Chapter 54 The Secret Meeting

• "Not all friends wear familiar faces."
• The courtyard was empty at midnight, shadows pooling thick beneath the stone arches. I pulled my cloak tighter against the cold, breath misting in front of me. Coming here alone was stupid. I knew that. But the note had promised answers, and I was desperate enough to take the risk.
• Movement caught my eye. A figure stepped out from behind the Moon Goddess statue that dominated the courtyard's center—a student, tall and lean, with dark hair hanging in his eyes. I'd seen him before at training sessions, always hovering at the edges, never quite part of any group. The kind of person who made himself forgettable.