“For the last time, get your head out of the clouds!” Ferdinand boomed. The old man was Nile’s mentor and only friend. Although, right about now, Nile wanted to punch him in the face.

“But that’s where the answers lie,” Nile persisted. He pointed at the pristine clouds, a privilege only the people of Leocivat enjoyed. The rest of the world was a wasteland. When those outside of Leocivat looked skyward, their gazes would only be met with angry, bleeding skies that shadowed a lifeless desert unprotected by the Coterie. “There are angels out there, and only they know how to defeat the demons.” His hand fell to his side, his initiation robes scratching against his sweaty palm. “The Coterie should be using their power to find them. Instead, they hole us up in our little cocoon of a city.”

Ferdinand slammed the end of his staff against marble tiles, the crack booming across the balcony and trickling into the courtyard. “Enough. The angels have left Terra to rot. That will never change, no matter how much you wish otherwise.” He glowered. “As a member of the Coterie, you’ll have the power to fulfill this pretense that you wish to protect humanity in the “cocoon” that is our last defense against extinction.”

A smile teased at Nile’s lips as he turned to regard his mentor. It was difficult to take someone who looked so young that seriously. Ferdinand was easily three hundred seasonal cycles old, but because he was a Hallowed, he boasted flawless skin that made him look no older than a human just starting their apprenticeship and had an incredibly long life ahead of him. Some would imagine that a boon, but Nile knew it to be a burden.

Thin, blonde brows raised as Ferdinand pinched his lips. His golden, molten gaze was difficult to match. The waves of Light that bled through his white eyelashes was proof that he was one of the strongest among the Coterie, the governing force of Leocivat comprised of only the most powerful Hallowed the world had to offer.

Nile hadn’t truly known what it meant to be Hallowed until he’d been taken out of Leocivat’s safe embrace. Ferdinand had shown him what was at stake, what Leocivat would look like if it weren’t for the Coterie.

“I didn’t show you the Outlands so that you might try to fix them. I showed you so that you might understand why Leocivat needs us, needs you.” He glowered. “But you’ve learned nothing. You call Leocivat a “cocoon” and have no appreciation at all for how humanity has survived this long.”

Nile was unaffected by Ferdinand’s scolding because he’d already made up his mind. During his brief escape from Leocivat’s walls, he’d seen so much desolation, so much suffering. He’d resolved himself to dedicating his life, however long it might be, to ridding the world of demons and their malice, not just maintaining the pretense of peace that was Leocivat.

“We have been sent by the gods,” Ferdinand reminded him, as he loved to do, “and it is our duty to protect the last of humanity. That means partaking in rituals you’re too young to appreciate. It’ll take the entire Coterie to unlock your soul, and when they do, you’ll understand why things must be this way.”

This way. Nile knew what that meant. The world was broken, and Ferdinand believed that once he’d been initiated, he’d be enlightened as to why, exactly, it couldn’t be saved.

“I don’t wish to be ‘enlightened’ to the Coterie’s way of thinking,” he complained. He matched glares with his mentor, and even though his eyes bled the same golden Light, he winced at the force of Ferdinand’s rage. “I have already been enlightened on the shore of the Obsidian Sea.”

He’d never forget that moment when he’d witnessed an act he’d only read about in dusty scrolls. A fallen angel, just a babe in a golden orb, being fed on by demons. In that instant, he’d understood why the angels hadn’t returned to Terra. They had a dark truce with the demons, one so horrid that they gave up their own young to appease the creatures. He’d find out the foundation of that truce, and then he’d find a way to break it. Once the demons knocked on the angels’ doors, they’d be forced to answer.

Nile frowned and looked past Ferdinand to the endless hall that led to Coterie’s chambers where he would endure a different kind of “enlightenment.” He couldn’t deny the curiosity of what it would feel like to have control over the Light like Ferdinand. He was Hallowed, a rare species of humans that held a piece of Creation within their souls. They held power that stemmed from the Divine, and they alone could channel that power to keep Leocivat safe. When a group of them came together, magical things happened.

No matter their power, Nile was disappointed in the Coterie. Even if the Hallowed lived for hundreds of seasonal cycles, they’d still only managed to keep a single stronghold alive. What good would an initiation be, if he gained power, only to be brainwashed into their antiquated ways?

Anger surged in his chest and he did his best to squelch it. Ferdinand narrowed his eyes.

Nile brushed past Ferdinand, ignoring the golden, molten stare of his mentor that said he knew his apprentice was up to something.

* * *

Nile had been presented to the Coterie a number of times. The first he barely remembered. He’d once had a mother, one with eyes a chocolate brown and a smile that came from the soul. But those memories were all he’d had of her. She was now dead and gone, a victim of the short-lived life of a human.

He tried to hold onto her image as he stepped into the brilliance of the Coterie chambers. She was a symbol of what he fought for. Softness and goodness that still existed in the hearts of fragile humans. They deserved to be saved, and he’d do more for them than maintain a stronghold that only an elite few could afford.

Even if he had memories of his mother, he’d had more than a few of his hometown. He’d been born in the outlands and knew firsthand what it meant to be stuck on the outside. Ferdinand had been the one to sniff him out, to bring his family into Leocivat as reward for losing their son so rich in rare powers.

