Page 36 of Trivium

Barrow continued, “The curriculum this year is more… flexible. And intense. It’s designed to prepare you to be able to handle anything.”

The break-ins. There had been at least one since the start of the year, putting a palpable pressure on the faculty and students. Second and third years gossiped constantly about the breaches, which motivated most of the first years to train faster, harder, longer. Still, a deep anxiety permeated the air.

The evening was hot, stifling, and as the darkness closed in each step across campus felt heavier than the last. Loveleena noticed Ahmina was visibly shaking, and Rory wrapped her arm around her for comfort.

The cool air of the underground tunnel sent a shiver down her spine as it led them beyond the safety of the wall. Their path was lit with torches that illuminated carvings of humans slaying creatures along the wall. There were images of plants too and some old Jarrian text too worn for Loveleena to understand. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, they climbed stairs that emerged from the hollow of a giant tree, its roots twisting around the trunk like ribbons.

What surprised her the most was not the endless darkness, no, it was the eery quiet. Even the leaves in the trees kept still as to not wake their branches.

“Your challenge tonight is to take two hundred steps in any direction in the forest and find your way back.”

Loveleena looked at her classmates, each one gazing at Barrow with a different combination of fear and determination. Even if they were terrified, they came here to be Defenders.

“Here, take these.” Barrow handed them each a necklace—a glass orb with trapped Glowbugs dangling at the end, giving off a faint blue glow. With guiding lights hanging at their chests they stood in a semicircle, and on Barrow’s command they descended into the darkness, the shadowed forest swallowing them whole. A meal it patiently waited for.

✧✧✧✧

Loveleena was the first one back to the meeting point. Afterwards, everyone asked her how she did it. The truth was that once she got to twenty-two steps, she turned around. Barrow wasn’t there to ensure they went the required two hundred steps, so why would she? And besides, she wanted to take the opportunity to question Barrow about Park in a way that wouldn’t seem suspicious. If the students wouldn’t tell her anything, maybe the professors would.

“Was Park Kem in your Trivium last year, Professor?” she asked as her and Barrow stood facing the shadowed trees, waiting for the others.

Barrow eyed her briefly, before his focus returned to the forest. “Yes. A tragedy really,” he said dismissively.

“You know, no one in Jarrah knew he was here.” She wasn’t going to beat around the bush. This man was Head of Combat. A direct approach was best.

Barrow nodded. “As you know, it is very unfavorable for nobles to attend the Academy. And our top priority is always to protect.” The Academy didn’t answer to Jarrian nobles, nor nobles to them. Their relationship was one of co-leadership—often aligned, sometimes in opposition, but ultimately symbiotic. That didn’t mean either side was free of secrets. “Kem’s decision to keep his attendance private was his alone.”

His answer sent a pang through her chest. She couldn’t understand why Park hadn’t told her of his intention to attend the Academy. They told each other everything. The fact that he kept it from her stung. “What happened to him?”

“You don’t know?”

“No one seems to want to talk about it. But you’ve never shied away from telling us the truth, Professor. You’re a very admirable man. Many of us look up to you for your wisdom, you know.”

Being a noble daughter meant she was an expert in manipulation disguised as flattery. There was no real evidence to say Barrow was a truthful man. But he was a man, which meant stroking his ego was her best strategy.

Barrow considered her statement. “He went into the forest one day and didn’t return.”

So he just… left?

Loveleena’s stomach dropped. Park had always dreamt of venturing beyond the wall to find out what remained of the fallen lost cities. But why would he do that as a first year? Surely, he would wait until he had more training to leave. Something didn’t add up.

“I wonder why.” She tried to sound casual. She did not feel casual. She wanted to scream. This man knew Park and knew what happened to him. All these people did, and they weren’t doing anything about it. They weren’t even trying to find him. They simply swept it under the rug and called it a day. And they could get away with it too—because no one in Jarrah knew he was even here.

If his parents knew. Even if her parents knew… there would be hell to pay.

“Perhaps he wasn’t cut out for what the Academy requires. Perhaps he went mad. Perhaps he chose his own death.”

Loveleena’s heart ached. The thought of Park drifting so far from the strong, intelligent, kind man she knew seemed unfathomable. She didn’t believe for a single second that he had gone mad or chosen his own death.

Maybe Barrow was a liar after all.

She had a million questions, but two students came out of the trees, followed by several more, and the conversation was over. Loveleena knew two things:

Park had been here as a student.

And Park had ventured into the forest alone, never to be seen again.

As they waited for the rest of the students to finish the assessment, her mind swirled. The thought of Park suffering in any way made her stomach ache. Agitated, she chewed at her fingernail. She would find him. Dead or alive she would find him. She couldn’t bear the thought that he was simply gone. No, she needed to remain hopeful that Park was alive.