by Graci Kim
“So I guess I’ll be seeing you around,” I awkwardly say to Jennie as I put on my shoes and give the door-sin a farewell compliment.
She scowls. “Not likely.”
“Really?” I say. “We’re back to this already?”
She gives me a sheepish smile in return. “Sorry, old habits die hard. Yeah, I guess I’ll be seeing you. And uh, thanks for today.”
When we get back to the campus, there’s a nervous energy in the air. People have started to gather in one of the forest clearings by the lake, milling about in groups and whispering anxiously to one another. It’s like they’re waiting for something to happen. Something bad.
“Do you know what’s going on?” I ask Taeyo.
He looks down at his phone. His notifications have been going off like fireworks since we left Jennie’s house. “It looks like we have a pest problem. Several of our offices have been destroyed already. Everyone’s talking about it on our community Slack channel.”
Emmett and I share a look. What kind of pest is big enough to destroy buildings?
“She’s an inmyeonjo,” Taeyo elaborates. “They think she was drawn to the campus because of the magic we’ve been doing, and then she found all the mirrors. Now she’s dead set on demolishing every last one, and people are getting hurt in the process.”
Emmett looks confused. “What’s an inmyeonjo?”
“They’re part bird, part woman,” I explain, remembering Professor Ryu mentioning them once in class. “They’re one of the only creatures that can fly between the Godrealm and the Mortalrealm. They’re wild but not dangerous, unless they’ve got their eyes set on a mirror and you get in the way. Then you’re in trouble.”
“Ugh, not another bird!” Emmett says, curling in his fingers protectively. His hands are still red and swollen from being pecked by the book-birds. “What’s her beef with mirrors, anyway?”
“It’s actually a really interesting story,” Taeyo says excitedly. “They say the first-ever inmyeonjo was a beautiful woman. She was so breathtaking that bachelors would line up at her door each day for a chance to win her hand. But she was young and vain, and careless with her affections. So one day, a scorned lover—who happened to be a Gumiho illusionist—cursed her to become an ugly, human-headed bird. Now, every time an inmyeonjo sees herself in a mirror, she’s reminded of the beast she’s become.”
“Hence her obsession with destroying them,” I add.
Emmett looks up at the light reflecting off the mirrored buildings. “I see why this is a problem.”
Taeyo nods, his excitement fading. “She won’t leave until every last shard of mirror is shattered.”
“Shirtballs…Good luck, I guess,” Emmett says. “Sucks to be you guys.”
Taeyo leads us through the maze that is the campus, and we eventually find Sora in a glass-walled meeting room inside the HQ. She and Austin are having a conversation with some older scholars, and if their body language is anything to go by, it looks serious. Sora is standing with her arms crossed, and Austin is scowling.
Taeyo knocks on the transparent wall and opens the door. “Sorry to disturb your meeting, but we have visitors.”
Sora signals for us to enter, and I take a quick peek at the vial hanging around my neck before I step through the door. A third of Hattie’s heart has now decayed, and the sight of it gives me the impetus for what I need to do next.
Sora raises an eyebrow at me. “I thought you left this morning?”
“I did.” I clear my throat. “But I’ve changed my mind. I’ve come back to initiate into the Horangi clan. I’ll be honest—I don’t really want to. But I need your help to find the last artifact, and I’m willing to do whatever it takes.”
She studies me for a moment, and I assume she’s going to give me a lecture about how I can’t just initiate for the sake of it. How I need to want it. Mean it.
But she doesn’t. Instead, she smiles. “That’s good news.”
Austin whispers something to the other scholars, and when they nod in approval, he turns to me. “And it just so happens we have the perfect initiation task for you.”
I hold my breath. I suddenly picture myself having to learn how to write code and design an entire app within an afternoon. I cross my fingers behind my back. Please don’t let that be my task. My failure would be guaranteed.
“Once we insert the biochip into your wrist, you will help us take care of our pest problem,” Austin announces.
My jaw drops. “You want me to kill the inmyeonjo?!”
The adults widen their eyes, surprised. “Why would you think that?” Sora asks.
