by Claire Luana
Kai and Quitsu sighed simultaneously.
“I can still burn,” she said, her relief palpable. “And my blockage is gone.”
“That was our hope,” a female voice said. Kai scooted up in bed and turned to face her visitor. It was Pura.
“I’m glad you are all right,” Pura said, standing by Kai’s bedside. She held a package wrapped in cloth in her hands. She looked down, fidgiting with the cloth.
“Me too,” Kai said.
Pura handed Kai the package. “Congratulations.”
“What?” Kai furrowed her brow and unwrapped the bundle. It was a set of light blue robes, the kind that samanera wear. Nestled on top was a moonstone link like the one that she and Pura had worked with countless times.
“I don’t understand.”
“You passed your test. You’re not a novice anymore.”
Kai looked at her, stunned. So almost being killed was . . . a test? Quitsu made a low growling noise, clearly displeased.
“So Chiya trying to kill me . . . that was the test?”
Pura sat down on the side of the bed, as if her energy had left her in a rush. “It doesn’t normally happen this way. The novice is placed in a tank that fills with water, but they can extricate themselves using fairly simple burning skills. The test shows that they have mastered the fundamentals and can stay calm under pressure, a trait we need in master moonburners. But with your blockage . . . you weren’t ready for that test.”
Kai nodded stiffly.
Pura continued. “The queen has ordered that all novices and samenera are tested to move up in rank. The war is escalating and we need all the masters we can get.” She was shaking her head as she spoke, clearly not pleased with the shortened timeline.
“You have the capacity to be an extremely powerful moonburner. We need you. We thought that since your talent had manifested itself in near death experiences, that a simulated near-death experience would be enough to motivate you to break the block.”
“But in those other moments, I didn’t control my moonburning. It just . . . happened,” she said weakly, trying to understand.
“Yes, but since you were never actually in danger of death in this situation, we hoped the gleaming effect would not kick in. You’d have to do it yourself. And you did.” She squeezed Kai’s hand.
Kai pulled her hand back, closing her eyes. “So you weren’t going to let Chiya kill me?” Kai asked.
“No, of course not. We’re not monsters,” Pura said.
“Are you sure?” Kai muttered, under her breath. She couldn’t believe that someone trying to drown her was just a simulated experiment, a calculated risk.
Pura’s face twisted. “Kai . . . I’m sorry. It isn’t right, what we did. I argued against it . . . but it wasn’t my call.”
Maybe Pura hadn’t wanted to test Kai, but she had stood by and let it happen. Didn’t that make her just as responsible?
Pura stood up and pulled out a folded piece of paper from her pocket. “Here is your new class schedule. You will continue moonburning training with me. You will also have field medicine, survival training and tactics. It’s a little different from the normal samanera curriculum, but all the novices moving up are taking this course load. General Geisa and the queen seem certain that something big is coming.”
With that, she turned on her heels and strode from the room. Kai looked at her schedule and swallowed. She thought of the Oracle’s words: A day with no sun and a night with no moon. They were coming, that was certain.
And soon.
Kai changed into her light blue samanera uniform. She supposed she had earned it, but she didn’t find any joy in it. Her mother was dead. Her last link to her old life. Now this uniform, this place, was the only life she had. She wasn’t sure she wanted it anymore.
Kai was released from the hospital ward after a fair bit of poking and prodding by the nurse. It was late at night; the sky was just beginning to lighten in the east. As Kai and Quitsu walked to her dormitory, Kai drew in a bit of moonlight. Its warmth comforted her.
“Quitsu . . .” she started, unsure how to apologize.
“I know,” he said. “You are forgiven. But let that be a lesson to you. You’re stuck with me.”
“I know,” she smiled. “But, where . . . were you?” she asked, trying not to sound accusatory. “I was sure that you would come when Chiya started attacking.”
