A dark cape wound around my shoulders and my mother’s hands firmly grasped my arms. She bent low and leveled her eyes with mine.

“Alright. Well, then. Remember what we talked about last night.” She pulled on my baggy hood and lifted it over my head. After making sure it settled nicely over my face, she did the same to herself as well, showing nothing—not even a shadow of skin. It left me wondering if ever anyone would be curious about it or suspicious at all.

The gates broke open before us, revealing a stone-paved alley. It creaked on its hinges and my heart drummed with the sound. As I looked up and followed the height of the tall, marbled wall, my mother tugged me away with her, making me break into a stutter of steps in a hurry to meet the pace of her longer legs.

“You’re growing up quickly, Evy,” she said ruefully. “I promised the other mistresses I will start to tell you things, because you can’t really grow up clueless. You must listen to me, okay? Please try your best to understand when I try to explain things to you.”

I nodded.

Hellenia gave me a smile. I now understood why she’d offered to take me out; it wasn’t just a simple leisurely trip like I first thought. It was more of an orientation to the ways of this world. In spite of the age of my consciousness, I was still pretty much a child regarding experience around these parts. I might have been born with memories of my past life, but I wasn’t equipped with everything I needed to brave through this one.

The books I had been turning to all these years would never be enough. Not when the real world was concerned.

Besides, I did have moments when my instincts as a child took over. These episodes weren’t very obvious, but a part of me realized that no matter how conscious my mind was, my physical nature was a monster to tame and train. It included bladder control and motor skills plus sensitivity, emotional control, and self-control. My impulsiveness would often take over and do things that I, as an adult, would never normally do.

I pulled my head to look forward as my adoptive mother did. The sound of the rolling wheels of passing carriages crept into my ears. The moment we broke into the streets, I took in large beasts of varying sizes pulling through the open road. Weird beasts; all colorful, some with horns, some with scales.

“This is the first time we’re leaving, I’m so happy…” I appreciated a child’s privilege of honesty. Unlike adults, I was not in any obligation to keep up with courtesies. That made it much easier to be open about what I felt.

I eyed the skyscraping glass tower which bore a spiraling trail of greenery around its twisting body. This shape-bending creation was a bold challenge against balance and gravity. Unlike most structures, this one took liberal stances and had steeping angles that seemed to wobble as it climbed the sky. Like a vine. It stood at the very center of the city where, along its body, flying sentry bridges looped to adjacent buildings. I stared at it for a time, taking in the ornate design and squinting at the flag that waved at the many tips.

“That, my darling, is the Glass Palace,” she told me, following my line of sight.

I stopped to stare, examining the sheer opulence of it all. The last time I saw this glass tower this close was nearly five years ago, as a baby, when Amber warped through space and brought me here. I could still remember it as though it was yesterday.

Nonetheless, it was only now that I realized it had faint patterns on the surface of the glass that were visible only under the rays of the sun.

This was the clearest I’d seen of it so far. Oblivion didn’t have the best view of the city. The House was always somehow hidden and curling into itself. The tall gates and towering trees in the courtyard made it almost impossible to see outside.

“Did you know?” my mother began, “the emperor of Venerya has forty-nine wives.”

I stifled my shock from showing.

“And a hundred children,” she added.

My speechlessness made her chuckle.

“The Veneryan emperor is one of the seven Dragon Emperors of Erindal. And among the seven, he is the First Among Equals.”

“The First Among Equals?” I echoed.

“Technically, the Dragon Emperors are all of equal standing, but the First Among Equals, is in fact, the most powerful of them all.”

“Then that isn’t very equal, is it?”

“There’s always one who must have the power to tip the balance a bit at times,” she said. “Otherwise, they wouldn’t be able to decide on some very important things.”

We hailed a public carriage and went through the city. My mother would constantly point things through the windows and explain what they were to me. It wasn’t hard to listen. The experience I was having now with this world was easily a whirlwind of surprises. Not only did I discover that magic, and the supernatural was possible in this reality, but the presence of modernity in the midst of such chivalric, if not regressive, ideals was a startling combination. The dress code was contemporary yet medieval all at the same time.

