Tracing a river, the carriage barrels along a packed dirt road with increased speed. I sit in the back with my knees pulled to my chest. It’s stifling in here with so many people. Within the past week the carriage has visited many more walled villages and picked up fifteen more girls.
A girl shouts that she can see the city and people leap to their feet, scampering to get a view through the little windows. I wait until some of the girls get bored and disperse before I walk over and peer out the wagon window. A pale stone wall looms over the tallest trees. Behind the wall, the tallest towers prick the clouds. Shapes of different sizes flit through the air, soaring up from behind the wall and disappearing into the towers. “Griffins,” Shinji calls them. This far out, I almost think the construction is an illusion, too grand to truly exist.
Disembarking at the base of the great wall, I crane my neck to look up, not being able to see the top. How can anything made by humans be so tall? Standing outside the gates in a leather uniform is a single guard.
A girl gasps. “Isn’t that guard a girl?”
Shinji says, “Since there aren’t any boys around, girls can fill all types of roles.”
The girl looks aghast. It’s hard for me to think about. Girls in charge?
The guard steps into the carriage and pokes around. “Just checking that no one is smuggling anything in,” Shinji explains. Finally, the guard emerges and strides to the stone gate and presses her palm against it, and the gate surges up in a quick and efficient ascent. We stand there stunned, having expected a deliberate, rumbling ascent. “It’s Tumi magic,” Shinji explains, “the art of manipulating the earth.”
When I stray behind to continue staring at the gate, Shinji tugs on my arm, leading me through. Rather than proceeding through the inner gate, which is still closed, the adults guide us through a door to our left into a chamber built into the great wall itself.
Sitting behind a counter at the far corner is a being unlike any human or nogitsune—nor does she resemble anything in Nadi’s bedtime stories. Rather than arms, she has sleek maroon wings; the feathers adorning the rest of her body are charcoal. Her legs end in inky talons, and a tufted tail swishes animatedly behind her. Then my eyes catch the quill hovering in midair. “Harpies excel at Vayu magic, the art of controlling air,” Shinji explains to the assembled open-mouthed girls.
We form a winding line to speak to the tengu. “Full name. Origin. Age.”
The tengu can talk! Not through illusion magic like the nogitsune but using her actual vocal cords!
“Hello?”
It’s my turn! “Oh, um, Elodi Myo, Minenn, thirteen.”
The tengu dips her quill in ink and prints my name and year of birth out in perfect letters on the card, floating it over to me. “This is your ID,” she chirps. I grip the wooden card and turn it over in my hands. I don’t understand what an ID is, but the tengu is already calling up the girl behind me, ushering me to the side.
When the last girl has finally received her card, the guard distributes sandals to those of us with bare feet then lead us out of the room and to the inner gates.
“Behind these gates is Samathali City, also called by many the City of Orphans. Originally founded as Samathali Sanctuary for girls banished from their homes, today, the city attracts girls from all different regions. Here, you will obtain anything you need: a magical and scholarly education—the best on this continent—endless career opportunities…”
The guard lifts the inner gates using the same magic as before. My eyes follow the stone gate’s journey up—it’s amazing how smooth the ascent is!
Opening up behind the gate is a new world. All the other girls chatter in excitement, one exclaiming she’s finally home. But it doesn’t feel like home to me. It can’t. Then I promise myself, One day I’ll reunite with my sister. I don’t care of Shinji thinks she’s “too old.” He must be mistaken. Or I’ll find some method of teaching her magic regardless of her age. It doesn’t matter. I’ll bring her here. I’m not going to let us be apart for long.
The main street cuts through cliffs of pale stone buildings, nine or ten stories tall, topped with teal, bright green, or blue gable or bell-shaped roofs. Colorful flowing details trace along the walls, and elaborate glass panels allow for peeks into decadent rooms. Shinji leads us under a bridge connecting buildings on either side of the street. On top of the bridge rests an entire building. I stare up, marveling at the engineering. How does it hold up something that heavy?
The sky still purple with first light, the streets aren’t as full as they could be. A smattering of mages drift through the streets, garbed in colorful robes tied at the waist with patterns that embody rose bushes, ebbing tides, or shining suns. Despite Shinji urging us along, we walk haltingly, gaping at every little thing. One girl runs up to a mailbox carved like a little tree, and another girl marvels at a drinking fountain whose basin has been pressed into a shell.
