Chapter Four — The Seven

The room remained silent for exactly three seconds.

Then Vikram raised his hand.

The woman on the other side of the glowing sphere looked at him.

“Yes?”

Vikram pointed at himself.

“Question.”

She nodded.

“Are we allowed to go home?”

The woman paused.

“No.”

Vikram lowered his hand.

“Okay.”

He looked at Kai.

“I don't like her.”

Kai nodded thoughtfully.

“Same.”

The woman sighed.

“My name is Headmaster Seraphina.”

Zayne immediately stepped forward.

“You kidnapped us.”

“We brought you here.”

“You abducted us.”

“We brought you here.”

“You took me from my bedroom.”

“Yes.”

“Without my permission.”

“Yes.”

Zayne stared at her.

Seraphina stared back.

“That's kidnapping.”

Kai whispered to Vikram, “I like him.”

Vikram whispered back, “He's going to get us killed.”

“I know.”

Seraphina turned toward the seven.

“You were not chosen randomly.”

The enormous chamber became quieter.

“You have each demonstrated abilities that exist outside the natural limitations of your world.”

Mei raised her hand.

Seraphina looked at her.

“So we're not crazy?”

“No.”

Mei nodded.

“Good.”

Aurora looked around the room.

“Where are we?”

Seraphina answered calmly.

“The Academy of Aureon.”

Lyra folded her arms.

“And what is Aureon?”

Seraphina looked toward the enormous glass wall behind her.

Beyond it stretched a world that none of them had ever seen.

Floating bridges connected towers that disappeared into clouds.

Creatures moved through the sky.

Thousands of lights shimmered below them.

“This,” she said, “is the world that exists beyond yours.”

Nobody spoke.

Vikram slowly walked toward the glass.

“Okay.”

He pressed his hand against it.

“That's... actually really cool.”

Kai joined him.

“Very cool.”

Lyra rolled her eyes.

“You two are impossible.”

“Thank you,” Vikram said.

“I wasn't complimenting you.”

“I accept it anyway.”

Seraphina almost smiled.

Almost.

Then she turned serious.

“For centuries, two worlds have existed beside one another.”

“Our world,” she said, “and yours.”

Zayne looked at her.

“Why doesn't everyone know about this?”

“They do.”

He frowned.

“What?”

“The existence of Aureon has never been completely hidden.”

Mei's eyes narrowed.

“But people don't know it actually exists.”

“They know enough to dismiss it as myth.”

“Why?”

“Because that was safer.”

Seraphina walked toward the center of the chamber.

“The boundary between the two worlds has been maintained for generations. Those who possess abilities capable of crossing that boundary are trained here.”

She looked at the seven.

“You are different.”

Kai pointed toward himself.

“Different how?”

“You are the Seven.”

Silence.

Vikram blinked.

“That's it?”

Seraphina frowned.

“What?”

“I thought you'd say something dramatic.”

Kai nodded.

“Yeah. Like, ‘You are the chosen descendants of the ancient bloodline.’”

Vikram continued.

“Or, ‘You are the only hope left for humanity.’”

Kai put on a deep voice.

“‘You were born beneath the blood moon.’”

Mei laughed.

Even Lyra smiled.

Seraphina looked at them for a long moment.

Then she said quietly,

“You were chosen because one day, you may be the only people capable of saving both worlds.”

The laughter stopped.

“Oh,” Kai said.

“That's worse.”

---

Seraphina led them through the Academy.

And for the first time, the seven saw how enormous it truly was.

Students moved through endless corridors.

Some carried books.

Some carried strange glowing objects.

Some were practicing abilities in open courtyards.

There were hundreds of them.

Maybe thousands.

Nobody seemed surprised to see the seven.

In fact, everyone stared.

Whispers followed them.

The Seven.

They're here.

That's them.

Those are the ones.

Vikram looked around.

“Why is everyone staring?”

Kai shrugged.

“Maybe we're famous.”

“We were kidnapped yesterday.”

“Fast career growth.”

They passed beneath an enormous archway.

Three symbols were carved into the stone.

A lion.

A raven.

A wolf.

Seraphina stopped.

“The Academy is divided into three Houses.”

