Isa stood at the front, the faculty flanking her like shadows, and Nivara Hall and the Academy loomed behind her, gray and silent as winter stone heavy with story. Her dark hair curved around her face, and her eyes, the green lines bright today, seemed to hold secrets she would never speak aloud. Looking at her felt like staring at a dream you weren’t meant to enter, something both beautiful and too dangerous to approach.
Neir stood with them, no robes, a dark tunic laced neat and boots fastened tight. An hour at most and the Academy would give him back to me. He had promised to follow once the students crossed the bridge back to the mainland. A few weeks lay ahead of us, nothing more. Duty would call him away again, the endless road of a guardian pulling him where I could not follow yet. But weeks were still weeks, and I would take every breath of them.
I stood with Ardorion, Aster, Shara, Garnexis, Halven, Lo, Orivian, and Elio at the mouth of the Dragon’s Walkway. The bridge gargoyle kept its post beside the span, frost threading its horns.
The Grand Magister’s hand rose, and her voice flowed over the steps, clear and ringing. “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 shifted next to us, stone on stone, but my attention locked onto the black cat that padded in and sat by Isa’s boots. Shara caught my eye, a quick smile shared between us. We’d had just spoken to each other about the mysterious feline who’d led us to the Firebird. We hadn’t seen her since.
Ardorion rocked forward on his toes as he elbowed Aster. “Look, it’s Queenie! The one I told you about.”
First years echoed the name. Queenie flicked an ear and wrapped her tail around Isa’s ankle. Isa pressed her lips together. Neir’s mouth tilted, then settled.
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 set my cloak clasp and touched the gargoyle’s plinth for luck.
The arch bell tolled. Wards dropped along the Dragon’s Walkway. Cheers rose, and the student body poured onto the span.
We turned with the others, almost pulled into the tide of students, but the gargoyle leaned down on heavy elbows, horns brushed in snow. Its mouth curved, almost tender, as if carved stone could feel affection. For a heartbeat, it seemed alive in a way that made the world feel thinner.
A claw tapped the plinth. “Walk well. Bring back good stories. I hope to talk with you again.”
Ardorion lifted two fingers in salute and strode out first. The rest of us gathered in around him, the sentinel watching as if it kept count of every step.
Blessed winter stream over us, breath rising in fleeting clouds, and I inhaled deeply. I would cherish my season until the end of the school year, when spring would settle in. Hundreds of boots struck a steady beat against the stone bridge, and the lanterns along the rails painted thin rivers of gold ahead of us. Wintermere stretched endless on either side, white and hushed, its silence heavier than words.
Aster trailed her hand along the railing, gathering snow into her palm. “Home, then back here in a few weeks. Same doors, same rooms next term.”
Ardorion’s grin broke through the chill as he clasped her hand. “Same room.”
Heat curled from his other palm, twisting into the air into a laughing shape before it vanished. Aster’s laugh rang softer than most ever heard from her, warmth wrapped tight against him.
Already I felt the ache of Neir’s absence. He wasn’t leaving yet, but I just couldn’t imagine the strain on my soul when he did leave.
Shara gripped and squeezed my hand quickly as if reading my thoughts. “Make the most of your weeks with him.”
I gave her a thankful smile while admiring her fortitude. When I first told everyone that after graduation, I would be leaving to travel the world with Neir, she took it the hardest. I was the one to remind her that we still had two and half years together.
Elio bumped Ardorion’s shoulder with a grin, some type of prompt that sent Ardorion fishing a parchment out of his robes, brandishing his marks for the semester.
Elio tapped his pocket. “We all made it through the gauntlet.”
I lifted my page, Garnexis lifted hers. Shara gave only a nod, and a thread of tension loosened in my chest. Our quad would remain as it was, the same walls, the same lives interlaced. That steadiness mattered.
Almost as one, our eyes shifted to Halven.
He slipped 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’s fingers wove through his, her pace matching his stride. “I’ll help you.”
He bent to kiss her temple, voice lowered just for her. A warmth pressed into me at the sight, not bitterness but something softer. I smiled at Lo and eased nearer to Aster until my sleeve brushed hers. No shadows clung to me now, only a quiet contentment.
Soon I would see my family, then be in Neir’s arms again. Everything was as it should be.
Elio smirked at their closeness. “Next semester’s classes are going to crush us. I hope our love lives can survive the workload.”
I raised my brow toward Shara. “Did you get a final verdict, Shara?”
Veyn’s words echoed in my thoughts, the threat of leaving the Academy hanging heavy between the stones. My chest ached for Shara, knowing how much of her heart had always bent toward him. Would Isa even allow their bond to stay, or would she insist they follow the rules of the Academy? Teachers were not allowed to date students.
Her satchel shifted as she drew a sealed notice, Isa’s sigil pressed firm against the wax. “Isa is allowing our relationship, given our history before the Academy. I’m just not allowed to enroll in any of his courses again.”