I look up and spot a griffin, a furry golden shape gliding on feathered wings far above the street. I almost bump into a girl in a pink split tunic dress, called an ao dai, riding an elk. Then a large spotted cat catches my attention, plodding down the street on massive white paws. The girl astride it clutches the reins loosely with one hand, and with the other combs her silky black hair. Yawning, she looks like she’d rather be in bed, and that riding this cat is as mundane as walking. Then my gaze is snatched up again as more griffins fly past. An orange one looks exceedingly graceful, its wings hardly flapping. I wish I could get a better look at it.
Catching up to Shinji, I point up and ask, “Um, can anyone buy that? And c-could I fly it to visit my sister?”
“Once you earn a beast mastery license, yes,” Shinji tells me. “But girls must stay in the bounds of the city. You must forget about your sister and focus on your life here.”
Hmm. Just because we aren’t supposed to doesn’t mean we can’t. I’m not one to defy the rules, but if doing so means I can reach Nadi… I miss my sister already.
The campus is ringed by a stone wall. We pass through an arched gate, the underside painted in various glittering colors. Inside, channels trickle on either side of the cobblestone path, which leads to a garden hosting a huge fountain depicting Elda mages beside a pair of elk-like beings with long, arching antlers. The tree branches bloom with pink winter plum blossoms, their foliage rich green and magnificent.
I’m distracted by a couple of spotted brown birds nestled on a branch, then, seeing the other students continue ahead, I rush to keep up with them. Finally, the group arrives at a tall building—It looks alive still, pale and lilac magnolia flowers budding around the trimmings and leaves weaving together to form a roof!
Inside, I find a hall lit by chandeliers. Long tables fill up the length of the room, enough to seat ten times more than our number. Small vegetable dumplings are laid out. “Sit and eat,” Shinji urges. “Once the others get here, the opening ceremony will begin.”
“There will be more people?” I say. This is already almost as many girls as there are in my village.
Sure enough, more people do arrive, usually in clutches of ten or so, until the hall is filled. The clamor of people chatting and eating fills my ears.
“The city is so glad to see so many talented young girls arriving.” On the stage is an elderly mage, her smoky hair braided atop her head. Golden dragons prance on her green robes. “I am Headmaster Yangdul Mingyur, a Vayu mage and the guild master of Starlight Dragons. Samathali Academy is one of the rare schools that offer girls a scholarly education, but more important, it is the onlyschool that teaches magic to humans. If you are standing here today, you possess some potential, but you still have a long journey ahead of you to become a mage.”
The headmaster spends some time celebrating the history of the school, naming people and locations I can’t place. Added to the mutterings of the excited girls, it only confuses me.
“It may seem like a lot,” the headmaster says, “but rest assured you will be supported throughout your education by both your academic teachers and your dormitory masters. First things first, I am sure you all are tired. You will be brought to your dormitory so you can unpack and rest. Then in the morning, you will pick your classes.”
The dormitory is three-stories tall and made of stone. With forty rooms and eight girls to a room, it has space enough for 340 girls. That’s more than the total number of people in Minenn. I can’t believe Nadi didn’t come. With so many people to chat with and befriend, she’d love it here.
Shinji drops us off at the entrance. “This is goodbye,” he says casually.
The other girls don’t seem to mind, but I’m floored. “I thought you’re supposed to accompany us. You can’t— I’m not used to being alone—”
“I delivered you girls. My job is done, and there are other duties I must attend to. You’ll be looked after by other people.”
“Strangers you mean,” I argue, my heart pounding fast.
“They’ll become familiar soon. We’ll meet again, perhaps.” Then Shinji is gone.
I trail after the other girls into the dormitory. The dormitory master greets us in the entry. “Line up with your friends. I’ll assign you rooms.”
Not having any, I stand idly in the back of the line. Finally, she hands me a key. It’s my first time seeing one, but she says it’ll lock and unlock the door of my room. I run my fingers over the metal notches.
Lost in my dreary thoughts, the next thing I realize I’ve followed the dorm master to the third floor and I’m standing in front of my door. I slide my key in and wriggle it until it turns, and I push the door open. It thuds softly against something behind it.
My first thought is that this isn’t a bedroom at all. They’ve accidentally given me the key to a storage room. It’s long, and the beds and cubbies are indented in the walls. Clean clothes spill out of the cubbies, and piles of shoes and dirty laundry inhabit the floor. In the back is a stone table and stools. A mountain of things—porcelain plates, toys, postcards, food containers, things I can’t identify—occupies the desk and stools, threatening to avalanche onto the floor at any second. From hooks dangle purses, scarves, and bangles. These possessions are a hundred times more numerous than exist in my village!
Spotting the shoe stand, I slip off my sandals. I only recognize my bed by the number engraved in the stone above it, and I gently place the doll and clothing from the bed onto a pile. I sit on the mattress. It’s so soft! So much softer then sleeping on the kitchen floor! What’s this thing made out of?
