A male student, standing near one of the braziers, was struggling with his spell. The figure of fire in front of him was flickering erratically, its flames turning a dark, ominous shade of black. The student's face was pale, his eyes wide with fear as he tried to regain control of the spell.
"Stay focused!" Professor Natius shouted, moving quickly toward the student. "Do not lose control!"
But it was too late. Before anyone could react, Alexander watched in horror as the dark flames leapt from the burning man and onto the student himself. The fire seemed to pulse with a malevolent energy, tendrils of darkness wrapping around the student like a living thing.
His body was engulfed in fire, the flames licking up his arms and over his torso. His screams filled the air as the fire consumed him, his body twisting and writhing as he tried to escape the flames. In a matter of seconds, his form began to flicker and fade, dissolving into the fire, like a shadow in the light. Then, in a sudden burst of black flame, he was gone—disappeared into thin air, leaving nothing but a wisp of smoke and ash behind.
The room fell into chaos. Students screamed and backed away, their faces filled with terror and confusion. Professor Natius quickly moved to extinguish the remaining flames, his face grim as he turned to address the class.
"Everyone, remain calm!" he commanded, his voice steady despite the panic around him. "Leave the room in an orderly fashion. We need to secure the area."
As the students hurried out of the hall, Alexander heard a few of them whispering to each other in hushed tones.
"It's the curse of the East Wing," one student muttered, her voice shaking. "They say it's spreading… that the fire magic is cursed."
Another student nodded, her eyes wide with terror. "My sister saw someone disappear like that last week. She said it was like they were swallowed by the flames. They're saying it's all because of The Legacy of Fire."
Alexander exchanged a tense glance with Elara as they exited the room. Whatever was happening, it was clear that the magic in the Academy was becoming increasingly unstable. They needed to find Tomas and Selene and figure out their next move.
Meanwhile, Selene had gone to House Noctis, where they were learning shadow magic. The dark, shadowy hallways of the building were filled with a tense silence, the usual chatter and laughter of students replaced by whispers and nervous glances.
The practice hall was dimly lit, the walls lined with shadowy drapes that seemed to absorb the light. Professor Vesper, a woman with sharp features and piercing eyes, stood at the front of the room, directing the students as they prepared for their lesson.
"Today, we will be practicing shadow conjuring," Professor Vesper announced, her voice cool and precise. "Shadows are the essence of darkness, and they require absolute control. Any lapse in concentration can lead to… unfortunate consequences."
Selene took her place among the other students, she had always been intrigued by shadow magic, its mysterious and unpredictable nature drawing her in. But today, there was a sense of danger in the air, a feeling that something was not quite right.
As the students began their exercises, Selene focused on her own spell, moving her hands in slow, deliberate motions. She chanted the incantation, feeling the shadows gather around her, coalescing into a dark, swirling mass. Slowly, a figure began to take shape before her—a shadowy wraith with glowing eyes and a mist-like body.
But as she continued to focus on her spell, a sudden scream broke her concentration. Selene looked up to see a female student across the room, her shadow wraith spiraling out of control. The darkness around the girl seemed to pulse with a malevolent energy, growing denser and more chaotic with each passing second.
The girl's face was pale with fear as she tried to contain the shadows, but it was no use. The wraith's eyes flared with a bright, ominous light, and in an instant, it lunged toward her, engulfing her in a mass of darkness.
The girl's scream was cut short as the shadows consumed her, her form flickering like a ghost in the dim light. Her body seemed to dissolve into the darkness, merging with the shadow wraith until there was nothing left but a pool of inky blackness on the floor.
Professor Vesper reacted quickly, waving her hands and chanting an incantation that dissipated the remaining shadows. The room fell silent, the students staring in shock at the spot where their classmate had stood moments before.
Selene felt a chill run down her spine. The magic here was out of control, the shadows had consumed the girl, leaving nothing behind. It was as if the darkness itself had come alive, hungry for power.