“They thought of that. Apparently there is a chemical called lusteric, which keeps you from being able to moonburn. It apparently knocks out seishen, too. Chiya grabbed me and forced me to drink some before she went for you.”
“Lusteric,” Kai remembered. “That’s what the sunburners gave me when they attacked me.”
Then Quitsu’s words truly sank in. “Wait, you were unconscious? Vulnerable?” A spark of anger flamed to life inside her. It was one thing to attack her, but Quitsu? Seishen were sacred.
“When I awoke, I had been taken to Nanase’s office and I was being watched by that damn bird,” Quitsu said. “I don’t think I was in any danger. You, however . . . that is another story.”
Kai’s anger fizzled. “I thought I was dead. Part of me just wanted to . . . let go. It would be easier that way, now that my parents are gone. But I felt so guilty that you would die too. I had to try to live.”
“I know things are hard right now, especially . . . with your mother,” Quitsu said. “But it will get easier. Now you can burn, and truly start your training.”
“What’s the point?” Kai threw up her hands. “I don’t even think I want to be a moonburner anymore.”
“You are a moonburner. You were born one, or I wouldn’t be here,” Quitsu said. “And supposedly, you’re going to be very powerful. So if we have any shot at making any difference around the citadel, you need to train and become a master. Then you’ll be able to make them listen.”
Quitsu was right, as always. Not that she’d ever tell him that. The best strategy right now was to learn everything she could. And wait.
“I don’t know what I would do without you,” she said.
You’ll never have to find out.”
They walked for a moment in silence.
“I hate that they were right about my blockage,” she said. “But I guess I should just be happy that it’s gone.”
“I hate it, too,” he said. “But they’ve been doing this a lot longer than we have. They had . . . theories. We had only speculation.”
“I know something about it that they don’t,” Kai said, the dream flashing through her mind. “Someone did create my blockage with dark magic.”
“Who?”
“My mother.”
The next morning, Kai started moonburning training in earnest.
“Now, in some ways,” Pura said, “moonburning is fairly limited. You take the moonlight and turn it into heat in some form. But what you do with it is limited only by your creativity, and the materials around you.”
Kai soaked it all in like a sponge, listening to Pura explain how you could use moonburning to boil water, make rocks explode with the heat of the pressure, create wind with currents of high and low pressure, and of course, make fire. All forms of fire. Sparks, flames, fireballs, orbs, even lightning, if your technique was good enough.
“Your burning doesn’t have to be dramatic,” Pura said. “Subtlety is powerful. You can use it to melt the edge of your opponent’s sword, so it won’t slice through you. You can cauterize wounds. You can give a person or an animal a nip that will distract them or cause them to move when you want them to.” Kai yelped and leaped to her feet, feeling a spark climbing up her spine. A smile tugged on the edge of Pura’s mouth.
“You can draw the heat out of things, stop a fire, pull light from a torch or a candle. The best burners aren’t always the most powerful, although that helps when you are hurling fireballs at someone. The best are the most creative.”
“Moonburning can also be used for evil, throuh,” Pura seemed to hesitate before continu
ing. “In the past, atrocities have been committed with moonburning. People burned alive, their blood boiled from the inside. You can make someone’s heart stop by heating it too high. There are many ways to torture someone with moonburning. These methods are forbidden, but always be cautious. The power can be intoxicating. Stand firm in who you are and do not be tempted by a dark path.”
As Kai walked into the main courtyard of the citadel the next morning, she saw a gathering of masters, samaneras, and novices on the steps outside the queen’s tower.
“What’s going on?” Kai murmured.
Kai walked closer to the group and caught sight of Maaya and Emi. She made her way through the crowd and scooted in behind them.
“Morning,” she said.
Maaya and Emi were both wearing navy blue master uniforms. Maaya’s hair was pulled in one long braid down her back, instead of her characteristic pigtails. They took turns pulling Kai into a tight embrace.
“I’m so glad you are all right!” Maaya said. “We came to visit you in the hospital before we left for our test, but you were unconscious.”
