Chapter Two— Letter
Nyrah's stomach dropped. She looked at Lorain, panic flooding her chest. This couldn't be happening. Not now. Not after everything.
"Please," she said, her voice breaking. "I have to get on that train. I have to."
The man looked her up and down. His expression didn't change.
"Train's full. Doors are closing. You'll have to wait for the next one."
"There is no next one," Lorain said quickly. "This is the last train before the Trials begin. If she misses it, she loses her spot."
The man shrugged. "Not my problem."
Nyrah felt her whole world tilting. She'd waited weeks for this letter. Weeks of being mocked, spat on, told she was nothing. And now she was going to lose it all because she was sixty seconds too late?
No. Not like this.
She pushed past the man and jumped onto the train just as the doors started to close. The man shouted something behind her, but she didn't care. She was on. She'd made it.
Lorain waved from the platform, a worried look on his face. "Be careful, Nyrah!"
"I will!"
Nyrah sat alone in the empty train car.
Black had curled up in her lap, purring. Nyrah stroked the cat's fur and stared out the window.
She'd trained all her life for this. Every morning before dawn, running until her lungs burned. Every night, studying by candlelight until she couldn't keep her eyes open. Learning to fight with her fists since she had no magic. Making her body strong enough to survive.
She needed answers. She needed to know what happened to her parents after the war.
No one in the village would tell her anything. They'd look away when she asked. Change the subject. Tell her to stop digging into the past. But Nyrah couldn't stop.
Her parents had disappeared during the war. One day they were there. The next day they were gone. No bodies. No explanation. Just gone.
Winning this trial was the only way to find out the truth. The winner would rule. The winner would have access to every record, every secret the previous rulers had locked away.
Having access to chambers only the rulers blood could open.
That was why she had to survive. Not for glory. Not for power. For answers.
The train started to slow down.
Nyrah sat up and looked out the window. Through the trees, she could see it. The Academy.
A dark cloud hung over the building. It didn't move like normal clouds. It just stayed there, pressing down on the huge stone structure below.
Thick vines curled around the iron gates at the entrance, covering almost every inch of metal. Nyrah had read about those vines. They were supposed to be older than the Academy itself.
The train stopped. Nyrah grabbed her bags and stepped off. Black jumped down after her.
Nyrah was alone now.
She walked toward the gates. The closer she got, the bigger they looked. They towered over her, at least three times her height.
She stopped and looked up. Somewhere in all those twisted vines, there was supposed to be a sacred symbol. She'd read about it in an old book.
The gate would only open if she read the symbol out loud. And if she was really chosen, her room card would appear.
Nyrah searched through the vines. There were so many leaves and branches tangled together.
Then she saw it. A small circular pattern in the center where the vines formed a perfect spiral. Inside were symbols she recognized. Ancient words most people had forgotten.
She took a breath and read them out loud.
"By blood, by trial, by right of passage. I seek entry to walk the path of ascension."
Nothing happened at first.
Then the vines started to move. They pulled back slowly from the center of the gate. And there, floating in the air, was a small black card with silver writing.
Nyrah grabbed it. She looked down and saw her name. Nyrah Aster Vale. Below that was a number. Room 237.
The gates groaned and swung open.
Nyrah stepped forward, but Black stayed put. The cat sat outside the gates, staring at the dark building.
"Come on, Black."
Black didn't move.
Nyrah took another step through. The gates started closing again. Fast.
"Black!"
At the last second, the cat ran through just before the gates slammed shut.
Black ran to Nyrah, meowing loudly.
"I told you to come," Nyrah muttered. She bent down and picked up the cat.
She looked up at the Academy. It was huge. Dark stone walls covered in more vines. Tall windows that she couldn't see through. Towers reaching up into that strange cloud.
Nyrah looked at her room card again. Room 237. She needed to find a map.
She walked up the steps. The doors were already open.
The entrance hall was massive. There were torches burning along the walls. And right there on the wall was a large map of the Academy.
Nyrah studied it. The building had four wings. North, South, East, and West. The rooms were numbered by wing and floor.
Room 237 was in the East Wing. Second floor.
She followed the hallways, checking door numbers. 201. 215. 228.
Finally she found it. Room 237. A plain wooden door with her number on a metal plate.
She pressed her room card against the door. Click. It swung open.
The room was small. A narrow bed against one wall. A wooden table and chair under the window. A simple mirror on the wall. A door to what was probably a bathroom. A tall wardrobe and a drawer against the far wall.
That was it. Nothing fancy. Just the basics.
Nyrah set her bags on the bed. Black jumped down and started sniffing around.
Nyrah walked to the window. She could see the courtyard below. Beyond that, the outer walls. Past the walls, nothing but forest.
"I will ascend the throne,"
She told herself.