“What’s a village girl touching our stuff for?”
Two girls step into the room. One is short and has a round face framed by cropped black hair. She’s in a flowing light blue and gold dress. The taller one has her hair in a long thick braid, and she’s the most finely clothed out of all of us, not a speck of dirt on her layered deep blue silk dress—called a chupa—with a red blouse peeking out from beneath. The embroidery on her chupa is so intricate I think the tailor spent her entire life on it. I suddenly feel self-conscious. I love the outfit Shinji gifted to me, but it’s nothing like hers.
Recognizing the difference in our station, I greet them as politely as possible. “P-pleased to meet you. I’m Elodi Myo from Minenn. Um… um, this is supposed to be my bed…”
“I’m Edda Selha from the city Chandrail,” the shorter girl says. “This is Riyani Dongsang, my friend. We arrived last night.”
“Another roommate, and a poor rat like you on top of it?” Riyani says. “No thanks. And we like keeping that bed for our things. You sleep on the floor.”
It’s like I’m in Minenn again, being treated like something that shouldn’t be seen, that should be kept out of the path of more important people… I begin to accept, but then—I really don’t wish to return to sleeping on the floor! Starting in a couple days, I’ll be a student at a prestigious magic school for crying out loud!
I glance around the messy room. There are a good number of cubbies, but the clothes are just stuffed into them in complete disarray. “Um, I’m sure if you c-cleaned up a little, there’d be more than enough space for all of your things…”
Riyani continues glaring at me silently, and I crack. “Or I can help you clean up a little…”
They both smirk. While I remove all the clothes from one cubby and fold them, Riyani and Edda stomp to the other side of the room to the desk, sitting and chatting.
By the time I finish organizing all the cubbies, they’ve gone to dinner. I find the dining room on the ground floor, a humongous hall filled with long tables like the ceremony hall. Joining the dinner line, I get porridge then tail the other girls to a side counter. Mimicking them, I place my cup beneath a tap and turn it, and suddenly liquid pours into my cup! In the villages you had to use a bucket at the well. Here, apparently you just turn a tap, and it just appears! So lost in my shock, I almost forget to turn off the tap.
Turning at the hall, my stomach clenches. A sea of unfamiliar faces. Most of the seats are already filled up… other than the chair beside Edda. I hurry to claim it. As I sit, Riyani grimaces at me, but Edda is too caught up in chatter to notice.
“I think I’ll pick Vayu magic,” Edda says. “It focuses on manipulating air, but some Vayu mages are able to control storms too. It’ll be cool making it rain on people.”
“Maybe I’ll pick Vayu too,” another girl interjects. “Or maybe Ulnor, so I can set things on fire. Or Tumi…”
I’ll pick Elda magic, like Ala’hana, I think to myself. I feel like I should try to talk to these girls, and maybe they’ll like me and see I’m not just “a village girl,” but my throat gets clogged if I try to say something. My sister is the gregarious one, not me.
Consuming my porridge, I feel fuller than I had in my life—the city’s fields much be huge, to feed so many people! Behind me I can hear some of the girls complaining the porridge is too plain. It’s true it isn’t as tasty as the pickled plum porridge Shinji cooked for me, but at least it’s filling. It’s more than I usually get in a day, sometimes multiple days.
Noticing girls lining up at the counter, I get up too and approach out of curiosity. There’s dessert! I snatch one of the last remaining pudding back to my table.
Once Edda spots it, she says, “Mango pudding? I love mango pudding!” She almost trips getting out of her chair and running to the counter, but she returns gloomy. “They’re out.”
I push the pudding across the table. “You guys can share—”
“Oh, thanks!” Edda says, grabbing the pudding and eating it all in a couple bites. Well, I guess I’m already pretty full.
Once my table’s done eating, I volunteer to bring their dishes to the kitchen. Upon returning, I see Edda and Riyani giggling—the others already left.
“So, thanks for that pudding,” Edda says. “We’re going to the park since there’s still some time until the dorm meeting starts. You can join us.”
At first I can’t believe my ears. She’s inviting me to something? “S-sure!” Maybe Edda has finally decided to be nice to me.
The park is across campus. Despite the fading light, the park remains beautiful, the delicate blossoms on the bushes looking as if painted on by a master artist.
“There’s no one else here,” I say.
“It’s tucked in a corner,” Edda says, her fingers gliding above the bushes. “I must admit, this is prettier than the parks at home in Chandrail City.”
“Chandrail City?” I ask.
Riyani whirls on me. “You can’t be ignorant of the greatest city on this continent.”
I put up my hands in defense. “I hear little in my village.”