“It means a lot that you were there, even if I didn’t know it,” Kai said.
“I can’t believe they let Chiya do that to you. It’s horrible,” Emi said. “No one should have to go through the test like that, thinking they are going to die.”
“I agree,” Kai said. “But I guess with my blockage . . . they had to use unconventional tactics.” Kai hurried to change the subject. “But look at you both. Master moonburners! Congratulations.”
“We can’t quite believe it ourselves,” Emi said.
They fell silent as the queen walked into the courtyard with her head held high, gliding across the stones. She wore her thin silver circlet and a pale pink dress trimmed with white fur. She looked every inch a royal. The women standing in the courtyard quieted as she stopped before them. Nanase and General Geisa flanked her on either side.
“My daughters. It fills me with pride to see you before me. You are the protectors of this kingdom, women who selflessly sacrifice their own desires and dreams for the good of our people.” The queen’s voice rang out over the courtyard like a clear bell.
“I do not have to tell you that we live in a dark time. Despite our best efforts, our enemy has grown bolder. He attacks our own country, our own people. He will not be content until Miina is under his thumb and every last moonburner is dead.”
“It is in the darkest night that the brightest stars shine. And we have need of you now, you bright stars.” She gestured to the woman who now stood next to her. “You all know General Geisa. She has bravely led our moonburners in battle for the last eighteen years. She and an elite group of burners have been taking part in a very special, secret mission. And now we have need of more. The general needs six moonburners to join her mission. No questions asked. We need the bravest and most loyal to enter into the unknown and trust in the righteousness of our cause.”
The first to raise her hand was Chiya. Kai breathed a sigh of relief. Chiya on some mysterious mission? Hopefully gone from the citadel? She couldn’t have dared hope. Four more hands went up, one at a time and the queen nodded warmly at each. Emi started to raise her hand, and Kai grabbed her arm quickly.
“Don’t,” she whispered fiercely.
Emi looked at her in alarm. “Why not?”
Kai stalled as she tried to explain, her mind replaying the sight of the koumidi’s blood spilling into the bowl and the dark woman speaking of a sacrifice. Emi would never believe her.
“Geisa . . . she attacked my village. She almost killed me and my mother. She slaughtered innocent men, women and children. Is that really the type of special assignment you want to sign up for?”
Emi bit her lip, looking back to the other five women who had joined the queen on the top step. But another hand went up and the moment passed. Emi looked back at Kai crossly. “You should have let me make my own decision.”
“Trust me,” Kai said. “You didn’t want to volunteer.”
CHAPTER 21
The days began to fly by as Kai engrossed herself in her new curriculum. She had missed about a week of classes while she was unconscious, but she caught up quickly. Under Pura’s tutelage, Kai quickly mastered the basics of moonburning and began to progress to more difficult concepts.
Kai was grateful she didn’t have to attend History with Mistress Furie anymore and could concentrate on practical skills. Many of her lessons in field medicine mirrored topics Kai’s mother had covered when she was a child. During the class on stitching wounds, Kai wistfully remembered practicing stitching on the skin of an orange, which her father had pretended was a fallen soldier, delivering a moving eulogy before he ate it. She shoved the memory down. She would focus on moving forward, not looking back. It was the only way.
Weeks passed, and then months. Kai still spent some of her free time in the library with Master Vita, but not as much as before. She, Maaya, Emi, Stela and Leilu had grown even closer, and together they would take trips into town, practice their burning, or play goa. Kai relished the distraction that her friends brought. When she was with them, she could almost believe that they were normal students at a normal school.
Yet there were more signs that the war was escalating. Moonburners were going out on more frequent missions and some were not coming back. Kai’s friends would be gone for days, coming back hollow-eyed and mute about what they had seen. It was a stark reminder of their true situation.
