Chapter 4 I AM NOT SAFE HERE

Aria’s Pov

I had been seated here, in the healers chambers all day. Neris wasn’t here as she was called in for an emergency.

My eyes scanned the room. It was built with ancient stone and was warded. Yes, anyone could tell this place is heavily warded. Makes me wonder what kind of operation goes on here.

I stood up from the bed and walked to the window.

The flame kingdom was indeed a kingdom of flames.

Outside the window, roofs glowed dull red, like heated metal left out too long. Smoke drifted low in the distance, not thick, just enough to sting the eyes if you stared too long. 

Even from here, I could feel the heat pressing in, sitting on my skin like a hand that refused to move. 

And you know the shocking part? It wasn't a wild fire. It was controlled and moved like it was under watch. That somehow made it worse.

I shifted my weight, the stone floor cold under my bare feet. The contrast felt wrong. Everything felt wrong.

I was about to turn back to the bed when I noticed my reflection in the glass. 

Paler and smaller than I remembered. It felt like this place swallowed the little flesh I had grown in years, under one day. 

“You’re not supposed to be standing.”

The voice came from behind me. I flinched from fear and shock. My shoulder hit the window with a soft knock before I caught myself and turned.

Kael stood near the doorway. He was not leaning nor was he relaxed. Just standing there with his arms loose at his sides while his eyes were already on me like he’d been watching for a while.

“I was getting tired of sitting,” I muttered like a child being caught stealing candy. I hated that I sounded like that.

He glanced at the bed, then back at me. “You’ve been injured… Or, were injured,” he corrected.

“I’ve been worse.” I replied and walked back to the bed. Why does it matter to him?

No no, it should be, why do I matter to him?

His jaw tightened, just slightly. He stepped farther into the room. His boots hit against the quiet stone.

“This place isn’t safe for wandering,” he picked up a book from the ground and placed it on the table. 

“Exactly. Then tell me, why does it feel like everyone already knows I’m here?”

He didn’t answer right away, he just stood with his back facing me as he kept staring outside the window.

“That’s the problem,” he finally replied. “Do you know how accepted you into T the academy? I checked the list for the newly admitted mages but couldn’t find your name in the list,” he turned to look at me like I was a headache.

“You haven’t hatched yet. So, why would anyone want you here?”

I glared at him. “I’m not an egg.”

“That’s not what I meant.”

I crossed my arms over my chest, suddenly aware of how thin the healer’s robe felt. “Then explain it to me. Because I didn’t ask to be here. I didn’t apply. I didn’t beg. Someone dragged me out of my life and dumped me into this place.”

Kael watched me for a moment, like he was deciding how much truth I could handle.

“Nothing moves inside Obsidian Spire without a reason,” he said. “Especially not someone like you.”

Someone like you.

I opened my mouth to argue, but footsteps echoed outside the chamber before I could. More than one person. The kind that didn’t belong to healers rushing to an emergency. My stomach dropped before my mind caught up.

Kael moved first.

He crossed the room and caught my wrist. Not tight, but certain. Like he already knew I would follow. His touch was warm, unnaturally so, and it sent a strange shiver up my arm.

“We’re leaving,” he breathed, already pulling me along.

The door behind us stayed closed, but the air changed. Pressure built, thick enough that my ears rang faintly. I glanced back once, my heart pounding, half expecting the stone to crack open.

The corridor swallowed us.

The Academy looked different from here. Narrower. Older. The walls leaned in, carved with symbols that hummed low.

My steps stumbled to keep up with his longer stride. “I haven’t even checked in,” I blurted, the words slipping out in a rush.

His grip didn’t loosen. “You will.”

The certainty in it made my chest tighten. I didn’t know why he was so sure. I didn’t know why he cared.

Students appeared as we moved deeper into the Academy. They slowed when they saw us. Some turned fully to stare. Others pretended not to, but their eyes followed anyway. 

I caught fragments of their looks, the sharp ones, the confused ones, the ones that cut deeper because they were curious.

We stopped beneath a wide arch carved from dark stone. Beyond it, tall towers rose, stacked close together, their windows glowing faintly.

He finally let go of my wrist.

The absence of his warmth felt wrong.

He pressed a small metal token into my palm. It burned softly, like it had been sitting near a flame too long. I curled my fingers around it without thinking.

“If anyone stops you,” he said quietly, eyes scanning the shadows behind us, “you show them that.”

I swallowed. My throat felt dry. “Why?”

His gaze flicked to mine. Just for a second. Long enough for something unguarded to slip through.

“Because once they decide what you are,” he said, lowering his voice, “they stop seeing you as human.”

That landed harder than anything else.

He stepped back, already pulling away, already rebuilding the distance he always seemed to keep. His presence faded like heat after a fire, still there, but no longer close.

“Stay inside tonight,” he added. “And don’t touch anything that reacts to you.”

I frowned. “React how—”

He paused, just briefly, then shook his head. “You’ll know.”

Then right there, in my own eyes, he was gone.

I was still in utter shock when I felt someone tap my shoulder. I turned around to see who it was….

“Hey new girl,”