Beyond them, Eclipse Academy rises against a bruised autumn sky. The air smells of salt and damp stone and something else—something electric, like the atmosphere before a storm that never quite arrives.

A few students turn. Just a few. Their conversations don't stop, but their eyes do—tracking you for a half-second longer than casual interest would warrant.

Near the base of the nearest tower, a figure leans against the stone archway, arms crossed, watching without pretending otherwise.