Fantasy · 28 chapters · by Royendgel Silberie · in english
'Step into the flame, cadet Thorn.' The proctor's voice rings through the Emberhall. You mount the brazier dais, a hundred cadets watching, and the…
Chapter 1: The Black Flame
'Step into the flame, cadet Thorn.' The proctor's voice rings through the Emberhall. You mount the brazier dais, a hundred cadets watching, and the sorting flame climbs your body — warm, searching, familiar as a nightmare. Then it turns black. Not smoke. Black fire, silent as a held breath. Every proctor looks at everything except you. Two years ago your sister stood exactly here. Then this academy lost her.
What happens next? I stare the proctors down. Look at me. Say it. · I step off calmly before anyone starts asking questions. · I whisper my sister's name into the black fire.
Chapter 2: A Trick of the Drafts
You hold the senior proctor's gaze until he flinches. 'A trick of the drafts,' he announces, too loudly, and the hall exhales its relief. But across the dais one man doesn't pretend: Commander Rhen Valemont, black-coated, one gloved hand resting on the rail, watching you the way a hawk watches a snare. Then his voice cuts the murmur clean in half. 'Cadet Thorn. You're mine.'
What happens next? Fine. I meet his eyes and don't look away. · I salute like a model cadet and give him nothing. · My stomach drops — I know that name from the report.
Chapter 3: The Last Girl
You step down smooth as water, and the flame snaps back to gold behind you. Nobody thanks you for making it easy. In the muster line a platinum-haired cadet leans close, House Vane's crest at her collar. 'Black flame,' Sera murmurs. 'The last girl who burned black died here.' Before you can answer, a shadow falls across you both. 'Cadet Thorn,' says Commander Valemont. 'With me.'
What happens next? I follow him. Keep the mask on. Learn everything. · I ask Sera which girl. I need the name. · The last girl was my sister. I say nothing.
Chapter 4: The Signature
'Fern,' you breathe — your sister's name, swallowed by black fire. The flame leans toward you like it's listening. Then it gutters out, and the hall pretends nothing happened. Everyone except the man descending the proctors' stair: black coat, gloved left hand. Commander Rhen Valemont — the signature on your sister's death report. 'Cadet Thorn,' he says, tasting the false name. 'You've just been assigned. To me.'
What happens next? Assigned to my sister's undertaker. Perfect. I smile. · I keep my face empty. He can't know me. · Did the flame listen? I need to test it again.
Chapter 5: Rules of the Tower
Commander Valemont's tower study smells of cedar and old smoke. He doesn't sit. 'Rules. You fly when I say. You question nothing in front of the others.' His gloved hand rests on a stack of files — one bears the trials' crest from two years ago, you'd swear it. 'And cadet: I remember every word anyone has ever said to me. Choose yours carefully.' He requested you. Why?
What happens next? What's in the files, Commander? I ask it straight. · I recite his rules back word-perfect. Two can remember. · Why me? I let the question sound small.
Chapter 6: Casualty Reports
'What's in the files?' Nothing changes in his face — that's how you know you've struck something. 'Casualty reports,' he says. 'The trials keep them honest.' He slides the stack into a drawer that locks with a word, not a key. That night in the barracks, Sera Vane drops onto the bunk across from yours. 'Valemont never takes cadets,' she says. 'The last one he took is dead.'
What happens next? Dead how, Sera? I want the ugly version. · I pretend to sleep and file it all away. · Then why did he take me? I say it aloud.
Chapter 7: Initials in the Frame
You recite the rules back word-perfect, chin level. Something flickers behind his amber eyes — approval or suspicion, you can't tell. 'Dismissed.' In the barracks, your new bunk carries a carving in the frame: initials, F.C., worn smooth by two years of strangers' hands. Fern Calder. Your sister slept here. Sera Vane watches you trace the letters and smiles like a blade. 'Sentimental, Thorn?'
What happens next? Just checking for splinters. I make my voice bored. · Whose initials are these? I test what Sera knows. · I turn away before she sees my face crack.
Chapter 8: Too Slow
'Why me, Commander?' The question hangs. He crosses to the window, sea-light catching the seam of his glove. 'Because the flame turned black,' he says finally, 'and the last time it did that, I was too slow.' He won't say more. Dismissed, you lie awake in the barracks while Sera Vane's voice drifts from the dark: 'Ask him what happened to Fern Calder. Watch his face.'
What happens next? Too slow for whom? But I already know. · I bank the question like an ember for later. · Sera's baiting me. I need to know why.
