I came back to life with a start, still looking up toward the plinth precipice from which Tamra had kicked me. The Summoner Elder stood there with the victorious girl, taking her hand to raise it overhead.

“We have our victor!” the Elder intoned. I saw a metallic device sparkling at the base of her neck that was presumably augmenting her voice so that it rang through the cavernous room. Tamra looked as smug as a cat that had eaten a bowlful of cream. I couldn’t blame her – I’d have looked the same if I ever won. And now I’ll get the chance to. I made it to third place! I leapt to my feet and clapped for the winner. She’d been part of my success, and I wouldn’t forget it. As my hands came together, I saw that I was still missing my pinky, though the stump had the smooth look of a long-healed wound. Apparently the Melee room knew the difference between a wound incurred during battle and one that was the result of a demon contract. Ah, well. I knew what I was giving up when I made the deal. A finger to be able to stay? I’ll pay that price any day.

“This is the third Melee in a row that has gone to the Warriors,” the Elder said. “Should they win a fourth, the other Orders will be denied use of their Halls until they are dethroned. And lest you think a week sleeping in the halls a light punishment, I will inform you that from here on out Melees will be more infrequent. I hope it has not escaped your notice that both last time and this, the winner formed an alliance beforehand. Now that you have learned to fight and die on your own, the Melee will in large part be replaced by Team Challenges. That means that if the Warriors win the next Melee, you may not see the inside of your Hall for several months. I, for one, do not wish to smell what becomes of you for that duration. Let it be extra incentive. For now, though, Tamra has earned her hours of private instruction from the Warrior Hierophant. Dismissed!”

She looked directly at me and pointed at the ground beyond the mountain construct with a look that said Meet me there. My heart thudded painfully. She’s going to let me choose my Order. I made it! I turned to descend and saw the mass of students on the plateau down from mine milling and conferring. I didn’t exactly feel like getting into any conversations that might turn awkward. Where did that demon come from? Wait, you summoned it? Plenty of time for that later, once I was no longer the odd man out.

Sett slid down the slope behind me, rubbing his chest and looking distant. He was so absorbed in his thoughts that he walked right past me without stopping.

“Hey, Sett,” I said, clapping him on the shoulder. “We did it! All the way to the top. First place and then second for you, hey? None of those other Warrior goons are ever going to be able to catch up to your ranking.”

He paused when my hand fell on him, but even when he looked at me, his gaze was unfocused and troubled. “My ranking? Yeah. Yeah, that’s good.”

“Are you all right?” I asked.

He opened his mouth as if to reply, but nothing came out. Then he just walked off, clambering down the hill as if I hadn’t said anything.

Odd. I wasn’t used to seeing him out of sorts. Maybe he was upset about losing his training ring to Tamra, or maybe he was more competitive than I realized and was taking the loss hard. I’d have to ask him about it later -- not to mention making sure that he knew I was firmly in his debt for the foreseeable future. Without him, I’d be picking out my mop and bucket right then instead of choosing my Order.

The others had dispersed enough that I could slip down to the floor. Somehow the Summoner Elder had gotten there before me and stood in a half-circle with the six other Hierophants. They looked stern, impassive, majestic. Hestus spoiled it a little by winking. I stood before them and bowed, and my father, glowering, stepped in next to me.

“Let us be done with this unpleasantness,” the Summoner Elder said. “The boy Maphen has performed beyond all expectations despite the restrictions placed on him, succeeding in contracting a demon at great risk to himself and placing third despite no mastery and no mantle. Are we agreed?” She turned to the other Elders and addressed them one by one. “Lanima? Courin? Seb? Hestus? Maokudd? Zeeri?”

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Each Elder answered in turn with a grave “Yes,” and my spirits inched higher with each affirmation. I’d made it. They weren’t going to make me leave. This was my home now.

“Gared?” my father broke in, putting forth his own name when she failed to. “No.”

“You are not given a vote in this body,” she said mildly. “You forfeited the chance to earn that right a long time ago.”

“He had to have cheated,” my father insisted. “Have you ever seen an Acolyte bond a demon?”

A shadow of unease passed over the Summoner’s face. “I’ve seen it attempted.”

“Someone helped him!” Father snapped. “He should be dead!”

“You’d like that, wouldn’t you?” I muttered.

He shot me a venomous look.

“I am forced to wonder the same,” the Assassin Elder said, voice hardly more than a whisper. “You should be praising the boy, not poking for loopholes.”

“More than that,” the mighty Warrior Elder said. “You should be kneeling at his feet, thanking him for daring to protect you from the Everwar.”

“Well, Gared?” the Summoner said. “What will it be? Will you finally let this matter drop? We claim the boy. You cannot have him.”

He turned to me. “You’ll beg me to take you back when the time comes,” he told me. “I won’t listen.”

I faced him squarely, and with as much calmness and gravity I was able to muster, I said, “Gared of Misfell, you are no longer my father. I will die a thousand times and never ask you for anything. In fact, these are the last words you will ever have from me.” I turned back to the Elders and did not look at him again.

He opened his mouth, but the Summoner Elder forestalled him, holding out a hand toward the entrance. “You’ll be sorry,” he grated. “Every last one of you.” Then he stalked out.

“It may be time to find a new Master of Facilities,” Hestus said.

“Later,” the Summoner Elder said. “Maphen, it is time. Choose your Order as you should have done from the first, and let us close the cover on this particular chapter of the Tower’s history.”

I breathed deeply and knelt before them. It felt right. After all I'd been through, there was only one real choice I could make, and I wasn't going to hesitate. “I beg admission to the Summoners.”

“Damn it all,” Hestus said, chuckling. “The second old Chemosh showed up I knew we’d lost you.”

“Indeed,” the Summoner Elder said, a glint in her eye. “How did you convince him to aid you?”

I looked up. “Do you mean the shit demon? He’d been plaguing me the whole time. I thought you made him do it.”

“Not in the slightest,” she said. “I said I wouldn’t aid you and I meant it. Chemosh has been wandering the halls of the Tower for hundreds of years. He’s an odd one. Most demons will kill us humans on sight and can only be controlled through tight contracts – my congratulations, by the way, on managing even a crude one; that’s terribly impressive for a Neophyte – but Chemosh mostly keeps to himself and wanders where he pleases.”

“Well, he’s had his fun,” I said, holding up my hand with the missing pinky, “and I suppose I can only thank him for it.”

Her eyebrow twitched sharply. It was almost a flinch. “He took your finger?”

I nodded. “Put it on a necklace and strung it around his neck.”

She paled a little. “I see. We’ll...discuss this some other day. For right now: Maphen, you are accepted into the Order of the Summoners. Go join your friends.”

I’d never heard sweeter words in my life.

* * *

That night, firmly ensconced in my little room in the Summoner Hall, I stretched out on my bed and imagined the metallic hardness of my tongue that I’d wake up to. Not an hour before I’d stood in front of the Summoner Remembrance named Deceit and declared my choice of the Iron Tongue mastery. He said I’d wake up with my mantle of charm and attractiveness as well. Lacking it hadn’t stopped me from winning eight more teeth at chop against the others.

Now I was well and truly begun. From here on out, my power and strength would only grow, and one day I would be an Ascended Knight that they’d tell stories about for a thousand years.

But first: a good night’s sleep. I tucked one hand under my pillow to caress the little sunspot viper I’d found tucked against the wall right outside the Summoner Hall. Nobody else saw, and I didn't know how he'd gotten there. I wasn’t sure if I was really supposed to have him... but I wasn’t about to give him up, either.

“Good night, Victus,” I whispered. “We’ll get started in the morning.”