“These students have worked tirelessly for the past fifteen years to achieve the honor of participating in the ceremony today. My name is Onyx, and I'll be leading the ceremony today! As you may have noticed by what the students are wearing, this year is celebrating the element of fire, so the final test will be fire!” The head official's voice echoed, and the crowd roared.

  I had read about the traditions of the ceremony several times. There were four tests, and each one was supposed to be related to one of the four elements. Water was usually a test of stability and knowledge, while fire was a test of instincts and courage. Earth tested endurance, and air was generally a test of speed. Since fire would be last this year, the tests would be earth, air, water, then fire, in that order. Even though each test was designed to gauge the affinity of each element, the trick was to use your knowledge of each element for all the tests, not just the one it was named for.

  “As you all know, we'll be starting with earth this year!” Onyx broke me from my thoughts. “Earth symbolizes strength and endurance. Our students will be paired up and attempt to knock their partner down. Anyone who falls will be disqualified!” The nearby officials started pairing us up and moving us to give reasonable space around us.

  Students all around me were getting paired off, and I started to get nervous. Did they know? Were they going to kick me out before I even had a chance to start? An official walked toward me and grabbed my arm. Just as I started to protest, he led me to a tall and rather muscular boy wearing a red shirt. Luckily I didn't recognize him.

  “This is going to be your partner, good luck,” the officer said to me, smirking. Seriously, this had to be the most muscular guy here! They might as well have just disqualified me. I looked him over, terrified. He kept clenching and un-clenching his right fist—right handed, perhaps?

  “Aren't you a little small to be doing this?” The giant asked me. I grinned and met his eyes.

  “Aren't you a little big to be picking on a girl like me?”

  Onyx's voice echoed in the crater before the giant had a chance to respond. “Students, are you ready? Hold your hands up in front of your chests, palms out.” The giant and I followed his directions, as did everyone around us. “Meet your partner's palms, but don't start yet!” God, his hands are ginormous, I thought as our hands met. “Everyone ready?” The crowd was silent in anticipation. “And... START!”

  The crowd exploded into cheers as the giant clamped his hands over mine and pushed, hard. He nearly pushed me off my feet, but I quickly regained my balance. He was too strong for me, though, sliding me back even though I was pushing him with everything I had. I'm never going to push him down, I realized. It was only a matter of time before my muscles tired and he knocked me over. So don't push him down. Let him push himself down.

  I concentrated on his pressure at my palms, ignoring the beads of sweat forming on my forehead. Just as I had expected, he was pushing harder with his right arm—right handed. Be smooth, like water, I told myself. I took a breath and stopped resisting the force from his right arm, while moving my own right hand to the left in one fluid motion. The giant's right hand pushed past me while his left betrayed him, pushing him off balance. There was a loud thud as he fell to the ground beside me.

  “Nice work,” a nearby official praised. I beamed, never feeling so triumphant in my life. Onyx's whistle blew after a few seconds, and I looked around. Sure enough, half as many students were still standing as there were before. I caught sight of Jackson for a second, and my heart stopped. He was looking away—he hadn't seen me. I turned away from him and kept my head down, some loose strands of hair falling around my face.

  “Well, that was quick!” Onyx shouted to the crowd, who burst out in laughter. “Next up is air! For this test, we'll be letting the students loose in the city. My officials have hidden twenty blue flags in the streets. The students will go into the city and retrieve a flag, as quick as they can! They can use any means necessary to retrieve the flags, other than injuring other contestants. Anyone caught inside buildings will be immediately disqualified!” I grinned. I had been running the streets of Rune my entire life, and I knew them well. Only twenty flags, though. That meant less than half of us would make it to the water test.

  “Students, are you ready? You'll have to be quick, like the wind.” The crowd's cheers made it hard to hear Onyx's voice. “On my mark. Ready, Go!”

  My feet carried me through the crowd, which had parted to watch us go past. I darted in and out of alleys, searching for a sign of blue. Above me, some dirt fell where a student was jumping rooftop to rooftop. Smart, I thought. Getting a bird's eye view. I scaled a short wall and climbed onto the roof, surveying the city. I could see eight signs of blue below—no, seven, six... The flags were going fast. I frantically looked around and saw a swatch of blue, about 200 feet ahead of me.

