I fled across the hallways of Teshima Academy, a hundred mirrors reflecting my tears. Chairs popped into existence, enticing me to slow down and seek comfort. I ignored them, my legs burning as I sprinted across the academy.

The hush of the crowd had been deafening. It hurt almost as much as my brother’s strike.

I didn't know what to do.

So, I ran.

When I reached the end of a corridor, a new one appeared, the halls of the academy protectively steering me away from anyone that tried to approach me.

Except nobody had run after me when I’d left the hall. Not even my brother.

Well, that wasn’t quite true.

“Suna!”

MKynari’s voice floated through the corridors and I shifted to the side to try and lose her.

The pain in my side flared up where my brother had struck me, causing me to cry out and fall. The carpet rose in front of me, stopping my head from slamming onto the floor.

My hands seized the lush material in an iron grip, taking comfort in the academy’s company. But it couldn’t stop the pain I felt in my side, the impact of my brother’s fingers was imprinted on my flesh and carved into my mind.

Kynari skidded through the hallway in front of me, concern etched in her face.

“No,” I shuffled back. “Go away.”

I went flying backward as Kynari bowled into me, my arms flailing and smacking against the carpet. Once, I would have fought back and we’d tumble across the carpet trying to compete against each other.

But now I hesitated. Kynari was a genius. And viewers watched her. That meant we were no longer equals.

She's better than me now and my brother says that worthless people can’t fight back against their betters.

“You dummy!” Kynari smacked her hands lightly against my shoulders. “I was trying to catch you!”

I was too dazed to respond, but one question escaped my lips.

“What about my brother?” I asked.

Kynari paused, her raised hands falling to her side as she faltered.

“Yeah, he, um, he said you were too awesome. Then he left,” Kynari said.

“You’re lying,” I said, and I saw her expression fall. “I’m worthless. He said so. And now I have to leave.”

“No,” Kynari shook her head. “You’re not worthless. Right, dad?”

“Right.”

A powerful voice wept across the hallway, anger and fury chained within it. Even a single word was enough to strike fear into the heart of the stone walls, the mirrors and floor quivering.

The speaker landed softly in front of me, his shoes tapping against the carpet.

It was Kynari’s father.

“Go away,” I said. He was the last man in the world that I wanted to see.

Kynari looked at me in shock.

“Suna!”

“It’s alright, Kynari,” Forza’s gaze was kind as he looked at me. “Suna, we haven’t had a proper conversation before, have we?”

I shook my head. I’d seen Kynari speaking to him plenty of times. And I’d seen others approaching him with awe in their eyes, most of them trembling as they did so, but I’d avoided him.

After all, Forza didn’t like my brother.

“You’re the person that got me kicked out of my home,” I glared at him. “You told everyone that I can’t walk the paths.”

“I did not expect your brother to- no, wait, that is not the issue,” Forza paused, “I owe you an apology.”

Kynari’s father lowered himself beside me, “May I sit here?”

I shuffled to the side, not dignifying him with an answer because I would break down in tears if I gave one.

The floor sank under Forza’s weight. His arms were as big as my chest, and his skin was gold like the statue outside. Motes of valoa dancing in and out of his body, teasing me.

The difference between him and I was night and day.

“Suna, do you like living in Teshima Academy?”

“…Yes,” I said.

“Because of its reputation?” Forza asked.

I shook my head, clasping the carpet defensively.

“It's my home. And my friend.”

Forza glanced at me, the ghost of a smile on his lips.

“I used to run through the halls when I was a student, just like you and Kynari do,” he said, his voice carrying a hint of nostalgia.

“You did?” I asked.

I tried to imagine it and my mind conjured an image of a giant, muscular man smiling like a child.

“Why?” I frowned. “Teshima Academy is the academy of war. My brother said the viewers laugh at us when they see us being silly and weak.”

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Forza shook his head, “ha. That’s what they call it now. Before the war it was just Teshima, ‘the very hard academy to get into’. You didn’t need to be on a path if you studied hard enough. Not fully.”

“You didn’t need a path?” I asked. “Isn’t that impossible?”

“Even if everyone in Nahcari walks a path, most people never take more than the first step,” Forza replied. "Those that do so at seventeen are prodigies. Ordinary people do not walk their first step for years after they qualify. I knew a man that didn't step onto a path until he was thirty."

Kynari’s father placed a hand against the carpet, patting it softly. The lush rug shifted under his touch, wriggling with joy.

“Tell me,” Forza turned to me. “Do you want to stay here?”

“I can’t because I’m worthless. My brother’s taking away my referral and nobody else will give me one.”

“That’s not what I asked,” Forza said.

I paused as his question echoed in my mind.

There was only one answer, “I want to stay.”

This was the only home I’d ever known. And I didn’t want to get kicked out.

“But I’m not worthy,” I lowered my head dejectedly.

“Hmm,” Forza tilted his head, letting out a slow and pensive sigh. “Worthiness…Not quite the word I’d use, but I’ll stick with it. Suna, there is a way to be worthy enough for Teshima Academy. If you know it, you can stay.”

“REALLY?” My voice crashed over the hall.

“Yes, but wait,” Forza raised his hand, stalling my excitement. “It’s not easy.”

“But I have a chance?” I asked. “To stay here?”

“There’s always a chance if you fight for it.” Forza beamed at my words, his expression reminding me of Kynari when she found an extra candy in her dessert tray.

