Isa stood at the front, faculty stiff on either side, Nivara Hall and the Academy looming behind her like stone carved to impress. Her black hair caught the light sharp as ink against paper, and her eyes—black with green lines and cutting—looked like they were ready to slice through anyone who dared step out of line. Of course she made command look easy. That was Isa. All frost and command, wrapped up in robes meant to remind the rest of us who held the reins.

I stood with Aster, Garnexis, Rielle, Shara, Halven, Lo, Orivian, and Elio at the mouth of the Dragon’s Walkway. One boot braced against the gargoyle’s plinth, I hitched my pack strap and pressed closer to our group.

The Grand Magister lifted her hand and her voice carried clean over the steps. “Docilis of the Academy of Magic & Harmony, you studied hard and prevailed. Your exams stand as proof. I am proud of what you have accomplished, supporting the mission of this academy to find harmony in our combined magics.”

The gargoyle angled its head toward us. I tapped the stone claw for luck and grinned over at Aster.

A black cat caught the edge of my vision and my head whipped around to watch her pad in and sit by Isa’s boots.

Excited, I bumped Aster with an elbow and grinned. “Look, it’s Queenie! The one I told you about.”

Even Garnexis, Rielle, and Shara smiled at seeing the cat. A few heads turned at the echo of my voice. Aster gave a sidelong smile, and I took it like a prize.

Isa continued. “Rest now. You will return after your winter break and the start of the new year. Enjoy your family, cherish your friends, and have a happy celebration for Chaos’s Festival. We will see you next year.”

I shifted the pack higher and set my stance by the gargoyle, ready for the rush when the bridge opened.

The arch bell pealed then. Wards fell all along the wide stone span of the bridge, the Dragon’s Walkway. Cheers rose, and the whole sea of students pressed toward the bridge.

We turned to join the flood of students, but the stone gargoyle shifted in closer, elbows grinding against the granite ledge. Snow clung to its horns, and its mouth pulled into a grin that looked way too much like it knew a joke it wasn’t sharing.

A claw tapped the plinth. “Walk well. Bring back good stories. I hope to talk with you again.”

I saluted with two fingers and stepped out first. Our eight folded in around and behind me under the sentinel’s gaze.

Winter breath plumed and thinned, and I shivered deep in my robes. Gods, I couldn’t wait to get back to my Summer Quadrant, Suravar. No more snow and ice!

Boots beat a steady rhythm on the stone bridge. Lantern light ran ahead along stone rails. Wintermere lay white and unbroken to either side.

Aster brushed a cupped hand along the rail, scooping up snow.

“Home, then back here in a few weeks.” Her gaze skimmed our friends. “Same doors, same rooms next term.”

I laced our fingers and squeezed. “Same room.”

I eyed the snow in her hand, just daring her to make me colder. Before she could rise to the challenge, I flicked a bit of heat along my other palm. A thin curl of steam spun free, chased the air, and drew a laughing shape before it vanished. Aster chuckled and dropped the snow.

Shara’s words to Rielle still lingered nearby. “Make the most of your weeks with him.”

Neir’s duty would pull him away from Rielle soon, before we returned for the next semester, and after graduation Rielle would follow wherever he traveled outside of Nythral. The thought burned in me, the idea of her leaving, of our circle breaking apart. She accepted it with grace, but I couldn’t. Not yet.

But we had a couple of years before that happened.

Elio bumped my shoulder with a grin. I fished out a parchment from my robes and flashed it at him. My passing marks for the semester.

He tapped his own pocket and waggled brows. “We all made it through the gauntlet.”

Rielle lifted her page, Garnexis lifted hers, Shara just nodded, and the last knot in my chest unwound. Our four stayed in the same quad. Same rooms.

Probably same neighbors.

For a moment Aster and I had discussed rooming together. It’d make sneaking into each other’s beds easier than what we faced the last few days, but in the end, we decided this was better, to keep everything the same... especially if she got mad at me, then I could escape her cold wrath more easily.

I chuckled inwardly at that. I’d probably punish myself by staying close to her icy tongue anyway.

Almost as if we were all on the same thought wavelength with our room choices, we looked to Halven.

He tucked a folded schedule into his robes. “I’ll be spending a few hours after classes next semester to catch up, but Lady Isa is giving me the chance to continue so I can graduate on time with the rest of you.”

