Chapter 134: the crash
Jae’s thoughts wandered in restless circles as the group pressed deeper into the tunnel. The broken artifact Tirel had found sat heavy in his memory, every detail refusing to fade.
The fractured stone, the clean cut of the royal seal stamped across its surface, it was too precise, too deliberate. Things like that did not happen by accident. His mind kept circling back to the same conclusion: someone had placed it there with intention. The only question was why.
He slowed his steps without realizing, torch raised but eyes unfocused, chasing theories instead of watching the stone walls. The last attack on the academy clawed at his thoughts, mixing with the present unease.
The air down here carried the same weight, thick with dust and the faint metallic tang of old earth. Around him, the shuffle of boots and muted chatter of classmates faded into background noise, barely noticed.
"Jae."
The sound of his name broke through the fog of thought. Elise’s voice, firm, steady, but insistent. He blinked as if waking from a dream, only then noticing her hand resting lightly against his sleeve.
Her touch was warm in contrast to the chill pressing at his chest. He turned toward her, mouth opening to reply..
Just then something flickered at the edge of his vision.
A blur. Too fast, too sharp to dismiss as shadows. He jerked his head toward it, raising the torch higher, its flame lashing light against the walls. The corridor stretched empty, only stone and dripping water staring back at him. But the shadows wavered oddly, as if something unseen had stirred them.
"Did anyone else see that?" His voice carried louder than he meant, rough with alarm. The sound cut through the group’s rhythm, halting several students mid-step.
Murmurs rose at once. Fin stretched on tiptoe, craning to peer down the dark ahead. Byun shifted his torch nervously, his frown etched deep.
Even Tirel, usually quick to laugh off fear, had stilled, her brows drawn together as she studied the darkness with unusual sharpness. Elise lingered at his side, her touch firming slightly on his sleeve as though anchoring him.
"See what?" someone whispered. "Something moved?"
The quiet chatter spread like ripples. Students edged closer together, shoulders brushing, boots scuffing against damp stone. Every flicker of the torchlight seemed to sprout teeth and claws in their imaginations.
The tunnel walls felt narrower, the ceiling lower, each drop of water from above echoing too loudly.
Then came a sharper voice.
"Enough."
Sun’s tone cut through the whispers with practiced ease, smooth but commanding. The crown prince stood ahead, the glow of his torch catching against the sharp line of his jaw. He did not look at the shadows, only at Jae, his gaze steady and cold.
"You’re letting fear set the pace," he said flatly. "We move forward. Nothing else."
A hush fell over the group. Even the fidgeting of boots stilled, as though the stone itself obeyed the prince’s command.
Jae held his stare, weighing the authority behind the words. He felt the coil of tension tugging at the group, the subtle relief of some who leaned on Sun’s decisiveness.
For a moment, he considered swallowing his protest, letting it end there. But Elise’s hand lingered, reminding him that she had seen the sudden shift in him. To let it pass as nothing would feel dishonest.
"I’m not imagining things," Jae said, his tone even but firm. "Something was there. Too fast to follow."
Sun’s scowl deepened. His voice dropped, still measured, but sharpened at the edges. "Then keep that to yourself. Spreading panic will not help."
The words struck like stone against stone, ringing in the silence. Jae exhaled through his nose, conceding with the smallest dip of his head. "Fine, let’s all ignore it then."
For an instant, the air between them hummed with unspoken challenge. Then Sun turned away, raising his torch with a clipped motion. "Whatever."
The shuffle of boots resumed, quieter now, more measured. The students whispered less, their eyes darting more often to the shadows, though no one spoke of it again.
Jae walked in silence, his thoughts sparking anew. Sun’s calm face, too calm, too dismissive, gnawed at him. Was it true composure, or deliberate avoidance? He replayed the moment, the quick scowl, the sharp refusal to acknowledge even the possibility of danger. It felt more like a smothering of suspicion than the absence of it.
And if Sun chose silence, why?
Jae’s mind ran through the possibilities. No single royal could orchestrate an attack alone.
The assault on the academy had taken planning, resources, and access. Nobility opened doors, yes, but not every door.
Perhaps the royals worked alongside outsiders. Perhaps the danger sat closer than anyone realized.
His eyes flicked briefly toward Tirel, then back to Sun’s rigid shoulders leading the group. Jae remembered that night of chaos.
Rank and privilege smoothed the way for some, but desperation carved paths for others. Neither should be ignored.
The thought gnawed at him still, restless and incomplete, when the tunnel itself cut across his spiraling.
At first, only a faint tremor underfoot, so subtle it might have been missed. Then the stone groaned low, a deep rumble swelling through the passage. Dust sifted down in thin streams, carrying the dry sting of earth.
Students froze, voices rising at once into sharp cries. Elise gripped Jae’s arm tighter, her knuckles pressing firm.
Tirel snapped her gaze upward, torchlight flaring across the ceiling where thin cracks raced like spiderwebs over stone.
The sound sharpened. The ceiling groaned.
And then it broke.
Stone gave way with a roar, fragments tearing loose, dirt cascading with it. A section of ceiling split wide, debris plummeting toward the cluster of students below, directly above Jae, Elise, and Tirel.
"Move!"
The word ripped from Jae’s throat as he lunged into motion. He shoved Tirel hard against the shoulder, pushing her toward the wall. She stumbled, hitting it with a grunt as her torch clattered, somehow still alight.
The ceiling split further, a block of rock crashing down where she had stood only a second before, shattering into jagged shards.
Jae didn’t wait. He caught Elise at the waist, pulling her tight into his arms. Her breath caught as he dragged her backward, boots scraping against uneven stone. Together they leapt clear just as the ceiling gave way fully.
The crash thundered through the tunnel, shaking dust and rock in a choking wave. Stone slammed against the floor where they had been standing, the passage swallowed in grit and noise.