Confused, I look to Austin. “Didn’t you say you wanted me to take care of her?”
Austin laughs, and heat rises up my face. That is what he said….
“I should have been clearer with my words. My apologies,” he says. “What I should have said is that we are volunteering you for the inmyeonjo-taming exercise.”
“Why tame her?” Emmett asks. “Why not just frighten her away, or something?”
“We’ve tried that,” Austin answers. “But she keeps coming back. It seems our mirrored buildings have struck a nerve with her, and she’s taken it upon herself to destroy them all. We’ve managed to contain her for the time being, but we won’t be able to hold her for long. Taming her is our only solution.”
I swallow. “But I’ve never tamed anything before, let alone a cursed bird-woman. How will I know what to do?”
Sora pats my shoulder. “Others have volunteered for this task, so you’ll have a chance to watch them—and the inmyeonjo—in action. If they don’t succeed, it’ll be your turn. And if we deem your behavior appropriate, we will invite you into our clan.”
“Will I need to use magic? With the biochip?” I ask. I rub my wrist tentatively and let out a hiccup.
Sora smiles. “If you can, sure. But I understand that you won’t have had a chance to practice beforehand. So just do the best you can.”
If someone had asked me two days ago to put myself in front of a crazed humanoid bird creature and attempt to tame her, I would have quickly tiptoed away. But, as I clutch Hattie’s heart vial to my chest, I realize I’ve come a long way from being the frightened, hesitant girl I used to be. I may have made some foolish decisions, which got me into this mess, but I’m not going down without a fight.
I take a big breath. “Okay. I’ll do it.”
“Great,” Sora says. “In that case, when you’re ready, Austin will take you to get your biochip inserted.”
Austin motions for me to follow him, but Emmett stops me. “Just a sec before you go.”
He pulls me over to a quiet corner outside the meeting room, away from the others, and looks awkwardly down at his feet. “Are you sure you want to do this, Rye? You still haven’t explained why you changed your mind.”
My heart warms at his concern. “When Sora first told me I had to initiate, I thought I’d have to betray the family that raised me. Be a traitor or something, you know?”
He nods. “And now?”
“Now I’ve realized it’s not a betrayal. It’s a sacrifice. Just like our clan motto. By sacrificing my Gom identity, I can save Hattie.”
“Service and Sacrifice,” Emmett echoes under his breath. “I get it. Well, I just want you to know you’re not alone. I’m here for you.” He tips the dragon scooter up so that a little flapping wing can give me a high five. “Me and Boris both.”
“I’m so grateful for you. For both of you.” I sniffle.
“Geez, you don’t have to get all mushy on me now. Ugh.” He takes off his cremation ring and shoves it into my hand. “Don’t ask why, just take this, okay? It’s not for you—it’s for me. It would just make me feel better if you were wearing it.”
He looks away, his nose in the air. He’s getting worse at hiding his feelings with each passing day. Emotions look good on him, though. I put the ring on my finger and draw him in for a hug. “Love you, boo.”
“Guess you�
�re not a bad egg, either, Riley Oh.”
Austin comes over to our quiet corner. “Shall we go?” he says to me.
I nod.
“Emmett, you come with me,” Sora says, ushering him away. “We’ll wait for Riley outside.”
With that, Austin leads Taeyo and me to a smaller tree house in the south end of campus. It’s separated from the rest of the buildings in the network, as if it was designed to be hidden. The door is highly secured with what looks like ten separate metal locks. Austin rubs his wrists, and, as his gifted mark glows, he waves his hand over each of them. One by one, the locks move like clockwork until all of them have clicked open.
He pushes the door wide. “After you.”
It looks like a science lab inside. People are sitting on benches at various tables, working with microscopes, mini blowtorches, and tech parts I can’t identify. A small group in the back is crowded around a 3-D printer that’s spitting out something too small for me to see. AKMU is playing softly in the background, and no one is talking. Everyone is intently focused on their work.