Lo threaded fingers with his and set their pace to a shared line of warmth. “I’ll help you.”

Halven kissed her temple with a smile, murmuring something just for her ears. I peaked a glance at Rielle, knowing how she felt about Halven all through our first year here.

She gave Lo a soft smile, then shifted closer to me so her sleeve brushed Aster’s. No shadows lingered in her eyes, only quiet warmth.

Lo nodded while looping her arm with Halven’s.

Elio grinned at the obvious display of affection between those two. “Next semester’s classes are going to crush us. I hope our love lives can survive the workload.”

“Did you get a final verdict, Shara?” Rielle raised her brow with the question.

Shara had been wondering if the Grand Magister would allow her to continue her relationship with Veyn. We all heard Veyn had threatened to leave the Academy.

Shara brushed her satchel and drew out a sealed notice with Isa’s sigil. She kept her voice even while we walked. “Isa is allowing our relationship, given our history before the Academy. I’m just not allowed to enroll in any of his courses again.”

Rielle’s brows knit. “I know you looked forward to taking Advanced Theory of Elemental Fusion with Veyn next semester.”

I laughed. “It’s not like she can’t get private lessons.”

Shara tried to hide her embarrassed smile, but there was no hiding the redness filling her cheeks. She looked over her shoulder where Veyn would be standing with the faculty still.

Elio drew ahead of us when a wave of first year robes passed by us, girlish laughter spilling from them.

“What’s got you so interested in the first years?” I said. “I mean, I’m sure a few of them could turn some heads, but you seem intent, my friend.”

When Aster squeezed my hand, I immediately gave her my best grin. “None could ever compare to you.”

“Keep up the sweet talk, flameboy.” Her words were tempered by the heat in her eyes and the slight curl of one side of her mouth.

Elio fell back to walk beside me, and a wide smile split his face. “I’m looking for someone. I saw her in the library a few days ago, a first-year student, and she had the most beautiful smile. I plan to find her again. Figure out her name.”

Part of me relaxed, a part I hadn’t even known was tense. Ever since I figured out that Elio had a crush on Garnexis, I wondered how this would affect our friendship. Garnexis was my girl, someone I cared about deeply, but her affections were bound by her fated bond with Orivian. I didn’t like the idea of what Elio’s feelings could do to our group.

Speaking of Garnexis...

Sidling up to the other side of Elio, Garnexis bumped his shoulder. “I’m sure you’ll charm her with dragon facts. But please warn her ahead of time before you start.”

Elio flashed teeth. “I’m pretty sure she’s a dragon, too. An Iron Dragon.”

“Go into dragon mode!” I could barely contain my excitement. I hadn’t ever seen Elio in his full dragon form. “Maybe she’ll join you in the sky.”

He shook his head with a rueful grin. “No can do. There’s not enough room here on the bridge to shift, and I don’t want to hurt anyone.”

Wide-eyed, I looked from one side of the bridge to the other. There was a good thirty to forty feet across. Were Stone Dragons that big?

As if Shara could hear my thoughts, she said, “Stone Dragons are the biggest among the dragon species.”

Whelp, guess I won’t see his dragon form any time soon.

Orivian gave Elio a sidelong glance, voice easy. “Then may this new dragon of yours enjoy hearing every last detail of it.”

Garnexis’s lips curved, and she angled her body to fit against Orivian’s as he put an arm around her waist. “Stories of dragons can fly all they want. I’ll stay with the man who keeps his vows.”

The sharp words even had me raising my brow. In one breath she reassured and threatened Orivian. She wasn’t interested in Elio, but she’d only keep Orivian as long as he kept his word.

Good luck to Orivian! Hopefully he lasted long enough to be in the bro squad.

Elio fell back to talk to Shara and Rielle.

Both women seemed at ease, but I wouldn’t want to be either of them at this moment. The two of them were walking away from their loves, but it was short term. However, I very much enjoyed taking the bridge back home with Aster next to me.

Certainly, Garnexis felt the same.

Which reminds me...

“Orivian, we need you in our bro squad.” I nearly laughed at the startle in his eyes. “Membership is open, and we could make it the bro square squad.”

Indecision weighed on his face.