At first he’d thought his magic a gift. But he’d come to learn that to be Hallowed was to be a tool. The moment he’d crossed the threshold into Leocivat’s walls, he’d never seen his mother again. Ferdinand had denied that he be exposed to such “emotion” and “human ties” and raised him to be a hardened soldier of Leocivat. But he’d been brought in too young. He’d kept a piece of humanity tucked somewhere deep inside, so deep that not even Ferdinand or the Coterie could take it out.

Even if he’d been denied his mother’s love, Ferdinand wasn’t the worst father he could have had. He’d taught him everything he’d needed to know in order to become a champion of Leocivat’s survival. For the past one hundred and fifty seasonal cycles, he’d learned how to hone his gifts and understand the Light within his body. Every moment of every day had been dedicated to preparing for his place among the Coterie.

To be among them now made him feel insignificant and dwarfed by their cumulative power. Each of them were otherworldly, strange creatures. They were Changed, and unlike Ferdinand, fed on Divine Material to perform magic and keep the Darkness away from the city at the cost of their own souls.

The Coterie’s power rippled through him and he bucked against it. Just because he was Hallowed didn’t mean he’d survive the initiation. His soul would be split open like an egg, and if it weren’t for Ferdinand’s assurances, he’d have been terrified.

But Nile walked tall and proud as he immersed himself into the room of Light that blistered across his vision. The Coterie gathered Divine Material from across the lands, trading with lost souls who bought entrance into the city if they had found the rare substance, and used it to fuel the power that kept Leocivat safe.

It was a grand thing to see Divine Material, activated in all its glory as it was meant to be. He wanted to run his fingers across the walls, to feel its molten power and the connection it gave him to the Divine.

He resisted the instinct and instead stood alongside Ferdinand in the center of the room and awaited orders. He would have to do his part to become one of them. And if he was strong enough, if he could endure this initiation and keep that secret, tiny shard of humanity safe, he’d gain the power to save them all.

“I bring before you, Nile, proven student of the Light,” Ferdinand announced to the row of judgmental stares. “He has been trained for this day, and I, Ferdinand of Leocivat, Natural Hallowed of the Geoni Era, propose his entry into the Coterie.”

Geoni, the eldest of the Hallowed and head of the Coterie, stepped forward. A long beard curled under his chin as he narrowed his brilliant gaze to appraise the young Hallowed.

Nile knew that Geoni was old, an ancient kind of old that hinted at the wrinkles around the Hallow’s eyes and the spindly wisps of hair that curled around his temples. To be in his presence was to understand a time when demons hadn’t always ruled over the lands, when Leocivat had once been one city among many, and the Coterie had simply been a religious force to deepen an understanding with the Divine.

Something had changed among those hundreds of cycles, and Nile squinted against the brilliance of the elder’s gaze as he searched for hints of that past, and what had driven Geoni to make the Coterie what it was today. Why had he allowed the rest of civilization to fall into ruin? Why did he only care to keep Leocivat safe?

“The initiation will proceed,” Geoni announced, accepting a life-changing proposal with the swiftness of a single sentence.

The Coterie hummed at the decision, the group too ancient and inhuman to waste time with conversation. This was to be an initiation, a time to break open a fellow Hallowed’s soul and bring him into the fold, or watch him fail and die under the breaking bow of power.

Ferdinand gave him a nod of encouragement as he eased away, not participating in the initiation. He was powerful and respected, but he was not one of the Coterie. He’d accepted his role as caretaker and teacher, one of the few who kept his soul intact so that he could perform such a task. Mentor and Apprentice required an emotional bond, and even if Nile and Ferdinand had an estranged relationship, there was love between them. Nile would never deny that Ferdinand was like a father to him.

The Coterie displayed their inhuman strength as they raised their hands and summoned a purging glow. Light coalesced and shone into a metallic brilliance as it formed into a spear, making Nile swallow as fresh surges of fear ran down his limbs.

He looked to Ferdinand again, but his mentor’s molten gaze burned with power as he monitored the Coterie. He wouldn’t participate, but he would step in should things go awry.

Nile relaxed when he saw Ferdinand’s concentration. His mentor wouldn’t let anything bad happen to him.

“Step forward,” Geoni commanded. The Hallowed’s words shot through him with power that made Nile’s knees buckle before he lurched to obey. Geoni was a hundred booming voices with an otherworldly echo that held a magical compulsion even Nile couldn’t deny.

He tried to ignore the bubbling worry that told him something was wrong, that he should turn and run and never look back.

Ever so carefully, the spear rotated and faced him, waiting for Geoni’s order to slice his soul apart.

“Reveal your soul so that we may proceed,” he said. “We will not force it out of you.”

Nile looked to Ferdinand for confirmation. He didn’t know what to expect of the initiation, but he’d never been told he’d have to reveal his soul. He’d so carefully protected and shielded that part of him that he didn’t even know if he could bring who he really was out into the light.

Ferdinand gave him a stern nod, leaving Nile no choice but to either run, or comply.

