Chapter 3 A Wolf in the Sheep’s Fold
Dax opened his eyes and immediately choked on the smell of burnt hair and copper.
He was not in the muddy alley anymore. He was lying on a hard cot inside a small, windowless room. Heavy gray blankets covered him, but his body felt like it was trapped inside a hot oven. His muscles throbbed with a strange, thick power that felt like tightly wound rope beneath his skin.
He tried to sit up, but a sharp ache in his ribs made him drop back down.
"Do not move so fast, boy," a rough voice said from the corner of the room.
Silas Vance sat in a low chair, sharpening a small pocket knife against a piece of smooth leather. His one good eye was fixed on Dax, full of a deep, heavy worry.
"Silas?" Dax’s throat felt dry, like he had been swallowing sand. He looked down at his right hand. It was wrapped tightly in thick white medical bandages from his knuckles up to his elbow. "What happened? The old man... the men in the black masks..."
"They are dead, Dax. All of them," Silas said, setting his knife down on a crate. "I followed you into the alley because the storm was getting too bad. By the time I got there, you were passed out in the mud. The four guards were scattered across the walls, their armor broken into pieces. Your hand was smoking hot. It took everything I had just to drag you away before more of them arrived."
Dax stared at his bandaged palm. He could feel something moving inside it. It felt like a small, warm heartbeat pulsing right against his skin. "The old man slammed his hand into mine. He called it a seal."
"It is the Dragon Seal," Silas said, his voice dropping low. "And right now, the Silverton Clan and the Vane Clan are tearing the Gutter apart looking for it. They are kicking down doors and dragging people into the streets. If they find you, they will kill you and cut your arm off to get it back."
Dax instantly thought of his sister. He pushed through the pain and forced his legs over the edge of the bed. "Lila. Is she okay? Where is she?"
"She is in the back room, sleeping," Silas said, pointing toward a small curtain. "I went back to the clinic after the guards left. I used the money we had to buy three bottles of her blue medicine. I gave her a double dose an hour ago. Her fever dropped, and the purple lines under her skin are gone for now."
Dax let out a long breath, his shoulders dropping in relief. "Thank you, Silas. I will find a way to pay you back. I will work extra hours."
"You cannot go back to the docks, Dax," Silas said, shaking his head. "The city guards are checking every laborer's hands. You cannot hide those bandages in a scrap yard. We need a real hiding place for you, and we need it today."
"Where can we go?" Dax asked. "Nowhere in the Gutter is safe if the Great Families are looking for us."
Silas leaned forward, his face serious. "There is one place they will never look for a slum rat. The Oakhaven Martial Academy."
Dax blinked in confusion. "The rich school up in the Neon Heights? They only let nobles in there. They would throw me out at the gate."
"Not if you have these," Silas said. He reached into his coat and pulled out a small stack of thick paper documents, laying them flat on the crate. "I used to be a high guard for the Silvertons before they threw me down here. I still know the people who handle the family records. These papers say you are Dax Silverton—a distant, poor cousin from an outer town. Your parents are listed as dead. The school has to take you because of the family name."
"But I do not know how to fight like them," Dax said, looking down at his wrapped hand. "My energy rank is zero. They will know I am a fake the moment I touch a testing tool."
"The papers say your veins are clogged from a childhood illness," Silas explained. "They will think you are just a useless, broken branch of the family tree. They will treat you like garbage, but they will not suspect you have the seal. You just need to keep your head down, let your meridians heal, and learn how to control that fire in your hand before it explodes."
The next morning, the heavy rain had stopped, leaving a cold, thick fog over the city.
Dax stood at the bottom of the massive steps of the Oakhaven Martial Academy. The school was larger than any building he had ever seen in the Gutter. Huge silver gates towered over the entrance, and beyond them, massive training rings floated silently in the air, held up by invisible spiritual energy.
Smooth, expensive hover-cars glided up to the path, dropping off wealthy teenagers. The students wore clean uniforms made of thick, polished material that did not have a single speck of dirt on it. They carried fine weapons with glowing hilts, laughing and talking about their cultivation levels as they walked up the stairs.
Dax looked down at his own clothes. Silas had found him an old, oversized academy uniform from a secondhand shop. The dark blue jacket was baggy around his shoulders, and the trousers were loose around his ankles. He adjusted the strap of his cheap canvas bag, his right hand buried deep inside his jacket pocket.
Every time a student walked past him, they stopped to look. Some covered their mouths and giggled. Others gave him long, disgusted looks, moving away as if his poverty was a disease they could catch.
"Look at that one," a tall boy with a polished sword muttered to his friend. "What is a beggar doing at the main gate? Did the servants forget to lock the back door?"
Dax kept his jaw tight. He did not look at them. He focused on the ground, watching the steps change under his boots.
Dax stopped in his tracks, his breath catching in his throat. He turned his head toward the side path.
A group of high guards in silver armor was walking down the steps, clearing a wide path through the crowd of students. Walking in the middle of them was a tall girl with long, icy silver hair tied back in a neat ponytail. She wore a flawless white academy uniform with gold trim. Her eyes were a pale, frozen gray, looking straight ahead as if the rest of the students did not even exist.
It was Elena Silverton.
Suddenly, Elena stopped walking. Her silver eyebrows came together, and her sharp eyes darted across the crowd, skipping past the wealthy nobles until they locked directly onto Dax.
