Thirty minutes after leaving the southern gate, Liam was already deeper inside Veyrhold.
Several hours had passed since Mystica's teleportation spell dropped the second-years into Eldervale, though the realm still wore the remains of night over its broken streets. The darkness had begun to thin in places, but not enough to soften the settlement. Veyrhold remained a maze of cracked stone roads, leaning structures, mist-filled lanes, and old buildings packed close enough that sight alone became unreliable after a few turns.
The southern entry was behind him now, far enough that the murmur of gathered students no longer reached him clearly, yet close enough that every route he marked needed to connect back to it without confusion.
Smoke moved ahead of him.
