The festival ended, but its warmth lingered like smoke in their clothes.
The first day after was slow. Quiet. The kind of quiet that follows a perfect moment—you don't want to break it, even if it's already fading. Most of the Academy felt hungover, even those who hadn't touched a drop. Fin woke up with a sugar headache and a strange ache in his legs from dancing. Or trying to. Deryn claimed it was his own fault for "stepping like an unsynced metronome." He didn't argue.
They didn't train that day. Not really. Just wandered the campus, hands in pockets, sun on their backs. They played a few lazy rounds of stone toss. Laughed about the guy who passed out in the fountain. Talked about everything except what was coming. That part was understood, like the bruises under everyone's smiles.
The second day, the quiet cracked.
Letters started arriving. Thick envelopes sealed in red wax. None for Fin. Not yet. But others got them. The boy with lightning in his hands. The girl who used to hum when she fought. You could tell who had received one—they stopped speaking. Or started training harder. Or both.
Fin found Deryn alone on the archery field that afternoon, firing arrows made of glimmering crystal. She didn't look at him when he arrived.
"Still nothing?" she asked.
"Still nothing."
She nodded, and that was the whole conversation.
Day three brought rain.
Not a storm—just one of those constant, whispering rains that turns the world grey and introspective. The kind of rain that makes you talk softer. Walk slower. Think more.
Fin sat by the window most of the day, watching the water race down the glass. Ephy joined him eventually, tossing a warm roll into his hand without a word. They sat like that for a while. Not talking. Just existing.
"Do you think she's scared?" Fin asked after a long time.
"Deryn?" Ephy shrugged. "She's too stubborn to be scared."
Fin smiled faintly. "Yeah. Maybe."
That night, Fin dreamt of the spider again. But this time, she didn't chase him. She just sat in the corner of the room, blinking slowly. Watching.
On the fourth day, it happened.
The letter arrived.
It was on his desk when he woke up. No knock. No footsteps. Just the envelope—black ink, wax seal, and the emblem of the Crowned Flame, he knew what it represented and what it meant even though he had only seen it in books.
Fin stared at it for ten minutes before opening it remembering what Walter said to him. The parchment inside was crisp, formal, and terrifying in how casual it was.
The army was coming tomorrow, it was official and he had really been drafted
When he walked out into the hallway, Deryn was waiting.
She didn't ask. She just looked at him, then pulled him into a tight hug.
Ephy joined them a minute later, mumbling something about group huddles being "emotionally manipulative."
They laughed.
But they didn't let go.
A few seconds later Ephy pushed them away a little
"Bunch of babies, it's alright nothing is going to happen to him." He said whipping what looked like a tear of his eye
"He beat me in a spar, his enemies will be lucky if they only land a finger on him." She proclaimed
"I beat you twice, actually."
Fin and Ephy burst out laughing—just in time for Deryn to step forward and slam her fist into both of their heads with terrifying precision. Fin's vision blurred, the room tilted sideways, and for a split second, it felt like his jaw might have come loose.
But then, everything stopped.
The world around him melted away like ink in water, and he knew instantly—he'd touched her. And that meant one thing: another nightmare.
Fin felt his consciousness fade and disappear only to come back a second later.
He was standing in the academy gymnasium, it was full. He deduced that it was before the trial since everybody was alive and well.
"How is this a nightmare?" he thought to himself
But suddenly the whole atmosphere of the room shifted, everyone was laughing and pointing at him, at first he couldn't understand why but then he looked down. He… actually she was completely naked, and covering herself or at least trying to with both of her arms.
Fin felt an unbelievable amount of shame, he didn't know what to do—not that he could do anything and finally the nightmare ended.
His mind rushed back into reality—before opening his eyes he decided to look inward to see the nightmare he had just acquired:
Nightmares [FULL]:
Spidy
Concept of Madness
Bind it to an object? [YES/NO]
Concept of shame
Bind it to an object? [YES/NO]
Discard a nightmare? [YES/NO]
The last line was new.
He figured it was because he'd hit his limit—three nightmares, no more room. But maybe, just maybe, if he bound one to an object, it would free up space. Or maybe passing the second trial would expand his capacity.
Either way, the system seemed to be evolving alongside him.
He opened his eyes and saw Deryn looking at him, he instantly blushed and looked away, he could not look at her in the eyes or anywhere for that matter.
"That will teach you to not boast about beating me, you cheated as well for that matter!" She scoffed
"If you say so."
Fin looked at Ephy who was taking a little more time to come back to reality, not that he was sent in a nightmare but it looked like he had received a stronger punch—knocking him out cold.
"Anyway, I have something for you." Deryn said a bit nonchalantly
She then extended her hand and a sword suddenly materialised itself out of thin air
"Seriously what is this power of yours?" Fin was completely bewildered every time she used it
"I'm not telling!" She grimaced "Go on take it, it won't bite you… I hope." Deryn chuckled
"Okay"
Fin proceeded to slowly extend his hand, grab the hilt of the sword and unsheathed it.