The boot prints were getting clearer.
Smudged near the heel. Left foot dragging a little.
He knew what that meant.
Injury. Likely leg or ankle. Maybe ribs. Hard to tell from just the stride pattern.
He crouched for a second, fingertips brushing the edge of one print.
The air ahead curved again—another one of those twisted stone passages that looked like they looped but didn't. Just a trick of the architecture. A favorite in this domain.
He moved fast. Not running. Just clean.
The kind of pace you used when your heartbeat started getting ideas, but your head refused to listen.
[COOLDOWN WINDOW: ACTIVE]
[SUGGESTED ACTION: PROCEED WITH CAUTION]
Sitting on the floor, back against the wall, legs drawn up, arms wrapped around herself.
Her head was down. Shoulders shaking.
He slowed. Quiet. Careful.
And everything in him stopped for half a second.
Her face was streaked with tears.
Like her brain was still trying to confirm he was real.
He took one step forward.
She let out a breath that cracked halfway through.
And before he could say anything—
Barely louder than a whisper.
But it hit harder than the fight.
'She's… happy to see me?'
Her voice cracked again. "You're here."
He stepped closer, crouching low to match her level.
She nodded. Fast. Like if she didn't, she might break again.
She wiped her eyes with her sleeve, angry at herself for it.
He watched the motion.
Just looked down at her leg.
Left side. Tear in the fabric. Not life-threatening, but deep enough to limit movement.
"I—I tried to fight. I didn't have my dagger. I couldn't cast anything. I—"
Looked away like she was ashamed to be scared.
Merlin exhaled slowly.
'She's not supposed to cry. She's always the calm one. The sharp one. The one who tells the rest of us to focus.'
Now she was trembling.
And she was glad he was here.
That part hadn't stopped echoing yet.
He reached into his coat. Pulled the gauze roll he'd pocketed before coming down.
She didn't argue when he reached for her leg.
She just watched his hands move.
"I thought I was going to die down here," she whispered.
"You didn't," he said.
"Only because of you."
He didn't know what to say to that.
So he didn't say anything at all.
Just tied the bandage tight.
And stayed there beside her.
Longer than he needed to.
Because somehow, this part, her looking at him like that, was harder than fighting spiders in the dark.
The third knock was pointless.
Still did it anyway. Little louder this time. Little more hope thrown in like it might change something.
Nothing behind the door. No shuffling. No muttered insult about being annoying. No sarcastic stuff.
Which, on its own, wouldn't have been weird.
Merlin never left his door locked unless he was in the room. Or unless he didn't want to be followed.
Nathan leaned his forehead gently against the wood.
He stepped back, let out a slow breath, and stared at the handle like it had done something wrong.
'He told us to rest. That should've been the first sign something was off. Merlin doesn't care if we sleep. He only says stuff like that when he's about to do something reckless and doesn't want us around to see it.'
He rocked back on his heels.
'Should've called it out right then. Should've pushed. Asked where he was going. But no. I just nodded like a dumbass and went back to my room like everything was fine.'
He ran a hand through his hair, rougher than necessary.
'Okay. Think. Where would he go?'
Training yard? No. Too obvious. Too exposed.
Archives? No way. Not now.
Then his eyes narrowed.
'The one with the weird air earlier. Where Elara got that look like something was watching her. Where Merlin went quiet and pretended like everything was normal.'
But it was something.
And right now, he didn't like the idea of doing nothing more than he didn't like the idea of being wrong.
Boots against stone. Shoulders tense. Every part of his body already anticipating a problem even if his brain wasn't sure what it looked like yet.
'Please be nothing. Please just be him standing there like an idiot, brooding at some leaves or poking a squirrel with a stick. I'd take that. I'd even take a lecture. Just let him be there.'
The halls felt too quiet. Not totally empty. Just… lacking.
He turned down the side wing, passed the west archway, and stopped at the courtyard entrance.
His breath caught slightly.
Not because of what he saw.
Because of what he didn't.
Same low wall near the garden bed.
Same pathway with a thousand years of uneven bricks.
But the space felt wrong.
Not cursed. Not glowing. Not dramatic.
Nathan stepped out onto the stone.
He crouched, touched the ground.
Cooler than it should've been.
He looked at the cracks near the wall.
But something had been here.
The silence was different. Not natural. Like something had made a sound and the courtyard was pretending it hadn't heard it.
But he wasn't buying it.
'You came here. I know you did. And now you're gone. Which means something pulled you out before I could stop it.'
He felt his jaw clench.
'And I'm not doing nothing again.'
Heading for the only other person who might know where the hell Merlin had gone.
Because if Elara didn't know either, then something had gone seriously wrong.
And none of them were ready for it.
Elara wasn't hard to find.
She didn't hide. She didn't slink around corners or act suspicious in ways you could point at. She just… drifted. Quiet. Calm. Always exactly where she needed to be right when you realized you needed her.
Nathan spotted her near the east stairwell.
Leaning against the railing. Arms crossed. Head turned slightly like she was listening to something far away.
Didn't flinch. Didn't blink. Just tilted her head a fraction.
"Merlin," he snapped. "Where is he."
That was worse than anything.
Nathan stopped a few feet from her, hands clenched at his sides.
"You know something," he said.
That got her to move. Just a little. Her eyes shifted to the side, then back.
"I don't know where he is," she said.
Nathan let out a sharp breath.
"Do you know what he was doing?"
"I didn't think he would do anything," she said quietly.
That made his chest go cold.
Nathan laughed once, but it came out sharp and bitter.
"Of course he didn't. And you didn't say anything because that's what you two do, right? You watch him walk into something awful and pretend it's fine because he just didn't say it."
"He's gone," Nathan said. "I went to his room. Nothing. I went to the courtyard. Nothing. Just this weird… feeling, like something was watching, but already done watching. You know what that means? It means whatever happened, already happened."
And for a second, Nathan just stared at her.
He hated how calm she looked.
He hated how calm he probably looked to everyone else.
He hated that none of them knew what was happening.
He sank down onto the steps without waiting for permission.
His elbows hit his knees, head dropping slightly.
"I'm not stupid," he said. "I know something's wrong with the Academy. I know he knows more than he says. I know you do too. And I've been trying to be the guy who waits. The one who says 'trust him, he's got it.'"
"But he doesn't have it this time."
Elara sat down beside him.
No response. No apology. No explanation.
They sat there like that for a while.
Nathan didn't speak again for a long time.
He just stared at the floor and wondered how far Merlin had gone.
And how the hell he was supposed to reach him.