1. One

One

Waves crashed angrily against the base of the academy. The rocks below seemed to be fighting back against their watery attacker—jutting out in all directions, as breaker after breaker of seawater clawed at the shore.

An annoyed groan escaped my lips as I peered out the window of my dorm room, situated in the highest tower of this fortress. I lifted my eyes from the sea below to the sky, studying the gray clouds that had already begun rolling in. They were like an ominous army, marching across the sky like a dark omen. I couldn’t stop my mind from wandering, wondering if this coming storm was a sign from the Gods that I was about to make a very bad decision.

Though I loved being lulled to sleep by the oceans’ sounds, I could do without the dampness it brought to everything I owned. Which, I’ll admit, wasn’t much. I closed my eyes, succumbing to the mist that kissed my cheeks as the autumn wind drifted through my sleep-tangled hair, and took a deep breath in.

Tiny bumps sprouted across my skin, and I pulled the wool blanket tighter around my body as I reached my hand through the window. Pulling the glass shut, I latched it into place and sauntered over to my bed. The old, rickety frame cried out as I sat, creaking with every movement I made. A long wistful sigh slipped across my lips as I looked around the quarters I had called home for so many years. The stone room was just big enough to house two beds, a wardrobe, a mirror, and the small fireplace that was tucked into the corner at the end of my bed.

I looked across the room at the empty bed pushed against the damp stone wall. It sat no more than four feet from mine and I smiled at the crumpled sheets and books strewn across its surface. I could see the memories playing out before my eyes as I stared at it, memorizing every wrinkle of the bedding—every color of the book’s covers. I let the nights Ata and I had stayed up late sitting across from each other as she read me chapters from her favorite novels, replay in my mind.

Choice Day was a celebration. Or at least, it used to be. It had been celebrated ever since our ancestors first put pen to paper and wrote The Stories . Legends and tales about this day had been passed down to children for a millennium.

On the first day of fall every year, the gates of the realms opened to let out anyone who was choosing to leave. This choice was presented every year after your twenty-first birthday, and once you decided to leave your realm, you could never go back. You are thus stripped of all your former titles and identity, and you become a Traveler.

Being a Traveler used to be one of the highest honors. They used to be revered as heroes; having the courage to step out into the unknown and the strength to forge their own way. Leaving your family behind meant that they would be praised for having raised a child with such resilience, and be treated like royalty amongst their peers. You used to be able to travel to every realm—learning, exploring, teaching.

Now, choosing to become a Traveler only brings disgrace to your family. They will call you a gypsy and traitor to your kind. They throw rocks and mud at you as you leave the walls of your city, and hide their gates from you so you can never again see the inside of their walls. The Stories speak of a Realm War—a war that confined and exiled all Travelers to the realm of Locdragoon, The Shadow Isle. Locdragoon was the only realm that still had a King, and was not run by the High Priest and Priestesses that ruled in every other realm.

Though, I was never able to find mention in The Stories as to why The Shadow Isle was the only realm that didn’t change its political hierarchy after the war.

The fallout from the Great War left the five realms isolated and at odds with the others. Even those who fought on the same side harbored malice for the realms they once called allies. Realm magic became illegal to use or teach unless you were of pure blood, and the people of the realms were left only with lesser magic to hold onto and use in their daily life, without fear of punishment. Each realm began to hide its gates from outsiders, only to be opened once a year to let all those who chose to be a Traveler on Choice Day flee to Locdragoon.

That day had finally come for me, and I was the one fleeing.

My head snapped toward the large wooden door as it burst open.

“Hyacinth! Get up.” A sharp voice cut through the silence. “How can you possibly be sleeping late, today of all days?” I collapsed onto my back, the bed groaning as I pushed a pillow over my face. “Hyacinth!” Ata clapped her hands together and I slid the pillow down just enough to see her.

Ata was beautiful; her fair complexion seemed to radiate a natural glow against the dim lighting. She brushed aside a strand of raven black hair, the blunt ends lightly grazing her collarbone. Her lips were painted with a bold crimson hue. I couldn’t remember when it had become her signature color, but it fit her fiery spirit and brazenness.

A shiver shook her body and she flicked the tips of her fingers toward the fireplace nestled beside my bed, igniting the remnants of last night’s kindling. The fire roared to life and the light from its flames danced across the stone floor.

“Do I need to drag you from that bed?” Ata drawled, pulling her nightgown over her head and tossing it onto the floor; knocking over a pile of books she had stacked on the ground at the foot of her bed.

She turned to her wardrobe, opening my view to a scar that ran from the base of her neck down the length of her spine. She had been born with it, but my heart lurched every time I saw it. It looked as though someone had taken a jagged blade to her spine and tried to carve it out.

“You know, just because it’s finally your Choice Day, doesn’t mean Asrai is going to go any easier on you.” Ata said, raising a brow as she turned to face me then slid into a sweater that matched the red gleaming on her lips.

“Honestly, I have never seen her so eager to get rid of someone. If you really wanted to get under her skin, you’d stay a few more years.” My bed groaned again in protest as I sat up, and leaned against the damp stone wall, tucking my legs neatly under each other.

“You can admit it, you know,” I said with a wry smile. “You just want me to stay until your Choice Day comes.”

