The Starless Girl

by Liz Delton

  After dowsing herself with a bucket of water in one of the bathing cubicles surrounding the pool, she dipped a tentative foot in the steaming water of the bath.

  She stifled a yelp. Instead, she tried just one toe. It was still hot, but she found the longer she left it in there, the better it felt. Once warmly submerged, she swam out underneath the open sky and leaned against the side of the bath.

  Though her head was full of bad memories and nagging questions, she thought of nothing and simply soaked in the water and the scent of the flowers.

  When she began to feel drowsy, she got out. Once she was clean and dressed in her new clothes, she felt a little more prepared to face the day.

  Kira’s new clothes were mauve-colored, the fabric soft and flowing yet weighty. Nesma had given her a set of wide pants and a matching vest, both of which had ties for closures—no zippers or snaps to be found.

  She tied the black sash Ichiro had given her around her hips, the way Nesma wore her own. The silver buckle with the crescent moon slid on and rested below her belly button, helping to keep the sash tight.

  She met Nesma outside of the bathhouse.

  “I just need to tell my mentor I’ll be missing from lessons the rest of the day,” Nesma told her, “and then we can get you situated in the dorm house. I only wish I had gotten to skip combat this morning,” she added ruefully, rubbing her left wrist.

  Kira stared at everyone and everything they passed, as if to commit them to memory—and with a jolt, she realized she would someday have her own novice to show around.

  But then an ugly voice wiggled its way unpleasantly into her mind. Shouldn’t I be trying to get back to my own world?

  What is there for me now? another voice retorted. She had no friends, no family, and her mother…Ichiro and Nari seemed to think she was actually from Camellia, because she had Light magic. No, she would stay. She needed to find out if it was true. She had nothing in North Noxbury, nothing in what they called the Starless Realm. Not anymore.

  Besides, she told herself, she didn’t know how to get back without a door, and she wanted to figure out how to defend herself against the dark-creature, if it ever came for her again. She needed to learn how to use Light magic.

  Nesma led her across the temple square, passing by the cherry blossom tree. The dark trunk and branches stretched high above their heads, with innumerable pink blossoms spread among them.

  “Those are the dorm houses,” said Nesma, pointing out the two L-shaped buildings that lined the corners of the square beside the gate. Open galleries ran along the fronts of the dorm houses, populated with many doors and sparse decoration.

  “I’ll take you there once we find Hikaru. I think he’s at the stables right now,” Nesma said. “Sometimes he helps his brother groom his mount.”

  Nesma led her to a small stone gate beside one of the dorm houses. Kira spotted two boys on a bench inside the gallery, mending what looked like leather armor.

  “So, your mentor’s brother is here too?” Kira asked as they passed under the small gate and out of the temple square. A well-worn dirt path led up the steep incline, which was bordered by narrow trees and scruffy shrubs that decorated the mountainside.

  “Oh, yes,” Nesma replied as she trudged up the path. “Hoshi is getting ready to become a knight.”

  “Do you have any brothers or sisters here?” Kira asked.

  Nesma shook her head, and her voice sounded a little strained when she said, “My sisters don’t have Light magic.”

  Sensing something deeper behind her mentor’s words, Kira dropped the subject.

  They reached a lookout point on the path, and Nesma paused in her climb, perhaps hearing Kira’s breathlessness that she had been trying to hide. They both gazed out over Gekkō-ji.

  “It’s so beautiful,” Kira whispered, unable to stop herself. Nesma grinned at her.

  Gekkō-ji’s square was nestled in a dip in the mountain, almost like what Kira imagined the top of a volcano would look like, if volcanoes were filled with fertile earth instead of churning lava.

  Her gaze swept over the dorm houses, the bath and kitchen houses, and the building she had met Ichiro and Nari in, the Moonstone. She thought she could see another path opposite where they stood that led up the other side of the square.

  From the ground, it had been easy for Kira to forget that she was in another realm—after the Light magic had faded—and that she wasn’t just in a new place her mother had decided to move to. But the Realm of Camellia was a place her mother would never see—again, if Ichiro and Nari were to be believed.

  Nesma resumed walking, and Kira could distinctly smell their destination now. The scent of horses, leather, and hay filtered toward them through the woods.

