A few minutes of silence passed uncomfortably after Rakaella had left them. Baelie had not spoken a single word to Remi, undoubtedly upset over what her sister had said to the guard. Maile could feel the tension between her sisters and knew better than to get in the middle. The silence wrapped around them like static electricity, pricking its way across their bodies until it was too unbearable to ignore.

“I can’t believe you, Remi,” said Baelie, cracking the silence like a branch.

Remi turned her a cold eye. “You can’t believe me? All I did was defend us!”

Maile tightened her grip on Remi’s hand, hoping she wouldn’t be too tough.

“The only thing you did,” said Baelie, “was ruin my chance at becoming Vice-Captain!”

“Ruin your chances? What world are you living in, Baelie? Do you honestly think that they would even consider—” Maile squeezed her hand tighter, stopping her mid-sentence.

Baelie’s face flushed red. “Honestly consider what, Remi?”

Remi caught her reaction and was glad that Maile had stopped her. Who was she to tell Baelie her dreams were impossible? She felt her anger begin to slowly slip away.

“Baelie—” she started again, not sure what to say. “I’m sorry, all right? But she deserved that. I hate it when people look down at other people and assume them to be something without even giving them a chance. We don’t deserve to be treated like that. Don’t you get it?”

Baelie looked at her coldly.

“You never change, Remi,” Baelie finally said. “There are some people in the world that you just have to respect, no matter what.” She turned and faced a long corridor proceeding away from them. “But you’re too stubborn to understand.”

She walked away, her kitchenware-armor clanking with each step.

“So it would seem,” muttered Remi. “But I can’t just bow down like that when I feel wronged. And like you say, it’s not like I’m going to change.” Her voice was low enough that only Maile could hear her.

After a few moments, Remi looked at Maile and forced a smile. “Shall we?”

Maile gulped and nodded. “Yeah, let’s just get this over with.”

The path before them was an archway of stone that tunneled far enough away that they couldn’t see the end. It was well lit, and they soon realized that the bright light wasn’t from candles or lanterns, nor any kind of alchemy, but from the light of day outside. After about twenty paces in, glass panels replaced the left side of the wall, allowing the light of day to fill the space, creating a path of light and dark. Little passings of water trickled down the sides of the walls into grooves at the bottom, filling the hall with the tranquil sound of running water.

“We’re underground?” Maile asked. “It’s kind of peaceful.”

“And pretty deep underground by the looks of it,” said Remi, gazing out the glass panels. They stretched from the floor to the ceiling, allowing the two sisters to take in the entirety of the sky outside. Maile placed her palm softly on the glass. She could feel the warmth on her fingers.

The sky was vast and blue, spotted with little white clouds. There wasn’t a single bird to be seen, but the view itself was utterly breathtaking. They had never seen the sky from beneath the ground before.

“Pretty . . .” said Maile. “The world is so beautiful, isn’t it?”

I didn’t have any idea they had built something like this so far underground, Remi thought, not really listening to her sister. She looked around. I wonder how many other secrets exist in Risia that normal people know nothing about . . .

“What are those?” Maile asked, pointing at dozens of green vines hanging from the rocky cliffs just outside the window. A few of them passed in front of the glass panels, growing down and disappearing from their view. Massive green leaves, the size of their bodies and sometimes bigger, hung from the vines, and tiny drops of water dripped ever so softly from the tips of them. They were thick and bulbous, and Maile thought she could have easily crawled inside one of them.

“These are the leaves that grow off the roots of the Great Tree,” Remi said. “The source of our water on Risia. The roots grow through the land and come out the bottom, like that, and when storm clouds pass, they absorb water into them, filling the leaves. Then the Great Trees absorb that water up and into themselves, then rain into the lakes that we drink from—”

“Are you two even coming!?” Baelie was a little way down the corridor with her hands on her hips. “This is taking forever! We’re going to be late!”

“Thought you were going on ahead,” said Remi. “Did the future Vice-Captain get a little spooked?”

Baelie’s eyes narrowed. “N-no, not at all,” she stammered. “I’m just making sure all of us make it there on time. We all know how late you are to everything, Smellington.”

“I’ll think we’ll manage to make it on time, Snailee.”

Baelie balled her hands into little fists. “You just wait! Once I’m the Vice-Captain, I’ll make a law that makes me the eldest sister! Then, you’ll never be able to call me Snailee ever again, Smellington!”

