeth were clenched and clicked with anger. But all of them stayed down—still pretending to be chained—just as we’d instructed.

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Up above, Noah floated around the half-broken ritual circle.

Clank. Another chain pinned Waelid. Clank. Another locked around Fan’s tail. Noah eyed them all with a twisted sense of amusement.

“So, these are the best cinder recruits the Academy has?” Noah’s voice carried easily in the hush of shock. “I’m honestly disappointed. I mean, which one of you is Waelid? The one who supposedly slew the Guardian we sent to your trial?” He eyed Waelid’s phoenix-infused limbs with a lazy smirk. “You messed up my plan you know? Though I must say, I was very impressed when Mourncrest gave that report. Killing a guardian, and supposedly you had killed one before? I should’ve done more research.”

Waelid let out a choked snarl. “You… you set that thing on us?! Why? You…you made me…” He twisted against the chains. Noah just snorted and flipped his hands over causing the chains to tie him tighter. Waelid couldn’t move and Noah didn’t answer his question.

Then Noah floated to the center of the circle, raising both hands. The black-hooded man, the elven girl (jaw newly reset), and Lotrick stepped to the outer edge of the circle on each side except the one I was near. This worked out for me.

Noah murmured something under his breath—a quiet incantation meant to activate the circle. The runes on the floor sparked, flashed briefly, then fizzled out.

He tried again. Nothing.

A crease formed on Noah’s brow. “What the…?”

I swallowed, pushing up from the smoke and standing tall above the rest of us so he could see me. My heart thundered, but I managed a smirk. “You having circle trouble there, little bro?” My voice wavered, and my throat was still tight thinking of Hopsander, but the words made me feel braver. “Didn’t you remember what we learned in, oh, I don’t know—our DnD sessions back home? Ritual circles only work if they’re complete.”

I opened my hand, showing him the chunk of stone I’d pried out earlier when he was tying up the upperclassmen. It glowed faintly with runic inscriptions. Noah’s gaze darted to the ruined floor behind me, where a jagged hole interrupted the circle’s otherwise perfect ring.

“What—?” The black-hooded man spat, stepping toward me. But Noah held out a hand, halting him. I felt the tension in the air spike.

Noah vanished, reappearing in front of me faster than I could blink. I barely had time to gasp as he grabbed me by the collar. Over his shoulder, he snapped his fingers at Lotrick. Lotrick flew over to us unmoved, with calmness and no emotion on his face. A cold sweat shot up my back and Fern tensed up.

“You said the one with green hair and ‘ominous soul energy’ was the real problem.” Noah’s monotone voice bored into Lotrick. “This him?”

Lotrick swallowed thickly. “Indeed Master Starbringer, that’s the one I told you about…the other Twin-Soul,” he said quietly, sounding almost ashamed.

Noah gave me an appraising look and then clicked his tongue. “Doesn’t seem so special. Nevertheless, can’t have two Twin-Souls walking around. Kill him.” He dropped me below Lotrick’s feet like a sack of worthless grain. “Think of it as one of the many tests you ace. Show me you’re loyal—end him right here.”

Lotrick’s face went pale. “But sir, don’t you wish to take them back? To study them? Back at Celestium, you mentioned the—”

“Landaluce, are you disobeying me? I changed my mind. That’s it. Now do it. Kill him. Do we have an issue?” Lotrick lowered himself in front of us and stood there, trembling, eyes flitting between me and Noah.

My blood turned to ice. I scrambled to my feet. “Noah, you little shit, you’re not even curious why I called you brother just now?” My jaw clenched as I swallowed the lump of heartbreak lodged in my throat. “You don’t want to know how I followed you through that fucking portal? Don’t look away from me. It’s me. Your brother. Erik.”

Noah paused, gaze snapping to mine. That calculating glint in his eyes shifted into something… vicious. His body shimmered and then like lightning he flashed in front of me again. He was close several inches away from my face, inspecting me. Then he laughed—a cruel, hollow laugh that struck me like a slap.

“You’re telling me you’re my…ahem, I mean ‘Noah’s’ older brother?” he repeated, a hint of dark amusement curling his lip. “Gods, I left that cesspool of a world five years ago. You’re telling me you actually followed me? And you wound up in the body of one of my students’ brothers? Are the fates always this ironic?”

My chest felt like it was on fire. “That’s it? You can’t still be so twisted up about Mom and Dad’s death that you’d treat me like—like a complete afterthought? Do you even have a shred of humanity left?” My voice cracked.

Noah’s smile vanished. “Listen closely, ‘Erik.’ I am not your brother. The little bastard you knew hasn’t seen the light of day for ten years. If anything, I treated you like trash back home so you’d finally get the hint and stay away. But no. You couldn’t leave me alone, could you? And now look, you followed me only to end up dead. Honestly, I tried to do the nice thing. You entered a world you have no chance of survival in. You have no idea what this world is about. But, don’t worry. You don’t have to know. Honestly, though, you baffle me. Following me…well you thought you were following him here because why, you’re brothers? Hah, you haven’t seen the real Noah in years, he’s essentially dead to you. Brothers don’t mean a thing, Erik. You should have given up. Now you will die, for nothing.”

I felt my blood run hot, my chimera side rattling in my bones, begging to be unleashed. But I steadied myself with a sharp inhale. “You never understood, you say you are not Noah fine, then listen to this,” I murmured, fists curling. “That’s what family does. We don’t give up on each other. Even when you’re a raging jerk.”

He blinked once, then snorted. “Family?” He lifted me high with several golden chains conjured from his sleeves. “Family is circumstance. Give me a break.”

I let the heat flare through my veins, a scalding wave that burned away every ounce of hesitation. “I was worried you’d say something like that. That the real Noah isn’t you. But you did clarify one thing.” My body began to contort, bristling with scales and fur. A roar vibrated in my chest. “You said he hasn’t seen the light of day in ten years, he is still alive then. Good thing I came prepared.”

Then, in one swift motion, I pushed my wings out of my back and hurried my transformation. The chains couldn’t handle the explosive power and shattered. I fell to the ground and roared at the top of my lungs: “Now!”