Renzo awoke the next morning to the sound of a shout, and jerked out of bed at once, tripping slightly over the scratchy bnket tangled between his legs. He hit the ground on one shoulder and let out a grunt of pain. Damn, that was going to be one nasty bruise ter, he thought. Getting more carefully to his feet, Renzo blinked blearily at the stone walls, not immediately remembering the events of the previous day.

  There was a faint ache in his body that pulsed slowly in time with his heart. Or was it his thoughts? He couldn’t seem to reach a conclusion with the fog that had clouded his brain. How long had he been asleep?

  Through groggy eyes heavy with sleep, he saw that sunlight was now streaming through the circur window of his room, casting the entire space into a weak, watery, but warm glow. The storm had broken at some point in the night, he thought, moving to peer through the window at the sky. It was still mildly cloudy, but enough light leaked through to show sodden grassnds and a distant forest, as well as the road that he’d taken to reach the Academy.

  The Academy. His memory catching up to reality, he heard a great deal of noise outside his door. Dozens of people were passing by it, either talking and ughing with each other or yelling to get someone’s attention. So those were his cssmates, he thought. He shook his head to clear it and strode over to the dead fire to pick up his tunic and breeches. Both were dry and soft now, so he tugged them on, deciding to leave his cloak behind. With a mix of excitement and trepidation, he quickly did his best to straighten his hair, then stepped out of his room.

  In the better lighting, he could see that his floor was home to six rooms. Two of the doors were open, but at his angle, he couldn’t see into them. Peering curiously to the left and right, he realized he had no idea where he was supposed to go.

  “New guy, are you?”

  A tall figure stepped into the hall, blocking the light. Built like a stone kiln and smiling like he knew it, the boy grinned down at him. “You’re the new Initiate who arrived st night, right?”

  “I am,” Renzo said, in a voice that sounded far too raspy for his comfort. Clearing his throat, he tried again. “Yes, that’s me.”

  “Excellent,” the taller boy said, sticking out a hand in greeting. “I’m Taiko, an initiate like you.”

  “Renzo,” He took the proffered hand and shook it. “Uhh, where’s everyone going?”

  Taiko’s eyebrows shot up. “To breakfast, of course. Come on, I’ll show you the way.”

  Renzo followed Taiko towards the stairs that led further down into the castle. Bits and pieces of the journey came back to him from the previous night, though everything was much better lit than when Takan had led him to his room. Everything was… pin, but on a massive scale. There were so many doors, so many parts to the castle, that he couldn’t keep track of it all. Would he ever learn the yout of this pce?

  Taiko began talking as soon as they reached the bottom of the first flight of stairs. “I’ve been here almost three weeks, myself. I have to say, I like it here, even if it is a bit cold.”

  “It’s not that cold,” Renzo pointed out. “The sun is…”

  His voice trailed off as he realized what Taiko meant. Of course, his home was a great deal hotter. “Right. Sorry, I forgot. Still, you’d probably be warmer if you had sleeves.”

  Taiko let out a ugh at that. If he was bothered at all by Renzo’s slip-up, he showed no sign. “Yeah, right! I gotta let the muscles show, man! How else are the dies going to fall in love with me?”

  “The… dies?”

  “That’s right. There’s this one I got my eye on since I got here. Valen girl, but apparently she lived near a few Taluven. Says she grew up on a rice farm. Man, aren’t girls from the countryside just the best?”

  Renzo wasn’t sure how he should reply to that, so he stayed silent. In any event, Taiko kept talking.

  “What elements do you favor? Well, obviously one of them is Fire. I can feel the heat coming off of you. Reminds me a bit of home. Was the other one Earth? You seem solid enough.”

  “It’s Air,” Renzo said, in the brief moment where Taiko paused to breathe. “Fire and Air.”

  “Shame,” Taiko replied, a sentiment that was at odds with the broad grin on his face. “I was hoping you were like me. I’m Fire and Earth. I’ve already learned how to use both independently, of course, but I’m nowhere near mastering them. The teachers say we’re going to get our first skill at the end of the month, and I’m hoping to get Stone Skin. I could pick up a fire skill, but what’s the point? I’m already good with fire. It’s my earth skills that are cking.”

  They made their way through several doors accompanied by Taiko’s chattering, mostly about his hometown and what it was like living with his house feet away from fire. “I never touched the va, of course. Even I’m not that stupid, though my parents thought I was. But if I can learn elemental fusion, I’ll be able to do that! Where are you from?”

  “It’s… a small vilge,” he said. “Off the west coast. You probably wouldn’t have heard of it.”

  “Probably not,” Taiko agreed cheerfully, leading him down one final flight of stairs. “Oh, look at that. Here already.”

