I spent my childhood in darkness. The Adepts of Inisbi hid their temple deep underground. In chambers where no light has shined in an age, I became one with the umbra. A woman still but hardly human. Living things need the sun. I’m more of a ghost.

Tonight is special. When the night bell tolls, we the stolen children, raised to be sorcerers, will be given our first taste of magic. Those deemed unworthy will be given to the pit. Some of us are worthy. I will be found worthy. No one has my focus. I time the night bell by counting breaths. It’s a necessary skill. Magic drags you down. Tries to drown you. Tricks you into suffocating. For me, it was easy. Tanu is weak. He will find controlling magic much more difficult.

He approaches my dorm. I know the soft sound of his footfalls on the tiles, quiet as the hiss of my gaslight. It’s so dim, I only see the edges of my things. A table. The mat I sleep on. My sword. I lower my hood and open the door to greet him with a smile in my voice, though I don’t feel like smiling. The Adepts are going to kill him tonight. I know it.

“Are you ready?” I ask. He isn’t. They’ll never make him a sorcerer.

“Don’t worry about me,” he says. “I brought you a gift.” He takes my hand and places something heavy in it, wrapped in fine paper. I pull the top open, but he pats my hand to stop me. “You can eat the paper too. It’s great. Some kind of forest berry dessert the masters got from surface people. I already ate mine.” Stolen then.

I grin. “You’re crazy.” Tanu must have raided the kitchen while the masters chanted. He could have gotten in trouble. Flogged. Beaten. But I’m not surprised he got away with it. The two of us know our way through the old, dwarven passages. Hidden places, thick with conscious magic, were revealed to us by the stones themselves when we were kids. I take a bite. The sweet, fruity cream blossoms in my mouth, making my whole face pucker. My eyes are wet, but Tanu can’t see me tearing up in the murk. My tears aren’t only from the flavor. He gives away everything. That’s who he is. If he worried more about himself, maybe he would have become strong enough to pass the test.

“I haven’t failed yet.” It’s like he can read my mind. “I’m stronger than you think.” And maybe he is. But maybe he isn’t. I wish I could believe in him. We’re staring, and it’s uncomfortable. I don’t see him in the light often enough. His handsomeness always surprises me.

“I want to get you out of here,” I say, committing the gravest treason. Our order is one of secrets. No one leaves. If our masters lurk, I’ll be thrown in the pit too.

“You and me,” he says, without a moment of hesitation, “let’s go.” Tanu grabs my wrist and tugs. I drop the dessert on the floor. A waste, but I don’t have a sweet tooth. I only need my sword. Darkness consumes us as I turn off the gas lamp. We hurry into familiar corridors where neither of us needs our eyes.

My heart is racing. I still remember the sun. They tried to make us forget, but I see it every day in the gas lamp. Our master wanted to be our father and for the darkness to be comforting. How could it be. We always knew we were competing for our lives. How could I ever love him knowing that? I clutch Tanu’s hand. He’s hard as iron from the climb, but that doesn’t change the fact that he’s too weak for magic. He would cut his own rope if it would save me from falling. Stupid. Magic doesn’t respect a man like that.

“It seems silly,” he whispers as we near the hidden doorway, “to leave the day we were going to get our powers.”

I scoff. Not angrily. It is kind of funny.

“It seems like treason.” I hear the master’s voice from the darkness behind us, but even if there were a light, I wouldn’t be able to see him through his sorcery. “You made oaths. And you’re no longer children. You know what this means.”

“We’re leaving!” I say. “You can’t do this to us. You can’t give him to the pit!” How could he? He practically raised us. Just because we aren’t good enough for his order? Why did he take Tanu from his home if all he is good for is sacrifice?!

“You shouldn’t have worried about Tanu. You should have worried about yourself!” The master appears, draped in ceremonial robes with wide sleeves and a cavernous hood. A darklight fills the hall—illuminating every surface in shadowless, cool colors. “I’d hoped you’d avoid the pit, but I wished for too much. You’re ungrateful! You could have been something!”

Darkness swims across the walls of the corridor like poured oil. It pulls loose into the air and becomes a host of humanoid forms. Each hardens as its body becomes more physical. I draw my sword and back against Tanu until I feel his chest against my shoulder. We know what’s coming. “Don’t do this!” I call out, but the master’s spell requires all his focus—he didn’t care to hear me beg. The darkness evaporates, leaving behind dozens of skeletons. They cram together in the hallway, bones glowing with the purplish darklight, eyes and mouths full of the haunting energy.

“Dis…” Tanu whispers my name. “I’m sorry. I didn’t think he’d be—”

“Forget it.” He’s so nice. He didn’t think the master would do this to us. To him. But I knew it could happen, and I was prepared. With a thought, the pool of magical energy deep behind my navel spins to life and gathers in my raised palm. An orb of purple energy appears. Strength fills my body, even as I become covered in writhing shadows. Tanu’s eyes are wide with surprise. I took the magic for myself while the Adepts were away. Stole it right from under their noses.

“Stay with me!” I lunge toward the skeletons blocking the hidden doorway. My sword cleaves their bones apart, scattering vertebrae and ribs under feet. They push toward me like a flood, but their bodies are so light against my magic, it’s as if I’m swinging through the air. A hand scratches my shin. A broken finger stabs my neck. Something is pulling my hair. I scream in rage, wanting our father to look. But he can’t—he’s still locked in his spell, conjuring more of these creatures. Killing us.

I hoped to run through the conjurings, but there are so many. Tanu cries out as the horde pulls him from me. Their fingers scratch at his face as I’m jerked by the collar. All those years he was so giving. This was the only chance to pay him back. Teeth are on my thigh. My hair is ripped out in a clump. I’m going to die—the fight was over so fast. Over before it started.

Tanu meets my gaze, and he isn’t afraid. I hear his voice—his thoughts piercing my mind like he’s one of the seers. “Dis, it wasn’t me who was destined for the pit. I’m stronger than you know.” I want to stop him, but his thoughts come on strong. “You always wanted to be my champion. Please. My gift to you.”

As he falls, he holds out his cupped hands. An orb of purple light appears, only to vanish as quickly. Tanu’s spell was so fast and powerful, it drained him in an instant. Pure willpower. True intention. The will to give. He stole more than desserts. Pain rips through my body–a shock that makes me forget the skeletons mauling me. The rush of magic feels like being burned alive. Doused in acid. Eaten by crawlers. Tanu’s magic is truly horrible. A flash of darklight pulses from my body as the energy escapes my heart, shattering the skeletons in a wide swath.

Tanu’s power holds me. I’m trembling with it. My sword changes into a blade of darkness too long for one hand, yet I lift it effortlessly. The black armor of ancient warlocks covers me from head to toe. I am full of rage. I hold out my orb of light and blast the skeletons off Tanu, turning them into shadow and sending our master sprawling backward. Tanu’s gift! Who he is! I thought his kindness made him weak, but it didn’t. His heart is his strength, and he gives that strength to me. I lurch like a demon into the remaining undead, smashing them four at a time with spear-like thrusts.

“Thieves! You won’t get away with this!” The master shouts with anger I’ve never heard before. He called us thieves, but he took everything from us.

I hold my orb of light to the wall and a hidden door appears of its own volition, welcoming us inside. Tanu scrambles through without looking back. “Master,” I say, “you will do nothing.” My sword pierces the ceiling with so much force it collapses. The rubble blocks the way so that he can’t follow. Or maybe he is crushed. I neither know or care.

Soon, Tanu and I will see the sun.