Ashes of the Elite

We move in silence, four shadows pressed tight to the warped edges of the hallway as we climb the steps to the fourth floor. The air thickens with every step, heavy with the scent of dust, blood, and the sickly-sweet tang of sap. The roots are denser here, writhing from the cracks in the walls and curling around the banisters, pulsing faintly as if they're breathing with us. Disgusting power.

The staircase feels endless, the shadows deepening with each landing. The proctor's power warps the architecture, stretching the corridors so that every hallway feels doubled, tripled, repeated until I can't tell how long we've been walking. Such a god damn annoying building.

No one speaks, but the questions churn in my head. When we reach the battered landing, I finally give voice to one, tossing it into the darkness as we pause to catch our breath. "Why did they put all the girls on the top floor? But spread out the boys between two and three?" My words hang in the air, unanswered. Kaizen just shrugs, gaze fixed on the floor, and Elijah shakes his head. Artemis only flicks her ears back, the fur along their edges bristling with unease. None of us have an answer.

We push forward, boots crunching over broken tile and the occasional fragment of glass. The hallway stretches impossibly long, lined with doors that gape open on empty, ruined rooms. I can't shake the thought that we're being watched. I glance sidelong at Artemis, watching the way her feline form moves silent, graceful, predatory. She looks every bit the apex hunter, but her eyes are distant, fixed on something I can't see. A thought tugs at me, unexpected. I slow, then stop, blocking her path with my arm. "Now that I think about it," I say, "Why weren't you on the top floor with the other girls?"

She retracts her teeth, her face softening for just a heartbeat before a sad smile flickers across her lips. "I was coming down to speak to Jay," she says quietly. Her voice is laced with sadness. "He was one of my closest friends. He grew up with me and Alaster..." Her eyes harden as she says the dead boy's name, and for a moment, something cold and feral sparks there. I just nod, indifferent accepting her explanation, feeling no pity or regret for what I did to Alaster. He challenged me. He lost. End of story.

I let her words hang between us for a moment, then turn and push onward, jaw set.

We're barely halfway down the corridor when Artemis's hand snaps out, claws pressing lightly into my wrist. I freeze, and she leans in, her breath hot against my ear. "I can hear screaming ahead," she whispers, voice so low I almost miss it.

I tense, straining my senses, but all I hear is the distant groan of the building and the soft, anxious breaths of my companions. Even the faint booms I heard earlier from the first floor have fully stopped.

Elijah and Kaizen trade nervous glances, both of them cocking their heads, trying to catch a sound I can't. I scowl, frustrated. "I don't hear anything," I hiss. "It's like the building's... nerfing my senses."