Chapter 1 - Araya
Araya
I already knew I could be the reason my entire family was murdered. A thought that made me sick.
A responsibility I never wanted.
One failed class. One failed test.
They didn’t even trust me alone half the time. Now they had to trust me with their lives.
My mothers tears were her silent confession. She clung to my father on the platform, tears trailing down her face. Trying and failing to remain composed.
A rare sight for the woman who could face the world with a smile.
My fingerprints remained on the glass long after my hand fell to my side. I wanted to reach for her, to tell her I wouldn’t fail her.
Each mile carried me closer to Claremont Academy.
One moment closer to having to prove I could handle this. A heartbeat closer to ruining everything I held close.
My grip tightened on the pole beside me. The only thing keeping me stable.
No one spoke, not really.
The faint whispers filling the space.
Like the ghosts of lives we could have lived.
The train barreled down the track, the wheels grinding against the rails and rattling us to the bone.
A man stepped through the door at the front of the cabin. His tall frame was too large for the cramped space.
“IDs. Now.”
He checked each one, barely stopping to confirm the faces matched their pictures as students confirmed their names.
I stood when he was two rows away. ID clutched tight. Hiding my name as long as I could
That was, until he got to me. My heart stopped.
Please, please don’t read it out loud.
“Claremont.” He looked between me and the smiling girl in the picture. “Interesting.”
The two words felt like he had thrown ice water over me.
His voice echoed down the cabin, silencing the whispers and thickening the air. Eyes bore through me as a name was put to a face.
I closed my eyes. I knew the stares. The looks they would give. A disgraced Claremont was in their presence.
I didn’t need to relive the judgement and disgust. I sank back into my seat. The girl beside me shifting away. Recoiling like everyone else the moment they knew my name.
“Did he say Claremont?”
“No, they wouldn’t send one of those here.”
“She won’t make it. Just look at her.”
The looks and whispers filling the space were suffocating.
Like they would end it all before I even made it to Claremont.
Anyone on this train could be the reason I never see my parents again.
My siblings.
The pole in my hand sparked. A silver glow coated my skin as I jerked my hand away, checking for a sign of what just happened. The air thickened. It was suffocating.
My skin crawled like something was trying to come out.
I looked at my hand, slowly turning it over. No sign of what had just happened.
“I’ll make sure it doesn’t get that far.” A boy in the next row stood. His bag fell to the floor forcing my attention to him.
Another spark of silver, but this time it filled the cabin.
Screams echoed in the blinding light. No one understood what had just happened. But only for a heart beat.
A loud crack tore through the cabin as he fell back into his chair.
His eyes rolled back and his head hung at an awkward angle.
I pushed back hard into my seat before I could stop myself. Putting as much distance as possible between me and the body slumped in his seat.
I stared at my hand. Had, had I done that? Was that me? Was I responsible for his death? Oh gods.
Screams erupted again as the man checking IDs returned.
“Silence!” He didn’t need volume to cut through the noise. We all obeyed. “Pathetic. Instability at its finest.” He looked the boy over. Shaking his head as he walked away.
In his wake he left dozens of terrified students. Instability? Is that what happens if we lose control?
As the train ground to a halt, several students fell. Chaos erupted as the doors popped open.
Bodies shoved out of the train. Fleeing like staying meant being next. Being… him. The nameless boy who never even made it to the academy.
My feet hit the stone walkway and I stumbled, shoved to the side by other students. I fought to stay on my feet but lost once I hit the grass. But after the train, nothing felt real. Nothing made sense.
We would all face the same fate. This is what mother had been worried about. If I was strong enough to even get through Emergence.
Her tears weren’t fear I would fail. She was terrified she may not see me again.
“Freshman, three lines! Your sigil is on the back of your ID. Do not get in the wrong line.” A man stood in all black, eyes trailing over us. Less interested than someone counting livestock.
Getting to my feet was a challenge in itself. My knees were weak. But we were supposed to just go back to normal. Act like nothing had happened. Pretend his death meant nothing.
I crossed my arms tight, tucking my hands as I moved between students.
Three lines formed anyway, the colored sigils floating overhead. Students shoved each other, fighting to get through the lines faster. To get away from the train.
Silver, Emerald and Bronze.
Each representing a rank.
Every single one was a threat.
Having a silver sigil meant everyone wanted your spot. Everyone would try to prove you didn’t deserve it. That you weren’t worthy.
Taking a deep breath I turned my ID over. Praying it wasn’t silver.
“Of course it is.” I rolled my eyes as I walked toward my sigil. Toward Silver and the unending fight to put my mothers fears to bed.
Finding my place in line behind a set of twins. Their blond hair tightly secured to the back of their necks. Identical in every way except their eyes. One pair a vibrant green, the other striking blue.
