Three days after the attack, Velmora Academy's outer defenses were tripled. No students were allowed beyond the central tower. Classes were canceled.
Ash stood before a massive map inside the Headmaster's war room.
"The council won't stop," he said. "They'll keep sending stronger things."
"And you want to fight a world power alone?" Veradin asked, arms crossed.
"I won't be alone."
Ash pointed to several marked ruins on the map.
> "There are others. Mages too dangerous to teach. Banned bloodlines. Exiled spirits. I know where they are… because I helped create some of them."
Lyssara's eyes lit with mischief. "You're going to recruit outlaws?"
Ash turned to her.
"No. I'm going to recruit monsters."
---
Two nights later, Ash and his group flew on a skybeast over the Dead Vortex Range.
Their target: The Bleeding Vault, a prison for unstable mages banished from the continent.
As they landed, Arin looked uneasy. "What if they attack us?"
"They will," Ash said.
And they did.
---
The Vault's guardians emerged—rogue sorcerers with twisted limbs and shattered minds.
But when they saw Ash… they knelt.
One, an eyeless man with silver fire leaking from his mouth, whispered, "Kaelith returns…"
Ash raised a hand.
"You were cast out by their laws. Join me, and I'll give you a world where power doesn't need permission."
Some laughed. Some cried. All agreed.
They had been waiting for him.
---
By dawn, Ash returned to Velmora with six of the continent's most feared warlocks.
Velmora's staff panicked. The Headmaster drank.
And in the dark, a girl watched from a tower window.
Her name… was Elya.
And when she looked at Ash, she felt a strange pain in her chest.
> I've seen him before. In my dreams. Dying. Screaming my name.