The morning was gray and dank. Nox left the academy gates alone, having left Kane in their room with instructions to cover for him if anyone asked. Lady Morvane's permission lay in the inner pocket of his robe, but he hoped he would not need it. The fewer people who knew about his movements, the better.
The fog still hung over the city, filling the streets and alleys with a dense, damp veil. In such weather, even familiar places seemed strange and hostile, but Nox knew the way to the Coppersmith Quarter by heart. He walked quickly, not looking back, and Shadow inside him was taut as a string, ready at any moment to warn him of danger.
The «Three Candles» tavern emerged from the fog unexpectedly, as if surfacing from oblivion. The old building with its crooked sign looked just as it had on the day of their arrival: peeling paint on the walls, shuttered windows, a massive oak door with iron hinges. Nox pushed it open and entered.
Inside was warm and smelled of food. Marta stood behind the counter, wiping mugs, and when she saw Nox, her face lit up with something like relief for a moment. But then it returned to its usual sternness.
«So you came. I was beginning to think you had forgotten about your sister, gotten too big for your boots, made friends with aristocrats, and no longer remembered old Marta.»
Nox walked to the counter and sat on a stool. «I had no chance to come earlier. The academy has strict rules, students are only allowed out on weekends. But today is a special occasion.»
Marta set down the mug and looked at him carefully. «What happened? You look like a pack of demons is chasing you.»
«Worse. A hunter of the Moon Goddess. In a month, he will be here. And a spy in the academy already knows where Lin lives.»
Marta's face went pale. She leaned over the counter and grabbed Nox's arm with a strength surprising for her age. «Are you sure?»
«I saw the letters. With my own eyes. Master Nectarius, the ancient languages instructor, serves the Goddess. He is watching me and has requested a hunter to confirm my power. And he knows about Lin. Knows she is here.»
Marta released his arm and straightened up. Her face became hard and resolute, like that of someone who had faced danger many times and knew what to do. «You want to take her.»
«Yes. I will hide her in the catacombs beneath the academy. There are places no one knows about but me. My servants will guard her. It is the only way to keep her safe until I deal with the hunter.»
Marta was silent for a long time, looking toward the stairs leading to the second floor. Then she nodded. «She is upstairs. Asleep. She was training in the basement late last night, I barely got her into bed. Stubborn, just like you. And like your mother.»
Nox stood up and walked to the stairs. He climbed slowly, each step creaking beneath his feet. The door to Lin's room was slightly ajar, and he peered inside. She was asleep, curled up on the narrow bed, her light hair spread across the pillow. The Abyss on her wrists flickered in the room's half darkness with a steady, calm light, like the breath of a sleeping beast.
Nox stood and looked at her, and something inside him clenched. She was so small. So fragile. But at the same time, there was a power in her that frightened even him. The Abyss, ancient and all consuming, flowed in her veins, and with each passing day, Lin grew stronger. Marta had told him during their rare meetings that the girl had already learned not only to gather the Abyss in her palms but also to release it in controlled pulses, to create something like shields and even blades from it. At eight years old, she was mastering what took adult mages years to learn.
«Lin,» he called softly.
She woke instantly, the way people accustomed to danger wake. Her gray eyes flew open, and silver sparks flared in them for a second before she recognized her brother. Then she sat up, stretched, and looked at him with a slight smile.
«Nox. You came. I knew you would come.»
«How?»
«I felt it. The Abyss… it does not only devour. It also feels. When you are near, it becomes calmer. As if it recognizes its own blood.»
Nox sat on the edge of the bed and took her hand. «Lin, listen to me. We have a problem. A serious problem. A spy of the Moon Goddess in the academy knows where you live. In a month, a hunter will arrive here. I need to hide you.»
She listened without interrupting, and when he finished, she simply nodded. «Where will we go?»
«To the catacombs beneath the academy. There is a place there, an ancient temple, that no one knows about. My servants will guard you. It is safe. As safe as anywhere in this world can be.»