Calm in an unnerving way. Like they hadn’t experienced the same disaster from the train.
Maybe they hadn’t. I would give anything to have been in a different cabin. To not see his face when I close my eyes to take a breath.
As the lines moved forward, the shoving stopped, replaced by something worse. The whispers had started again, all eyes on the line of students for Silver.
We were the top performers.
The highest risk.
The first targets if we slipped.
The rank to beat.
If the rumors held, the most vicious and deadly were in this line.
I’d barely made it to the table before a hand reached for my ID.
“A Claremont at Claremont.” The man laughed to himself. “Grant you got yourself a namesake.”
“For now.” Everyone knew the face.
The tanned skin and cold grey eyes.
Keaton Grant was your worst nightmare if you had a single weakness. He glared at the freshman staring at him. Without even moving a hand a whip of shadow cracked against the ground at their feet.
I planted my feet. The only defense I had would be the little physical conditioning I had.
As the shadow disappeared, I let out a controlled breath.
“Leave.” They ran up the path into the forest as a howl penetrated the air.
“Your key, orientation schedule and room number.” A packet and my ID were shoved into my hands.
I juggled the two items, almost dropping my ID in the process. My face heating as I closed my eyes.
So much for looking like my placement wasn’t a joke.
I met his eyes again. His stare froze me in place while making me want to run in the opposite direction and never stop. I fought the urge and took a single step to get around the table.
I was shoved out of line, clutching my packet to my chest. Stepping off of the path, I finally opened it. A key and three pieces of paper. That’s it?
The key had a ribbon attached. A tag at the end of the bright silver fabric.
Room 618.
My new home, a place to escape from whatever threats lived inside the gates.
The first obstacle of the year.
Surviving the unlit forest.
Would the stories be true?
I took my first step in, a cold settled in my bones that hadn’t been there. I glanced over my shoulder, dozens of worried faces. How many would I never see again?
Snapping twigs and rustling leaves came from my right. Followed by faster movement on my left. My muscles locked up. Unable to move and not wanting to look to either side.
A student fell to the ground in front of me and I hit my knees covering my head.
Thrown by the same shadow Keaton had used earlier.
The sky turned grey as a siren sounded in the distance I covered my ears.
Rain pummeled us as we made the 5 mile walk to campus. The train station was in Ravenna, at the bottom of the hill covered in forest. A forest deemed too dangerous to run the track through.
A scream came from behind me, followed by a wet crunch. I swallowed the bile rising in my throat. I just had to make it through the forest.
My coat did nothing to stop the cold from seeping further into my bones. The rain cut through the thin fabric like shards of glass.
A deer darted across the path in front of me, closely followed by what looked like the ghost of a wolf. Was this what hunted us?
“Gods if you’re scared of that you’ll never make it.” I couldn’t make myself turn to see who spoke. I kept looking for the wolf. Looking for the next threat. I could be scared, terrified even but it wouldn’t get to control me. Not here.
“Lani just ignore her.” Her sister shoved her up the path. “Clearly she’s going to make that decision on her own. Your commentary is just rude.”
The wolf came back, blood dripping from its jaw. It snarled as it moved toward us.
Once it was within feet, it lunged. Straight at the twins.
One of them reacted on instinct. It happened too fast. One moment the wolf was in the air, the next it was on the ground. A whine left the animal.
Slowly it took the shape of a girl. Not another already.
“Faster than I thought for a freshman.” She pulled the blade from her leg as she stood. “You might just see mid terms.”
The girl shifted back to a wolf and ran into the trees. The only proof she had been here was the blood on the ground and the memory of her standing in front of us.
“I hate shifters. Why are they so comfortable naked? It’s ridiculous.” The girl scooped her blade from the ground and wiped it on her pant leg before returning it to her jacket. Her voice was steady, no trace of fear or unease.
Was I the only one worried? Had I missed some kind of prep class?
They laughed as they started to run up the path toward Claremont. Their ease sent a chill down my spine.
This would be my life for five years. Wielders of all elements around every turn. Not a hint of a safety net, except maybe my dorm.
I should have been at Cynders. An academy built around academic strength. Not survival.
This was never where I was meant to be. This isn’t where I had ever wanted to be.
Another siren in the distance sounded as day light was breaking. The gates slowly came into view. Black iron and stone, intimidating and sturdy.
“Freshman on the trail! This is breakfast. Get here or don’t.” A woman called out as she rode past, sitting on the back of what looked like the same wolf.
My stomach ached at the mention of food. It had been days since my last real meal.
Breakfast had to be better than stale sandwiches and room temperature water. Bad food and looming danger had to be a torture method.
Upping my pace, the muscles of my legs started to burn.
