At the place I used to call home, there was a man. He was my friend, my mentor, someone I could always talk to. He was someone who would listen, no matter what my troubles were. This man would never talk about the things I’ve told him, to others, especially if it were me complaining about my father or the limitations I was allowed because I was the daughter, princess, heir apparent to his throne. I trusted him deeply with my very heart and soul and my respect for him went even deeper than that. If it weren’t for Nahaile, I would have never learned how to summon. I would have always been helpless against men who sought to take advantage, because he also taught me how to fight with my fists and feet.


    I shake my head. “No,” I say. “I can do a little, but not much.”


    Kieren tilts his head to the side. The action reminds me of a curious bird. “Alright,” he says. “I’ll… go easy on you then.”


    “Not too easy,” Taithon says.


    “Yeah yeah,” Kieren says. He balls up his fists and cracks them one at a time. “No magic.”


    I nod.


    “I can’t use magic like everyone else, the only thing I’m capable of is shifting. So to keep this fair, I won’t shift either.”


    I turn my gaze towards Taithon. “How is this supposed to help you place me in a house?”


    “Magic isn’t the only thing you will have to practice when going to school here,” he explains. “That is only a very small part of it. Being able to defend yourself without magic whether it be with a weapon or without, is fairly important.”


    His explanation was good, but that didn’t really answer the question. “Can you be a bit more clear?”


    Kieran stares at me with wide eyes and drops his hands. “I thought he was being pretty clear.”


    “Sairya,” Remmy says from the side. “This alone isn’t going to help us choose the house you are to be placed in.”


    “Then what…?”


    “Shue was told to gather three of the house heads, and he did just that. The reason is because after seeing what you are able to do, the three of us will discuss which of our houses you will join,” Remmy says.


    “Yeah… the rules here are strange,” Kieran says. “Whichever house you are placed in now, might not be permanent. Like… if we see you need improvement with hand to hand, we might place you in one house versus another. If you are especially strong with one thing, the same applies. You… understand now?”


    I nod. “Yeah, I think so,” I say. That also meant that if I improved enough with one thing, they might transfer me to a different house in order to improve in something else.


    “Good,” Kieran says. “Now ready?” a wide grin spreads across his face as he turns slightly sideways, bends his knees and clenches his fist in a classic fighting stance.


    “Mhmm,” I say as I do something similar. My fighting stance however, is a lot lower to the ground with my fists down to my sides, rather than up in front. It was the stance my mentor Nahaile taught me to use. Most of the people who have witnessed this stance, have equated it to being like how a cat crouches right before they pounce on their prey.


    “You can go whenever,” Taithon says in his bored tone.


    If I took my eyes off of Kieran even for a second, or blinked, I would have missed when he moved. One moment he was standing about ten feet away, and the next he was crouching in front of me, preparing for a punch. He swung. I twisted as my mentor taught me, causing Kieran to miss.


    “Give yourself some credit,” Daxton says. “There’s not many of us who could have dodged one of Kieran’s famous, right hooks.”


    “What are you doing here Daxton?” Remmy asks. “He asked for the house heads, which you are not one of.”


    I don’t hear Daxton’s response as I twist again and with one hand on the mat, aim a kick for Kieran’s middle.


    He leaps over with ease, pivots on a heel and manages to get me instead. I go flying across, landing on my stomach. Kieran is on me then as I try to stand. He wraps one arm around my throat, in a quick choke hold.


    “Daxton is right, Sairya,” he says. “While you are far from perfect, whomever trained you did an excellent jo-”


    I choose not to wait for him to finish that thought. Using his arm as leverage, I lift both feet up and kick him hard in the stomach. Kieran lets me go and I land back in my crouch, facing Kieran.


    If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    He climbs back to his feet, but this time doesn’t go after me again. “That enough?” Kieran asks.


    Taithon yawns. Was he bored already? “Yeah, that’ll do. Remmy or Emri, one of you can come up here and start your test.”


    “Wait,” Daxton says. “What about me?”


    Taithon shakes his head as if this was a common occurrence and he was simply annoyed by it. “You are not a house head Daxton.”


    “I know that, but Remmy here,” he points a thumb over his shoulder. “Can’t do much more than to shake up the earth a bit.”


    “It’s up to Remmy then,” Taithon says.


    All of us look towards the house head.


    Remmy shrugs and then nods. “I can’t do much more than Kieran can. I think Daxton is the better choice.”


