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  “—Wait. Like with like. Can you explain that a bit more for me?”

  “Yes. It means from herb to herb or from mianl to mianl or from soil to soil. Spior pulled from grass can never be moved to mianl for instance.”

  “What about to a person?”

  Drystn laughed. Cynwr didn’t look amused.

  He put on a serious face and continued, “Sorry. That’s of course what people tried to do a long time ago. If a person with the Talent could pull spior from nature and give it to themselves, they would be able to live forever. Like with like and only between the three focal points. Never person to person.”

  “Very good. Continue, please.”

  “Second: Spior can only be moved by those trained to do so and born with the Talent. Third: The three focal points of spior are herbs, mianl, and soil. Fourth: Spior is in all things, living and non-living. Fifth: A living body's spior is released upon death and is spread out in equal parts to all living things. Sixth: The natural life span of a living body is proportional to the amount of spior it contains.”

  Cynwr’s expression dropped as Drystn recited the laws. She now had an intense sadness about her. Drystn quickly went over what he had said, nervous that he had made a mistake in the most fundamental of questions. He couldn’t fathom where the mistake had been, because he had been able to recite these laws for years.

  She said, “You have made no mistake, but I feel I must tell you something. It only seems right. I have no doubt you will graduate top of your class. But this may not be as good as you think. Every three years, the top three students, one from each discipline, are sent to Talamir Center to work on a major project—”

  “—What? I’ve never heard of this.”

  Drystn’s heart raced. Talamir Center? A major project? This sounded like a great opportunity and way more exciting than becoming a village herbalist.

  Cynwr said, “Shh. Let me finish.” She stood up and walked to the window. Her eyes had glazed over, but she stared out into the darkness anyway. “They don’t want anyone to know about it for some reason. It’s been going on for as long as I’ve been here, and I still have no idea what it is. It’s very secret but presumably very important. It also might be dangerous. I’ve never heard from any of these students again. They basically disappear when they leave.”

  The course of the conversation dawned on Drystn.

  “Are you saying this is the year? It’s been three years since the last one?”

  “Yes. I fear it is.” She turned back from the window and leaned in to Drystn. Her hair flowed onto the desk, and she lowered her voice. “I want to give you the choice, since it seems unfair to force this on someone. If you would like to go live with your family, you can intentionally give some wrong answers. You won’t graduate top of the class, and they’ll take someone else.”

  “Isn’t that just as bad though? Then the second person won’t have a choice.”

  Cynwr contemplated this before answering.

  “That is true.”

  She gave no indication that she would say more on the topic. Drystn didn’t know what to do. He had longed to live in the city center all his life. He thought this wasn’t possible, but now the opportunity lay out before him. Still, it came at a cost, and he didn’t know what this cost would be without more details.

  Drystn asked, “Do you think the people doing this research are okay? Why did you lose contact?”

  “I have no idea. I know that once you find out what they are working on, you will never be allowed to tell anyone about it. They also only want the best and don’t give anyone involved a choice.”

  A deep curiosity formed in the pit of Drystn’s stomach. The more he thought about it, the more it grew until his whole body tingled with excitement. He had to know what it was. He wanted to be more objective in this important decision, but he couldn’t overcome the sense that this had to do with the First Age.

  He would probably find out what had caused the disappearance of the people from the First Age or at least work on finding out what happened to them. Plus, the city had so much in it compared to the outskirts where his parents lived.

  He tried to hide the excitement in his voice, but he knew Cynwr would pick up on it.

  He said, “I understand the implications of what I’m about to do.”

  The exam proceeded, and Drystn continued to answer each question correctly. He couldn’t tell, but he suspected she had tried to come up with some very difficult and obscure questions to trick him into a wrong answer. Did she know something and not want him to go? Or was it to give him a plausible chance at giving a wrong answer? Each question he answered brought a little more sadness to her eyes.

  She finished by saying, “Well, as you know, you’ve not only passed, but you are also the top herbalist this year. You’ve made your own fate. I hope you don’t regret it.”

  Drystn had never seen her like this. He turned and left the room in silence. His only thought echoed through his head: What have I done?

  II

  Drystn wandered back to his room despondent. He stared at the stone all around him and wondered what lay in his future. The familiar motions brought a strange sense of calm: the hall, the room, his cot. He returned the equipment to its resting place on a shelf. Everything he had accumulated in his eight years had been given to him as part of his training. It wouldn’t be hard to move the few books and brewing equipment to wherever he was headed.

  Drystn plopped onto his ragged cot in the corner of the room only a few steps away. He lay down and stared at the ceiling and idly followed the crags between the stone with his eyes. Anxiety about the future built in his stomach, and he felt nauseas. He wanted to skip dinner, but he knew Loegr and Ninml would show up soon to drag him along. They’d want to talk about how their finals went. He wasn’t sure he had the heart. He drifted off until a voice awoke him.

  “Rise and shine sleepyhead,” Loegr said. Drystn opened his eyes and saw his friend peering over him. As with all people with the Talent, Loegr had a slight orange tint to his skin, which seemed particularly dark in the poorly lit room. Drystn pulled himself up, completely drained from the day’s activities. “So how’d it go?”