  As if she had walked straight into a wall, Kira was struck with a new thought: if her mother had been from Camellia, might she have other family here too?

  Chapter Seven

  Fire

  They arrived at the stables in silence as Kira pondered her newest revelation. Her mother was her only family. There weren’t even pictures of her father, who her mother said died before she was born. Her mother didn’t talk about him. Once, when Kira was eight, she had asked her mother to tell her about him. Her mother had looked into her eyes and started to cry, so Kira never asked again.

  If Kira truly was from the Realm of Camellia, perhaps she could locate some distant relations. Very distant, considering what she had gone through journeying to this place.

  Half a dozen dirt paths converged on the stables, a sturdy wooden building tucked into the side of the mountain. Nesma slid open the heavy door and beckoned Kira inside.

  A few lanterns hung from the ceiling, dimly lighting a long corridor lined with more sliding doors. There were two horses out of their stalls, tied to posts and being pampered or prodded by their minders—Kira couldn’t tell which. The stalls along the corridor were populated by more of the enormous animals, who made their presence known by stomping, snorting, or continually munching hay. Several other corridors opened up on both sides, undoubtedly housing more horses than Kira had ever seen in her life.

  “Hello, Hikaru,” Nesma called softly, and the boy grooming the nearest horse turned. When he caught sight of Kira, he grinned broadly.

  “I suppose you’re a mentor now, Nesma? Who’s the newest novice, then?” He was much taller than both Kira and Nesma, a wiry build, and had short-cropped hair.

  Nesma smiled nervously and nodded. “This is Kira. She just arrived. I have to show her around and get her situated, so I won’t be at the rest of my lessons today,” she said, standing a bit taller.

  Hikaru ducked under the horse’s neck and resumed brushing the other side as he studied Kira. He looked older than Nesma and Kira, perhaps fifteen or so.

  A peal of laughter broke the steady rhythm of stable sounds—the girl grooming the other horse down the corridor cackled at something the boy with her said. She slapped her thigh repeatedly with the grooming brush in mirth. Their horse shifted its hooves uneasily.

  “Well, welcome to Gekkō-ji,” Hikaru said, turning back to his task. “Do you like horses, Kira?”

  She had been creeping away from the horse without realizing it and now stood with her back to the wall. Nesma had already grabbed a brush and joined Hikaru in grooming the beast.

  “My brother Hoshi’s still training Risa here,” he said, giving the horse a friendly pat. “She’s a good horse but not really used to Light magic yet.”

  Kira edged around to the front of the horse, which felt the safest place to be. She was eyeing the bucket of brushes and thinking of picking one up when a loud snort alerted her to another horse sticking its head out of the stall beside her. She took a hasty step away as it thrust its large nose into her hair. Hikaru chuckled.

  “That’s just Momo. He’s harmless.”

  Kira threw a warning look at Momo, craning her head back as she met the horse’s questing gaze.

  “Not much experience with horses
,” Hikaru said appraisingly to Nesma. “But she can learn.” Nesma nodded eagerly.

  Kira didn’t say anything, not wanting to reveal that the most experience she had with horses was last night’s ride on Anzu’s horse. One gentle horse had been enough to get used to, but a whole stable full…

  “Oooh,” came a shriek from the other end of the stable. The others were returning their horse to its stall. “New trainee,” the girl cooed, letting the older boy lead the horse into the stall across from Momo. The girl brushed the coarse hair from her hands, then tucked them deep into her pockets. Her dark eyes glittered from beneath her long bangs. “Who’re you then?”

  “Kira,” she offered, wary. She had been to plenty of new schools before and thought she recognized the particular gleam in this girl’s eye.

  “Kira,” the girl repeated as though tasting the word. Her companion emerged from the stall, twiddling with the lead rope he had removed from the horse. He looked about eighteen, and his barrel chest took up most of the doorway.

  “Where’re you from Kira?” the girl asked.

  She didn’t need the warning look from Nesma to know she shouldn’t tell this girl, but Kira had had some experience with bullies.

  “Heliodor.” The lie came off easier when it was a challenge.