Austin leads us to a man huddled over a table in the front. He’s wearing a head light and squinting through a magnifying glass attached to the rim of his glasses. As he works on a minuscule chip with tiny tweezers and pliers, his movements are so painstaking, I have to stare at him for a good ten seconds to make sure he’s a human and not a robot.
He finally raises his head. “Yes?”
Austin gestures to me. “We have a new initiate.”
The man doesn’t even look at me. Instead, he turns back to the chip he was working with. “Sit.”
Taeyo grabs a stool from a nearby workstation, and I take a seat opposite the man.
“Wrist,” he commands. I guess he’s not much of a talker.
I hesitate. As Hattie says, it’s all about choice. I am choosing to do this. But I still waver. What if my Gom parents reject me after I do this? What if the gifted community shuns me even more?
“Wrist,” the man says again, his tone impatient. “I don’t have all day.”
I take a big breath. This is for my sister. And for stopping the prophecy. For service and sacrifice.
I lay out my wrist in front of him. “Is it going to hurt—?”
Click!
Before I even finish my question, the man has held a syringe-shaped metal tool above my wrist and pressed it down onto my skin.
“Done,” he says.
“Wait, that’s it?” I ask, surprised. “I hardly felt it.” I run my finger over my left wrist and feel a tiny little bump where it was inserted.
“Rub them,” the man commands.
I look at him blankly and he scowls. “Chop-chop. Let’s make sure you’re not faulty, or else I’ll need to take it out. Rub your wrists.”
I wince at the insinuation I could be deemed faulty. Tentatively, I rub my wrists together. It’s an action I’ve watched my entire life—a movement I’ve wished over and over again I could perform, too. And finally, I’m doing it. Even if it’s in this weird science-tech lab with the Horangi clan.
The little bump scratches a little as I put my wrists together, and suddenly there is heat on my right wrist. It feels as if the sun is shining directly on that patch of skin. I gasp as the heat intensifies and the gifted mark of the two suns and two moons appears on my wrist. It glows red like a siren, reminding me of the clan I’m about to enter.
“Oh my Mago,” I whisper. “I can’t believe it actually works.”
I know it’s the wrong color, and seeing red instead of gold makes my stomach churn in a weird, homesick kind of way. But at the same time, the feeling is momentous. I’ve spent my whole life thinking I was devoid of magic. Now I know—no, now I can see—that I am gifted, too.
“Congratulations,” Austin says. “You are now officially biochipped.”
Taeyo grins and claps his hands. “Congratulations, Riley! Now all you have to do is channel your inner dominant element, and you’ll be able to wield it.” He studies me curiously. “What is your element, by the way? How rude—I never asked you.”
For a moment, I recall my Gi ceremony. The way my elemental profile of four fires had branded me a freak of nature. Then I remember what Sora said—that the Horangi cared about what I had in abundance, and not what I lacked.
I puff up my chest. “Fire,” I say to Taeyo. “My dominant is fire.”
“Cool!” he says. “Uh, I mean hot.”
I groan and then ask, “But how exactly do I channel it?”
“Well, everyone activates their chip a little differently, so you’ll have to find your own way of making it work. But for me, I think of floating in the sea and feeling completely weightless. Like I’m a part of the current. Then I just relax and put my mind to what I want the water to do. Then bam, it yields.”
As Austin ushers us out of the room, he says, “For me, it’s single-mindedness. I laser my focus on the metal and imagine my hand around it, melding it, shaping it, moving it the way I want it to act. The more I concentrate, the more effective it becomes.”
I must look concerned, because Austin pats me on the back. “Don’t worry too much. It might not happen on your first go, but you’ll figure it out. We all have.”
A flicker of anticipation passes through me. A part of me is excited for the challenge. I’m eager to try out my new gift.
But as Hattie’s rapidly cooling heart vial rubs against my skin, I also think of everything that’s at stake—my sister’s life, my parents’ gifts, the prophesied end of days…. The burden feels like too much to bear. What if I fail? What if, no matter how hard I try, it’s not enough?
As Austin leads us to the lakeside, where the challenge will be held, Taeyo takes something out of the pocket of his yellow chinos and slips it into my hand.
