Hours passed, and the sky outside the many windows grew dark with night before I heard my name called. One person after another pushed past me and toward the altar box, and each one left said box with a smile on their face, including Sarina.

She gave me a quick thumbs up as she left the box, her spirits obviously higher than the night prior. I felt a brief moment of happiness for her, and it warmed my nervous, churning insides. But the happiness quickly disappeared as the exit door closed behind Sarina, and she was gone.

I glanced around and counted only ten more 16-year-olds, including myself.

Just my luck to be one of the last.

Little did I know how laughable that thought in my head would become. I turned out to be dead last.

“Rayden.”

I shuddered at the sound of Priest Kane’s raspy voice speaking my name. It bounced off the walls and echoed eerily in the now empty room, save for myself and the 12 Priests standing several feet in front of me.

Of course, he said no surname after “Rayden.” That’s how it was for all of the 16-year-olds before me, as well. A surname was only given to you once a mentor accepted you as an apprentice and offered you their surname as a symbol of the relationship. Of course, the UnMarked went through life without ever receiving a last name, but there were even those among the Marked who could never land a mentor. And as a result, never received a surname.

I wiped my sweaty palms along my tan ceremonial trousers. The fabric of my pants scraped against my skin uncomfortably. The material felt like burlap, honestly. I then made my way toward the semicircle of Priests.

I pressed the heels of my hands together and outstretched them toward the Priests with my head bowed–the Edronan sign of respect one was expected to present to a Priest when approaching them. Offering the hands symbolized willingness to serve the city in the way that the goddess seemed fit, told to you through her mouthpieces: the Priests.

Priest Kane nodded in acknowledgment of the offering, and the other 11 Priests followed suit. Though, even with their acknowledgment, I could feel their less-than-welcome stares burning through my skin as they studied me in trepidation. Something told me they had been nervously approaching the day I would go through the Marking Ceremony just as much as I had.

The Priests stepped aside to create an opening in the center of their semicircle. I dropped my arms to my sides and, avoiding their intense stares, advanced toward the wide door carved into the stone of the altar box.

I pushed into the door and leaped back as it opened quickly and with a loud whoosh. I poked my head over the threshold and attempted to peer into the darkness before entering. Realizing I was being ridiculous, I forced my feet forward and into the room. The stone door slammed shut behind me as soon as my entire body made it over the threshold.

Here goes nothing.

I walked three more steps forward, hoping my eyes would adjust to the darkness and enable me to see my path better. As soon as my feet hit the hard ground on my third step, a brilliant blue light blasted its way into my vision as, one by one, torches came alive with blue flames. The torches hung on the gray stone walls and led me down a path to the end of what looked like a long corridor.

I whistled. The altar box looked much larger on the inside than on the outside. An illusory spell, maybe?

I continued on, my entire body growing tense as I waited for something–anything–to happen as I walked. But nothing did.

Not until I reached the end of the lines of torches.

There, against the furthest wall, stood a strange object–an object unlike anything I’d ever seen before. It rested atop a simple, short table made from a stone that matched the walls. The object was slim, black, and flat and glowed iridescent blues and purples from its surface. I inched closer and leaned over the glowing item to further study it.

Are those words?

I tilted my head to the side, and sure enough, words floated on the bright, smooth surface of the object:

PLEASE PLACE YOUR PALM ON THE SCREEN.

“Screen?” I whispered aloud. I had never seen or heard that word in my entire life, but if I had to guess….

I warily outstretched my right hand over the object and set it on top of the glowing surface. It was cool to the touch, and I relaxed my body as a few seconds went by with no sudden bursts of pain.

Then, a shrill, high-pitched tone came from the device. I jumped in surprise, accidentally removing my hand from the “screen.”

I cursed and moved to replace my hand, but then the screen blinked the words:

THANK YOU. PLEASE WAIT WHILE CALCULATIONS ARE MADE.

I waited for what felt like ages. How long should this take?

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

I worried that my result would be unsatisfactory if it had to take this long. I remembered that Priest Kane had said a ceremony’s length of time varies for each individual. But he didn’t say whether a long or short wait correlated directly with whether or not you’d receive a Mark.

Another high-pitched tone buzzed from the device. I didn’t jump from shock this time and knew to look at the screen for more words:

YOUR STATUS HAS BEEN DETERMINED.

NAME: RAYDEN

UNMARKED

My heart plummeted to my feet, making my legs feel heavy and weak. I dug into my eyes with the palms of my hands. Maybe I had read it wrong. But no, clear as a cloudless day, the screen mocked me with the daunting word:

UNMARKED.

I bit back the hot tears threatening their way to my eyes. I turned to leave, not wanting to be in there for a second longer, but was stopped by another tone from the device. I whirled my head back toward the screen. An ounce of hope brought my heartbeat to a dangerously fast pace.

