My hands touched the rough surface of the barnacle-covered stone. Flipping it, I looked carefully for the characteristic patterns of my prey. Nothing here either, I thought. I looked further out a bit and saw another promising one.

This is it for sure!

I calmly swam over to it, net in one hand. Upon reaching the rock, I noticed something odd about it. It had a segmented pattern, like scales. I hadn’t seen anything like it before, so I hesitated. Suddenly, a flash of colour – blue and red – darted past, and my gaze locked onto it.

There you are!

I followed its movements until it hid under a new rock. My lungs were starting to burn as I had reached the extent of my breath, but I was so close to catching it! Slowly I approached, net at the ready, as I flipped over the stone. It darted back with incredible mobility, and right into my net.

Got you!

A smile split my face as I looked at my prize, the crawfish desperately trying to escape. I was about to head to the surface for a breath when my foot suddenly caught on something. I looked back to see the strange rock from earlier, except it wasn’t a rock at all! It was some kind of creature, and it had a slimy tendril wrapped around my ankle. Panicked, I tried to pry it free, but it was grasped on tight. I grimaced as searing pain flowed into my leg, its venom taking effect.

I can’t let this ugly rock defeat me! I thought, as my eyes locked on it. I closed my eyes and tried to calm myself despite my body screaming for air. This is what you trained for, Anewa. Motes of light started appearing near me, manifestations of manna. I channelled it into my body, soaking in its burning radiance as it reinforced and strengthened me. I snapped my eyes open, and with a single kick I broke its grasp. A trail of air was left in the wake of my foot, and it felt like my leg was on fire. My leg stopped short of the creature, which was reduced to a pile of viscera as its shell cracked from the force of the water hitting it, and I was launched upward to the surface. I breached the surface of the water like a fish leaping out, holding on to the net, and took a gasping breath of air before I plunged back into the water. Having completed my objective, I surfaced once again and got my bearings.

That kick must have launched me pretty far from the island, I thought as I looked back toward the spire. After catching my breath, I started swimming towards it when pain gripped my leg. That venom did a number on me. I hoped it was nothing serious. I made my way back more slowly, using only my good leg and one arm for propulsion. I checked the net to see of the crawfish was still there. It wasn’t struggling any more.

I finally made my way back to the shore and limped onto land. Quite a few worried eyes met me.

“Are you okay, Anewa?” The voice came from a short woman with bronze skin and braided dark hair, which reached down to just below her shoulders. I lifted the net with my catch.

“I caught one, mother!” I said. When she still looked worried, I followed her gaze to my leg, which was swollen and purple. The top of the foot was red and seeping with clear fluid, like it had been scorched by fire. Yikes, that doesn’t look good.

“We have to get you to Prophet Ilhaui, child,” she said, and I was in no condition to object. She picked me up and carried me over to the temple, worry written on her face. I’ve never been inside the temple before! My excitement died down as we went on. I started getting lightheaded and my eyelids were drooping.

I woke up to resonant chanting, and opened my eyes. I was lying in a bed, and saw a ceiling hewn from rock. The old Prophet stood over me with her eyes closed, muttering words of prayer as a swarm of motes surrounded her and soaked into my injured leg. It felt like pinpricks where they hit, and the throbbing pain slowly faded. She eventually finished her prayers and sat down in a chair next to the bed, letting out a weary sigh.

“I’m glad to see you’re still among us, child. Coral stalker venom is nothing to scoff at. I don’t know what one was doing that close to shore, I’ll have it looked into,” she said. I looked away in embarrassment, muttering my thanks. Mother came running in once she heard my voice, her face moistened by tears of worry. I gave her a reassuring smile as I sat up, and Ilhaui confirmed that I was fine. She came over and gave me a smothering hug.

“Where did my crawfish go?” I asked. “I’m hungry.”

She let out a laugh and started walking me back. “Don’t worry, we’ll get you something to eat.”

The Prophet gave a warm smile as we left the chamber. As we entered the chapel, my eyes were drawn to a statue. A tall woman with a stern face holding a spear. She seemed familiar, but I couldn’t recall having seen her before. I shrugged off the weird feeling and kept following mother. It was dinner time!

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The sun was past its apex, and we could smell the scent of cooked food long before we reached the ground. My tummy was rumbling, and I was looking forward to a good meal.

The others had already started eating by the time we arrived. Two other boys approached as we arrived. The shorter of them was younger than me, having seen his sixteenth solstice. He was well built for his age, and had darker skin than most, with a shaved head. The taller one was of a more slender build, and he was closer to my own height, with bronze skin and short hair. He had seen his twentieth solstice, one more than I had.

“Where have you been, Anewa? We heard you were hurt. Did you go to the temple? How was it? You have to tell!” The younger one was instantly upon me, bombarding me with questions. The older one was clearly curious, but he said nothing.