  Drystn forced himself to talk through his grogginess. “Let’s see. I climbed into the mianl caves, scratched myself while crawling through some rough spaces, couldn’t find the herb I was looking for, almost died in a quake cave in, found the herb, journeyed back, then took a comprehensive final exam. It was exhausting, but I did extremely well. What about you?”

  Loegr crossed his arms with suspicion. “Really? Don’t they keep all those herbs in an herb garden here so you can practice?”

  “Of course, but that would be cheating. Part of the test is to see if we know where the natural growing places are for the herbs we need. You know, in case we need to gather them ourselves once we leave here. It’s not as simple as mianl. You just have to—”

  “—What? Be able to shape an extremely hard material that wants to break into its regular shape with a ridiculous flat-edged tool? Or were you going to say be far better at spior manipulation?”

  This woke Drystn up. He sat forward on the edge of the cot before continuing.

  Drystn said, “Okay. Let’s not get into another debate over whose discipline is harder.”

  “Because you’ll lose?”

  Drystn’s heart fluttered at the thought of entering this argument. Loegr drove him wild, and even though Loegr didn’t return those feelings, the teasing always felt like normal flirting to Drystn. Drystn sat up and prepared to plunge headlong into the unrequited dance. They might be separated soon, and he didn’t want to miss out on this last opportunity.

  Ninml crept around the corner and slid into the room. “Am I interrupting something? Because it sounds serious. I know you guys aren’t arguing over who has it harder. News flash: school is over. We’re done with this place forever. We need to celebrate!” She gave both men a devious look. “Plus, soils is the hardest. For my final
exam, I had to make a clay figurine come to life. I bet you didn’t have to breathe life into something.”

  Drystn called her on this. “That’s a bit melodramatic, don’t you think? It wasn’t literally alive. You had complete control over it. It’s more like you made a puppet without the strings.”

  She flipped her hair and spun around. “Whatever. That doesn’t change the fact that we need to celebrate that it’s all over.”

  Loegr said, “I hope when you say ‘celebrate’ that doesn’t mean go eat the slop they serve us in this place. But if you don’t mean that, I don’t know what you have in mind, because unless you’ve forgotten, we live in the Ninth Ring. There’s nothing out here.”

  She said, “We’ll go to Seisl’s. That’s not too far away.”

  Drystn caught Loegr’s eye and saw he was thinking the same thing. Dread crept through Drystn’s stomach at the thought.

  Drystn said, “Do we have to? That place creeps me out.”

  Ninml glared at them with a ferocity that told Drystn all he needed to know. They would not get out of this.

  ~

  A strange, isolated stone building appeared on the horizon. It had an extreme asymmetry to it. The thatched grass roof angled upward from the ground all the way to the other end, where a stone wall formed the far side of the building. The flat wall had several windows carved out but no door.

  The entrance to the building was through a door built into the roof rather than the side with the wall. The builder had to have been insane when he decided this was a good idea. Drystn didn’t fault the guy. Anyone living in the Ninth Ring back in that time would have to go insane.

  Ninml said, “We’re here!” She had a bit too much enthusiasm for Drystn’s taste, and she flung open the strange door for the two guys to go through.

  Drystn had chills at the thought of spending the evening here. A sinister air emanated from the building. The owner, Seisl, was just as weird as the building itself. Drystn stepped through the door and replied, “I don’t like this one bit.”

  “You’re such a baby. Grow up already. You’re entering the real world in a few days and might have to make trips to places like this alone.”

  “Don’t remind me.”

  Loegr said, “I kind of like it. Plus, the place is going to be filled with graduating students today rather than the typical seedy Ninth Ringers.”

  It was true. This part of the Ninth Ring had a much safer feel than most other parts due to the school. The Ninth Ring existed mostly for miners and outlaws. The miners weren’t bad people, but the solitary and dark nature of their work gave them a grim outlook on life.

  The outlaws, on the other hand, lived as far away from Talamir Center as possible to escape the laws they didn’t want to follow. As far as Drystn knew, there were no actual outlaw settlements anywhere near this building.

  The dark atmosphere did nothing to ease Drystn’s apprehension. The smell of fermented grass filled his nose. He never quite got used to the taste of the liquor, and the grassy base could always be detected no matter how cleverly a brewer tried to mask it with herbs. He braced himself for the coming barrage of disgust he would endure in celebration. He realized he couldn’t complain too much; his profession comprised forcing people to drink teas that tasted bad.

  Seisl limped over with a bizarre irregularity. Drystn hadn’t frequented this place much in his time at the school, but something always struck him as strange about the limp. It was as if Seisl faked it for atmosphere. He wore what appeared to be a blanket made from a patchwork of other clothes, and he hunched over as he moved. Seisl was the only male Drystn knew of with long hair.

  Did the limp just switch sides? Drystn shuddered. Seisl’s raspy voice called out to them, but he never made eye contact.

  “Have a good time tonight.”