The iron gate stood open, it should have felt welcoming. But the buildings behind it just made it feel impossible.
Silver tower stood alone behind the main buildings. The tallest of the three.
Deep grey stone with silver swords crossed and embedded beside the front doors. Large enough to be seen even at a distance.
I stood outside trying to get the nerve to go inside. Everything had led up to this. To getting to my dorm.
I took a deep breath and exhaled slowly before pulling the door open. The hallway was packed with students. Some in uniforms and others in travelling clothes.
The stone walls were lined with gently glowing crystals. Their silver glow brightened the hall just enough to see where I was going.
The serving hall was full of rushing students. Students in travelling clothes lined the wall as the uniformed blew through the line and into the hallway. The only tables that anyone occupied lined the far wall.
They all looked the same. I supposed we did as well. None of us looked like we belonged here. A mismatch of new clothes against old and tattered.
I grabbed a bagel and an apple before leaving the serving hall. Intimidation wasn’t something that normally worked well on me, but I couldn’t handle being looked down on by that many people at once.
The 11th floor. Two other doors stood down the hallway, both open like mine had been. I would be with other freshmen at least.
I sat my satchel on the bed and took in the room.
A bed, desk and wardrobe was all there was. Everything looking used. This room would be for necessity, not comfort.
But it was still mine. My own space. Something to protect.
The hinges looked solid. Iron brackets stood out on both sides of the door. High enough to use for coats. Or just enough to bar the door.
Making my way back down the grand staircase, my new reality set in.
Stone stairs, with no railing. If the student body wasn’t bad enough. Exhaustion could also lead to your downfall.
A scream echoed up the stairs, and then the thud. I moved to the wall and rushed down the stairs. When my feet hit the foyer a new fear emerged.
No one stopped, no one cared. I couldn’t look. I wouldn’t.
Whatever had happened would have to remain a mystery. The academy wouldn’t let this keep happening.
The ground floor would be a feat every single day that I couldn’t take for granted. I had to take it as a small victory and remember it was.
Instead I looked around at the walls, the paintings were mostly just our history.
The battles that had occurred to unify our 5 countries into one. Past presidents lined the wall and I stopped as I found the dead grey eyes of Rhett Grant. My jaw clenched as I stared him down.
Our current president and the man responsible for the Claremont name losing its standing. He had ordered my aunt exiled and my uncle killed.
He had obeyed our laws, but ultimately he was still responsible. He had celebrated our loss. A ball thrown in his honor. Defending our continent from the unworthy.
A bell echoed in the tower, causing a flood of students to head toward the front door. I jumped out of the way to prevent being shoved into the walls or worse. A gasp escaped as my foot slipped.
“Orientation starts now. All freshmen outside.”
Another rush of bodies came and went. I kept up with the last of them as we made our way into the cold air. Pulling my still wet jacket around me offered comfort, but did nothing for the cold.
“You will be shown around campus. You will observe physical conditioning with the graduate candidates today. If you get lost or do not attend, you will leave. Am I understood?” The man standing before us was tall. A tattoo of some sort showing against the collar of his pressed dress shirt. His blond hair was neatly styled. “Do you know how to speak or are we going to teach that too?” His onyx eyes landed on mine.
“Yes sir.” The words felt pulled out instead of freely given. The intensity of his stare demanded compliance.
“At least one of you can speak.” He took a step back as he spoke. “You are split into three different groups as there are 90 of you. Stay with your group. You do not want to know what happens if you refuse to listen.”
“Akers, you’ve got Lumivento, Harrison and Anders to escort the students. Give them groups.” The female professor disappeared as quickly as she appeared.
Akers? Tyson Akers? Brother in law to the president and our physical conditioning professor. One of the witnesses that condemned my uncle.
“If your room is floor twenty five and above you are with Lumivento. Between fifteen and twenty four, Harrison and the rest of you with Anders.” Each student stepped forward as Akers called their floor. I would be with Anders. The short brunette who looked like she wanted to be anywhere else.
“Christa, are you sure you want the bottom floors?” Lumivento said with a laugh. A sound that shouldn’t have existed here. Too light, too human.
“You just want this group because it’s mostly women.”
“No, I just know you’re bronze. With a higher floor.”
“If you think you’re man enough, take the group.” Anders didn’t bother fighting with him.
Did she realize it too? That humanity was rare in this academy. Someone that might be worth knowing.
“Oh I’m more than up to this challenge.” His smile didn’t fit our surroundings. The light of his personality shining like a beacon in the war zone of Claremont. “Floors Fourteen and down! With me! We’re setting a quick pace, so I don’t get lost.” He set off at a pace that could have been a jog.
This was a finishing academy.
I arrived completely unprepared.
What am I going to lose when I’m finally able to defend myself?