As spring grew near, the last vestiges of winter clung to the citadel with frosty fingers. Kai, Emi and Maaya sat in the warmth of the dining hall, shoveling food down like starving orphans. Moonburning made you hungry.
“The two armies are stationed right across from each other outside the Churitsu Plain, like they have been for years,” Maaya explained. “But the skirmishes into each other’s territories are growing worse. The sunburners are bypassing the army and going straight towards the civilians, where they can inflict the most damage.”
Maaya and Emi shared an uneasy look.
“And so are we, aren’t we?” said Kai. “Is Geisa making you attack civilians?”
They both looked away, Emi at the ground, Maaya studying her fingernails.
“I don’t know what’s worse,” Kai said. “Sitting around wondering if your friends are going to come back from a mission in a coffin, or knowing that they are out there, killing innocent civilians.”
“It’s the job,” Emi said. “And they aren’t innocent, they are Kitans. They could be harboring sunburners or assisting the enemy.”
“It’s strange,” Kai said coldly. “Emi’s lips are moving, but all I hear are Geisa’s words coming out of them. The moonburners attacked my village, and I can tell you for a fact that none of us were harboring sunburners or helping the army. We were just trying to stay alive.” She closed her eyes, remembering the flames licking up the buildings, the screams and the smoke. Sora’s unconscious body in her arms.
“Kai,” Maaya said, ever the peacemaker. “That’s not fair. We’re soldiers. We’re just following orders.”
“Maybe we shouldn’t be following Geisa’s orders,” Kai hissed. “When does it end? Are we going to keep killing until there is nothing left alive in Kita?”
Maaya’s gaze returned to her fingernails. “It’s not our place . . . to question. The queen and the general know what they are doing. They have a plan for a major offensive, one that could turn the tide and end the war.”
“Maybe we should question,” Kai said. “Because I know a bit about the queen’s grand plan. And it’s not for peace.” The words of the giant goddess echoed in Kai’s head. Suffering.
Emi and Maaya sat silently for a moment, pushing food around their plates.
“I’ll talk to you later,” Kai said, standing up. “Suddenly, I’m not feeling very hungry.”
Kai left the dining hall feeling restless.
“Let’s go see Master Vita,” she said to Quitsu, a little shortly. It h
ad been a week since they had visited him.
“You don’t think you were a little hard on them?” Quitsu asked.
“It just drives me crazy sometimes,” Kai said.
“What?”
“That I’m the only one who questions anything,” Kai said. “Everyone else takes this life at face value, like there could be no other way.”
“Maaya and Emi grew up here. They don’t know any other way. You do. You have the benefit of a different perspective.”
“I guess you’re right,” Kai admitted.
“And you have me,” Quitsu said, smirking. “To tell you when you’re being an unreasonable idiot.”
“Lucky me,” Kai grumbled.
“What is going on with you?” Quitsu asked. “That was a good joke.”
Kai sighed. Why did she ever think she could keep anything from him? “Today is my birthday.”
“Ah,” Quitsu said. “It’s all becoming clear.”
“It’s no big deal,” Kai said. “I don’t want any fuss. It’s just . . . the day when my parents and I were supposed to start our journey to Miina. If things had gone differently.”
“I’m sorry, Kai,” he said. “And happy birthday.”
“Thanks, furball.”
“You know, if it’s your birthday, then it’s my birthday too. You didn’t get me anything, and you don’t see me sulking.”
“You are the worst!” Kai said, flicking moonlight at him.
He started running across the courtyard, looking back at her with his pink tongue sticking out of his mouth.
She laughed and followed.
“Master Vita,” Kai called as she walked through the front door of the main room of the library. Master Vita sat in one of the large armchairs by the fire, book in hand.
“Kai,” he said. “Be a dear and put another log on the fire, will you?”
Kai obliged, picking a big log of crisp, dry wood from the stack beside the fireplace. As she went to put the log into the hearth, she noticed that another figure sat in the chair with its back to the entryway.