ERROR CODE 4353: UNABLE TO DETERMINE SOUL STRENGTH. TOO HIGH TO COMPUTE.

Too high to compute?

No. That had to be a joke.

Drayek was known to have one of the highest levels of Soul Strength in Edrona, and he had come out of his ceremony with 20. And even now, he wasn’t past 30. How high did mine have to be to essentially break the device? 40? 50? Impossible!

Yes. A mistake. That’s what it has to be.

Without hesitation, I reached out to touch the screen again, but just as soon as my fingertips brushed the screen, the iridescent glow faded and went completely black. No amount of poking or prodding brought the device back to life.

I shoved a fist to my mouth and held in a scream of frustration. Even if I had an insurmountable amount of Soul Strength, what was the good of that if I wasn’t Marked?! I had no hope of cultivating and advancing through the Tiers–no matter the ridiculous amount of Soul Strength I might have!

Not to mention the fact that the goddess withheld a Mark only from those with zero Soul Strength–to protect them! So, what was up with my status? Did she not want to give me a Mark because I’m not Edronan?

I ground my teeth and clenched my fists, forcing myself to not grab the ceremony device and throw it against a wall. All of my past fears, insecurities, and worries came up all at once. They brought an uncomfortable tightness to my chest. It didn’t seem fair–it wasn’t fair!

Even after I calmed myself down with a few slow breaths, I couldn’t stop staring at the strange device–the device that had decided my entire future within just a few minutes.

I could’ve stayed, staring, for much longer, but I didn’t want to get into trouble for standing in the altar box for too long. Though ceremony times varied by individual, I could tell my time in the room was beginning to surpass any of the others’.

I trudged my way down the corridor of the altar box. The torches still blazed with their eerily blue flames but extinguished themselves one by one as I walked by.

Finally, I reached the door of the box and heaved it open with my shoulder. I attempted to wipe the scowl off my face for the Priests’ sakes. I didn’t have to smile, but I didn’t have to look angry, either.

“Well?”

I ripped my eyes away from my feet and met the gaze of each Priest one by one, then ended in a staring match with Priest Kane.

“What happened?” The Priest licked his cracked lips greedily.

I shrunk back a step but answered, “UnMarked.”

The Priests glanced at one another, but no one offered a response to my declaration.

“Did anything else happen? Did you actually see the word ‘UnMarked’?” Priest Kane inched half a foot toward me, and I took another step back.

“Uh, isn’t the Marking Ceremony sacred? I was under the impression that we don’t discuss details.”

All of the Priests were closer to me now. They started to surround me in a suffocating circle of red robes and curious stares.

Priest Kane shrugged and chuckled. “Oh, just this once, boy. What exactly did the device say?”

I swallowed. Something about the intensity of his stare raised the hairs on the back of my neck. It felt… off.

“It said I am UnMarked. That’s all,” I lied. But I continued the staring contest with Priest Kane and urged the nervous trembling in my limbs to cease.

I didn’t want to reveal my “too high” Soul Strength. I didn’t like how the Priests watched my every move with hints of curious smiles on their faces.

“You must be disappointed,” said a Priestess to my far left. But, even as she spoke, her abnormal smile didn’t falter.

In fact, even after I declared my status for the second time, the Priests were not deterred. They continued their study of me.

Priest Kane grinned, but his eyes didn’t lift as they would with a genuine smile. They remained round and scanned every inch of my body.

“I’m sorry, my boy. But there is a purpose for all of Lady Euridice’s people here in Edrona. We’ll find something for you.”

“Of course.” I gave a curt nod and wiggled my way out of the tight circle of Priests.

It took all of my self-control not to run for the exit, but it didn’t stop the breath of relief I released once I made it outside of the building.

Then I broke out into a jog.

It was late into the night, so all other ceremony initiates and various passersby were most likely in their homes and in bed. So, I kept running down the road. But I still caught myself looking back at the massive gray-stoned temple with its tall spire poking into the night sky.

Every time I had come into town in my 16 years of life, I had looked at the Temple of Euridice with awe and anticipation. Yes, the lingering fear of coming out UnMarked had always been there, but that had never quenched my hopes and endless daydreaming. I’d wanted to be as strong as Drayek someday–stronger. Now, that would never be a possibility.

The intricately carved statue of Lady Euridice, the goddess of all in existence, still loomed in front of the temple as it always did. Once, I would have admired the beautiful features carved into her round face and the time it had taken the sculptor to detail the curls in the long locks that fell past the end of her long gown. But now, it felt like the statue was just a mocking reminder.

I could have sworn I saw the corners of the goddess’s stone lips uptick into a half-smile, as if she taunted me. I wasn’t one of her chosen. I never had been.

I wiped a sleeve against the stubborn tear that had escaped my eye and quickened my pace, headed for home.