The strange, green-skinned creature ignored my outcry, focusing on the boards in front of it. It had two eyes with irises that were black circles and pupils of bright lime. Where there were meant to be ears there was only more of its bald head.

  “No silly, this isn’t a viewer,” Kynari shook her head. “Suna, this is Puzzles. He’s the worst.”

  The creature shifted at her words, tucking something away into the pockets of its robe.

  Cards? I wondered.

  The creature’s hairless ridges -where eyebrows should be- furrowed and it opened its mouth, letting out squeaky and high-pitched sound.

  “My name is Quebracabezas. Minister of Enigma. Molder of minds. Welcome, I have created a tier 0 puzzle for you. Again. For the one hundred and forty fifth time,” Quebracabezas faltered, his green cheeks sinking with exhaustion. “Currently, you sit at zero completions, and have used one hundred and forty-four timeouts.”

  “Right, Puzzles, okay,” Kynari frowned. Then she turned to me. “He uses big words to sound fancy. Just like you.”

  A flash of annoyance passed through me. I do not use big words to sound fancy. I use them because my brother does.

  I bit my lip to stop my retort, reminding myself that she was a genius like my brother. Not someone I could talk back to.

  Instead, I turned to the four boards, and blinked in surprise. I knew these games. My brother didn’t like them, but his war band played them. There were twenty pieces for each side, eighteen travelers of the paths, one challenger, and one paragon in the middle of them.

  Of course, not all the travelers were equal.

  Ten pieces represented people that had taken a single step into their path. They were the weakest and could only move one square at a time. Four had taken two steps into their path and could move two squares. Two had taken three steps. Two more had taken four steps. And finally, just like in real life, there was one challenger and paragon per path.

  The objective was to trap the enemy’s paragon, who was hidden at the back. My brother’s war band let me join in and would take turns playing against me. Most times I lost. But other times I won. Especially recently. When that happened they would exchange coins and laugh.

  For this puzzle there were only three pieces on each board. One paragon on Quebracabezas’ side of the board, and a paragon and challenger on the other side.

  “Win against me, and you shall pass onto the next trial,” Quebracabezas said. “You have twenty moves left.”

  I moved around the boards, examining each one carefully. They looked kind of fun. Kynari followed me, taking one look at the boards and frowning. Her eyes glazed over, then she shook her head and threw her hands up in the air in frustration.

  “Ugh, Suna, let’s wait for the timeout,” she said.

  “There are no timeouts,” Quebracabezas’ voice held a hint of smugness.

  “Yeah, there is,” Kynari shot back. “When thirty minutes passes, we get to go to the next room.”

  “Not this time,” Quebracabezas shook his head. “Dungeon’s orders. You beat the test, or you fail.”

  “Oh no,” Horror crossed over Kynari’s features. “It’s impossible.”

  “No, it’s not,” I replied.

  I shifted the pieces, winning each in two moves. It was easy, since the pieces were all placed in ways that would make that possible. It was harder not to win.

  Something splashed onto the ground, sending little specks of green valoa flying into the air.

  A tear had fallen from Quebracabeza’s right eye.

  “You have solved my challenge,” Quebracabeza said. “Thank you.”

  “No problem. Um, sorry I thought you were a viewer,” I said.

  I hadn’t seen a viewer before. But I’d heard that they didn’t look like people. So, I’d assumed the thing in front of me was also one since it didn’t look like people. That wasn’t a mistake I would make again.

  “You think, and that is all I ask for,” Quebracabeza replied, looking pointedly at Kynari.

  “What?” Kynari’s eyes were popping out of her head. “That was my most difficult puzzle yet.”

  “Yes. That’s why it was easy for me. You are dumb,” I smirked. Then I paused, horror growing within me. I had spoken back to Kynari. “Wait, I’m sorry. So, so, sorry.”

  I shuffled back, my arms rising in supplication, but a hand clasped my wrist, and I lurched forward as Kynari dragged me next to her. I was certain that she was going to punish me. Just like my brother did to his war band.

  “No, this is good!” Kynari had a beaming smile where there should have been a snarl. “Loud and mean. That’s Suna. Don’t go all quiet and sad. That’s not Suna. Ugh, you’re being so weird.”

  “O-oh,” I didn’t know how to respond. “You’re right. Sorry.”

  “No I’m not!” Kynari threw her hands up in frustration. “Or maybe I am. I don’t know. Why are you agreeing with me? You never do that.”

  “Because that’s what I have to do,” I said. “I’m below you now. I have no viewers. And no path. I’m worthless. My brother said it himself. You heard him. We aren’t equals.”