“That doesn’t even make sense. That’s impossible.”

“Nothing is impossible! Anything makes sense if you believe it!”

“No, that’s just plain stupid,” Remi answered. “Think about it.”

“You’re stupid!” Baelie shouted. “You don’t understand anything!”

“These are really the roots of the Great Tree?” Maile asked, oblivious to their argument.

“Fine, stay here and die for all I care!” Baelie shouted back, then took off down the corridor. “But not Maile! Only you, stupid Smellington!” And she was gone once again.

Remi turned back to Maile. “Yes, they are, Maile. There are two Great Trees on Soria, remember? One on Risia, and one on Falia. You’ve seen both from the top of the castle, no doubt. They are enormous, bigger than anything else on Soria. In legend, those trees were gifts from the Children of Eɪᴇɴ a long, long time ago.”

“The Children of Eɪᴇɴ?” Maile asked. “Who are they?”

“Don’t you pay attention in school, silly?” Remi asked. “Fire, Earth, Water, Wind and Lightning. The elements. The gods themselves. The children of Life and Death, of Vale and—”

“Don’t say it! It’s bad luck to say his name!” said Baelie, who had reappeared again. “He can hear when you say it. Now, can we go please? We’re seriously going to be late!”

Maile’s eyes grew frightfully wide. “Bad luck to say whose name?”

“Oh, shush,” said Remi. “They’re just myths, Baelie. No need to scare your sister.”

“What!?” Baelie said incredulously. “It’s the truth! How could you not know that?”

“Oh really?” Remi said. “And when’s the last time you saw one of the gods?”

Baelie went quiet. “They’re here, Remi. All around us. You just can’t see them.”

“Thought you were going on without us, oh brave, future Vice-Captain?”

“I couldn’t leave Maile behind with the likes of you,” Baelie said. “She’ll catch stupid.”

“Oh, let it go, Baelie,” said Remi, grabbing Maile’s hand and pulling her from the window.

“I’ll let it go once I’m Vice-Captain, and I make myself the eldest sister.”

Maile chuckled to herself as Remi pulled her down the hall. “Be my guest, I’m sure that’s exactly the reason why we’ve been summoned down here. To make you, the kitchen-armor queen, the next Vice-Captain.”

“You’ll see, Remi!” Baelie pointed her finger at her. “You’ll see!” Then she took off down the hall, once again.

“What are we going to do with her?” Remi said as they continued.

“How do you know all this stuff?” Maile asked. “About the gods, and the Children of Eɪ—”

“Eye-n,” said Remi, annunciating it. “In legend, it is the god or deity born when Life and Death become one at the end of all things . . .”

“Eɪᴇɴ . . .” repeated Maile. “Wait, the end of all things? Like the d-death of all things?”

“Well, yes, eventually, all things die, even the cosmos itself,” said Remi. “But not without light will the ring curve again, bringing light to the dark of the vast cage within,” she continued, quoting an old poem. “At least, what I think it means, is that, all things die, but the cycle of life and death is eternal, and so all things will inevitably be born again, even the cosmos itself. Such is the eternal cycle of Éién.”

“Wow,” whispered Maile. “Sounds a little scary.”

“A little. And you’ll learn more,” said Remi. “But you can learn even more than that if you find the joy of reading. You can learn anything and everything about everything and anything. A true escape from the world around. Sometimes, the greatest freedom can be found in a book.”

“Free like being able to fly?” Maile asked, looking out the window. “I wish I could fly.”

Remi laughed. “Yeah, well I think flying is probably a bit more freeing, but maybe not, who knows? Though, even for those who can fly, they can’t go much further than Soria, or they would be breaking one of the four great laws of our world. The Law of Sky, in this case.”

“The Law of Sky? So, we’re not allowed to leave Soria? Why?”

Remi smiled at her sister. So naïve, so curious. “You’ll learn all of this soon. But for now, why don’t we catch up to Baelie, or she’s going to come stampeding back around the corner, and next time I get the feeling we’ll really be in for it.” Maile giggled and nodded, and the two picked up the pace. Not more than a few seconds later, they heard a terrified cry from up ahead.

“That sounded like Baelie!” Maile squeaked.

The two sisters exchanged glances, then started running. They dashed down the path, twisting and turning through its curves. As they ran on, less and less glass panels were built into the stone walls, and the pathway grew gradually darker. It seemed they were moving further and further away from sky, and more and more underground. Finally, they saw a recognizable glint of silver in the distance.

