Chapter 1 A CRUEL NEWS

Aria’s POV

"I can't help but wonder how many times a magicless being needs to be punished before she learns her lesson.” I needed no soothsayer to tell me I was being talked about, again. But, what could be wrong this time?

I stood erect, the rag I used to wash the walls kept dripping water. My heart almost sank when I saw Captain Eryndor walking towards me with two scribes walking alongside him.

“Come with me,” I gasped when he turned and walked away but I immediately put the rag down, washed my hands and started running to his direction.

This is not good. If I'm correct, this is the third time today I was getting punished. I didn't do anything this time so what could be wrong?

As he strode away, my breath faltered.

For a moment, it felt like the corridor tightened around me. Every step I took after him echoed too loudly, like the castle itself wanted to expose my fear.

The servants sweeping the floors paused just long enough to glance at me with that familiar mix of pity and expectation… “What did she do this time?”

The air grew colder the closer we got to the Great Hall. My palms were damp, my heartbeat tapping violently against my ribs. I tried swallowing the panic clawing up my throat, but it stayed there, refusing to leave.

When we reached the Great hall, he signed for the scribes to leave and they obeyed with a nod. Thereafter, he pushed the gigantic doors open.

I walked behind him silently, he turned to me and smiled.

Smile? Is that a smile on the captain's face? He smiled at me?

“Take a seat,” he stretched his hands out, pointing at the empty seat next to me.

I could believe my ears, or my eyes.

This should be anything but reality.

Well, I sat down. I wasn't about to flop or not obey his order.

“Well, Aria, as shocking as this may sound, you've been accepted as a student in Obsidian Spire Academy…Congratulations.” He made a few taps with his hands.

My hands gripped the table, I was seated but I still needed something to keep me stable.

This is supposed to be good news but magicless beings aren't accepted into the Academy.

I could feel something wasn't right. I gulped down the lump in my throat and looked at him. “I'm…I'm magicless. Why would I be accepted there? Who enrolled me in the first place?” I questioned, forgetting I was talking to the captain. I need explanations because none of this made sense.

I would prefer staying here in Voltspire ridge than going to Obsidian Spire Academy.

I would be treated worse than I'm being treated here.

“A lot of questions, Aria.” Captain Eryndor snickered and his whole countenance changed to something dark I've never seen before and I shuddered in fear.

“Go get your things ready. You're leaving today.” I didn't argue, I didn't say another word.

I wanted to turn around and run, but I had nowhere to run to.

I stood up and started walking out, ignoring the disgusted eyes on me and how my heart shattered into a million pieces.

I didn't know what was worse. The fact that I'm useless, the fact that no one, not even one person could treat me with little care or the fact that I'm being sent to my own grave.

Even the storm mages who were accepted into the Academy didn’t make it to the second day in the academy. Other elemental mages too.

What makes them think I'll be any different?

This acceptance felt wrong… almost like someone had pushed me into a place I wasn’t meant to be.

But, if this is what Malek wants, then so be it.

I walked to my room like someone drifting inside a dream I didn’t ask for.

Each step felt heavier, like the floor wanted to swallow me before the Academy could.

This tiny space had always been mine—my safety, my prison, my everything.

I stood there for a moment, holding the doorway, breathing hard. Then I finally began packing.

My old boots went into the bag next. Then my comb, the wooden one with the cracked handle. I paused, staring at it. It was the last thing I had of… whatever family I once had.

I blinked fast and shoved it inside before the tears could fall.

I stepped out, hugging my bag tightly. The courtyard was filled with storm mages. All looking at me. All waiting to confirm the rumor.

Captain Eryndor raised his voice. “Aria of Voltspire Ridge has been accepted into Obsidian Spire Academy. She departs immediately.”

It felt like the whole kingdom exhaled confusion at once.

I kept my eyes on the ground. It was easier to pretend I didn’t exist that way.

The cart arrived soon after.

I climbed into the cart quietly, holding my bag like it was the only friend I had in the world. The moment I stepped inside, every pair of eyes lifted.

I sat near the corner until a girl shifted a little.

“You can sit here,” she said, smiling small.

I nodded and sat. “Thank you.”

“I’m Ciora,” she added with a warm voice but I was too scared to even look at her.

“Aria.”

For a moment it was okay. Then one boy leaned forward, eyes bright like he was ready to compare powers.

“So… Storm Kingdom? What can you do?”

He grinned. “Lightning whip? Tempest pull? Tell me you can at least call a bolt.”

My stomach tightened. I didn’t answer immediately. I just stared at my hands. I even rubbed my thumb over my palm, hoping somehow something would spark. Nothing.

Ciora looked at me like she already knew.

Another girl leaned in. “Hello? We’re asking you a question.”

I swallowed. My voice came out small. “I… don’t have magic.”

The cart went silent.

Like actually silent.

“You’re magicless?”

“In the Storm Kingdom?”

“How did that even happen?”

“What are you going to do at the Academy then?”

“She’s joking. She has to be.”

“No way they accepted that.” I couldn't answer anyone because everyone was talking at once.

It felt like the whole cart turned on me at once.

I kept my eyes down. My fingers twisted the strap of my bag. The heat in my chest was ugly…shame mixed with a kind of hurt I didn’t want anyone to see.

Ciora frowned at them. “Enough. She said she doesn’t have magic, leave her.”

One boy snorted. “So how did she even get in? Bribe? Favor? Storm mages don’t take pity on students.”

I opened my mouth, wanting to say something, anything but nothing came out. It was like my throat refused to work. I looked outside instead, watching the buildings pass by, pretending it didn’t matter.

But it did.

It always did.

The cart kept moving for a long time. The road was rough, and every bump made me grip my bag tighter. Ciora leaned slightly toward me.

“Hey… are you alright?”

I nodded even though it was a lie. “I’m fine.”

She gave me a look that said she didn’t believe me. But she didn’t push.

We rode in silence after that.

Then the cart suddenly jerked to a stop.

Everyone lurched forward. Someone cursed.

“What’s happening?” one boy asked.

Before anyone could stand, the guards outside began shouting. Metal clashed. Someone screamed. The sound of a body hitting the ground followed.

I shoved my head toward the window.

One guard fell. Then another. Their bodies dropped like something sliced through them but I didn’t see anything. Not a person. Not a creature. Nothing.

“What is that?” someone yelled.

Students jumped up. Magic exploded everywhere. A wall of fire. A blade of water. A dome of earth. Lightning crackled so loudly I felt it in my teeth.

I froze.

Everyone was doing something except me.

Ciora grabbed my hand. “Aria get down!”

She pulled me under her shield of flame, her body shaking as she tried to hold it steady.

I crouched there, feeling useless, terrified, and small. Completely small.

Someone stood outside the open cart door. And everything about the way he stared at me screamed danger.

Kael.

The strongest lightning mage alive.

I had heard his name whispered more than storms. A story, a warning or even a myth.

But none of those stories told me he would look this handsome.

Fear wrapped around my ribs.

But something else pulled too… like a hand tugging at a thread inside me. A strange awareness. A wrong kind of familiarity.

His gaze locked onto mine.

He walked closer, each step was slow and deliberate.

He stopped right in front of me.

His voice was so

ft, rasp and deadly.

“I’ll be the one to kill you, Aria Wyncrest.” I tried to fight the conscious part of me but I couldn't and I was dripping away into darkness.

This can't be my death.