After the chaos of their classes, Alexander, Elara, Tomas, and Selene met up in a secluded courtyard, away from the eyes of other students. It's clear it's not safe to meet at the library anymore.The air was cool and still, the shadows of the surrounding buildings stretching long across the cobblestone path.
Elara was the first to speak, her voice tense. "We need to talk about what's happening. In my class, a student lost control of his fire magic. The flames turned black, and then he… he just vanished. It's like he was consumed by the fire."
Tomas nodded, his face pale. "It happened in House Noctis too. We were practicing shadow magic, and a girl lost control of her shadows. They engulfed her, and then she was gone, just like that. I don't know what's going on, but it's affecting all the Houses."
Selene, who had been listening intently, spoke up. "It sounds like there's a pattern here. Magic is becoming unstable, and it's not just one type of magic—it's happening across all elements. Whatever is causing this, it's spreading."
Alexander took a deep breath, his mind racing. "I heard some students talking about a curse in the East Wing, and they mentioned The Legacy of Fire. They think it's connected to what's happening now."
Selene nodded, her expression grim. "If there's any trace of what happened, it's probably in the East Wing. But we need to be careful. It sounds like the magic in that area is even more unstable than here."
The East Wing of the Academy was a maze of corridors and rooms, its stone walls covered in dust and cobwebs. The air was thick with a sense of abandonment and decay, as if the very fabric of the building had been damaged by whatever had happened here centuries ago.
As they made their way through the labyrinthine halls, the group felt a growing unease. The further they went, the colder the air became, and the darker the shadows seemed to grow. It was as if they were walking into a place that had been forgotten by time, a place where magic had gone awry and left its mark on everything around it.
They finally reached a large, arched doorway that led into a spacious chamber. The room was filled with the remnants of broken furniture and shattered glass, as if a great explosion had torn through it. At the far end of the chamber, a massive stone fireplace dominated the wall, its hearth cold and empty.
Alexander said, his voice echoing in the empty room. "Be careful. We don't know what we might find here."
As they stepped inside, a faint, flickering light caught their attention. It was coming from a series of runes carved into the floor, glowing with an eerie red-orange hue. The runes formed a circle around the fireplace, their light pulsing rhythmically like a heartbeat.
Elara knelt down to examine the runes, her brow furrowing. "These runes are ancient. They're designed to contain and amplify fire magic, but they're cracked… damaged. Whatever happened here must have disrupted the magic and caused it to go out of control."
Tomas, who had been scanning the room with a small device that measured magical energy, looked up with a worried expression. "The readings here are off the charts. There's still a lot of residual magic in this room, and it's incredibly unstable. We need to be careful not to trigger anything."
Selene, standing near the fireplace, noticed something unusual. "There's a hidden compartment here," she called out, pointing to a loose stone in the wall. "Help me move it."
Together, Alexander and Selene pried the stone loose, revealing a small, hidden alcove behind it. Inside, they found a charred leather journal, its pages brittle and blackened by fire. The group gathered around as Alexander carefully removed the journal, opening it to reveal pages filled with hastily scrawled notes and diagrams.
"It's Professor Firebrand's journal," he said, his voice barely a whisper. "This could have the answers we're looking for."
"We were so close. The magic was stable, the runes were set, and the fire responded to our commands. But then… something happened. The flames turned black, and the magic… it changed. It became something else, something we couldn't control."
"I don't know what went wrong. I don't know if it was a flaw in the runes or if someone tampered with the spell. All I know is that the magic became… corrupted. It spread through the Academy like a wildfire, consuming everything in its path."
"I tried to contain it, to stop it, but it was too powerful. The other mages… they're gone. Disappeared into the flames. I'm the only one left, and I fear I won't be here much longer. The magic is closing in on me, and I can feel it pulling me into the fire."
Alexander's voice trailed off as he read the last entry, his heart heavy with the weight of what they had discovered. The Legacy of Fire wasn't just an experiment gone wrong; it was a disaster that had consumed the lives of the Academy's greatest mages and was still affecting the Academy centuries later.