The shadows swirled and hissed across the infirmary walls, restless as ever.
Noah sat motionless on his bed, spoon scraping the edge of the bowl as he continued his al.
His face betrayed nothing, but the fragnts of his shattered soul whispered endlessly, their voices carrying all of the hate of his fractured self.
From the corner of the ward, one shadow pulled itself free from the black. Its eyes burned a molten red, glowing with wrath as it slinked closer, shoulders hunched, movents twitching like an animal ready to pounce. Its voice was a rasp, low and insidious, dripping venom into the air.
"Why wait?" It hissed. "Let go, Noah. Tear it all apart. Rip their walls, burn their halls, drown them in the screams they deserve. You have the power. Use it! Be true to yourself. Destroy them."
Before Noah could react, another shadow surged forward from the ceiling beams above, its shape stretching long and lean, eyes burning with icy blue fire.
It crashed into the red-eyed one, the two snarling against each other like warring beasts. The blue-eyed shadow’s voice rang louder in the cacophony.
"No! Foolishness. Striking now is weakness. It would be suicide. You’d be throwing yourself away for nothing!"
The red-eyed shadow snarled, whipping back. "Coward! He’s no fool. He’s rage! Rage doesn’t wait! Rage doesn’t crawl in the dark! Rage kills!"
Noah lifted another spoonful of soup to his lips, chewing slowly. He showed no sign of listening, no flicker of acknowledgnt, but all the shadows knew. They always knew. He was listening.
The blue-eyed shadow leaned closer, lowering its tone, coaxing with cold clarity. "Not now, Noah. Not like this. You’ll destroy yourself before the true destruction begins. Picture it. Imagine it."
Its words painted pictures in the air, crawling into Noah’s thoughts like smoke.
"You grow stronger quietly, hidden. You use their academy, their resources, their teachers. Let them sharpen the blade they will one day bleed on."
"First, you start in the shadows. Make silent moves. Wreck quiet devastation. Then, when you are ready, when none can stand before you, you reveal yourself. The world will finally see their savior turned executioner. You, Noah Webb, the face of their nightmare."
The red-eyed shadow thrashed, screaming into the silence, its voice like cracking firewood. "Weakness! All of you! They tortured us! They broke us! And you whisper of waiting? Of patience? NO! Burn them now! Smash it all down! Tear her throat out! Tear them ALL apart!"
The blue-eyed shadow surged forward again, icy flas licking across its features as it overpowered the screaming red. Its tone dropped, filled with urgency.
"Think, Noah. Cecilia. The woman is ripe for the taking. Use her. Let her believe she saved you. Let her train you. Let her shield you. Let her love you, if she must. And when the ti cos, end her."
"Make her sacrifice the stone that cracks the kingdom she served. Isn’t it delicious? To let Calot nurture the very weapon that will end them? To let them feed their doomsday with their own hands?"
The shadows all stirred, voices layering again. Rage, hate, hunger, terror, all waiting, all watching. So cheered for ruin now, others whispered for the slow devastation.
Noah didn’t answer.
He kept eating. Bite after bite, his expression blank, as if the cacophony ant nothing. But the shadows leaned closer, silent, knowing.
The red-eyed shadow hissed again, voice breaking into a scream. "Be true to yourself, Noah! Destroy them NOW!"
The blue-eyed one pressed in tight, cold fla flickering brighter in its gaze, whispering with certainty.
"All you need to do is reveal your true potential to Cecilia, and you’ll have her eating out of your palm, Noah. Let them all know who the Dark Dragon really is."
"Say yes. Say yes, and you begin. Slowly. Surely. The end of Calot starts with her."
Noah set down the spoon. The tray was empty. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.
Then, for the first ti since they began their war of words, he spoke. His voice was soft, but it reached all corners of the infirmary.
"Yes."
The shadows howled. So in rage. So in triumph. But all in agreent.
"Good." The blue-eyed shadow crowed as the red-eyed shadow disappeared in a roar of rage.
The blue-eyed shadow looked at the door of the infirmary. "This is your first test. Rember. The end of Calot starts with Cecilia."
The door creaked open.
Arlo stepped into the infirmary, his footsteps hesitant, cautious.
The faint light of the enchanted lamps caught on the gold trim of his uniform, a mark of his rise into the Gold-tier. His blindfold shifted slightly as he turned his head towards Noah.
The shadows vanished instantly. Every last fragnt of Noah’s fractured soul dispersed into nothing, as though they had never been there at all.
"Noah..." Arlo’s voice was soft, careful, like he was approaching a wounded beast. "It’s ."
Noah turned his head, and for the first ti, he took in the sight of Arlo.
The immaculate uniform, polished boots, the shining trim of gold. His lips curled upward, but there was no warmth in the gesture, only a laugh, low and cold.
"Now I see." Noah murmured, his voice filled with venom. "Now I understand why you abandoned . You threw away so you could climb higher. Gold-tier, huh? Congratulations." His chuckle scraped like broken glass.
Arlo stiffened, quickly stepping forward. He lifted his hands in protest, shaking his head. "No, Noah. No, it’s not like that. I never abandoned you! I tried— I tried to co for you, but my grandfather—"
"Enough!" Noah snarled, his voice booming louder than it should have been.
In one surge of motion, he was out of the bed, his frail body moving with startling speed. His hand shot out, seizing Arlo by the collar.
The impact echoed through the room as Noah slamd Arlo against the wall. The wooden panels groaned under the force, dust drifting from the cracks.
Arlo gasped, his hands instinctively reaching for Noah’s wrists, but the grip was iron. The air seed to thrum with Noah’s hatred. His face was inches from Arlo’s, breath hot, eyes burning with sothing more feral than rage.
"All I hear from you is excuses, Arlo." Noah growled. His voice was low, trembling not from weakness but from restraint. "Do you think your words matter to ? Do you think they erase what happened?"
Arlo shook his head. "I swear— I swear to you, I never wanted this! If I could’ve—"
Noah bared his teeth in sothing between a snarl and a grin. "Stop talking. Do you have any idea how hard it is for not to kill you right now?"
His voice dropped further, colder, almost intimate. "It would be so easy. One twist. One spark. And you’d be nothing but ash."
Arlo froze, his chest heaving. Beneath the blindfold, his eyes burned, but his voice was unsteady. "Noah... please. You’re my friend."
"Friend?" Noah spat the word like poison. His grip tightened, knuckles white against Arlo’s collar. "Friends don’t leave each other to rot. Friends don’t let monsters tear one another apart."
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