Remi and Maile came to a stop, huffing and puffing from running so hard. Baelie was poised on the edge of the corridor, staring wide-eyed into a different glass panel, but it was too dark to see what was inside.

Whatever she’s looking at, doesn’t seem like it leads to the sky . . . Remi thought.

“Baelie?” Remi started. “Are you—”

A sudden, bone-chilling roar echoed throughout the corridor. A second later, something massive struck the glass. Hard. The sound of cracking glass sent all their hearts into panic. Baelie hadn’t moved so much of an inch, and had curled into a little ball, clearly frozen in terror. Maile was clutching Remi as tightly as possible, and was closing her eyes with such strength that it seemed they might never open again. Remi regained her composure ever so slowly as the glass began repairing itself on its own, then took a few steps closer to her sister, and cautiously looked inside.

A single crimson eye, the size of her torso, met her gaze. She froze in place, unable to move, unable to breathe, gripped by true fear. The glass looked into a massive walled encasement built into the side of the corridor, and within it was a monster beyond the likes of anything she had ever seen.

The beast before her was a deep shade of black, easily the size of a two-story house, with a long, twisting serpentine tail that pounded the ground of its prison. Its claws were easily the length of her arms, and as the creature stood to its full height, they scraped across the ground like swords. Then, to make matters worse, Remi heard a deep, growling voice within her own consciousness, as if a dream that wasn’t her own had invaded her mind.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

“You dare to meet my gaze with your own, Fangless? Or does fear of death immobilize you so? I can almost taste the blood flowing through your veins. The pulsing of your heart’s beat brings nostalgia to the one within my chest, and know now, that were you not standing beyond the reach of my claws, I would have sunk my fangs through the very marrow of your bone and devoured you whole where you stand. Not a single drop of your sweet blood would evade my tongue.”

Remi stood completely still, feeling the creature’s ominous presence living in her mind. She shivered as the beast revealed its long, sharp fangs, almost as if it were smiling. She was horrified, but one thing had brought a sense of calm to her mind— “Standing beyond the reach of my claws.” Remi realized that the beast, however enormous, powerful, and dangerous, could not escape the confines of its cage.

“What . . . are you?” Remi’s voice was shaky.

“Pitiful Fangless . . . you must live quite a sheltered life to not know what I am. And you would do well to watch your tongue, for the correct question is, ‘Who are you?’ And who I am is Beliosr, of the great kushala flare, kin to the Master of the Forest, the only rightful masters of Soria.”

Remi gasped. The kushala flares were considered to be the most dangerous beasts on all of Soria, infamous for ravaging villages and devouring sorians. They were an uncontainable threat that even the Force and Shield had trouble dealing with. Although she had read all about the monsters and their terror, seeing one before her made all the stories come to life. They were a darkness that lived in the shadows of their world, rarely talked about and seldom seen by any who lived to tell the tale. But they were always there, in the back of anyone’s mind who ventured deep into the forests.

“I think it can’t get out of its cage,” said Baelie, finding her courage. “We should get out of here.” Baelie’s words made Remi even more aware of the lack of danger there was, and she suddenly felt quite foolish for even being scared in the first place.

“I have heard of your kind before, Beliosr,” Remi said, feeling untouchable and slightly more courageous than she should. “But if you are so great, why are you imprisoned like a helpless whelp in this cage of yours?”

Another thundering roar erupted from Beliosr, and the grounds of the corridor shook heavily. Black saliva dripped like acid from its mouth, burning little puddles into the stone.

“Do not insult me, Fangless! I will escape this cold cage and do not think for a moment that your scent will ever fade from my memories. One day, Fangless . . . I will come for you. You are the second that I will not forget to bleed dry. My kind does not forgive, and we do not forget. Now, begone from my presence.”

A coarse growl resonated from within the cage, vibrating the thick glass separating them. At that, Beliosr turned, revealing a long, gouging scar over his other eye, which had sealed it shut. The beast went silent, and even though it was no longer looking at her, Remi felt as if it were still watching her, feeling her very presence. . . . She suddenly had no doubt that it would remember her forever.