  Twelve long tables filled the center of a rge open room in four rows of three, with more than half the seats already filled by a wide variety of people. Everyone seemed to be of a simir age group, with the youngest he saw looking to be about sixteen, and the oldest in his mid-twenties. He guessed this was the roster of students learning cultivation at the Academy - the Initiates and Disciples. He couldn’t tell the two ranks apart, as there was no sense of uniformity in the groups of students.

  “Are we seated by floors?” he asked Taiko. “Or perhaps css or rank?”

  “Neither,” Taiko said easily. “You can sit wherever you like. But I hope you join me and my friends. They’re cool people, and you could use some friendly chatter before you start taking this pce too seriously.”

  Renzo could only shrug, following the only person he knew, as Taiko made a beeline for the tables den with food. They joined a group of three already sitting and eating, his grin broadening again. “Good morning, my friends!”

  One of the three, a surly-looking woman still wearing her nightgown, immediately held up a hand. “Not yet, Taiko. I haven’t woken up enough to hear your chattering.”

  “Aww, come on, Mae,” Taiko said, plopping down right beside the woman, his grin still firmly in pce. “Don’t be so co-”

  A stream of water whipped out of a nearby pitcher and hit him directly in the face, knocking him off the bench and onto his back. Laughter rang out from the students around them, and Taiko picked himself up, unfazed. The woman, Mae, turned to look at Renzo. “Who’s this?”

  “I’m Renzo,” Renzo said, giving a small wave. He didn’t think the woman would tolerate him moving closer for a handshake. “I… just got here st night.”

  “Ah,” she said, turning back to her bowl of porridge as Taiko sat back down - albeit about a foot further away than before, almost at the very edge of the bench. “Please, sit down. I don’t have the energy for formal greetings.”

  Renzo thought she might be angry at him, too, until he noticed the faint bruising under her eyes. She looked more tired than annoyed. So he took the seat she gestured to, walking around the end of the table and seating himself next to a slim girl wearing a simple grey dress. She was short and slim, with pale skin that almost seemed tinged with blue, and her hair was a beautiful silvery-white. Even tied back, it had a distinct slick texture to it. She looked like a pale Saanari, but without the mottling or the gill-marks. She smiled at Renzo as he gnced her way, offering a small hand in greeting.

  “Hi,” she said, in a smooth, quiet voice. “I’m Aeri. Half Valen, Half Saanari.”

  “One hundred percent adorable,” Taiko slipped in. Then, catching Mae’s eye, he quickly scooped some porridge into a bowl and started eating.

  “Nice to meet you,” Renzo said, shaking her hand as she blushed at Taiko’s remark. With the blueish tint to her skin, it was a little more purple than pink. “You’re Half Saanari? I’ve never heard of that before.”

  She shrugged slightly at his question. “Not a lot of people have. It does happen, but it’s rare. I’ve only ever met two other half-bloods in my life, and one of them is my older brother. But I’m used to the weird reactions, so I just get it out of the way first thing. Saves me time having to expin it to people who are too awkward to ask themselves.”

  “I wasn’t… I mean, I didn’t think I had to bring it up.”

  A small smile formed on her face as he stammered, but, thankfully, dropped the subject. Leaning back slightly and pointing to her right, she said, “This is Varden.”

  Varden gave him a polite nod. “I’m Aurethi, as you can see. My affinities are Light and Wood, so I’m a bit of a natural healer.”

  Renzo had assumed as much, given Varden’s golden eyes and bleach-blond hair. His skin was tanned, and the sunlight pouring from the skylight above almost seemed to make him glimmer.

  “He also grows the most delicious fruit in his garden,” Aeri added. “You have to try his strawberries. They grow as big as my hand!”

  Varden ducked his head at the praise. He seemed to be a very humble man, the exact opposite of Taiko. Renzo, feeling much more comfortable with Aeri’s warm greeting, returned Varden’s nod. “Nice to meet you. My affinities are Fire and Air.”

  “Ooh cool!” Aeri said. “I’m Water and Wind. I’m really good at making water hit people.”

  She let out a soft giggle, gncing across the table at Taiko, who let his spoon drop with a ctter. “That was you!”

  “Well,” she said, hunching her shoulders in a gesture of innocence, “I didn’t want Mae to get mad and start throwing stuff again. Or worse, bury you up to your neck. We’d have to dig you out!”

  Taiko just continued to stare at her, a wounded look on his face. Varden and Aeri both ughed at the reaction, and even Renzo couldn’t suppress the smile that broke out on his face. Taiko picked his spoon back up, grumbling something about ‘friends’ under his breath, and resumed eating. Aeri caught Renzo’s eye and gave him a small wink, her lips still curved in a smile. “Eat up, Renzo. We’re gonna visit the forest today.”

  He did so, dling a healthy serving of the porridge into his bowl. It was basic, but hot and filling, and seemed to push away some of the aches that had been pguing him so far. A sense of contentment and happiness filled him from the inside, and he let out a small sigh. Events might be proceeding faster than he was used to, but he was starting to think that maybe, just maybe, life wouldn’t be so hard here.