  Kynari stepped back as though she’d been struck. Which was strange because I was just stating facts.

  “Suna, I’m going to tell you a secret that dad told me. A secret that only adults know.”

  Despite my unease, curiosity bloomed within my heart, and I leaned in to listen to her words. This was a secret shared to Kynari by a paragon. That meant it had to be important, and awesome.

  Kynari leaned forward as well, her hand covering her mouth so that nobody could read her lips.

  “Your brother is wrong,” Kynari whispered.

  “That’s impossible,” I replied immediately.

  I paused, wanting to apologize. Then I pushed that feeling down. Anger was flying through me now, overcoming my hesitation. Nobody insulted my brother. He was a hero.

  “My dad is a paragon. He knows everything,” Kynari said. “Your brother says so. I hear him say it all the time to my dad.”

  “Yeah,” I nodded. I’d seen my brother doing that too. Just like his war band did to him.

  “Well, my dad told me that your brother is wrong,” Kynari smiled.

  “But my brother knows everything,” I frowned.

  “Dad says Cuikhu is wrong.”

  “Then your dad’s wrong,” I shot back.

  “So, you admit that my dad can be wrong. Which means your brother can be wrong. Since he said my dad is never wrong.”

  Confusion bloomed in my heart, killing my retort before it could leave my lips.

  I felt like I had been tricked, but I couldn’t figure out how.

  Tricked. By. Kynari.

  Stolen story; please report.

  That hurt a little. I wasn’t sure why.

  Quebracabeza was shocked, the green-skinned creature’s mouth opening and shutting in astonishment.

  “Okay, next room. This one is the last. And the best.”

  Kynari dragged me by the wrist into a new passage and I was too confused to resist. I let her haul me across the dungeon, my mind creaking as its gears ground to a halt.

  Could my brother be wrong? The impossible thought finally crossed my mind.

  I was six. Which meant I was wise. At least I knew I was wiser than Kynari. I wanted to dismiss her words because she was the one to say them. Which meant they had to be wrong. But for some reason the idea wouldn’t leave my mind.

  “We’re here!” Kynari’s shout jolted me out of my stupor.

  I blinked in surprise as she released me from her grip. A quick look ahead of me showed me that there was a single object in the room.

  It was a door.

  Half of it was red, and the other half was gold, but it wasn’t painted. I could see it moving and shimmering, which meant it was made of valoa. Just like most of the other stuff in this dungeon. I was starting to notice a pattern now. One that Kynari hadn’t.

  “Teshima,” I whispered. “Is that you?”

  The wall rumbled in reply, softly enough to escape Kynari’s attention. I resisted the urge to celebrate my discovery. Kynari had told me that we were far, far away from the city, but we had never left Teshima Academy.

  This entire dungeon was a part of it.

  “This is the best room,” Kynari skipped in front of the door, vibrating with excitement. “The fighting room.”

  “A fighting room?” I perked up.

  My brother dueled other path walkers in his fighting room. Sometimes I heard him talking to himself, practicing speeches and monologues.

  “Yeah, we get to fight stuff,” Kynari nodded. “And when we win, we get candy.”

  “And pass the test,” I reminded her.

  “Sure, but also, candy.”

  Kynari paused as she reached for the door handle, her expression turning serious.

  She glanced at me over her shoulder, “try not to get hit though. Do you know why?”

  “Because we die,” I nodded, knowingly.

  “What? No, we don’t die. Why would you say that?”

  “Um, because that’s what my brother does,” I said. “If you go in and get hit, then you die. That’s how you train.”

  Silence fell over the dungeon as my words bounced off the walls. Even the door seemed taken aback, the valoa within shuddering. Kynari’s lips opened to respond, then she frowned, and I saw her eyes crossing as she got confused.

  “Do you mean other people?” Kynari asked. “Your brother fights other people and then they die? He doesn’t use the Crossroads?”

  “He says if you can’t dodge a simple attack, then your life doesn’t matter,” I shrugged.

  Kynari stared at me, then at the door, and then back at me.

  “Your brother is an asshole.”

  Snap.

  A tendril of red valoa flew out of the door, flicking Kynari in the thigh.

  As Kynari’s cry reverberated around me, I stood still, my head tilted in confusion. I’d never heard that word before.

  “Is that like a butt?” I asked.

  “I don’t know. My dad said it once when he thought I was asleep, then he told me not to say it. And the dungeon keeps picking on me whenever I say it. So it has to be worse than a butt. Like your brother.”

  Kynari shook her head, and glared at the door, yanking it open to reveal the room inside.

  “Now, we fight,” she declared.