I was starting to realize that these people possessed culture and characteristics that would normally be opposing in nature. Or maybe that was merely my naïve conclusion. I had only met my mistresses so far and had seen no place other than the House of Oblivion.

Also, I was not well-acquainted with my birth parents, so how was I to judge their side of the world?

Hellenia brought me before an ostentatiously fashioned building that spoke tones of gothic revivals back in my old world. Yet, in a way, this one was weirdly unique. It possessed the same level of boldness that the others had and relished more colors than its counterparts from my past life. This one had deep, midnight blues trimming its obsidian walls, intricately barred glass windows and rolling scroll patterns on the surface.

There were multi-leveled towers that crowned like sharp cave rocks—stalagmites, if I’m recalling that right. They stood with hollowed-out walls. Thin columns were used to showcase sculpture and images instead of settling for plain, old windows. On top of that, rather than the usual stone carving, I saw inlaid glass and other materials. I especially liked the flying buttresses that chained the towers to the main frame. They did not fail to add that impression of stability.

Like I said: lavish.

“We’re here,” Hellenia told me, leaning down and giving me a smile.

Hellenia tugged on my short arms and my eyes was diverted to the forming crowd before the building I had been admiring a moment ago. My anxiety tugged at my gut at the thought of having to wait among these people. I hated the claustrophobia of large crowds—much more the noise and chaos they brought. It was already suffocating enough being with more than one other person. I didn’t want to deal with this more.

Yet if my mother were to insist on it, what choice did I have? With a sigh, I stumbled after her.

“Don’t worry, this won’t take long. You will not be taking the test with all these other children,” she told me, seeing my unrest.

“I won’t?” I asked, a little relieved.

“Of course not. Doing so will take us all day. I still plan on taking you elsewhere afterwards.” She patted my head. “Let’s wait for a moment.”

Hellenia reached up to her hair and pulled back a few strands to reveal her ear. It was adorned with a cuff earring in the shape of a dragon climbing up the shell of her lobe. She ran a finger down its length, and I thought I caught the small rubies placed aptly on its eyes glow for a moment.

“We’re outside, Laksa,” she said. “Please meet us here. The crowd is thick up front. We can’t make our way in.” She paused to let him reply.

My eyes widened a bit as I watched her speak. Was that some sort of Bluetooth earphones? I’d have said it was too stylish to be one.

I continued to watch in awe until she ran up a finger on her lobes once more—the opposite direction from before. She then turned to me and said, “Calm down, darling. My friend will meet us here instead.”

“What’s that, Mama?”

“Oh.” She reached up to the dragon around her ear and smiled. “It’s a communicator. I haven’t shown you one before since this is a new model from an old bracelet version.”

“How does it work?” I asked in wonder.

“There’s a special stone in there,” she said. “It pairs with other stones and lets people speak to one another.”

I wanted to ask my mother if I could see the ear cuffs but was interrupted midway when a man came screaming. “My child is a Conduit! A Conduit!” He had his son riding his shoulders as he made his way through the thick crowd. He bore pride and hope—probably of a future possible only to those who had the affinity. Eyes of envy drifted to their direction, and I pursed my lips as a thought went through my mind.

“Is it really that great to be a Conduit?” I asked.

My mother gazed at me with a saddened smile. “For a woman, it’s more trouble than it’s worth. It would be great if you didn’t end up with any ability.”

“Why not?”

“Because…” she trailed off. “Powerful men are celebrated. Powerful women are…condemned.”

To match my age, I tried to seem troubled and clueless. However, deep inside, I knew what she was talking about. It seemed that this society was a very patriarchal one. I was dearly disappointed of the possibility of being condemned for having the same gifts that a man would be celebrated for, but it wasn’t something that was strange to me, having lived two lifetimes already. My world in the past wasn’t any worse—or better—than this one. It might even be worse in some respects too.

“Up there!” I heard a yell.

My eyes were drawn to the top of the building as a flying beast briefly perched on top of a pointed tower. Another one came close behind it and it turned to face its pursuer before gearing for an attack. Its large wings unfurled, and the long neck seemed to inflate. The sky was suddenly bathed in red as fire spewed from its mouth.

I stumbled back in shock. At first, I thought the fire would stay in that particular trajectory. However, I didn’t expect the beast to also throw up a couple of lumps of molten debris which started raining down like a meteor shower.

