Chapter 12
Chapter 12: Race Against Time
The rain had turned into a thin mist by the time Zephyr, Fenna, and Star slipped through the academy's south orchard, their boots sinking into the soft earth. Frost still clung stubbornly to the shaded patches, crunching underfoot with every careful step.
Above them, Lowmoor's main spires pierced the mist like jagged black fangs. The silver detection chest had arrived two hours earlier, carried on the shoulders of four Guild soldiers in rune-marked armor. It now sat in the Headmistress's Tower, humming with restrained power, waiting for the full sweep that would expose every hidden mana pulse.
And hidden within Zephyr's cloak, curled close to his heart, was Star—an existence too bright, too wild, too dangerous to survive discovery.
"We have twenty-four hours," Fenna whispered. Her hazel eyes burned with fierce determination. "The system said the Veil Stone lies in Hollowfell Mine?"
Zephyr nodded. "Abandoned twenty years ago after a tunnel collapse. Gravewind smugglers used to hide relics there. If there's even a fragment left, we can mask Star's core long enough to survive the inspection."
Star chirped softly, as if understanding the weight of their mission. Zephyr ran a thumb down the hatchling's spine, feeling the steady thrum of warmth beneath the black and silver scales.
"Let's move," he said, his voice steady. Failure is not an option.
Lowmoor's outer walls were patrolled day and night now, but there were still old ways out—ways forgotten by most.
Fenna led them to a collapsed root cellar beneath the academy gardens, half hidden under a tumble of dead vines and rotted barrels. Zephyr crawled through first, scraping his cloak on rough stone. Fenna passed Star carefully after him, then followed, sealing the entrance behind them with a small illusion talisman she had snuck from Greenhouse storage.
The passage beyond was narrow, walls slick with damp. It stank of mold and old earth, but it sloped gently downward toward freedom.