The Academy did not feel the same anymore.
When we left it was bustling with students. I remember the laughter in the hallways. There were arguments in the training fields. The sound of students rushing to class, always running late.
Now it was empty. Aldo had sent them home when the attacks began. The hallways were quiet. The training fields were still. The only sound was the wind blowing through rooms and open doors.
"They will come back," Aldo said. He was standing at the gate watching us walk through. "When this is over. They will come back."
I did not respond. I was not sure he believed it himself.
---
We gathered in Room 13.
The walls still had my grandfather's writing on them. The chair with my name carved into it was still in the centre. There was something new. A long wooden table covered in maps, books and notes.
"Sit," Aldo said.
We sat down. Raka was still pale. His eyes were clear. Kirana sat beside him close. Maya sat across from me; her silver bracelet was quiet. Lina sat beside me, her hand in mine.
Aldo spread a map of the Gobi Desert across the table. It was not the Gobi Desert I knew. There were places on the map that did not exist. Lines that went nowhere. Symbols that meant nothing.
"The Void," Aldo said. "The third artefact. Your grandfather found it after he came back from the Mariana Trench. After he gave away Aegis."
He stopped. His pale blue eyes looked tired.
"What is it?" Maya asked.
Aldo was quiet for a moment. His hand moved to a spot on the map. A place with no name.
"I do not know," he said. "Your grandfather never told me. He said it was something that should not be seen. Something that should not be remembered."
Raka spoke up. "Then how do we find it?"
Aldo looked at Lina.
Her hand tightened on mine.
"Your grandfather left a key," Aldo said. "A way to find the Void… The key is not a map. It is not a star. It is—" He looked at Lina. "It is her."
The room was silent.
"Why me?" Lina asked quietly.
Aldo shook his head. "I do not know. Your grandfather did not explain. He just said, "When the time comes, she will know where to go."
Lina looked at the map. In the desert. At the place that should not exist.
"I do not see anything," she said.
Aldo smiled. A small tired smile. "Not yet… When the time comes, you will."
---
We spent the two days preparing.
Aldo told us what he knew about the Gobi Desert. The heat. The cold at night. The sand that moved like water.
Maya studied the symbols on my grandfather's notes. Raka and Kirana trained together.
Lina sat by the window looking at the sky, waiting for something she could not name.
I sat beside her.
"What are you thinking?" I asked.
She did not answer away. Her eyes were fixed on the horizon. The sun was setting. The sky was orange and red and gold.
"I'm thinking about what your grandfather said. That I would see what others cannot see."
"Do you believe it?"
She turned to me. Her eyes were warm brown.
"I do not know," she said.
She looked at her hands.
I did… Every time I do something like that, something in me changes. Grows."
She looked at me. Her eyes were wet.
"What if I become something I do not want to be?"
I took her hand.
"Then I will be here. I will bring you back."
She smiled. A small smile.
"You always say the thing."
"I try."
She leaned against me. Her head on my shoulder. Her hand in mine.
We watched the sun set.
---
On the night we had a visitor.
I was in Room 13 looking at the map of the Gobi Desert when I heard footsteps.
I turned.
Ombak stood at the door.
He looked older than before. His hair was whiter. His face was thinner. His green eyes were still sharp.
"You're back," he said.
"You're here," I said.
He nodded. Walked into the room. His eyes moved to the map on the table. To the place with no name. To the Void.
"The Gobi Desert," he said. "That's where you're going next."
"Yes."
He was quiet for a moment. Then he said, "I'm coming with you."
I looked at him. The scar on my hand pulsed.
"Why?" I asked.
He smiled. A small tired smile.
"Because I owe your grandfather a debt. One I've been carrying for twenty years… I'd like to pay it before I die."
"You're not going to die."
He looked at me. His green eyes—for a moment—seemed younger.
"We're all going to die. Some of us sooner than others. I've been waiting for my time for twenty years. I'd like to make it count."
I did not answer.
He nodded, like he understood.
"I'll be at the dock tomorrow. If you want me to come."
He walked to the door. Stopped.
"Your grandfather was a man. He made mistakes… He was good… He loved you."
He left.
I stood in Room 13 looking at the map.
That night I could not sleep.
I sat on my bed with the stone from the Trench Core in my hands.
Sometimes when I held it I felt something. Not heat. Not cold. Something else.
Lina was asleep beside me. Her hand was warm. Her breathing was steady.
I looked at her face. The girl who had saved Raka. The girl who had commanded creatures to wait.
"She will see what others cannot see."
I did not know what that meant. I did not know what she would find in the desert.
I knew one thing.
I would protect her. No matter what.