“Evy!” My mother pulled me close, holding up her sleeved hand to shield the both of us—as if that would really do anything.

Contrary to the instinct of closing one’s eyes and waiting for the impact to come, I kept mine wide open. Were it not for my mother shielding me, I would have seen everything much more clearly. I did freeze like a deer in the headlights, watching as the bright flames thundered down from above.

A man suddenly spiraled down from the sky and held up a shield that flared with a wave of energy that formed a transparent barrier around us. I knew it was there—I could feel it. The debris struck down a split-second later, crashing on top of the shield and breaking up into pieces. The impact was no joke. It forced the man onto his knees and the air around us to stir.

Hellenia wrapped her arms around me and pulled the both of us into a cocoon on the ground.

It was only moments later, when the blinding lights and loud thundering stopped, that my mother dared to look up and make way for me to breathe.

“Wrap this up quickly!” the man yelled. “This can’t go on any longer!”

Rock pieces fell around us. My jaw had slackened at the turn of events, panic leaving every single hair on my body standing to its very tips.

“I’m sorry, madam.” Our savior lowered the shield, leaving the bright sun striking at the blond hair and glowing, moon silver eyes. “I hope you and your child are alright.”

Just as he said that, a lone piece of rock landed on my head. It even made a distinct thonk sound and singed my coat a little.

“Ow.”

“Oh dear,” my mother said.

“Ah…it seems not the child,” he said, laughing a little.

I looked up at the raging beast at the top of the building and found it suddenly bound by glowing chains. Within moments, a whole squad of flying…things appeared and airlifted the thing the hell away. It was a little funny, actually. The raging creature was too strong, it was tugging on the others from above—like pumping and pulling down on the strings of balloons only to have them persistently float back up.

But seeing as this wasn’t quite the right situation to smile in, I refrained.

My mother nodded at the man and lifted me to my unreliable, jelly-turned legs. When she realized I couldn’t stand, she held me steady until I could properly support myself. “Are you alright, daughter?” she inquired, falling to her knees before me and looking me straight in the eye. “Are you hurt anywhere?”

“I’m alright...” I whispered and looked at the man before us. His shield was sterling silver, possessing similar azure blue scroll patterns to those I’d seen on the walls of the Glass Palace. As he held it against his chest, I realized the scroll-like patterns actually took the shape of a dragon.

Oh. So that’s what it was.

“Does she need help?” the man inquired.

“No—we’re fine. Thank you, Lei—” Hellenia stopped short, eyes widening. I looked at her as confusion and embarrassment pulled on her flustered face. “We’re fine. Come on, Evy.”

I caught the man quirk a questioning brow as she dragged me away. As I stumbled after my mother, I looked back and over my shoulder to see a small smile lift the corners of his lips. ‘Lei-something person’ then turned away and blew a sharp whistle. A large bird flew overhead, and he reached up to grab its claws. As he was carried away, I saw the bird toss him high up in the air and catch him perfectly on its back. Was that a bird? Whatever. It had wings.

“Awesome, awesome,” I said. This world of fire-breathing beasts and magical shields had gotten interesting. “Mama, what are they?” I asked. “Mama?”

My mother was quiet. I looked at her questioningly and tugged on her arm.

“Mama, are you alright?”

“Yes, I am,” she replied blankly. “Never mind, darling. I’m glad you’re fine.”

I doubted it. “Do you know that man?”

“Yes.”

I nodded too. I figured she knew him—maybe a person who frequented Oblivion? “He definitely recognized you too,” I said with a tilt of my brows.

She gave me a flustered stare and seemed to catch on that I caught on. “Do you think that? This is what I’m trying to avoid… It won’t be good for the both of us.”

“Why? Is he a bad person?”

“Leiran?” she asked. “Not really. He’s a man of honor.”

“Then that’s good.”

Hellenia gave a sweeping stare across my face and caressed my chin. A knot of worry appeared between her brows and she pulled me close to her side, fingers firmly grasping my shoulders as though afraid to let me go.

“Come on, now. Dragons above, it seemed I was more fearful for you than you are for yourself. That is not good. I must teach you to be wary.”