Lyra immediately asked,

“Which one are we in?”

“That will be decided later.”

Zayne looked at the symbols.

“And what happens if we don't want to join?”

Seraphina looked directly at him.

“You will.”

Zayne's expression hardened.

“I don't think you understand.”

“Oh, I understand perfectly.”

She stepped closer.

“You are sixteen years old.”

Zayne stiffened.

“So are all of you.”

Seraphina looked across the group.

“You have families. Friends. Lives.”

Her voice softened.

“But now you also have abilities that dangerous people would kill to possess.”

She paused.

“If you return to your world without training, you will be a target.”

Nobody spoke.

“Your families will be targets.”

That landed differently.

Aurora looked down.

Mei's expression changed.

Vikram's smile disappeared.

Kai stared at the floor.

Lyra crossed her arms tighter.

Seraphina continued.

“You will remain here.”

“For how long?” Aurora asked.

“Five years.”

Vikram's head snapped up.

“FIVE?”

“Yes.”

“Five years?”

“Yes.”

“Like... one thousand eight hundred and twenty-five days?”

Kai looked at him.

“You did the maths?”

“I panicked mathematically.”

Mei laughed.

Seraphina continued as if neither had spoken.

“You will study. You will train. You will learn to control your abilities. You will learn the history of Aureon, the nature of the boundary between worlds, combat, strategy, survival, and the responsibilities of being a Protector.”

Lyra interrupted.

“And if we refuse?”

Seraphina's expression didn't change.

“You may refuse.”

Everyone stared at her.

“Really?”

“Yes.”

Lyra looked suspicious.

“What happens then?”

Seraphina folded her hands behind her back.

“We send you home.”

A beat.

“But we erase your memories of this place.”

Silence.

Kai's eyebrows rose.

“Oh.”

Vikram whispered,

“That's terrifying.”

Seraphina continued.

“And your families will be placed under Academy protection.”

Lyra stared at her.

“You're blackmailing us.”

“No.”

Seraphina smiled faintly.

“I'm giving you a choice.”

Zayne scoffed.

“That's not a choice.”

“No.”

Seraphina looked at him.

“It isn't.”

For the first time, Zayne had nothing to say.

---

Their rooms were in a separate wing.

Much larger than the normal student quarters.

Their clothes had already been prepared.

Their schedules had already been written.

Their names had already been entered into the Academy's records.

Everything was ready.

Everything except them.

Vikram threw himself onto the enormous bed.

“This is kidnapping with better furniture.”

Kai dropped onto the bed beside him.

“Agreed.”

Mei walked into the room carrying three books.

She looked at them.

“You two are sharing?”

Kai shrugged.

“Apparently.”

Vikram pointed at him.

“He's my roommate.”

Kai pointed at Vikram.

“He's my problem.”

Vikram grinned.

“Best friends?”

Kai held out his hand.

“Best friends.”

They shook.

Across the hall, Lyra stood outside Aurora's room.

“Do you want to eat together?”

Aurora smiled.

“Sure.”

Mei appeared behind them.

“I'm coming too.”

Lyra looked at her.

“You weren't invited.”

“I know.”

Mei smiled.

“I'm coming anyway.”

Lyra stared at her.

Then sighed.

“Fine.”

Zayne walked past them.

“You're all behaving like this is some sort of summer camp.”

Lyra looked at him.

“You're welcome to stay miserable alone.”

He stopped.

Looked at her.

Then kept walking.

But there was the faintest hint of a smile on his face.

At the end of the corridor, Rayden stood alone.

Watching all of them.

He didn't join.

Not yet.

He simply looked toward the enormous windows.

Three moons hung above the Academy.

And somewhere far beyond them, beyond the mountains and the cities and the ancient boundaries separating worlds—

something was moving.

Something that had been waiting for them.

Rayden didn't know what it was.

But he had the strange feeling that they had not been brought here to learn.

They had been brought here because something was coming.

And the Academy was afraid.

Very afraid.

That night, the seven went to sleep for the first time in Aureon.

None of them knew that their training would begin the following morning.

None of them knew that the Academy had already assigned them their first trial.

And none of them knew that, three hundred miles away, Veyr had just found the first trace of the Key.

The game had begun.