“I’ll tell you later, Afa, I’m starving! Butat, did you see where they took my crawfish?”

“Um… Your father took it. He said to bring you to him,” Butat mumbled. I followed him to one of the fires, where several people were cooking their catch. It wasn’t difficult to spot father, he was the largest man in the village. I ran forward and leapt at his back, grabbing onto him while he stood there. He didn’t even flinch at the impact.

“You’re getting stronger, boy. Two more solstices and you might make me stumble!” A rumbling baritone met me as he patted my head. He pointed me toward a table where he had prepared our food, and I let go of him to feast on my victory. He turned around and gave my mother a kiss. Gross.

After eating my fill, I went back to find Afa and Butat, to tell them about my adventures. Butat listened intently, while Afa kept asking more questions.

“I wanna go to the temple myself someday. It sounds really cool!” Afa said, excited.

“We’ll all go there on our thirtieth solstice, to celebrate our adulthood. Just be patient,” Butat said. Despite his words, he was clearly curious about visiting too. I looked at them both, and had a thought.

“Why don’t we sneak in there, together? We can do it tonight, while the others are sleeping.”

They gave me a look of concern, and shared a glance with each other. Then they started smiling, and looked back at me, nodding. This is going to be fun! I thought, and we started making plans.

Once night fell, we grabbed a spear each, snuck out of our huts, and met up at the bottom of the trail. We made our way up, winding around the spire toward the temple. We didn’t encounter anything on the way, but we were getting nervous as we approached the temple. Especially once we saw lights inside.

We spoke in hushed whispers, and carefully approached the temple. There were voices inside. I looked at the others, and they seemed as confused as I was. Why is someone else in the temple? Only the prophet is supposed to be there. I hesitantly reached for the door, and the others looked ready to run at a moment’s notice. I gently pushed the door open, praying that it wouldn’t creak, and snuck a peek through the crack. Two women, with skin the colour of sand, and hair of gold, wearing shiny metal suits, were standing there discussing with Prophet Ilhaui, but they were too quiet to hear. I relaxed and summoned my manna, channelling it into my ears to enhance my senses. I thought I caught a few words:

“…prophecy was clear… star-marked child... training...”

A chill ran through my spine. Star-marked child? I felt the star-shaped birthmark on my left chest. It must be a coincidence. The others came in for a peek as well, overcome by curiosity. We all stood there, peeking through the door to get a look at the strange people, not making a sound. After the discussion died down, one of the women turned toward the door, and we all bolted in a panic.

After running for several minutes, we all stopped, panting.

“That… was… so cool! Who were those people!?” Afa was right to ranting as always. “Their skin was so light! Were they maybe Ascended?”

“Don’t be foolish Afa, only Prophets can see Ascended. And we’re definitely not Prophets,” Butat said. “No, those were as human as any of us. I’ve seen their kind before, outside the crater. They come by to trade goods sometimes. How did they get to the temple? We should have seen their boats coming.”

I was still scratching at my birthmark, their words having put me on edge.

“Anewa, you used your magic, didn’t you? Did you hear something?” Afa asked cautiously.

I snapped out of my thoughts.

“Huh? Uh… yeah. They said something about a prophecy… and a star-marked child.”

They both looked at my chest, and the star that was clearly branded on it. Concern filled their eyes.

“They’re looking for you? What would they want with you?” Butat asked.

“I don’t know. They said something about ‘training’, but I don’t know what that has to do with me,” I responded. “Maybe we shouldn’t have come here.”

“Are you joking? This was amazing! The temple is so big, and those weird people? I wanna know more!” Afa said, only to be met with disapproving glares from both I and Butat. He shrank down.

“Let’s go home. It’s late already,” I said, and the others agreed.

We walked back down the trail in silence, before Butat suddenly spoke up:

“Anewa. If they want to take you for some reason, you know I won’t let them, right? Even if the other adults get in the way, I’ll be there to help you. I may not be as strong as you are, or use magic, but my spear is still sharp, and you know I’ll never leave your side.”

“Butat, I…”

His words put my worries at rest. He’s right. I’ve got his back, he’s got mine.

“Thank you. I’m counting on you,” I gave him a salute, fist on the chest, and he returned it.

“I can help too," Afa began. "I’ll tell the others that they want to take you, and-“

“No!” we both said in unison. “No. Don’t tell anyone about this,” I said.

“Sorry…” he said, dejected. Tears were welling up in his eyes.

“I’m counting on you, too, Afa. I know you’ve got my back,” I gave him a nod, and we shared salutes.

After a moment of silence, we all hugged as tears were streaming down our faces. We snuck back to the village, and our parents were none the wiser.