  The stable corridor blazed with light. A long staff had appeared in the girl’s hands, as tall as the girl herself. It glowed with Light magic.

  Nesma gasped, and Hikaru held Risa’s halter with an iron grip. Risa reared, despite Hikaru’s hold, and he hastened to control the animal. She continued to rear and strike her front hooves out. Nesma, who didn’t even come up to the height of the horse’s back, retreated to the wall.

  Caught between flailing hooves and the Light staff, Kira stepped away from the horse, squaring her shoulders.

  “Rabenda,” the girl’s tall companion warned. His eyes darted toward Hikaru.

  “It’s all right, Kuma. I just want to see if the little novice really is one of us.” Rabenda advanced upon Kira, twirling her glowing staff in a neat circle. Risa was not impressed by this display of Light magic and continued to panic. Her frantic neighing made the other horses shift uneasily in their stalls.

  In a flash, Kira was on the ground, with no recollection of how she got there, and a great pain shooting from her right arm. The ground was soft, packed earth, so her head slamming into it wasn’t nearly as painful as it could have been.

  She stared up at Rabenda, who towered over her. The girl pointed the end of the staff at her throat. Kira was glad Rabenda didn’t know how to summon a weapon like Anzu’s, with a blade on the end.

  Hikaru and Nesma were still trying to get the frantic horse under control. Kuma merely leaned on the open stall door, watching.

  Kira grabbed the end of the staff with both hands and was surprised at the feeling of it. It glowed bright white, but it felt like something hard, like wood or metal. It wasn’t at all hot like she thought it might be.

  Rabenda jabbed the staff down hard, and even though Kira tightened her grip, it rammed into her throat.

  Kira fought to take in a breath, her throat wrenching with pain. She had never been in a fight at school before, but she didn’t think that would have prepared her for this.

  “Rabenda,” Kuma warned again.

  Rabenda ignored him. “Well? Show me you’ve got Light and we’ve got nothing to worry about. Unless you’re really just a spy for the Storm King?” Her face twisted into an ugly scowl.

  Kira shook her head minutely, still gripping the staff with all of her strength to keep it from crushing her throat further.

  “I can’t,” she grunted. “I don’t know how.”

  “Isn’t that convenient,” Rabenda retorted.

  Nesma, still pinned against the wall, piped up, “It’s true, she only got here this morning!”

  The horse had finally stopped rearing but was now dancing nervously back and forth, nearly squashing Hikaru and Nesma against the wall in the process.

  “Quiet,” Rabenda spat at Nesma then narrowed her eyes at Kira. “Do it, now.”

  Rabenda stood over her, and Kira kicked out, catching the girl in the shin. For a moment, Rabenda pulled the staff away, and Kira rolled to the side.

  Before she could get to her feet, the staff slammed into her back. She fell down hard onto her stomach in a blow that robbed her of breath.

  Stunned, she felt a shoe in her side, and then she was on her back again. Rabenda descended upon her, slamming the staff lengthwise into her throat, pinning her for good.

  “I can’t,” Kira repeated, coughing.

  Rabenda crouched over Kira, her face shadowed beneath her dark bangs. The staff pressed tighter, and Kira’s throat closed up. She could feel all the blood in her face pulsing through her tightened veins. She glared at Rabenda, wishing only that she would leave her alone, that she would let go of the staff and get off of her.

  She tried to take a breath, failed, and her head swam. If she didn’t do something soon, she would pass out. But how was she supposed to do Light magic?

  Anzu hadn’t explained it. Not Ichiro or Nari. She was supposed to start learning tomorrow.

  Her head gave another strange pulse, and she closed her eyes briefly. With all her might, she gripped the Light staff and pushed, pushed with every ounce of will she had, just so Rabenda would leave her alone.

  Dim tendrils of fire sprang from her fingertips. Rabenda’s eyes popped open wide, and she leapt back. “Ouch!”

  Kira found her feet and scrambled away, backing against the wall next to Hikaru and his still-nervous horse. Her own eyes were just as wide as Rabenda’s. Air surged into her lungs, and she was seized by a fit of coughing.

  The Light staff dissolved as Rabenda cradled her fingers, examining them. “You burned me!”

