The wind howled softly as Liora stepped through the iron gates of Otherworld Academy.
It wasn’t the cold that made her shiver—
It was the feeling.

Like the entire school was watching her. Judging. Waiting.

The campus sprawled like something out of a dream—or a curse. Twisted ivy climbed stone towers, stained glass windows flickered with candlelight, and above it all loomed the Midnight Spire, the castle’s tallest tower where they said only the most gifted could go. Or the most dangerous.

Liora clutched the strap of her satchel and inhaled the scent of damp earth and old magic.
Her wings itched beneath her jacket, aching to spread. Not here. Not yet. She couldn’t afford to stand out.

Not as the only fairy in a school full of creatures who thought her kind were ornamental at best, dangerous at worst.

A group of sirens passed by, giggling like glass chimes. They barely spared her a glance. A centaur rolled his eyes and muttered something under his breath. Even the ghosts floating near the fountain seemed uninterested.

“Don’t mind them,” a voice said smoothly behind her. “They’re just mad the new girl’s prettier than their enchantments.”

Liora spun around.

He stood with his hands in his pockets, half-shadowed under a twisted tree.
Silver hair, messy like moonlight. Eyes the color of a dying star.
Elf. Tall, too confident. Dangerous smile.

“Name’s Kael,” he said, voice low, cocky. “You’re late.”

“To what?”

He shrugged. “Whatever’s about to begin.”

Liora narrowed her eyes. “I don’t need your riddles.”

Kael grinned. “No one ever does. Until the answers bite them.”

She turned away, irritation bubbling under her skin. She hadn't transferred here to flirt. She was here to find out what happened to her brother—the one who’d vanished after his final term at Otherworld Academy. No one had spoken of it. Not the teachers. Not the students. Not even the Headmistress.

But Liora remembered his last letter. Just five cryptic words.

"The whispers know the truth."

Kael appeared at her side again, moving like smoke.

“You heard them, haven’t you?” he asked. “The whispers.”

She froze.

“What did you say?”

He looked at her, serious now. “You’re not the only one looking for answers.”

Before she could respond, the air shifted.

A deep chime echoed across the grounds.

Then a voice—low, ancient, crawling into the bones—whispered from nowhere and everywhere.

“The new cycle begins. Secrets will bleed. Hearts will burn.”

All around, students stopped. Stared. And then, as if nothing had happened, continued walking.

Liora stood still.

“What was that?” she whispered.

Kael didn’t answer immediately. He just looked at her with those starlit eyes and said,

“You just got your first whisper.”