Remi silently motioned to her two sisters to keep following her. Baelie took a few deep breaths and walked as silently as possible, trying not to allow her silver armor to make any noise. She was not successful, but the beast did not stir. Remi took Maile’s hand and pulled her down the corridor, away from the cage. They passed many other black cages along the way, but they did not dare to look inside. They began to run until the cages became sparce and their lungs were burning. Together, the three sisters finally came to a stop.

Remi was the first to speak, though she struggled while catching her breath. “I heard some beasts of Soria could speak . . . the most ancient of the ancient . . . but never once did I actually think I would experience it for myself!” Remi looked at her sisters. “Could you hear it?”

“That was so scary,” said Maile, nodding. She sniffled as Remi pulled her close. “Don’t worry,” she said soothingly. “We’re safe. It can’t leave its cage.”

“But,” whispered Maile. “He said he would get out and, and—”

“He won’t.” Remi said, though she was not sure if she believed that herself.

“I wonder what it’s doing here?” Baelie asked. “Could the Force really have captured that?”

Maile’s ears perked up suddenly, and she began walking away from her two sisters. However, Remi and Baelie were too focused on each other to notice.

“They must have,” said Remi. “I can’t see any other way to trap a beast like that.”

“Why would you speak to him like that?” Baelie said suddenly. “Remi, you shouldn’t have insulted him just because he was caged . . . he could get out! I’m surprised that cage could even contain such a monster.” She paused, as if unsure if she should continue. “I told you, Remi. Sometimes you just need to know your place.”

Remi met her sister’s eyes. “Let’s just hope he doesn’t ever get out.” She looked around for Maile, realizing her sister had left her side while they were talking. She was surprised when she found Maile staring curiously into another one of the cages a few paces away.

“Maile! Don’t get too close!” But Maile didn’t budge. It almost seemed as if she were whispering something, maybe to something inside the cage? Remi couldn’t tell from where she was.

“Maile?” Remi said quietly, feeling suddenly nervous again.

“Maile??” Baelie echoed. But still, no response.

Taking a breath, Remi mustered up what was left of her courage and walked toward the cage and looked inside. She raised an eyebrow upon seeing the creature within. The bizarre looking creature was big, but not nearly the size of Beliosr. It was, however, big enough to stand twice her own height. It looked like a huge black and white bird, with large circular yellow eyes the size of her fists, and ruffled feathers that poked out from its bulbous body. It stood on its feet, had little wings, and a protruding belly that made her wonder if animals could be chubby.

“Well, this is—” Remi stopped. “What the heck is this thing?”

For a second, Remi imagined her sister Baelie in the form of an animal and realized that this was it. She started laughing, imagining the bird with silver armor, until, with startling agility, the creature was suddenly an inch away from the glass, staring at her with a cocked head and a huge glimmering eye.

“What the heck!?” Remi jumped backwards.

“Don’t worry. I think he’s laughing at you,” said Maile quietly. The bird’s eyes flicked back to Maile. Remi swallowed hard, wondering if the creature was dangerous.

“It’s ok,” said Maile, whispering. “It’s just my sister, Remi. She can be a little rude sometimes, but she means well.”

“Are . . . Are you speaking to it?” Remi asked. I should be able to hear him, too . . . shouldn’t I?

“No,” answered Maile. “I don’t think he can communicate like the other monster.”

“Then . . . who are you talking to?” Remi asked, feeling creeped out. She felt Baelie nudge her in the side. “C’mon, Remi,” Baelie whispered. “You know she hears voices sometimes . . . just let her be.”

“How do you expect me to do that?” Maile said abruptly, and flinched as if something had struck her. Maile’s tone rose. “No . . . I can’t. We’ll get in trouble! What do you mean, ‘I’ll understand in time?’ That’s what you always say, and it never makes any sense!”

Remi looked all around as if expecting to find someone hiding. Who was her sister speaking to? Could it be the strange-looking bird before her? It couldn’t be. Even Maile said that it wasn’t. But then, what was it?

“All right! All right!” Maile said, timidly. “I’ll do it. But I hope I don’t get in trouble.”

“Maile . . . whatever it is you’re doing, just stop,” said Baelie. “Let’s just keep going, ok?”

“Maile, what exactly is it that you’re doing?” Remi questioned.

“Apparently, I won’t understand until later, so—” Maile kneeled down, looking for something. “Ah, there we go.” Remi and Baelie heard the sound of stone scratching against stone. A strange panel extended out of the cage, and Maile began tapping it with her fingers, seemingly knowing exactly what she was doing.

