Perisha's friend, or perhaps better to say neighbour, was waiting for her in front of their garden. "Hi, Perisha," the girl said.
"Hi, Ivaan," Perisha replied. Why did Ivaan have to be so pretty? Almond eyes, clean skin, and straight black hair, while Perisha was covered in freckles, had frizzy red hair, and was a bit too tall and broad to be considered cute.
Advic pulled his hand out of Perisha's and walked ahead of them, creating shadow puppets on the sidewalk. Ivaan and Perisha didn't have much in common to talk about. If not for their parents, they wouldn't even know each other's names. They walked in silence for a few minutes until Perisha broke it.
"Ehmm…What do you think a person should do if she has the same dream more than a few times?" Maybe asking without testing the waters first wasn't wise. But it was too late for Perisha to take it back.
Ivaan looked around the street nervously. Except for a few old men and women in the park across the street, there was no sign of anyone else. "Don't talk about dreams in public you foolish girl!"
Her answer wasn't what Perisha was looking for, but Ivaan might have been right. They walked quietly along the pavement. The trees were slowly shedding their leaves, and the sun was losing its warmth. Yet none of this made the neighborhood any less beautiful. Occasionally, they ran into people they knew, including the altar-minister who preached for them every weekend at the Temple of the Gods. He greeted them with a smile and a nod as he passed.
At last, the road ended at a gate set into the inner walls surrounding the Pearl of Gira. The gate was guarded by two sentinels; one of them, a friend of her father, gave her a broad smile and a salute as she passed through. Beyond the gate, the road was lined with towering statues of the Gods, so massive they cast long shadows over the passage. Past these statues lay Middletown—a bustling neighborhood ten times larger and more crowded than the Pearl. The roads there were neither as clean nor as quiet, and the people lacked the polite warmth she was accustomed to.
But she didn't need to venture far into Middletown to reach her destination. The academy stood at the end of a street beyond the Vision Roundabout and the markets clustered around it.
"You should draw it," Ivaan mumbled as they turned onto the academy road, lined by two-story red buildings on either side.
"Draw my dream?" Perisha looked at her in confusion.
"Hush," Ivaan said, putting a finger to her lips. "Yes. It will help you understand the message," Ivaan grabbed Perisha's arm, forcing her to stop. "Look, when I told you about my family's interest in these things...I was just a child. And you promised me you would never mention it to anyone, so keep your promise or—" Her black eyes pierced Perisha's soul like arrows. "I will make you regret it."
There was no need to threaten her. "Even if I do, no one will believe me, Ivaan." Perisha said.
"Don't even try it. Understood?" Ivaan said between her clenched teeth before walking away.
They arrived at the academy gate, an iron arch adorned with floral patterns, wide enough for two carriages to pass through side by side. Students were waiting behind the closed gate, chatting, screaming and laughing. Ivaan looked around, perhaps for her friends. She turned back to Perisha with a bit of disappointment. "Ehmm…well. Are you ready for Judgment Day?" she asked.
Perisha was ready to be finished with the academy, and going through Judgment Day was one of its steps. But for Judgment Day itself? "I guess," she replied.
"What do you think they will choose you for?" Ivaan asked, raising an eyebrow.
"I don't know. I'm not talented in combat, geography, or physics."
Ivaan shrugged and pointed at Perisha's brooch. "Maybe a Minister?"
"Yes, well, I do pray, but so do tons of other students. The competition for becoming a Minister is too high," Perisha replied.
"Well, none pray like you do," Ivaan said, running her fingers through her silken hair. "I'm good at both geography and physics. I think I'll either be chosen as a Traveler or a Statebinder. With my family influence and grades, I'm pretty sure soon after graduation I will become a crew leader," she said.
"Or a Nightwatcher. It's a good power for nosy girls like you," a boy said from behind Ivaan and laughed. It was Arta, one of Ivaan's many friends.
"Haha. Very funny," Ivaan replied. Arta and his friends pushed between her and Perisha and gathered around Ivaan. Perisha felt something pull on her clothes. She completely forgot Advic was still there.
"My friend is here," Advic said, pointing at another child with his parents. "See you later," Advic said and ran off, leaving Perisha by herself. Everyone had one friend, two, or even more like Ivaan. Everyone except Perisha. Maybe the next chapter of her life would be better.
The small door inside the gates opened, and students pushed each other through it. Perisha went with the flow and found herself in the flat green courtyard. She stood in one of the many rows of students in front of the academy's building and waited for the morning prayers to begin.
The principal stood on the portico, a few steps above the ground. On either side of him stood four columns, and behind him was the entrance. He had a long gray beard and wavy, short hair with a smile that was both kind and scary. He wore a one-shouldered golden cape with a long leather collar, where his Karies, a two headed bird with a long colorful tail, perched. He opened the 'Book of the Eight' and waited for the students to finish lining up.
"In the name of all of the Eight, creator of devotees and lands. We will start the day with chapter fifty-three, verse twenty, when the battle of good and evil began, when the Healers forgot their place and ignorant people joined them, turning their backs on order. Demons and their hellbound creatures attacked Haoma, giving the gods no other choice but to intervene." His Karies opened its massive wings, flapped them a few times, and leapt into the air.
"Hell unleashed its darkness upon Haoma. Weak souls joined it, and strong ones died defending order. The lands burned in fires so high they endangered the existence of heaven. Maiden energies erupted from the depths of Haoma and melted everything in their path. The waters became impure and burned throats. Order was gone, and chaos had taken its place." The principal cleared his throat and continued.
"The Lord of the Hells was blinded by pride and announced his success, not knowing the gods had a plan all along. The gods knew they could defeat the hells and those who bowed to chaos, but only when all impure souls revealed their true faces. The gods left their thrones in heaven when the world split in half. They empowered the pure ones and fought against hell's army..."
Perisha stopped listening to the principal. The kids' argument in front of her was taking all her attention. Their voices were low but audible.
"Give me that, or you will suffer for the rest of the year," the fat one said.
"No! Not this year. I won't let you have it," the shorter one replied.
The fat one grabbed the other student's hands and tried to pry them open. The smaller one yelped in pain. An Altar-Minister in a red cloak ran toward them and separated them. "With me. NOW!"
"Miss, he wanted to take my prayer brooch from me," the short one cried.
"He is lying. It was mine," the fat one said.
"Quiet, both of you," the Altar Minister said, grabbing them by their arms. Perisha had a feeling that this fight wouldn't end well for either of those kids.
"—Worship the gods, and they shall protect your souls, empower your body, and let you enter the heavens at the end of time," the principal paused and followed the two kids with his eyes. "Well, it's time to pray," he said. All students, including Perisha, held their brooches in their right hands and closed their eyes.
"To the god of space, fortune, and sky; Zurvan. Klaran-thar! Vryshk-thak konas dral! Akryn-vyth threk vorrth nal vek soran! Vryen kall, thrak-sor kall, forral vek kran'yth skal vryssan dor talon-skaar!" The students repeated the prayer after the principal, their words ringing out like the clash of blades in a battle.
"To the god of cycles, agriculture, and food; Zamyat. Vr'thar vek zorrak thral skar'vyr. Vek dral vyr'zor. Vek teshkar vek thorak karak vek var'thal vyr'shar."
They prayed to all Eight gods, one after the other. When the prayers were finished, everyone's prayer brooches clicked as the handles moved one section forward.