It had been a shock to Charley when the principal had announced over the intercom that a Champion was here to test students for being Champions. She had seen on the news that the search for the new generation had begun, but it had never crossed her mind that anyone would visit her school for that reason. They must have already looked at all of the major cities and been desperate enough to come to small towns.

They would be going in alphabetical order, and with Charley being a Falke, she had been called to the principal’s office fairly early in the day. She sat in the row of worn blue chairs lining the walls outside the office, and she sat in between some kid she had never met and Greg Falkin, who seemed to not remember her, judging by the way he ignored her.

Charley put her ankle on her knee, and she picked at a loose thread in her worn tennis shoes. They were going through the kids quickly. She was glad because she hated waiting, but she also not looking forward to going back to the literature class. Despite being a dual-credit college course, it was the easiest class she had ever taken, but she would have to present a bunch of poems to the class when she got back.

She wanted to do anything but that. Her heart picked up speed just thinking about it.

“Charlotte Falke.”

Charley jumped at the sound of her name, and she ducked her head, hoping no one had noticed her gasp.

The vice principal for the seniors stood in the doorway of the principal’s office. She smiled at Charley.

“It’s your turn, hon,” the older woman said.

Charley shuffled into the room, keeping her hands at her sides instead of inside her jacket pocket. That was considered sloppy, and the last thing she wanted to do was look sloppy in front of a Champion of all people.

Inside the office, an older woman sat behind the desk. Her long white hair pulled out of her face into a clip behind her head, and she wore a colorful Sindhu sari. Charley already knew her name was Bhumi Sharma, a Champion of Gaia, and the oldest living Champion.

Bhumi smiled at Charley, and she gestured for her to take a seat in front of the desk. The vice principal disappeared into an adjacent office. Charley sat in a chair, and she pressed her hands together in her lap to keep them from showing how nervous she was.

“Good Morning, Miss Falke,” Bhumi said, but she was now looking at the screen of the principal’s computer. “How are you today?”

It was so strange to hear and see this woman that she had thought she would only see online.

“I’m fine,” Charley said.

“Good, good.”

It occurred to Charley to be polite back, but she realized it only after too many seconds passed. She let her eyes roam the room as she waited for Bhumi to say more.

“I see you have excellent grades, Miss Falke. Or do you prefer to be called ‘Charlotte’?”

“Either is fine.”

“You’re not much for extracurricular activities, though, are you?”

“Not really, no.”

Bhumi let out a hum as she continued to look at the screen. Charley shifted in her seat just to give herself something to do as she waited.

“You’ve never been in trouble either, I see, and you’ve only been late to class a couple of times and never absent.”

Charley remained. She was sure that required no reply from her, but she felt a tightness in her belly as she wondered if she was supposed to be saying something.

“Well, Charlotte, let’s just see,” Bhumi said.

The older woman picked up something from the floor—a small black bag with a drawstring—and placed it on the desk.

“I’m going to make a strange request,” Bhumi continued. “I need you to turn your body away, close your eyes, and keep your head down while keeping your arm toward me. I’m about to give you something that you’re not allowed to see—at least not yet.”

Charley’s eyebrows came together as she failed to hold back a look of confusion, but she did as Bhumi asked. She even covered her eyes with her other hand just in case. Bhumi’s fingers were cool as she opened Charley’s offered hand wider, and then she felt something much warmer rest on her palm.

“It seems we’ve found you unexpectedly quickly.”

Charley jumped in surprise at the sudden voice. When she snapped open her eyes, she found herself staring at a wall made of sandstone bricks, and she sat on the bottom step of a stone staircase. A long purple carpet went up the steps, and she followed the carpet all the way up to the top of the stairs.

It was a throne room. There was a huge chair in the center of it, and there were long tables covered in fine jewelry, food, potted flowers, and varying different types of art. On the wall behind it all was the painting of the sun.

In the throne, was something Charley had thought she would only see in hieroglyphs: Horus. He was a large man—a giant that must have been at least three times as tall as Charley—wearing the typical garb of the nobles of an ancient civilization, but he the head of a falcon.

“What the hell?” Charley said aloud as she took in the ancient depiction—or rather the real-life living avatar—of the Sun God.

The Radiant Falcon chuckled, the sound filling the room. He leaned back in his throne, and he motioned for Charley to come closer to him.

“It’s all right, child,” the Falcon said. “I am merely manipulating your thoughts. None of this is real, but you’re certainly not, as you humans say, ‘insane.’”

Charley stood from her perch on the bottom step of the room, and she ascended toward the Radiant Falcon. Once she reached the top step, she stopped, unable to find the courage to step right up to him.

“You do understand what this means, don’t you, child?” the Falcon asked, leaning forward in his throne to tower over her.

“You’re testing me to be Your Champion?”

“You *are* my Champion. I chose you long before Bhumi placed the Handle in your hand.”

“Oh.”

“You and the others will fight against me in the Temple of Humility, where I will be representing the sin of pride.”

Charley frowned at the God, having no idea how to respond to that.

“There are questions in your head,” the Falcon said. “Ask them.”

“Why am I your Champion? I’m not anything special.”

“You’re a Champion because I believe you have the strength to fight against us, but you are *my* Champion because of that false humility of yours. Pride is considered the deadliest of sins, and you are quite arrogant, child.”

Charley’s eyebrows raised in surprise at that, but she knew better than to argue with that.

“I sense you are already too overwhelmed to ask much more of me,” the Falcon said, and he was chuckling. “I’ll leave Bhumi Sharma to tell you everything you need to know for now.”

When Charley blinked, she saw only darkness, and she felt her hand covering her face. She removed her hand from her face, letting it fall into her lap, and she brought her other hand, the one holding the thing that Bhumi had given her, in front of her.

It was a crystal wrapped in worn leather, and it glowed purple.

“You were chosen by the Falcon himself,” Bhumi said. “That’s interesting.”

Charley turned back around in the chair, and she looked at the older woman, who had a sad smile on her face. No coherent thoughts came to mind, so she said nothing as she stared.

Bhumi patted the bag.

“I need you to put that back inside the bag for me,” she said. “We’ll be taking that with us when we go to where we’ll be training you.”

Charley glanced at the thing her hand, unable to comprehend what had just happened, and she did as Bhumi asked.

“Good, now you’ll need to go into your vice principal’s office. She’ll have lots of paperwork for you to sign, and then you’ll get to go home early and start packing your things. Okay?’

Charley nodded.

“Yeah, okay.”

“Good, and in the meantime, I’ll be stuck in here, pretending that we haven’t found the Champion yet so we can keep this a secret for a while longer.”

Charley nodded again. She stood from the chair, and she walked into the office that she had seen her class’s vice principal walk into.