The ache behind her calm words did not escape me. “I know you looked forward to taking Advanced Theory of Elemental Fusion with Veyn next semester.”
Ardorion laughed. “It’s not like she can’t get private lessons.”
Color rushed to Shara’s cheeks though she tried to mask it. Her gaze slipped back toward Veyn standing with the faculty behind us. I also looked back and found Neir’s steady gaze on me.
Elio brushed past suddenly, pushing forward when a cluster of first-years hurried ahead, laughter tumbling in their wake.
“What’s got you so interested in the first years?” Ardorion asked. “I mean, I’m sure a few of them could turn some heads, but you seem intent, my friend.”
Too late Ardorion realized his words and flashed a wide grin at Aster before trying to walk back his sentiment. “None could ever compare to you.”
Her mouth tilted with restrained warmth. “Keep up the sweet talk, flameboy.”
Elio drifted beside Ardorion, his smile quick and wide. “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.”
Relief brushed through me. He had spoken once of Garnexis with a glimmer too close to longing, and I had wondered if it would strain what held us together. Now his heart turned elsewhere, and that eased the knot.
Garnexis slipped up on his other side, bumping his shoulder. “I’m sure you’ll charm her with dragon facts. But please warn her ahead of time before you start.”
His grin widened. “I’m pretty sure she’s a dragon, too. An Iron Dragon.”
Ardorion nearly bounced. “Go into dragon mode! Maybe she’ll join you in the sky.”
Elio shook his head, rueful but amused. “No can do. There’s not enough room here on the bridge to shift, and I don’t want to hurt anyone.”
The span stretched wide, thirty or forty feet, yet even this much space must not be enough by his own admission. He must be quite a beast to behold.
Shara’s voice carried steady from next to me. “Stone Dragons are the biggest among the dragon species.”
Their laughter carried me forward, but underneath it I counted the days I still had with Neir.
Orivian gave Elio a sidelong glance, his tone smooth. “Then may this new dragon of yours enjoy hearing every last detail of it.”
Garnexis curved a smile and leaned into him as his arm wrapped her waist. “Stories of dragons can fly all they want. I’ll stay with the man who keeps his vows.”
Her words landed with both warmth and warning. Devotion laced with steel, reminding Orivian that her loyalty stood only as long as his promises did. A bond tested and tempered all at once.
Elio fell in step beside Shara and me, his presence easing some of the quiet that had settled between us. His bright grin carried me.
Shara and I were both walking away from the ones we loved, though only for a time. Shara would return to Veyn, I to Neir. That knowledge should have softened the ache, but it lingered all the same. Distance, even temporary, still pressed heavy in the chest.
And beneath it, another weight lived.
Halven’s absence beside me.
Not as a lover anymore, but as someone I would always love in another shape. Some partings carve deeper, leaving marks even when they’re no longer wounds. And I didn’t know how to heal this wound left by his absence. I didn’t know how to bridge what we were to what we could be.
Ardorion broke the quiet with mischief. “Orivian, we need you in our bro squad. Membership is open, and we could make it the bro square squad.”
Surprise flickered across Orivian’s face before he turned thoughtful.
Ardorion spun flame along his knuckles before snuffing it out. “Unless you think I was really serious about melting your metal?”
The challenge sparked, and Orivian could not turn from it.
“Perhaps we should test that first?” His words carried a smile.
New excitement lit up Ardorion’s features. He loved contests. “We could set it all up where we go head-to-head, like different levels. Maybe even bring in help to boost our stats.”
He kissed Aster’s hand, his gaze fixed on hers.
“Uh, that sounds like fun, but maybe I can think about it over the break?” Orivian’s voice lightened, his attention sliding back toward Garnexis.
Aster’s voice dropped husky. “Ardorion.”
A flicker crossed the space between Ardorion and Aster, something private left better to be named by them. His eyes softened, then he blinked and lowered their arms.
His daze broke, awkwardness flushing through his movement as he wiped his robes. “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.”
Ahead, the midpoint of the bridge came into view.
On either side of the bridge, two gargoyles crouched on their plinths, never moving but alive in their own way. Their eyes glowed with each hand that brushed them, each whispered hope or promise given into their eternal keeping. First-years clustered near, watching as though witnessing a rite older than the Academy itself.
A student sprinted past with the latest newssheet flapping in his hand. His wide eyes latched onto Halven, the boy’s breath catching on recognition.
Orivian’s writing had given truth to rumor, weaving sense from mystery. Halven’s disappearance, his return, the thawing of Wintermere. Orivian had shaped the story into something people could hold while still burying the truth that couldn’t be shared.
Lo’s arm tightened around Halven’s, pulling him close. Elio drifted over to them, and Garnexis joined us, her presence balanced on the other side of Shara.
I let my words slip between us, quiet but steady. “Do you think we’ll ever know what the entities are?”
Halven heard my words, I’m sure. His silence spoke more than denial. He had stood before the entities, felt their presence, even heard their voices. He knew more than Isa admitted, more than he dared speak. And that silence cut through me like frost, because if he wouldn’t share it—not with me, not with any of us—then the truth had to be unbearable.