  Dashing from rooftop to rooftop, I quickly closed the distance between myself and the blue flag. I jumped down into the alley that hid the flag and reached for it, but a hand grabbed it that wasn't my own. Stunned for a moment, I watched the red-shirted student turn the corner into the street. Catch him, you idiot! I chased after him, catching up to him quickly. He wasn't very fast. Without thinking, I jumped onto his back and desperately tried to wrench the flag from his hand.

  “Get off, get off!” the boy shouted as he tried to shove me off his shoulders. He looked up and saw my face, and his eyes widened.

  “Claire?” My heart stopped for a split second. This was one of Jackson's friends, Aaron. My mind cleared and I remembered the goal; the flag. Still shocked from my presence, Aaron had loosened his grip on the flag. I snatched it out of his hand and leaped off his back, racing down the streets toward the crater. I jogged into the crater's center, where about fifteen other students with flags were waiting. The crowd cheered as I passed them, but I was distracted by the expression on one of the official's face as I entered the circle. He looked livid.

  “What do you think you're doing?” The official demanded.

  “I—I got a flag,” I stammered. The crowd quieted as the official grabbed my arm, leading me to where Onyx was standing.

  “How old are you?” He asked as escorted me across the crater's base. We had caught Onyx's attention now, and he was walking toward us.

  “What's going on, Francis?” Onyx asked as he looked from me to the flag still clutched in my hand.

This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

  “Onyx, sir, this child is clearly underage,” the official, Francis, replied.

  “What is your name, girl?” Onyx asked, this time to me.

  “Claire, Claire Diane Tethers.” My heart pounded in my ears. I had gotten so far, there were only two tests left!

  “I don't have a Claire on my list,” Onyx said, flipping through his papers. “How old are you, Claire?” I caught sight of Aaron lurking behind Francis.

  “Eighteen,” I replied. “But you can't disqualify me! I made it to the top twenty contestants! I only have two tests left!”

  “Shut up, you!” Francis shouted, shaking me. I broke free from his grip and moved closer to Onyx, placing my hands on his papers.

  “Please sir, I know I'm too young but I worked so hard to get here, please just let me finish the tests—”

  “So you knowingly disobeyed the law and deceived the people of Rune to sabotage the most important ceremony of the generation?” Onyx asked.

  “Y-Yes, but—”

  “And you thought that you would get away with it? That you would survive the tests and be awarded the Elementorium?” He scoffed.

  “Well, I—”

  “Take her away. I'll deal with her after the tests,” He ordered to Francis. Frantic, I looked everywhere among the crowd for a friendly face. I found my mother's round face looking incredulously at me, shocked beyond belief. I turned and scanned the group of red-shirted testers in the circle, looking for Jackson. I saw him moving toward me, looking determined, and a spark of hope ignited in my heart.

  “Please, sir. Just let her go, she got this far and that's very admirable. Just let her go, since it's a special day,” Jackson pleaded with Onyx.

  “You expect me to just drop all her charges and let her continue testing? That's preposterous! Who do you think you are?” Onyx demanded.

  “No, of course she can't participate in the tests,” Jackson continued. My heart fell. “Just let her go. She is a minor, after all.” Onyx looked down at me, his stern expression softening.

  “Very well,” he said. “You've gotten very lucky, Miss Tethers. I had better not see your sorry face again today. Now, run along home.”

  I stumbled out of the circle, astonished. They had let me go, just like that. I thought for sure I would have been taken to prison or something. Head down, I made my way through the silent crowd, my face burning. I pulled the hair tie out, releasing my hair from its ponytail. My hair cascaded around me like a golden waterfall, but it didn't provide much protection or comfort from the prying eyes of the crowd. Tears burned at my eyes, and I broke into a run.

  I didn't stop running until I was safe in my room, with the door shut behind me. I fell to the floor, tears flooding my eyes and trailing down my cheeks. Useless, my inner voice said. You're completely useless, and now the whole city knows it. You should have just been a supportive sister for Jackson but you just had to go and try to steal it all away from him. Selfish. My inner voice was venomous and cruel, but it was also right. I was selfish for thinking I could have the Elementorium, it was never mine to have in the first place. The stunt I pulled today nearly landed me in jail, and I could have ruined Jackson's chances of winning the tests.