Riyani sighs. “There are three cities in this region of Elthaya, excluding this one: Mukalam, Nanzhou, and Chandrail. Out of the three, Chandrail is the richest. It has plentiful mines, diligent people, and buildings that sparkle out of being so clean…”
“If Chandrail is so amazing, why come here?”
Riyani scoffs at the question. “To learn magic, of course.”
“You don’t miss your family?”
“Nope.”
“Chandrail has its faults,” Edda says. “My parents dictated my life, the subjects I learned in school, things I could spend my free time on, my friends. They didn’t like Riyani, so I had to sneak out to meet her.”
Riyani nudges her, and Edda quiets.
I share, “My parents also treated me like that. They had me cook and clean…”
Sympathy touches Edda’s face, but Riyani’s face is still hard.
“Oh, there’s something there.” Riyani points to a small shed. “Do you think there’s anything cool inside?”
I shrug. “It’s probably just storage.”
Riyani bounds up to it and opens the door. She gasps. “Come look at this!”
I poke into the shed, but all I can see are crates and bags of something. “I don’t—”
I hear a clang, and I turn around to see the door shut. “Hello? Edda? Riyani?” I try the doorknob, but it’s locked. “Hello?” I scream. I bang on the door, hoping it opens. It doesn’t.
It’s completely dark. I shiver. It gets colder here than it did in Minenn. Did Edda and Riyani shut me in here as some sort of prank? I thought I had succeeded in making them like me. I organized their clothes, and I gave Edda that mango pudding. They told me stuff about them…
Eventually someone will come looking for me, right? Then I realize, will anyone? Edda and Riyani sure aren’t. Shinji abandoned me. The dorm master doesn’t recognize my face and has a million other girls to attend to. What if people forget I exist? What if I’m locked in here until I die of thirst? I bang on the door helplessly. “Please let me out!” I beg.
Something thumps among the crates. I turn around and stare, but I can’t see anything in the darkness. My heartbeat quickens. What if there’s something scary prowling? Something scuttles in front of my feet, and I jump.
Then I see that tail. It’s just a mouse. Well, at least I’m not completely alone. I crouch, beckoning it. “Here little mouse. Maybe you’ll be my friend…”
A shape shifts in the shade, and a snake lunges at me. It’s fangs rake my leg. “Ah!” I trip back, landing on my bottom. The snake lunges again.
Suddenly the room floods with light as the door opens. A huge cat leaps into the shed, snapping the snake in its teeth.
“You shouldn’t be in here,” someone says. A girl much taller than me, perhaps 16, my sister’s age. Removing the hood of her black cloak embroidered with purple dragons, the girl reveals pointy ears, short antlers, and charcoal skin. She lets her iridescent purple hair drape over her shoulders.
The cat is similarly striking. A short sunset orange mane encircles her neck and runs along her spine, ending in a tufted tail. In more muted orange, dense rosettes adorn her midnight fur. Teal tendrils rise up her legs.
“You’re a first-year, aren’t you?” the girl says. “You aren’t supposed to be out this late in the first place.”
“I didn’t know,” I cry.
“That’s no excuse. You’ll be punished.” She drags me out of the shed, my leg throbbing painfully. “Really, a shed is a strange place to sneak in.”
“I didn’t—My roommates tricked me into coming out then going inside…”
Reaching the dormitory, we find it locked, but the girl produces a key and unlocks it, leading me inside and to the small nurse’s office. She bandages up my leg while I sit. “You should get a healer to look at it in the morning,” she says.
“Thanks,” I mumble. I can’t believe I got in trouble, and it’s not even the first day yet. “I thought I was making friends with my roommates… I…” Suddenly I feel like crying. It’s not fair. I’m already alone in the city, and the people I live with hate me.
“Some people are mean, but you’ll make friends.”
“What if no one likes me?”
“Someone in this city must like you, and all you really need is that one special friend. Come on, it’s late, and you should rest.”
I hop off the chair. “I’m Elodi Myo.”
“I’m Wu Lisong of guild Sinister.”
“Do you patrol every night?”
“No, just certain nights, to make a bit of pocket money. I hope I don’t see you out this late again.” Lisong sends me to my room. “I’ll ask the dormitory master to go easy on your punishment,” she says.
I cringe. I’m still being punished? As I say goodbye to Lisong, I realize I’m not sure when I’ll see her again, and I hope to. She’s the first person to be nice to me here.
In my room, Edda plays innocent, acting like they just lost me. I roll onto my mattress, exhausted. Still, I can’t sleep… Even as comfortable as the mattress is, I can’t feel relaxed without my sister beside me. Soon, I’ll get her here.