“What the heck—” Remi began, baffled. “Are you even doing, Maile?”

The back of the bird’s cage then cracked in half, and began opening up towards the light of day. The sound of wind could soon be heard, and sunlight lit up the corridor. Maile had opened the cage somehow, without any knowledge of how any of these things worked.

“This makes no sense,” said Remi. “Literally no sense, at all! How are you doing this, Maile?”

“Be free, Mr. Waddles!” Maile said happily. “Be free! Fly in the sky! Like I wish I could!”

“Mr. Waddles!?!” Remi and Baelie shouted in unison. Moving to her sister’s side, Remi thought she saw a flicker of light spark through Maile’s pendant, but upon blinking and opening her eyes, it was the same as it had always been.

“Are you crazy?!” Baelie cried out, shaking Maile back and forth. “We could go to jail!”

“Maile, who told you to do that!?” Remi said. “How did you even know how to do that!?”

Meanwhile, Mr. Waddles stood before the glass watching the three of them.

“Stop shaking her, Baelie, and let her speak!” Remi said.

“S-She told me to do it,” Maile said as Baelie released her. “She said, ‘this creature has no place here. It’s place belongs in the time to come.’”

“Her?” Remi echoed. “Who? Maile, who?” An eerie shiver crept up Remi’s spine, and once again she looked around the corridor, searching for the culprit. Once again, there was nothing.

“Who told you to do it?” Remi whispered, kneeling and taking Maile’s hand. “Can you tell me?”

“The one who talks to me sometimes,” said Maile, a touch of sadness in her voice. “Remember? I told you before.” She looked hurt that her sister had forgotten. Remi knew that Maile would, sometimes, talk to an imaginary friend and had tried to overlook it growing up. It was something that had caused her little sister’s initial fear of everything, since she would wake up in the middle of the night claiming that something was whispering to her from underneath the bed.

“But it’s never taught you how to do something before, right?” Remi asked. “Like free the bird?”

“His name is Mr. Waddles,” Maile corrected.

“How do you know his name, Maile? You said the bird—Mr. Waddles, can’t speak right? Was it the same voice, the same one you’ve heard for so long, that told you the bird’s name? And then told you how to free it?”

Maile nodded. “Yes, it was. And no, she hasn’t ever told me to do anything like this before. This is the first time. Do you believe me now?”

Baelie was now pacing back and forth across the hallway, her armor clanking obnoxiously. It was clear that she thought Maile’s actions would ruin her chances of becoming Vice-Captain.

“We are totally going to get in so much trouble,” said Remi, standing back up. “And how do we even explain this?” She ran her fingers through her hair, pulling just slightly. Maile watched her two sisters with newly frightened eyes, hoping they weren’t too upset with her.

Remi stopped herself upon seeing Maile’s face. “But . . . well, I guess birds are meant to be free, after all. I think you did the right thing. That was very brave of you, and I’m proud of you. We’ll take the blame together, alright?” Maile smiled and nodded.

Sometimes, it’s nice being the oldest, thought Remi. But now, I’ll have to take responsibility for Maile’s actions. She sighed again. Maybe, it’s not so nice. This sucks. I bet that bird is super rare too, and now I’m really gonna get it.

“Maile!” Baelie couldn’t hold back her frustration any longer, her pudgy face flushed and red. “How could you do this? This is so unlike you! If they ask anything, I’m saying that I tried with all my might to stop you, and you evaded me, because of your tiny stature. It’s like a dragon hunting a fly. Yes, exactly. A dragon hunting a fly . . . even with all my power, I just couldn’t catch you.”

“Sorry, Baelie,” said Maile, looking down at her feet. “I didn’t mean to disappoint you.”

Remi smirked at her armor-clad sister. “Even with all your power you couldn’t stop her? You? The one who is supposed to become the Vice-Captain of the Force? They are the strongest women in all of Soria! Baelie, I may be wrong, but I doubt real soldiers would make excuses for their actions, and I bet even more that they protect their family before chasing something as fleeting as a title. Have some class, Baelie.”

“What did you just say to me!?”

Remi was positive that, if Baelie had been closer to her and holding her tree branch spear, she would have struck her. The expression on her face was of one who had just been robbed of their most valued treasure. Baelie stood there shaking in anger, before turning on her heel and walking away from her sisters.

Raising her hand over her head, Baelie called back. “What would you know of anything, Smellington? You live your life chasing a boy who made you a promise ten cycles ago, and now where is he? He most likely forgot about you and went on to bigger and better things.”

