Out of the Mountain Read Free

prospect. I would love the chance to get out of this mountain, to travel and see the world . . . I had planned to do just that when I turned twenty at the end of this month. Two decades of living meant that you were finally fit to make it on your own. You were then magically deemed an adult and completely responsible for yourself and your actions overnight. I had always planned to make my great escape then, but what if those creatures found me?
    “What do they want with me?” I asked, my voice hitching up a few octaves in fear at the memory of blood dripping from long fangs.
    “All will be revealed in time,” they said in unison, and without even a moment of hesitation, I slammed my head down on the table.
    If I heard that one . . . more . . . time . . .
    “Vivienne,” Master Liung rebuked me. I looked up to see concern in his eyes.
    “We will make arrangements for her to travel and begin her quest. There is no need to draw the Shade here to these innocent people. The ward is already breaking around her; I can feel her magic pooling,” Master Tatsu said firmly.
    “What quest? What magic?” I yelled in disbelief. They had never mentioned wards or magic before this. Why were these “Shades,” as Master Tatsu had called them, coming for me? Surely this was some kind of sick joke.
    “You must understand, child, you will not be without protection. They will not find you if you leave now before the ward on your magic completely falls. You must make it safely to your destination before then, or you will shine like a beacon to your enemies when it does,” Master Tatsu said. I was so confused. They were throwing too much new information at me to process.
    “What destination? What enemies?” I cried. I was getting nowhere with them.
    “For now we must confer and plan, and you must rest, Vivienne.”
    I tried to object, but the monks entered meditative states, and I knew I wasn’t getting answers. I had wasted more than enough of my life as a child trying to force answers from them, and I knew when to leave well enough alone. That didn’t stop me from hurrying back and trying to reenter the scroll room.
    “Of course.” I sighed when the door wouldn’t allow me entrance. It was worth a try.
    I paced the floor of my small room for a long time, thinking of what was to come and of everything I was about to leave behind. I had been segregated from the people of Velia as of late, but not completely separated. I had acquaintances and people I would consider friends from my childhood. Master Liung sought out one woman in particular when I went through the first stages of puberty. Kenja Patel had five daughters of her own and had taken to me kindly, explaining all I needed to know about womanhood. I would be eternally grateful to that woman, because there were just some things even the all-knowing monks of the mountain weren’t capable of explaining.
    Kenja’s youngest daughter, Tori, was only a few months older than me, and we became fast friends. I sought her out every time the monks brought me to town, and the bond we grew was genuine. However, as I grew older and they saw male attention finding me more often, they began keeping me more separate. The girls my age were only interested in talking about the boys, and the boys were only interested in talking to the girls. Tori was particularly boy-crazy, and I was convinced I was above such silliness, but the more I fought in teenage rebellion the tighter their reins became, and I learned quickly to follow the rules. The monks were good men, but strict. At almost twenty, I was more than ready for my first taste of real freedom. I just wasn’t sure I wanted that freedom to be marred by the fear that was currently churning in my gut.
    ***
    The weeks before my birthday passed quickly as we made plans for my departure. The word of my imminent exit spread as the monks tried to gather my necessities, and the people of Velia threw me a going-away party that brought tears