I spun a tiny flame between knuckles and pinched it out. “Unless you think I was really serious about melting your metal?”

It was a challenge I knew he’d rise to.

“Perhaps we should test that first?” he asked, with a smile in his eyes.

But then my mind turned to a competition. No one liked games more than me. “We could set up it all up where we go head-to-head, like different levels. Maybe even bring in help to boost our stats.”

I lifted Aster’s hand to my mouth to kiss her knuckles, getting lost for a moment in her violet eyes.

Orivian cleared his throat. “Uh, that sounds like fun, but maybe I can think about it over the break?”

I couldn’t tear my attention away from Aster. That darkness growing in her eyes pulled me in and all I could think about was getting her alone.

“Ardorion,” she whispered with her voice all husky.

I blinked a few times to snap out of it. I lowered our arms hastily and wiped down the front of my tunic with my free hand. “Right. We can discuss it when we return, but you’re in the bro squad regardless, metal head. You can’t be dating Garnexis and not be part of all of us.”

My attention turned to the bridge’s midway point not far ahead.

A plinth on either side of the bridge held two more gargoyles. These ones didn’t move although their eyes glowed when the students rubbed their clawed hands in passing. With each touch, the students whispered their promise or hope for next semester. First-year students watched intently, learning the rituals of the Academy, one that was our own, made by the students.

One student ran by us to catch up with some at the midway point. The final newssheet waved in his hands as his wide eyes ran over us to land on Halven.

I couldn’t deny Orivian’s skill in writing the main article that explained Halven’s disappearance and reappearance, along with why it had looked like Wintermere had been thawing out for several days. Truth lay somewhere between silence and hazy wording.

Lo closed in on Halven, an arm wrapped around his. Elio sidled closer to them, opening the space on my other side, which was quickly filled with Rielle and Shara.

Rielle spoke softly, drawing us further together, Garnexis on the opposite side from me. “Do you think we’ll ever know what the entities are?”

I shook my head, looking at Halven. His face was pensive enough that I knew he heard the question.

But his silence burned hotter than if he’d shouted a denial. He’d faced those things. The way he held himself, the way his eyes cut away. It reeked of truth he wasn’t sharing. He had to know more than what Isa spoon-fed us, and I hated being left in the dark.

I also knew what my friend had been through in his life. I wouldn’t be the one to force secrets from him.

“Whatever they are, Lady Isa has warned us against looking into it further,” Shara said, always the rule-following, pragmatic one.

Garnexis got that look on her face, which extended to her whole body, whether she realized it or not. It said that rules could go to all eight hells. But Halven spoke up before she said anything.

“Let them sleep.”

We all slowed down to listen to him. I’d wondered what he knew about them considering he’d been linked to them.

“They are responsible for our peace here,” he said. “That should be enough. Knowing anything more will only cause anxiety for our future because we can’t stop what will happen one day.”

The air felt colder for a second, like something old had stirred just under the surface of Halven’s words. We’d made it through. But something still waited. Just not today.

War. That was what he was talking about. Isa had said it too, but Halven knew war firsthand. A survivor of such terrible things. Perhaps he was right. I wished he didn’t have to carry the burden of such knowledge alone, but if anyone could, it would be Halven.

I wanted to believe every answer was worth chasing. That truth made us stronger. But the way Halven said it, quiet and certain, it made me wonder. Maybe not every truth helps. Maybe some things are meant to stay quiet, not out of fear, but because cracking them open might shatter more than it reveals.

Silence beyond the Seal.

The bridge’s midpoint was before us now. The nine of us gathered around one of the plinths.

Elio was the first to touch the gargoyle’s clawed hand where it curled over the edge of the plinth. He could either speak a promise or a hope for next semester. He went with hope.

“May I find kindness first and meet my unknown angel.”

The gargoyle’s gray eyes glowed a whitish color before dimming again. He’d accepted the hope. Although, I’ve never heard of a gargoyle not accepting a hope or promise.

“I hope you find her, Elio,” Garnexis said as she brushed the claws next. Then she spoke her promise. “I will forge both skill and home in the same fire, so that I’ll never feel the need to run again.”

When she backed away from the glowing eyes, Orivian leaned close to her, his fingers capturing some of her red hair as he whispered something, but then Lo stepped up next.

“Help me build quiet strength for others and for myself.”