The words pierced the veil of Remi’s insecurities like a sword through the heart, and she clenched her teeth so tightly she thought they might shatter. With all her might, she tried not to think about Baelie’s words being the truth, but the more she tried, the more she suddenly felt like crying.

“Let’s go,” said Maile, taking her hand. “She didn’t mean it. She’s just nervous since she’s about to become Vice-Captain, remember? And maybe I even ruined that for her. C’mon, she needs us.”

But Remi would not budge. She could not believe her sister had resorted to such low blows. Sitting down and taking a few deep breaths, she slowly calmed herself down. After a little while, she stood up and took her little sister’s hand.

“Ok, Maile. Let’s get this over with already.”

Maile turned back to the cage, meeting Mr. Waddles’s great orange eyes, who hadn’t moved.

“Be free, Mr. Waddles. Just don’t break the Law of Sky!”

Upon Maile speaking, the bird cooed and waddled its big body toward the back of the cage. It raised its wings and with one last look at Maile, dropped out of the cage and into the sky.

“I sincerely hope that thing is actually capable of flying,” muttered Remi.

A few minutes passed quietly as the two sisters continued down the corridor. Remi couldn’t stop thinking about what Baelie had said to her and was trying not to think vengeful thoughts.

“Remi, what exactly is the Valyti?”

“You’re just full of questions today aren’t you, little one.”

Taking a deep breath, Remi thought back to what she knew about it. “For starters, the word valyti means ‘cleanse’, in the ancient language. It was apparently the original training ground built by the Living Blades, and some say it is an enchanted place where anything is possible. They say the training ground’s sole purpose is to cleanse a soldier’s soul, freeing it of any negative influences like wrath, envy, lust, and gluttony, to name a few.”

“Doesn’t sound as terrible as my friends have made it seem . . .”

“Who knows, really?” Remi said. “I’ve never been there before. Though I know that the strongest women in the Force are ranked in number from one to nine, and only those top nine are allowed to train in the Valyti. Remember, Theresa had the rune for five tattooed on her. All we know is that the top nine are incredibly powerful, so Baelie was probably right about me being rude to her. Much as I hate to admit it.”

“I won’t tell her you said anything,” said Maile.

Remi smiled. “Thanks Maile. I heard once that the longer one spends in the Valyti, the closer one’s mind comes to transcending impossibility, and that their strength grows so great that even just looking into their eyes can cause one of weak will to collapse and faint.”

“They sound so strong,” said Maile. “And scary too.”

“Theresa is the only one I’ve ever met personally and spoken to. She’s a total jerk no matter how powerful she is, though. Honestly, I’m not super keen on meeting any of the other ones. They probably all feel the same way about us as those guards back there. All of them are mad because we get treated as royalty, even though we really aren’t. That’s why they’re jaded, because unless you are the Empress, or you have won the Soldier Games, all Risians are just considered nobility. Royalty must be earned, but we are royal because we were adopted by the Empress. So, they hate us.”

“They hate us?”

“So it seems,” Remi shrugged. “So far, we’ve met three, and all were rude beyond belief.”

“But that’s not our fault, right?”

“No, not at all. Not even a little bit. It just gives us the opportunity to prove our worth in humility, that’s all. Now, let’s just get this whole thing over with, ok?”

“But why are we even here?”

“I overheard the guards saying we were summoned for some kind of mission, whatever that means.”

“But why would we be summoned for a mission?”

“I haven’t the faintest idea, Maile. But I’m sure we’ll find out soon enough.”

Coming around one last bend, the corridor opened into a large hall, and the ceiling rose higher and higher. At the very end of it all, they found that Baelie had stopped before a grand and colossal door. The symbol of the Force; a shield behind a glowing spear with a fire-breathing dragon twisting up the shaft was carved intricately on its face, and Remi knew they had finally made it to the fabled Valyti.

The three were silent as they stood before the ominous door, almost as if they were scared to speak, knowing that it would surely open if they did. But the silence was short-lived as the grand door creaked and shook, and light split the door in two. It opened towards them, blanketing them in a bright white light. Wind so chill it might have come from the coldest night of winter slapped their cheeks, and upon opening their eyes, the three sisters took their first glimpse of the Valyti.

“Wow,” whispered Maile. “It’s beautiful . . .”