Page 44 of Frostforge: Passage Four
The hallway to Wolfe's office stretched before Thalia like the throat of some ancient beast, its stone walls worn smooth by centuries of passing shoulders.Sconces flickered at irregular intervals, casting long shadows that seemed to reach for her ankles as she walked.The coded message felt impossibly heavy in her pocket, as though the parchment had transmuted to lead.Each step echoed against the vaulted ceiling, announcing her approach to anyone who might be listening from the shadows.
Thalia paused before the iron-banded door, her reflection distorted in the polished metal nameplate that readInstructor Wolfe, Head of Academy.Her heart drummed against her ribs, a staccato rhythm that seemed too loud in the hushed corridor.She lifted her hand to knock but hesitated, palm hovering inches from the wood.
Who could she truly trust here?The question had plagued her since her first day at Frostforge.Now, with coded messages passing through the academy and saboteurs targeting her team, the answer felt more elusive than ever.
She rapped her knuckles against the door, three sharp sounds that seemed to reverberate through her bones.
"Enter," came Wolfe's clipped command from within.
Thalia pushed the door open to find Wolfe seated behind her massive desk of polished granite.Maps of the fjord and surrounding territories covered the surface, weighted at the corners with chunks of raw ore — iron, copper, ice-bronze, and others Thalia couldn't immediately identify.The room smelled of pine resin and metal polish, with undertones of the herbs Northern warriors burned to sharpen their senses before battle.
Wolfe looked up, her emerald eyes immediately assessing Thalia from beneath heavy brows.The instructor's muscled forearms rested on the desk, fingers steepled beneath her chin.Her sharp incisors caught the light as she spoke.
"Greenspire.This is unexpected."
"I apologize for the intrusion, Instructor," Thalia said, closing the door behind her."But I've discovered something concerning."
Wolfe gestured to the chair across from her desk."Sit.Explain."
Thalia lowered herself into the hard wooden seat, gathering her thoughts.The weight of Wolfe's attention settled on her like a physical presence.
"A few days ago, Luna Meadows intercepted a message tied to a gull's leg," Thalia began, her voice steadier than she felt."It contained explicit instructions to destabilize Frostforge by exploiting the tensions between Northern and Southern students."
Wolfe's expression remained unchanged, but her fingers tensed almost imperceptibly against each other.
"The message mentioned someone with influence inside the academy," Thalia continued."Someone working to undermine Frostforge from within.At first, we thought it might be connected to the Northern elders sending ravens to their students, but..."
"But the message came by gull, not raven," Wolfe finished, her voice flat."It couldn’t have come from the Reaches.Continue."
Thalia nodded, reaching into her pocket to withdraw the folded parchment."Last night, Senna Drake intercepted this message from a raven departing Frostforge.The contents appear innocuous, but she believes it's a coded message.And based on the vector of the raven’s flight, it was intended for Isle Wardens."
She placed the parchment on the desk between them.Wolfe made no move to touch it, her eyes scanning the message where it lay.
"Note the first letter of each item in the list," Thalia said, leaning forward."It spells 'north.'And there are other peculiarities — references to a bay mare when Frostforge has none.Numbers and details that seem unnecessary for a simple supply list."
Wolfe's gaze remained fixed on the message, her expression unreadable.The silence stretched between them, taut as a wire.In the stillness, Thalia could hear the soft hiss of snow against the window, the distant creaking of the fortress settling into the cliff face, the blood rushing in her own ears.
"I believe," Thalia said, filling the silence when it became unbearable, "that something is about to happen.Something bad.These messages, combined with the sabotage of some teams' equipment during the Command Challenge trials, point to a coordinated effort to disrupt Frostforge."
Her words hung in the air.Wolfe remained motionless, her sharp features illuminated by the harsh northern light filtering through the frost-covered window.The muscles in her jaw worked beneath her skin, the only indication that she was processing Thalia's information.
Thalia couldn’t tell whether Wolfe’s silence was an admission of guilt, or merely her stoic demeanor.Her fingers twitched with the urge to snatch back the message, to flee from the crushing weight of Wolfe's silence.But she forced herself to remain still, to meet the instructor's gaze without flinching.
What if Wolfe herself was involved?The thought slithered through Thalia's mind like ice water.Maven had been the head instructor before her betrayal was revealed.What if corruption ran deeper than any of them suspected?
Finally, Wolfe uncurled her fingers and reached for the message.She lifted it with surprising delicacy for hands that had forged countless weapons.
"You've done well to bring this to my attention," she said, her voice calm and measured."But you must understand something, Greenspire."She set the message down and leaned forward."Since you and your friends intercepted this message, it never reached its intended recipient."
Thalia blinked, processing the implication.
"Which means," Wolfe continued, "that whatever action was planned has not been set in motion.The chain of communication was broken."
"But the sender will realize that soon enough," Thalia protested."They'll know something went wrong when they don't receive a response."
"Perhaps," Wolfe conceded."Or perhaps they'll assume their message was simply ignored.Either way, it buys us time."
Us.The word should have been reassuring, but something in Wolfe's tone kept Thalia's guard raised.