The eyes glowed.

She went back to Halven’s side, and he smiled at her. “You already have those things, Lo. It’s what drew me to you.”

“Can’t hurt to keep practicing.”

“True.”

Then Shara stepped forward, grazing the stone. “I will continue to protect what matters, the hearts of my friends, my love and family, and myself.”

“I love that, Shara,” Orivian said as he replaced her at the plinth as the gargoyle’s eyes dimming. His head bowed and his hand rested on the clawed hand for several quiet seconds. “No matter what happens during our break, even if it means I must forsake my family, I will return as my own man, making my own choices, and always choosing what and who is best for me.”

His statement ended with a heated gaze at Garnexis, and for the first time I could remember, she blushed. Garnexis didn’t blush, did she?

I slapped Orivian on the shoulder as I passed him to take my turn.

“Well played, Orivian. Nice way to ruin all of our attempts at courtship when you keep spouting sentiments we could never achieve.” He laughed, and I knew that he’d be in the bro squad for sure come next semester. But then I turned my attention to the gargoyle. “I know you can’t help just sitting here looking mean at us, but you sure are intimidating.”

“Make your promise already,” Garnexis said.

I know she was trying to throw attention off herself and onto me. I knew her too well. So I gave her a big grin.

“You got it all wrong. No promises here.” Then I swallowed as I looked up at the gargoyle and touched his hand. “Help me lead with steadier balance. Greatness is achieved in well-executed fusion.”

I didn’t dare look at Aster, because she’d look deep into me and know exactly what I hoped for, making me feel just a bit vulnerable. But she squeezed my hand as she replaced me at the stone plinth.

“Help me grow mastery and joy together with others and not alone.”

Oh, my beautiful Astenara! Both of our hopes centered around looking outside of ourselves to achieve something better. No doubt in my mind. We were made for each other.

She used to freeze me out. Now she steadied me. Fire and frost might not be meant to cancel each other out. Maybe they were meant to temper each other.

When she backed away from the glowing eyes, I couldn’t help but to wrap my arms around her from behind, nuzzling her neck. I almost missed hearing Rielle’s statement.

“I promise to anchor love and duty in the same breath but I will always guard love and call on courage when duty parts paths.”

The vow rang too close to everything we had carried this term, and my throat tightened. Aster’s fingers in mine steadied me. Rielle’s courage always felt brighter than all of us, and I was glad to be able to bask in it.

Rielle didn’t budge as she gazed up at the glowing eyes with a smile. Halven joined her, the last of us to speak his promise or hope. We were all riveted on the two of them. Rielle had moved on from her relationship with Halven, but I know she’d always harbor love for him. That was Rielle, kind and loving, nearly an angel herself in how she treated others. Everyone meant something to her.

But since Halven returned to us, neither one of them had really spoken to each other or even come near the other. It was a tricky spot. Halven had Lo to think about, but right now, he seemed to make a decision about all of that.

“Rielle,” he said, gaining her attention as she turned to him. Then he hugged her. “Thank you for not giving up on me.”

Her head nodded against his chest. “Never.”

Then she stepped back, giving Halven the space to approach the plinth. The last one.

“We stand because our friends held us up. We endure because loyalty bound us together. May next year bring us the same strength, and the courage to keep using it.”

It was perfect.

The future lay ahead, with so many possibilities.

But right now? I just wanted to go home. To wrap my arms around my family. To introduce them to Aster.

We left the plinth, letting the next students step forward, and the far shore of the bridge drew closer with every step. Pines lined the horizon in green hush.

I used to think power meant winning. That fire meant louder, faster, harder. Burn everything down and call it strength.

But maybe real power is knowing what to keep close. What to warm, not scorch.

That’s what this term taught me.

We nearly lost one of our own. Faced things under the ice no one should ever face. And we came out standing. Together.

We weren’t just Docilis anymore. We were something more. We were the kind of friends you survive fire with. The kind who pull you back from it.

Lanterns glowed at the end of the Dragon’s Walkway, our families waiting for us. The bridge carried us forward in a single sweep of stone, toward warmth, toward whatever came next.

Behind us, the academy stood steady. Beneath us, the frozen lake held its silence.

And ahead?

The next term was already reaching through the cold, promising more adventures. And we’d be ready to meet them.

THE END