Food helped keep my eclipse core’s urges at bay. It was as if a full belly tricked my core into thinking it was full, too. It was a close call between Eric and me to see who loaded up the most bacon, sausage, eggs, and fluffy waffles.

“You two won’t be able to walk if you eat all that,” Clem said with a wrinkled nose. “There’s a table over there.”

We followed her pink hair through the crowd of other upperclassmen. I spotted Rafael across the room and couldn’t help but smile when he ducked his head and looked away from me. He’d clearly watched my fights and knew that the next time we crossed swords, there’d be a very different ending from what had happened last time.

“Where’d Abi go?” Eric asked. “I thought he was right behind you.”

“Portal Defense Force stuff,” I said around a mouthful of bacon. “He’ll catch us at lunch.”

Several of the other upperclassmen gave me uncertain waves when they passed by. It was hard to get used to all these people who’d shunned me last year being suddenly friendly. On the one hand, I knew they weren’t sincere, they were just sucking up to the School’s champion. On the other hand, the attention really was nice.

“—the trial’s not even going to happen until the end of the school year,” Clem said as she took her seat. Her plate was mostly fresh fruits and berries, with a sprinkling of crispy-skinned fried donut holes covered in a sugar glaze. “Grayson’s convinced the judiciary he needs more time to prepare his case because he’s had so much trouble getting a lawyer to take him on as a client. What with the assassins and the anti-flame stuff.”

Clem rolled her eyes at that last, like it was the most ridiculous thing she’d ever heard.

After he’d been arrested and hauled off to a holding cell awaiting trial, Grayson Bishop had insisted his life was in danger. He blamed me for upsetting the pact he’d made with the Locust Court and insisted the hungry spirits would kill him before they’d let him testify. That had severely limited the number of lawyers willing and able to defend him in court. If there really were spirit assassins coming for the former headmaster, anyone close to him would be in danger.

“The hungry spirits won’t kill him,” I said. “Though they’d kill me if they got the chance.”

My friends looked at me like I’d sprouted a pair of horns.

“Don’t talk like that!” Clem said. “You’re safe here. They’ve got all the portals on lockdown. No one can come in or out of the school without security knowing about it.”

I shoveled in a fork full of syrup-drenched waffles and chased it with half a sausage patty. I hid my disagreement with Clem’s thoughts behind an unnecessarily long drink of orange juice.

Everyone insisted the emissary I’d killed last year was the only member of the Locust Court who’d made it past the Far Horizon portals. Of course, before I’d ripped the corer out of that hungry spirit, everyone had insisted there were no members of the Court on this side of the portals at all.

If the headmaster of the most prestigious Empyreal martial arts school had been in contact with renegade spirits, anything was possible. That’s part of what had sparked the anti-Flame protests and attacks. We’d been promised we were safe after the Utter War. That didn’t seem like much of a guarantee after what I’d uncovered.

A loud chime rang through the dining hall, saving me from any further conversation on the subject.

“Oh, man,” Eric groaned and shoved his plate back. “I’m still starving.”

“Then keep eating,” Clem said as she popped a doughnut hole into her mouth. Sugary crumbs clung to her pink-glossed lips for a moment, and she licked them away with a quick swipe of her tongue. “That wasn’t the end of meal chime.”

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

We didn’t have to wonder about the bell for long, because the dining hall’s doors flew open a moment later to reveal a flood of new initiates. They rushed in, eyes wide and mouths hanging open as they tried to take in every detail of their surroundings. They were only a year younger than me, but their rambunctious entrance made them seem like children.

"There are so few of them," Clem grinned at me. "You did your job too well."

Eric laughed, and I grimaced. Beating the School's champion was a sure way to gain admission, or higher ranks if you were an upperclassman, but no one had gotten past me during the whole Five Dragons Challenge. Even Hank, one of the school's most famous former champions had been beaten, and not just by me.

Of course, he'd also seriously injured dozens of other contenders on Grayson Bishop’s orders.

I'd only killed one.

"I was just following the rules," I said to Clem. "Maybe this year's contenders just weren't very good."

"What about that one?" Clem asked and speared her fork over my shoulder.

I twisted in my seat to find an initiate waving at me from across the room. The girl was very short, less than five feet tall, with sharp, elfin features, and long, smooth black hair she wore braided over one shoulder. I vaguely remembered her from Dallas and realized she was one of the contenders I'd beaten most easily. I gave her an offhanded wave and turned my attention back to Clem.

"I'm not sure why she’s here," I admitted. "I dropped her in the first ten seconds."

"Doesn't look like she has any hard feelings toward you about it," Clem said and harpooned a raspberry on the tines of her fork. "You really were something out there, Jace."

"I've never seen anything like it," Eric agreed. He washed his pancakes down with a gulp of milk so cold condensation rolled down the glass like beads. "You're going to have to teach me some of those moves."

I chuckled nervously at the request. To those who’d watched me fight, I’d seemed faster, more agile, and stronger than my opponents. From the audience’s point of view, they saw flashing serpents, careful blocks, and stunning strikes that dismantled my opponents with skill and ease.

I wondered how they'd feel if they knew the truth.

No, I wouldn't be teaching Eric any of my tricks.

“We'll see,” I said. “Remember, most of my fights were against newbies who didn’t have any training at all. I probably could have—”

“Greetings, initiates and upperclassman,” a tall, slender woman with a mane of fiery red hair called out as she entered the dining room behind the flood of initiates. “As I'm sure you're all aware, Sage Bishop will not be joining us as Headmaster this year.”

She paused for a moment to let the Resplendent Suns clan grumble and the Disciples of Jade Flame cheer, before she continued.

“I will be stepping into Sage Bishop's shoes for the year.” She nodded and smiled easily at the uncertain applause from the rest of us. “As I'm sure you're all aware, the circumstances surrounding the School of Swords and Serpents have not been, to put it mildly, well received. As a result, the Adjudicators have assigned me to help restore order to our campus and ensure there are no repeats of last year's unfortunate events.”

“So, she's the one,” Clem said with a frown. “Mother told me they were sending a disciplinarian to crack down. That explains the Portal Defense Force presence.”

“My name is Morgan Cruzal,” the woman said. “I will be your new headmistress. In order avoid any further unfortunate events at the school, we have implemented several new rules this year. You will find curfews posted for initiates, restrictions on techniques, and other safety codes posted in the common areas. Please review and remember them.”

That drew groans from most of the upperclassman.

“But, first,” Headmistress Cruzal said, “I’d like to take a moment to congratulate our champion for his perfect record during the tour of the Five Dragons Challenge.”

The headmistress crossed the dining room with flowing steps that carried her to me far more quickly than I would've thought possible. Her long, thin fingers closed warmly over my left shoulder, and I couldn't help but return her beaming smile.

“Initiates, this is Mr. Jace Warin,” she gave my shoulder a gentle squeeze, and pulled me closer to her side. Her ornate gray robes did nothing to shield me from her warmth. It was like standing too close to a working stove. “Mr. Warin served the school better than any champion in my memory. We would all do well to follow in his example this year.”

She stepped back form me, and I was struck by just how beautiful she really was. When she smiled at me, I felt the first glimmers of something I'd been searching for since the first day I stepped through the school's front doors.

Acceptance.

She put her hands together with vigorous applause. I basked in the warmth of her praise, then felt my cheeks redden as the other students stood from their tables to join her. Everyone was looking at me with what seemed like real warmth and pride.

For the first time in my life, I didn't feel like an outsider.