    Oh wonderful. And unlike Kieran, Daxton actually looked lethal. I watch as he steps on the mat in front of me. Still… I can’t get over how striking that red hair is and those pale blue eyes with… are those streaks of silver? There is no time to figure that out however, because Daxton blinks and then they are gone.


    Daxton’s eyes go wide for a moment and then they return to normal. He furrows his brow. “Are you…?”


    “What?” I ask.


    “N-nothing,” Daxton says. “Nevermind.”


    Daxton raises a hand palm up and a small flame appears within it. I watch it flicker, mesmerized by how it dances back and forth. The flame in the center of his palm, reminds me about someone my mother mentioned in one of her letters. A man in her squad who was an expert when it came to using fire magic. Could he be related to that man somehow?


    “My talents are as a battle mage and mostly in hand to hand, with the use of an element,” Daxton says. “But for this, it will be magic only. I will attack and you need to either avoid or defend.”


    “Alright,” I say.


    There is no warning as Daxton throws that little ball of fire right at me!


    Most summoners only have the ability to summon the creatures they have a contract with. Very rarely can they do what I can. As the fire approaches me with great speed, I call upon one of the abilities possessed by a summon. A transparent shield appears in front of me and the fireball bounces harmlessly off.


    He throws some ice spears, moves the earth and calls upon lightning. I block the ice spears with a shield of wind. With a wave of my hand, a shield of ice forms around me, blocking both the earth and lightning. Those two elements were courtesy of Kieva and Geruta, and the defensive shield or barrier was Nyx’s doing.


    Daxton stops attacking and steps back. He looks at Taithon who nods. “We’ve seen enough,” he says. He turns to go back to the others, but glances over his shoulder and throws me a thumbs up. “Good job.”


    “Emri,” Taithon says. “It’s your turn.”


    Emri nods and gently hands Senza over to Remmy. He then steps onto the mat. “Again,” he says. “I’m sorry this has happened to you. You… if your father had any sense at all, he would have never even considered bringing you here.”


    I look at him and shrug. “It doesn’t matter anymore,” I say. “It’s already happened, I’m here and… there is no leaving.”


    “Yeah,” he says. “Well anyway, prepare yourself.”


    I watch as a tendril of light appears near Emri’s feet, snaking across the floor. It is slow at first, but gains momentum with each inch it travels and then before I realize what’s even happening, it wraps around my ankles and I hit the ground hard!


    “Nyx!” I call out, because that is all I need to do in order to call forth a contracted creature.


    A black dot appears in the mat. It grows wider and wider, until it’s about the width of an adult human’s body. An endlessly deep hole with a void of nothingness within. Two paws grab onto the mat from within the hole and then a medium sized, black cat climbs out. Nyx is no normal cat however. For starters, his tail is forked two thirds of the way near the end and embedded into his forehead is what appears to be a large, red ruby.


    Nyx looks back at me with enormous, amber eyes. He hops forward and cuts the bindings of light with his claws. He meows and then turns back to Emri as I climb back to my feet.


    “Cool…” Emri says, his eyes are wide, his expression one of awe.


    And then I remember, this is something I gained shortly after he vanished. Emri had never actually seen me summon and because summoners were rare… well, I was probably the only summoner here.


    “That’s enough,” Taithon says. “Have you decided which house yet?”


    Both Remmy and Daxton raise their hands. Remmy looks over at Daxton and gives him the look that says, ‘we’ll be talking about why you came here later.’


    “I think Sairya might benefit the most from the House of Fire and Stone,” Remmy says. “Do either of you have any objections?”


    “Nah,” Kieran says. “I’m only good with hand to hand, because of that house.”


    Remmy nods.


    “Sai would definitely help the House of Sun and Shadow, but I’m not sure we could do the same for her.”


    “Then I guess your house has been chosen,” Taithon says. “Take this and… I recommend waiting till you are alone in your room before slipping it on. These bands can… let’s just say they bring both physical and emotional pain. They tie your magic to the school so you are unable to leave without the proper key.”


    I take the band from him and nod.


    “Shue,” Taithon says.


    The boy runs to stand in front of Taithon again and gives him another mock salute, hand to forehead. “Yes?” he asks.


    “Go get her bag and take it to this room,” Taithon hands him a key. He then turns to me and hands me a key as well. “Don’t worry. Once his task is done, Shue will return the key I gave him. Anyway, follow Remmy and he’ll take you there.”


    I nod as I turn to pick Senza back up and rest him on my shoulder. Remmy leads me out of the training room and we start walking to the school’s east wing.