“Whatever they are, Lady Isa has warned us against looking into it further,” Shara said, her voice carrying the firmness of rules she always held to.
Garnexis’s whole posture pushed against that thought, her body already a statement of defiance. Not against Halven, I knew. She deeply mistrusted Isa.
“Let them sleep,” Halven said, forestalling Garnexis’s outburst.
Our steps slowed, his words drawing us in.
“They are responsible for our peace here. That should be enough. Knowing anything more will only cause anxiety for our future because we can’t stop what will happen one day.”
A chill ran through the air as if something old stirred beneath his voice. He spoke of war. Not in lesson, not in theory, but in the way someone speaks who has gone through it. His burden pressed heavy, but it was his to bear. He had survived, and survival gave him a kind of authority none of us could match.
I longed to believe that truth always gave strength. Yet the way he said it, quiet and certain, made me pause. Perhaps some truths did not heal. Perhaps some only split the world open further.
The midpoint plinths rose before us. We gathered around one of the gargoyles, nine voices soon to shape the silence.
Elio pressed his hand to the claw first. His grin softened. “May I find kindness first and meet my unknown angel.”
The gargoyle’s eyes glowed white, then dimmed. The hope accepted. 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 as 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.”
The gargoyle’s gray eyes glowed. She stepped back and Orivian bent close, his hand catching a strand of her hair, whispering words meant only for her. Lo came forward.
“Help me build quiet strength for others and for myself.”
The gargoyle answered in light.
She returned to Halven’s side, and his smile softened. “You already have those things, Lo. It’s what drew me to you.”
“Can’t hurt to keep practicing.”
“True.”
Shara laid her hand to 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 took her place. He rested his hand on the gargoyle’s claw for a long pause. “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 gaze lingered on Garnexis, and for once she flushed. Garnexis never flushed. Yet the bond between them carried a strength none of us could ignore.
Ardorion clapped him on the shoulder as he moved forward. “Well played, Orivian. Nice way to ruin all of our attempts at courtship when you keep spouting sentiments we could never achieve.”
He laughed, then pressed his hand 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, rubbing her ruddy cheeks.
Ardorion grinned, never one to pass up a chance to tease her.
“You got it all wrong. No promises here.” Then his tone shifted as he touched the stone. “Help me lead with steadier balance. Greatness is achieved in well-executed fusion.”
Aster followed, her vow carrying quiet strength. “Help me grow mastery and joy together with others and not alone.”
Her words drew Ardorion to her like flame to air, his arms circling her as though he could not help himself. Their bond glowed steady, forged through hardship.
My turn came, and I pressed my hand to the gargoyle. “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 left me with a tightening in my chest, but also a steadiness. Love and duty did not need to war against each other, not if I held both with open hands. Neir’s path already pulled him beyond these walls, but our love did not weaken for it. I would guard what we had until the day I could walk beside him without parting.
The gargoyle’s eyes brightened, then dimmed. I smiled.
Halven came to stand beside me, the last of us to speak his hope or promise, and for a moment it was as if years folded in on themselves. We still hadn’t spoken to each other since he came out of his ice prison, but I felt the weight of everything we’d once shared. Every laugh, every secret, every kiss that had long since faded into memory. We had moved on. He had Lo. I had my own path with Neir.
Yet love remained. Not the kind that binds two hearts, but the kind that never truly unravels.
“Rielle.”
His voice turned me to him, and before I could breathe, he pulled me close. His arms were familiar, strong as they had always been. “Thank you for not giving up on me.”
The tears came fast, though I pressed my cheek against his chest to hide them. My voice broke, but the word was true. “Never.”
I stepped back then, leaving him the space he needed, though my chest still ached with the old truth: some bonds change, but they never vanish.
Halven looked up at the gargoyle as he touched the clawed hand. “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.”
The words resonated, simple yet profound.
The gargoyles dimmed behind us as we left the plinth. Lanterns drew us toward the far shore, where families waited, voices and warmth already spilling across the snow. Pines rose against the horizon, steady and green. Neir would follow within the hour, and for a few short weeks he would be mine. Time counted sweeter when it was borrowed, and I would spend every moment as if it might be the last before duty called him away again.
This term had carried all of us to the edge of losing each other. We had walked under ice, touched shadows no one should ever touch. Yet we endured. Together.
Strength is not always battle. It is holding on when others cannot. It is giving love when grief claws close. It is listening to silence and not turning away.
That is what binds us. That is what makes us endure.
Docilis had been our beginning, but we had become something far deeper. Friends who carried one another through fire and through silence both.
The Dragon’s Walkway carried us toward home, toward those who waited. The academy stood steady behind us, the frozen lake silent below. And ahead, the future reached across the cold. Another term waited, full of trials and wonder. We would face it together, and I would keep love and duty bound in the same breath.
THE END