Chapter 38 The Midnight Walk

• "The moon was full, but my wolf felt darker than night."
• The Academy slept around me like some great stone beast, but rest eluded me entirely.
• I slipped from my narrow dormitory bed well past the midnight bell, pulling on my wool cloak and leather boots with practiced silence. The stone floors were cold beneath my feet as I crept through corridors lit only by dying embers in the wall sconces. Heavy tapestries muffled my footsteps, and the ancient walls seemed to absorb sound like thirsty earth absorbing rain.