  I don’t know how long I stayed there, huddled against my door like a child. The tears had long since dried up when I took my favorite book downstairs and curled up on the couch to lose myself in the fantasy world of angels and demons. The lights in the streets came on, the artificial light streaming through the windows and into the living room. I could see the moonless night sky through the glass, reminding me of the power I could have gotten today.

  Suddenly, I realized how much time had passed since I was thrown out of the ceremony. It was just after lunch when I had gotten home, and now it was dark outside. Mom and Jackson should have been home hours ago, did something happen? I closed my book and headed to the front door, just as Jackson burst through, his face beaming.

  “Clary! Guess what?” He asked, his excitement barely contained. He looked like a little kid on his birthday. “I did it! I won the tests!” My throat constricted.

  “That’s what took us so long,” my mom interjected. “They were going over how Jackson should use the Elementorium to protect himself from thieves for now, and we ironed out some specifics on when his lessons will be.”

  “I start lessons tomorrow! Isn’t this great, Clary?”

  “I don’t believe this,” I managed, the words coming out of my throat mangled and twisted. I ran upstairs and locked myself in the bathroom, where I could finally breathe. How the hell did Jackson of all people pass the last two tests? He’s always been a good student, but I can’t believe that he managed to beat Zac. I wanted to scream. All my dreams and goals, not only destroyed but stolen by my brother, all in one day.

  “Claire, open the door,” my mother said as she jiggled the doorknob.

  “Go away.” I started the bath water and slipped out of my dirty clothes as my mom made her way back downstairs. The bath water was warm, and it calmed my temper. I soaked in it for about half an hour before I heard Jackson wish Mom goodnight and head into his room. I closed my eyes, wanting to forget everything that had happened today.

  When I woke up, the bath water was cold. I quickly got out of the tub and toweled off, then wrapped my warm bathrobe around myself and bundled my dirty clothes in my arms. Quietly I padded to my room, passing Jackson’s open door on my way. Something caught my eye—a glow from inside his room. I peeked into his room and saw him asleep, with the Elementorium glowing on his chest. Your Elementorium, my mind whispered to me.

  Carefully I went into Jackson’s room, transfixed by the glow of the Elementorium. Your Elementorium, my mind reminded me. It would be so easy to take it; he probably wouldn’t even wake up. I stuffed my clothes into my robe pockets and reached to Jackson’s chest, hands trembling. The Elementorium glowed brightly in response to my proximity, it’s light somehow calling out to me. I touched the cool metal and the glowing stopped immediately. I gasped as Jackson’s eyes flew open, panicked as though he had just woken up from a nightmare. Reflexively I wrapped my hand around the Elementorium and pulled, hard. The chain broke from his neck and I backed away.

  “What have you—CLAIRE!” Jackson roared, groping desperately at his chest. Shit, I hadn’t thought this far ahead. Window, something in my mind whispered to me. To my right was an open window. We were on the second floor, but the roof wasn’t very high from this room—Jackson and I used to sneak up there all the time. As Jackson struggled to untangle himself from his sheets, I slipped through the window and hoisted myself up onto the roof.

  The night air was cold, especially since I was still in my bathrobe. I started moving along the roof toward the city wall, as Jackson followed me onto the rooftop. He reached out and grabbed my robe, pulling me to him. White light began to emanate brightly from the hand that clutched the Elementorium. I reached behind me and pushed Jackson away, a gust of air mimicking my motion and pushing Jackson three house lengths away. He looked at me, terrified, as I examined my hand. It was glowing now too, with the same white light.

  “What’s going on up there?” A city guard’s voice shouted from down below. I quickly turned back to the direction of the wall and began leaping rooftop to rooftop, gusts of air propelling me forward. The wall wasn’t much taller than the houses, so I climbed up and over it without a second thought. I hit the ground outside the wall with a thud, pain shooting up my leg. I pulled myself to my feet, adrenaline letting me ignore the pain in my leg as I raced into the dense forest that covers all of Rein. Normally everything would be pitch black this late at night, but the Elementorium was giving me some sort of night vision. I could hear Jackson behind me, calling out for me, as well as a few city guards who were venturing into the forest too. But they couldn’t see in the dark like I could. I moved deeper into the forest until I couldn’t hear them anymore, then slumped against a large tree. The Elementorium glowed warmly in my hand, one small comfort in the wake of all the havoc I had wreaked today.