  Kuma laid a hand on Rabenda’s shoulder. “You made her do it,” he said, without sympathy. “It’s your own fault.”

  Rabenda said nothing, only glared at Kira from beneath her bangs.

  “Let’s go to the healer’s,” Kuma said, sliding his horse’s stall door shut with finality.

  “Yes, Kuma,” Rabenda muttered.

  Kira stared at her hands, which looked perfectly normal, despite her having thrown fire from them.

  Nesma gave Kira a hand up then helped her brush off the hay, dirt, and assorted bits of who-knew-what off Kira’s clothes. By the time they were done, Hikaru had finally calmed Risa down, and Kira’s new clothes looked almost presentable again.

  “I’m sorry about that,” Hikaru said. “That’s not a very good welcome to Gekkō-ji.”

  Kira put a hand to her throat, gingerly inspecting it.

  “Do you want to go to the healer’s?” Nesma asked then cringed at the look in Kira’s eye and murmured, “No, I guess not.”

  “I’m fine,” Kira said, somewhat hoarsely. “Just a little sore; nothing to worry about,” she assured Nesma.

  “I’m so sorry,” the girl said, peering up at Kira with wide eyes. “I’m your mentor. I should have been able to protect you.”

  Before Kira could protest that she could fight her own battles, Hikaru came over and laid a hand on Nesma’s shoulder. “You can’t protect everyone, Nesma. Not until you’re a knight, anyway. Besides, Kuma wasn’t stopping her, either—do you think you could have fought him too?”

  Nesma shook her head forlornly.

  They finished grooming Risa before Hikaru had to go to his calligraphy lesson then left the stables together after settling Risa in her stall with a fresh stack of hay. Risa had finally calmed down after the display of Light magic, but Kira was quite the opposite.

  She caught herself a few times staring down at her hands, trying to recall the feeling of the Light magic. How had she done it? Hikaru seemed to be thinking about the same thing as they made their way down the path toward the temple square.

  “Was that your first time using Light?” he asked as they reached the spot overlooking the temple grounds where she and
Nesma had stopped earlier.

  Kira looked out over Gekkō-ji and smiled, despite her nerves. “Yes. Is Rabenda always like that?” she asked. “Or is it just because I’m from the Shadow region?”

  “A little bit of both, I’m afraid,” Hikaru said heavily.

  “She’s never liked anyone from Shadow,” Nesma said, not meeting Kira’s eyes. “Her parents disappeared there on a missionary trip a few years ago.”

  “How come Kuma didn’t try and stop her? He’s her mentor, isn’t he?” Kira asked.

  Hikaru grimaced. “He could have if he really wanted. I don’t know why he lets Rabenda do whatever she wants.”

  Back inside the temple grounds, Hikaru departed for the Moonstone and his calligraphy lesson.

  “Do you want to see more of the grounds?” Nesma asked. “Or do you want to go to the healer’s now? I’m sure Rabenda’s left by now,” she added quietly.

  Kira shook her head. “I’m fine,” she said again. “Really. Could you show me the rest of the temple?”

  “Sure,” Nesma agreed. “Let’s start with the garden. It should be nice and quiet up there right now, with everyone in lessons.”

  They crossed the temple square and went through another small gate on the opposite wall. Nesma led the way up a steep stone staircase, surrounded on both sides by lush green foliage.

  Beyond the beautiful stone arch at the entrance stretched a well-manicured path of tiny white stones. The path wove gracefully across the mossy lawn, around carefully placed boulders and pristine trees and shrubs. The larger trees surrounding the garden sheltered it with their long, leafy branches, enclosing the whole place like a cool green cavern. Nesma led her in, tugging at her sleeve, smiling. “Come on.”

  They passed by a small pond filled with a dozen koi. The fish glittered like jewels under the surface of the water: ruby, topaz, and garnet. They walked what felt like every path yet came across no one. The encounter with Rabenda all but disappeared from Kira’s mind.

  Once Kira had had her fill of the garden, they descended again to the temple square. Nesma then led her around the side of the Moonstone, to a place where the walls surrounding the temple met at a corner. Here Kira saw something she immediately mistook for a sight she might never see again—an entrance to a subway station.