  Loegr went to the bar to order the first round. There was an implicit assumption that he would buy, because his rich parents sent him money all the time. Drystn often wondered what Loegr’s parents thought life was like out in the Ninth Ring to need so much money. They probably assumed it was similar to Talamir City. They had probably never been more outward than the First Ring. This had been one of the features that first drew Drystn to Loegr; he didn’t act like he had a spoiled upbringing, but Drystn knew the truth.

  As his eyes adjusted, and Drystn looked around. There were far less celebrating students than he thought there would be, not that many would actually be graduating. Drystn and Ninml chose a corner table, and Loegr returned with the first round.

  Drystn asked, “What flavor did you get?”

  “None. This is straight up grass wine.”

  Drystn crinkled his nose at the thought. “You cheap bastard.”

  The three clinked their stone goblets and downed the foul liquid in one gulp. This was the only method to drink the stuff. Only a masochist would savor the flavor. The fire burned all the way down to Drystn’s stomach and lingered even there for a moment. When he breathed out, the grass stink filled his nostrils. That smell probably wouldn’t go away for days. He hated when it got up there.

  The night went on, and the more Drystn drank, the less he cared about how it tasted. The world blurred. Before he knew it, Ninml had slid right up next to him. Loegr had disappeared somewhere.

  She sounded sad as she whispered, “We may never see each other again.”

  Drystn wanted to reassure her, but knew he couldn’t say too much.

  “Don’t be silly. Of course we’ll still see each other.”

  “You can’t know that.”

  Drystn paused then said, “Actually, I do know that.”

  “What do you mean?”

  She sat back. Genuine curiosity filled her eyes. Drystn realized he had said too much. He tried to backtrack.

  “Forget it. You’re right. We don’t know where we’ll end up.”

  Ninml searched Drystn’s eyes, and he could only imagine what she thought. He told her he knew with too much confidence. He had no reason to lie about that.

  She said, “Tell me what you know!”

  Drystn didn’t want to continue this conversation. He knew it could only end badly. His friends couldn’t find this out while drunk.

  He said, “You’re talking weird. What do you want me to say?”

  She seemed to half-buy this for a moment. “Don’t deflect. You know something. I’ve been one of your best friends for eight years. You can’t fool me.”

  He couldn’t think clearly, and the only thing he thought to say was, “You’re drunk. Let’s talk about this tomorrow.”

  “No. I’m uninhibited. You’re uninhibited. We should do it now while I can still get it out of you.”

  Drystn hated how much she made sense. He wouldn’t be able to argue his way out of this with her. Then Loegr came back to the table with three more drinks.

  “What are you guys talking about?”

  “Nothing.” Drystn didn’t hesitate to shut down the conversation. It pained him to see Loegr give him a look of jealousy.

  Loegr said, “You said that a bit too fast. You two are hiding something.”

  Everyone remained silent as they looked at the drinks.

  Loegr continued, “Well, whatever.” He held his cup up. “Let’s drink!”

  The three took another gulp.

  Drystn found the sun coming in through a small slat in his room. How did I get home last night? His head pounded against his skull, and he found it hard to imagine how bringing this horrible feeling upon oneself could be considered a celebration. It was more like a punishment. At least he had a day to sleep it off before the graduation ceremony.

  ~

  Spior-infused mianl hung from the ceiling of the great hall. The crystals illuminated the room in an eerie glow, indescribable in relation to natural lighting. Rows of chairs were divided into three distinct areas and faced a raised section at the front. These designated the three disciplines of study.

  Drystn hadn’t paid much notice at the past year’s cere
monies, but now he looked around in awe at the number of people. All students were seated in their respective locations, but also the parents of many had made the journey to see the occasion. Drystn sat in the front row of the herbalists, where all graduates were seated. He peered over at Ninml to see if she seemed nervous, but she remained as cool as ever. Loegr sat too far away to see.

  The herbalists would be announced first. Cynwr stood at the head of the great hall to conduct this portion of the ceremony. Her white and green robe signaled her advanced position as the head teacher in the subject. All other teachers merely wore the standard green robes.

  Her voice echoed throughout the cavernous room. “This year we had many fine students. I would invite all graduates of the herbalist class to join me at the front of the room to receive their green robes.”

  Drystn stood and walked to the front with the other four students. He felt the eyes of the younger students stare at him in awe. He recalled how he had felt in their position. Time creeped along so slowly back then. The moment of graduation had seemed impossibly far away. Now it had arrived upon him before he knew it.

  She continued, “All herbalists must make a vow in order to receive their green robe. Please circle your hands in front of your face and repeat after me.” Drystn lifted his arms and placed his fingertips together in front of his face, so he could see the audience through the small circle it made. His current student black robe dangled loosely off his arms, and Drystn repeated after Cynwr.

  “I solemnly swear … to uphold the health of any person … who may seek my help … day or night … I also swear … to carry out any and all … required government mandated treatment … whether asked for or not.”

  Cynwr went down the line and presented the folded green robe to each graduate. Each time, she said, “May you be the best herbalist you can be.”

  She paused before presenting the last robe to Drystn. Everyone knew what this meant.

  “Now I present the last robe, as is custom, to the student who received highest overall marks for their final year. Drystn, you graduate with highest honors. Congratulations.”