  Something smashed into my legs, and I cried out in surprise as I was pushed onto the floor.

  It was a rock.

  Kynari giggled. “They can go outside the room. So be careful.”

  “You’re a butt,” I groaned.

  Kynari ignored my insult and rushed deeper into the room, leaving me alone with the rock.

  A number had appeared on the open door. It was counting down from thirty, and I had a feeling that the trial would end when it reached zero. But luckily, it was marked in minutes, and not seconds.

  Thirty minutes to win the fight.

  “Okay, the final room.” I stood. “All I do is pass the dungeon. Then Kynari’s dad will let me stay at Teshima.”

  The only thing in my way was this rock.

  “This will be easy.”

  I charged at the rock with a yell. When I drew near, it zoomed away. When I cornered it, it ran between my legs. When I struck it, it dodged.

  Before I knew it, twenty-five minutes had passed.

  I was drenched in sweat and my legs and arms screamed at me to stop moving. Every breath hurt as air crawled down my dry throat and my head and shoulders also hurt from multiple falls. I had tripped over my own robe.

  Not a single one of my attacks had reached the enemy.

  I am worthless. I thought. My brother was right. I don’t deserve training.

  “I thought you only did that when you walked,” Kynari’s voice hit my ears.

  I turned toward her voice and saw her leaning against the doorway, a smug smile on her lips. Six rocks were quivering around her, each one cowed by her fist.

  “Huh? What do I do?”

  “You move weird. It looks like you’re trying to impress someone,” Kynari pointed at my feet. “Too fancy. Stuck up. Pretentious.”

  “I don’t know what that means.”

  “Me neither, but my dad says it,” she said proudly. “It means you’re silly.”

  “No, I’m not,” I said.

  I strode toward the rock, determined to prove her wrong. Each of my steps was immaculate and calculated, my posture perfectly straight, and my chest puffed out. I made sure to shift my weight so that my shoulders rolled perfectly in sync with the rest of my body. When I walked, people stared at me because of how cool I looked.

  These were the results of my brother’s personal training.

  I approached the rock and attacked it, making sure to keep my punches easily viewable and straight, winding them up dramatically beforehand just like my brother had taught me.

  The rock escaped again.

  My reaction was cut short when I tripped over the hem of my robes again. Kynari stepped forward and offered me a helping hand, but I shook my head and pushed myself up.

  There were three minutes left on the countdown.

  “Why are you still wearing that?” She asked, pointing at my robe.

  “Because my brother says they’re the best for fighting. He wears one everywhere,” I said.

  Wait. He said they looked the best. Is there a difference? I wondered.

  Kynari had taken her own robe off. Underneath it was a black garb that looked ugly, but I saw that it didn’t hinder her movements.

  Her eyes flashed with confusion, “okay, then why do you keep twitching your hands like that? And taking so long to punch?”

  “I’m flourishing,” I said. “My brother said people flourish. It draws the eyes.”

  “Why do you want to do that?” Kryani asked.

  I grew quiet as I tried to come up with an answer. I’d never questioned my brother, so he’d never explained it to me. I didn’t even know what flourish meant.

  Then it came to me, “the viewer numbers increase when I do the things my brother taught me. And they only watch threats. Which means these things must help me be a better fighter.”

  Kynari pursed her lips, “have you ever fought something?”

  “No,” I admitted. “My brother says I need valoa and a path to fight.”

  “Try it without that weird stuff,” Kynari said.

  I looked at the rock and frowned, “without flourishing?”

  “Yeah,” she nodded. “I can help, see, the rock moves the same way every time-”

  “I know that,” I interrupted her. I instantly regretted it. It wasn’t Kynari’s fault that everything my brother taught me seemed to be going wrong.

  “Sorry. I mean, thank you,” I said.

  I focused on my enemy.

  The rock always moved in a pattern. Every two moves it would turn right, and then forward. Which meant that it would always go to a corner on its fifth movement.

  What if my brother is wrong? I thought. Is Kynari actually a genius?

  I flung my robe off, not caring as it hit the dusty ground. My plain undershirt was drenched in sweat and looked horrible, but it also couldn’t trip me. With a flash of movement, I cornered the rock easily, just like I had before. But this time I didn’t wind up my attack or telegraph it beforehand. Nor did I wait patiently.

  I slammed my fist into the rock, eliciting a squeal from it.

  “I hit it.” I stared at the quivering rock in wonder.

  The punch was only a touch, but it was better than before. Faster. And more reactive. I glanced at my fist, my skin was chafed and red from the contact.

  It made me feel worthy.

  I met Kynari’s gaze, my lips curling into a smile, “My brother was wrong.”