Then I faltered as I saw the flaw in my words, “but I still have to leave when I reach seventeen years old. Only students can stay here after that. And because I’m worthless my brother will never train me again. So becoming a student is impossible.”

“Well, what I’m going to tell you can take care of that too,” Forza clapped his hands together, startling me. “But as you said, not everyone can study at Teshima. Or live here. I want you to do something. Let’s call it a test of worthiness. If you pass, I'll tell you how you can keep your home.”

I looked up, meeting his gaze, “A test? I can do that,” I clenched my fingers into a fist, pressing it against my chest in the salute my brother taught me. “No. I will do it.”

My heart blazed with a dangerous mix of determination and excitement.

“That’s what I was hoping for.”

Forza’s expression mirrored how I felt.

“Tell me Suna, did your brother ever tell you about dungeons?”

****

Kynari’s father lifted us both up by our collars and jumped into the air, but I was too dazed to react. It took me a moment to realize that he was flying. I was too since he was carrying me. I could see the buildings of Teshima City cascading across gentle hills, several metal bridges looping above the city with people walking over them, happily going about their lives.

It should have been amazing, but all of my emotions were dull.

When Forza descended, the ground opened up like a giant maw and he let go of me, sending me plummeting into the hole. I screamed the whole way down, right until I hit the ground and bounced. The floor was soft, and spongy.

“The test is here?” I was in a cave. “It’s dark.”

“This is the dungeon,” Forza said. “Three rooms lay within its depths. Pass their trials, and I will tell you how you can stay at Teshima Academy.

Good luck to both of you. Kynari, you know what to do sweetie. Try not to die.”

Forza floated through the exit and it closed, cutting off the light and trapping us in the dungeon.

A spatter of fear entered my heart, and I turned around to see where I’d been taken to. The dungeon was a dark cave. I should have known that, but to my surprise the area wasn’t a desolate empty patch of darkness. Soft blue light surrounded me. All the rocks around me were bathed in valoa. Kynari had landed to my left, brushing off a heap of dust from her robe and giving me a smile.

I returned her smile with a weak one, my heart still not in it.

“Where are we?” I asked, my voice hoarse from the flight.

“This is the dungeon,” Kynari said, sweeping her tiny arms grandly. “My dad says it’s very, very far away from the academy. He throws me in here from time to time because it’s good training.”

“Training,” I repeated. “What kind of training?”

Only people with worth deserved training. That was what my brother had taught me. I couldn’t see how to pass that obstacle. My lack of worth was part of me.

Kynari narrowed her eyes in annoyance, “that’s what I’m going to show you. Duh.”

I didn’t speak back to her. I couldn’t. My brother said that was how the world worked and nobody spoke back to him. Not even his war band. If they did, then terrible things happened. Which was okay because my brother had taken multiple steps into his path, so he had to be respected.

So, I kept my mouth shut. And my comeback died in my mind.

Kynari gave me a confused look. After waiting a moment she huffed and walked deeper into the dungeon, disappearing behind some rocks. I followed her closely, not wanting to get left behind.

We emerged into an empty space, almost exactly the same as the one we had left.

“There are four rooms. The first one is the most boring,” Kynari said. “Now, sit and close your eyes.”

“Why?” I asked.

“Cause dad says so.”

She was right. It was boring.

We sat there for thirty minutes, but after the first minute I opened my eyes. The rocks around me were all tinged blue just like the ones in the entrance, but the colors were swirling in vague patterns. Tiny little strands of blue fuzz poked upward from each rock, swaying gently in an invisible breeze.

A pulse of blue light swept across the surface of the fuzz, slowly growing smaller until it disappeared. The moment it did, Kynari stood up.

“Okay, we’re done. Come on, the next one is the worst.”

“Worse than sitting down?” I lifted myself up.

“Much worse,” Kynari shook her head gravely. “You’ll see.”

Oh no. I thought. I was feeling so good too.

The emotions that had swirled so aggressively inside me had stopped churning. They were still there, but they didn’t try to break me anymore. I hadn’t been like that before entering the room. I was sure of it.

I didn’t have time to think about the change as Kynari stepped into the nearby wall and disappeared.

“Kynari?!”

Kynari. Kynari. Kynari.

My shout of surprise echoed back at me.

Two orange eyes popped out of the wall, staring at me.

“What?” Kynari asked.

I stared at her, then stepped up next to her. There was a small passage in the wall that I couldn’t see from where I was. It was barely tall and wide enough to fit both of us in there side by side.

“Nothing,” I hid my blush with my hand.

“You’re weird,” Kynari said.

No, you’re weird. I thought. But I didn't say my thoughts out loud.

Kynari frowned again, grabbing my hand and leading me through the passage.

On the other side was a wide open space the size of my bedroom, with several little plants. They bore verdant and lush fruits with small spikes coming out of them. Smooth green light fell from above from a cluster of green valoa clinging to the ceiling. It looked big. Really big. Like it had been gathering for a long time, unused.

Four tables lay out in a cross shape in the center of the room, each with a board on them. The boards were made of squares of two different colors, black and light brown, and had several strange pieces on top of them. They were made of chipped and fragmented wood that had been glued back together.

There was a green-skinned creature in the middle of the table formation, hairless and draped with a robe woven from jade light and stars.

It had four thin and gangly arms, but none of them were in the right places. One stuck out from its back, and one from its chest. The other two that should be coming out of its shoulders were shooting out of its ribs. Also, its body was completely transparent. It almost looked like it was made out of a thin veil of green valoa.

“A viewer?!” I cried out.