Lin stood up and began gathering her few belongings. She moved calmly and confidently, like someone who had long accepted her fate and did not fear it. Nox watched her and thought about how much she had changed in the months they had spent at Noxspire. She was no longer the frightened girl from the slums who hid behind his back. She was becoming a warrior. A mage. An heir to an ancient and terrible power.
«Are you not afraid?» he asked.
She turned and looked at him. «I am afraid. But not for myself. For you. You always take everything upon yourself, Nox. Always fight alone, even when there are others ready to help. I do not want you to die protecting me. I want to fight beside you.»
Nox stood up and walked over to her. He placed his hands on her shoulders and looked into her eyes, as gray as his own but with the silver sparks of the Abyss. «You will fight beside me. When the time comes. But for now, your task is to survive and become stronger. Promise me you will train every day. That you will not give up, no matter how hard it gets. That you will become strong enough that no one will ever dare threaten you.»
«I promise,» she said. «But you promise me something too.»
«What?»
«That you will come back. No matter what happens in those wild lands you are going to, you will come back. Because if you do not come back, I will come after you. And woe to anyone who stands in my way.»
Nox looked at her and saw in her eyes not childish bravado, but cold, calm determination. She was serious. And he knew she would keep her word.
«I promise,» he said. «I will come back. I always come back.»
They went downstairs. Marta was waiting for them by the counter, and when Lin approached her, the old woman hugged the girl, tightly, genuinely, and whispered something in her ear. Lin nodded, and Nox saw tears glint in her eyes, which she immediately blinked away.
«Take care of her,» Marta said to Nox. «And take care of yourself. This world needs both of you, even if it does not realize it yet.»
Nox nodded, took Lin's hand, and they left the tavern into the fog. The journey to the academy took about an hour. Nox led his sister by back ways, through alleys and courtyards, using Shadow to hide them from prying eyes. He did not notice any surveillance, but that did not mean there was none. The Goddess's spies were skilled at being invisible.
They entered the academy through a side entrance that almost no one used and immediately descended to the basement of the east wing. Lin followed him silently, asking no questions, and only when they reached the narrow passage leading to the catacombs did she ask:
«Is this where you train at night?»
«Yes. This is where I became who I am. And here, you will be safe.»
They passed through the labyrinth of corridors and arrived at the round chamber that Nox considered his sanctuary. His servants were already waiting for them: a dozen shadow goblins, the crawler centipede, a pack of rats. All of them looked at Lin with empty eye sockets, and Nox felt her tense.
«They will not harm you. They are my servants. Echoes of the creatures I have defeated. They will guard you, bring you food and water, warn you of danger.»
Lin slowly approached one of the goblins and reached out her hand. The shadow servant did not move, its empty eyes following her movement. She touched it, and her fingers passed through the shadow, feeling only cold.
«They are like ghosts,» she said. «But not quite. They are… empty. Like the Abyss, only smaller.»
Nox had no answer. He had never thought of his servants in those terms. To him, they were tools, weapons, extensions of his will. But to Lin, they were empty. Perhaps she saw something he did not.
«I will come to you every night when I can,» he said. «Bring you food, tell you news. You will not be alone. And in two weeks, I will leave for the wild lands, for the first years' trial. When I return, we will figure something out. Find a way to protect you so you do not have to hide in the underground.»
Lin turned to him and smiled. «Do not worry about me, brother. I have the Abyss. And I have your servants. I will manage. You go and become stronger. So that when the time comes, we can strike at the Moon Goddess together. So hard that she remembers it forever.»
Nox hugged her, as tightly as he could, and felt her press against him, small and warm. He did not want to let her go. But he had to.
«I will come back,» he said. «I promise.»
He left her in the round chamber, surrounded by shadow servants. And as he climbed the stairs back to the academy, he felt something inside him change. He was no longer just surviving. He was protecting. And that made him stronger than any magic.
Ahead lay two weeks of preparation for the trial in the wild lands. And then a battle that would show what he was truly capable of. And he was ready.