Thornwick Starfall: Lament of the Deep

After the events of last year, the gates of Thornwick opened once more.

Iron hinges creaked. Banners rose high. The courtyards filled with uneasy laughter and quiet excitement as carriages rolled in and boats arrived along the jagged black cliffs below.

New students crossed the threshold...hopeful, anxious...unaware of the secrets woven deep into the academy's ancient stone.

Thornwick lived again, as it always had.

And Asher Graves returned.

Second year.

But he was no longer just another student.

He came back as the one chosen by the roots... the one claimed by the ancient chair... the one marked as Villain.

The title clung to him, whispering through corridors, never fully fading.

Why him?
Why was he chosen?
What was he becoming?

Too many answers were missing. Too many shadows where truth should be. And beneath it all, something older...far older than Thornwick...was beginning to stir.

Yet one question haunted him most:

Why did his eyes keep returning to the Witch's Tower?

Again and again.

More than they should. More than was safe.

The academy's law remained etched in obsidian:

Opposing Orders must remain apart.
No contact...unless destiny allows it.

And Thornwick knew well...destiny was never kind.

But this year, something has changed.

The sea below the cliffs no longer rests.

At night, it hums...a deep, sorrowful sound, like something ancient dragging chains across the ocean floor. Professors speak in hushed voices. Entire wings are sealed away.

And among the new arrivals, one student did not come to study.

They came with purpose.

A purpose tied not to the stars above... but to the depths below.

To the voice rising from the deep.

And when the truth begins to surface...about Asher's blood, about the Witch, about the fragile balance they are meant to hold...

It will become clear:

Last year was only the beginning.

Because villains are never made quietly.

They are summoned.

And now, the deep is answering.