To run would mean to become an Outcast stranded on the Obsidian Sea, assuming he made it out of Leocivat alive. This close to the Coterie that held more power than he could possibly imagine, death was the more likely result.

But to comply meant two things. One, he could lose who he was. Two, he could save the world.

No matter the cost, no matter the risk, Nile drew in a shaky breath and focused.

He found his soul, not inside him, but in a place within the Light that kept him connected to the Divine. His soul straddled on a single strand in time, something that seemed so fragile that it could snap if he tugged too hard.

The ball of Light that was him, everything that contained what he was and what he would be, rode a wave of his will to enter into the physical world, just for a moment, so that his power may be set free.

* * *

Nile opened his eyes and immediately wished that he hadn’t. A golden orb hovered in front of his chest that was his soul. Nausea wound through him as the world momentarily spun and he clutched at the single, glittering strand that linked his spirit to his body. He was too vulnerable and too disoriented. If the Coterie wished to destroy everything that he was, there wouldn’t be anything he could do to stop them.

“Stay still,” Geoni ordered as the golden spear descended.

The others in the Coterie shuffled forward as the spear came perilously close to his soul. One wrong move and his soul could be severed from his body, or slashed into such an injury that he’d never survive, not in this life, or the life beyond. He’d placed all his trust in Ferdinand’s teachings. He’d been told not to worry, given that Geoni was ancient beyond his comprehension and had done this hundreds of times.

But there were only seven of the Coterie. Seven, out of hundreds. That’s a lot who hadn’t survived.

Nile couldn’t shake the feeling of wrongness as Geoni’s molten gaze twitched, just for a split second, with a cruel smile.

The spear lowered before he could react, slicing into his soul and mercilessly spilling his golden lifeblood into the air. He cried out and jerked at the shot of excruciating pain, his world spinning as he tried to keep still when the spear raised again.

His soul now had a gaping wound and was ready to be changed. This was a necessary part of the process. Now his soul was in a state that the Coterie could fill it with renewed Light and power, and unlock his true potential.

Except, they didn’t.

Instead, they opened their mouths, their jaws unhinging from their faces in a grotesque display of sinew and loose muscle, and began to suck his power in.

“What are you doing?” Ferdinand roared, but the Coterie ignored him.

Only Geoni turned to regard Nile’s mentor with an emotionless stare as his men drained the golden liquid from the air. “We knew you wouldn’t understand, Hallowed who has not been Changed. Divine Material has become too scarce. There are no more humans on the outskirts alive who have been able to procure the tithe we require. There is only one other source from which we may feed to keep Leocivat safe.” He gave Ferdinand a solemn nod. “This last stronghold must survive. You must understand, this is the way it must be.”

Nile panicked and screamed Ferdinand’s name. “Don’t let them kill me!” This wouldn’t be a quick death, nor would it be death in the human sense of the world. There would be no afterlife. There would be no hope to ride the waves of time and return to the Divine. There could be no salvation, only destruction, his soul rendered into a thousand pieces for the Coterie to devour for their own greed.

The Light burned his eyes now, his soul bleeding uncontrollably into the air. He lurched, but the Coterie’s power held him in place as they fed.

Then Ferdinand roared. It wasn’t a man’s sound, but a hidden power that he’d kept from the Coterie, just as Nile had kept his humanity tucked away in his soul. He might not be Changed, an emotionless husk that only knew power, but that gave Ferdinand something the Coterie couldn’t comprehend. It gave him the power to overcome the odds by sheer force of will.

Ferdinand raised both hands and unfurled Light until it became a whip, wrapping around the spear and slicing it across the Coterie’s throats. It wouldn’t kill them, but it would stun them.

Their own life-force spurted hot-gold into the air, and Nile went dizzy as it surrounded him with the whisper of a hundred souls.

They’d done this hundreds of times, and only seven remained. Now Nile knew why so many had died.

“Take it!” Ferdinand commanded. “Take the Coterie’s power or you’ll die!”

You’ll die. Nile had never heard Ferdinand’s voice tremor like that.

So he drank.

* * *

Geoni’s outrage sent the ground trembling as Nile ran across splintered, marble tiles. The world burned and his cheeks blistered with the fresh power he’d gorged himself with. He was now Coterie, but not forged in the way he should have been made. He should have been fed a careful dose of the Coterie’s power to fill the gaping wound in his soul. Instead, he’d fed from their infinite source of power, just as they’d plan to do on him. Nile stumbled as Ferdinand’s roar matched Geoni’s and the boom across Leocivat brought fresh screams from the civilians.

He could only hope that Ferdinand would survive the battle against the Coterie. He was a true Hallowed as they were meant to be. Ferdinand had met the Divine in person and lived to tell about it. He’d been so powerful after that, known secrets that rivaled Geoni’s ancient wisdom that it had awarded him a coveted place in Leocivat’s centre.

Nile couldn’t suppress the burning shame as he left Ferdinand to fend for himself. His mentor had commanded him to leave Leocivat and to go to the place of his enlightenment. While Nile was strong-willed and independent, he never disobeyed his master.

And so he left the golden haze of protection that swept around Leocivat, and made his way to the shore of the Obsidian Sea.