She scoffed, rolling her eyes as she pulled on her leathers. “You really think I, of all people, can’t survive a year without you?”

“No, I don’t,” I said as she laced up her scuffed combat boots. “I think you will spend the next year crying into your books until you finally replace me, or get to chase after me.”

A laugh bellowed out of her, echoing against the thick stone walls as she walked toward me and stopped at the edge of my bed. “There isn’t a single soul in this realm, or any other, that could take your place.” Ata said the words softly, as she extended a hand to me.

We wrapped our arms around each other as she pulled me to my feet. Tucking her head under my chin, I let the scent of her flow through my nose and closed my eyes. This woman had become a sister to me after all these years.

Tears pricked at the corners of my eyes as I wondered if this would be the last time I held my best friend in my arms.

I had to stay strong today. I could not let emotion cloud my judgment.

“I am going to miss you, Ata,” I said, my voice hushed.

“I know. How could you not?” she quipped, forcing the heaviness that had crept over us to dissipate.

Pushing her away, I laughed and threw her a playful glare as she strutted to the door, wrapping her slim fingers around the handle. Ata flipped her inky hair over a shoulder as she looked back at me. “Get your ass down to breakfast before Asrai lashes us all, would you?” She paused, flashing that beautiful smile. “Happy Birthday, Cin,” she said with a wink, then closed the door behind her.

I smiled to myself, shaking my head at where she had been standing.

I was finally leaving.

I had been waiting thirteen years for this day, but now that it was here, I wasn’t expecting to question my decision.

Wandering around the room, I picked things up and threw them on my bed in a slow effort to pack my belongings. Each item I touched held a memory made at the academy. I reminisced on each of them as I folded everything into neat squares before placing them in my bag, trying to extinguish the fear and sadness that was beginning to push down on me.

I was leaving the only home I had ever known without any assurances that I would even survive the journey to Locdragoon. Less and less people left their realm on Choice Day now, because there was no guarantee you would live past your first few hours outside of the gates.

When the realms shut their gates after the Great War it left the lands between them ungoverned, creating a breeding ground for all manner of creatures and evil to come out of the woodwork and thrive. If Asrai hadn’t been training me how to wield my magic in secret all these years, I don’t know if I would still choose to go. Asrai was the Headmaster of this academy for orphans, and was the only mother a lot of us had ever known. Teaching me how to wield my magic could get her killed—could get us both killed. But she did it anyway, knowing that if I did not learn, I would not survive.

Sighing, I pulled my nightshirt over my head, folding it and placing it atop the quilt I slept with every night. The same quilt I had been wrapped in when they found me at eight years old, sitting just outside the gates of the school. Now worn and tattered, it was one of two things that kept me tied to the idea that—before this place—I belonged somewhere. Belonged to someone. That was why I was leaving, why I needed to leave. I couldn’t live the rest of my life not knowing where I came from; not knowing who I really was.

Maybe someone was out there looking for me too.

I shook my head, pushing the thought from my mind as I pulled a black sweater over my head. I couldn’t remember the last time I had left this room in any other shade. Black kept me safe in the shadows—the shadows that had become my closest ally over the years. This fortress was full of them; lurking in every corner, and every corridor. They called to me and wrapped me in their darkness, never leaving my side. Asrai had taught me to control them in our secret training sessions and I could, mostly .

I strode towards the floor-length mirror at the end of Ata’s bed, my reflection growing larger with each step. My boot caught the corner of a book hidden away beneath a pile of Ata’s clothing and I stumbled, cursing as I broke my fall on the edge of her bed. Her damn books are everywhere , I thought to myself as I regained my footing and looked into the mirror. My eyes gazed at the woman that had been reflected in it since she was eight years old. I hadn’t cut my hair since arriving here. It was mine; the only thing they couldn’t take from me. Deep brown curls flowed down to the small of my back as I examined my face. It seemed like only moments ago, a child with rich brown skin, freckles like scattered stars, and eyes like the blue-gray sea swirling beyond these walls stared back at me.

I watched as my hands examined my arms, my hips, my waist. I wasn’t that scrawny child anymore. My body had filled out and with the hours and hours of training I had been through, a thick layer of muscle had grown just under the surface. My hands lingered on the contours of my stomach, sucking it in as tightly as I could.

I really needed to start eating better, at least, that’s what Taft had been telling me these last few years.

Exhaling, I let my hand drift over the bruise beneath my collar bone and up to my throat. I clutched the necklace that had felt too heavy around my neck the morning I was brought inside these walls—the only other thing that hinted at the life I had before the academy.

Pursing at my reflection, I began weaving my tight curls into a braid and turned away from the mirror. I dragged my feet along the cold stone floor as I walked back to the edge of my bed, where everything I owned sat packed and ready for this next adventure. Letting out a deep breath, I wrapped my hand around the thick canvas strap of my sac, and tossed it over my shoulder as I headed to the doorway.

Turning my head, I took one last look at the room that had been my haven for thirteen years. The place where Ata and I built our bond, and where I would hide for hours writing in my journal, disappearing from the world to imagine my future and what it would hold.

I let a single tear slide down my cheek, then shut the door behind me.