“This is for you,” he whispers. “For good luck.”
I open my palm to find a beautiful round compact made of shiny gold. Cool and heavy to the touch, it reminds me of how my onyx teardrop stone used to feel in my hand.
“What is it?” I ask.
“It’s a compass I found a long time ago. I want you to have it.”
I push the small button on its side and the compass flips open. It’s intricately designed with tiny black detailing around the edge and a slender golden arrow hovering inside.
“Why are you giving this to me?”
He smiles openly. “I saw what you did for Emmett back at Jennie’s house. How you gave up what you wanted so he could have a chance to speak to his mom. And now you’re putting yourself through this initiation to save your sister and to stop the prophecy. You’re a good person, Riley. You came a long way to find us, and I thought maybe, one day, if you ever get lost, this could help you find your way back to us.”
He adjusts his bow tie, and something flutters inside my chest. This has to be the nicest gift I’ve ever received.
“It’s beautiful. Thanks, Taeyo.”
I close the compass and feel a rough patch against my palm. I turn over the compact and see a small faded outline of two overlapping triangles on its back. I press the symbol, and suddenly the compass makes a slicing sound as triangular blades release from the edges, forming what looks like metal rays around a golden sun.
“Whoa!” Taeyo breathes. “I didn’t realize it was a weapon, too.”
I carefully spin the compass on my palm. “Let’s hope I won’t need that part.”
BY THE TIME WE MAKE IT to the lakeside, the forest clearing is full of people. I’d say there are at least a hundred folks milling about, waiting for the call for volunteers.
I can’t see Emmett anywhere, but he must be somewhere in the crowd. What I can see, however, is a terrifying bird creature probably seven feet tall, with a wingspan the cheollima guard would die for. Her body is covered in a shock of dirt-colored feathers, and her talons are so large they look like pitchforks. The most disconcerting thing about her, though, is her face. It, too, is covered in brown plumage, but it is distinctly human. She
has high cheekbones, a well-proportioned nose, and two large eyes. Except the “whites” of her eyes are amber, and her lips stretch out unnaturally into a hardened beak. She really should have treated those bachelors better….
Like Austin said earlier, the inmyeonjo is trapped inside a metal cage near the edge of the lake, but it doesn’t look like it’s going to hold her for too long. Because if I could use one word to describe her, it would be furious. She is flapping her wings aggressively against the metal bars, clawing the ground with her talons, and screeching at the top of her lungs.
“Come forward, volunteers!” Sora stands next to the metal cage and ushers people closer. “If you are brave enough to attempt the taming of the inmyeonjo, step up now.”
Two kids who don’t look a day over eight walk forward, holding hands. “We volunteer!” they call out.
Sora smiles but waves them back. “You’re very brave, Henry and Grace, but perhaps not today.”
Three older scholars from the crowd bravely raise their hands as Austin pushes me toward Sora.
“Good luck,” Taeyo whispers.
I steal another glance at the metal cage. The inmyeonjo is glaring straight at me while ramming the bars, and I’m sure she’s out for my blood. I gulp.
“I’ll go first,” one of the volunteers announces. The man—who has a well-groomed beard and a man bun—takes a lighter out of his pocket. He ignites the flame, and then rubs his wrists.
“Good luck, Jo,” Sora says.
Austin magicks the metal cage so it lifts into the air by itself, leaving the inmyeonjo free on the ground. The empty trap hovers above the volunteer and the inmyeonjo like a steel spiderweb.
My heart speeds up as I watch Jo. His dominant element must be fire, same as me. Seeing him with the lighter, I realize the Horangi’s magic only works if the element is nearby. That’s why the training hall we were first detained in was full of water—because Taeyo needed it for his watery shackles. Unfortunately, I don’t have a lighter handy.
The man concentrates on the inmyeonjo, who has started to flap her wings like she’s going to charge any second. He swirls one hand over the open flame as if making a soft-serve cone, and then blows on his open palm. Fire shoots from the lighter in an impressive spiraling wave and torpedoes toward the bird-woman.
