Solanky slipped away from the training grounds unnoticed, leaving before any of the elites could catch sight of him. He rushed home, and the moment he crossed the threshold, he called out for his younger sister, Elisa, eager to hand her the manuals he'd stolen. Elisa lit up at the sight of them — each time she studied and practiced from her brother's stolen loot, she grew stronger and more agile, closing the gap between herself and the elites who trained with proper guidance.
A few days later, the king of the Bayoka clan issued a decree: all clansmen bearing elite features were to travel to the capital for formal nurturing. The news filled Solanky with hope. His sister Elisa was a prodigy in her own right — even without an elite mentor or the tribe's resources, she could already stand shoulder to shoulder with those who had both.
Solanky, Elisa, and their mother received an invitation to leave the outskirts of Makeke behind and settle in the capital, where the elites made their home. But Solanky, ever cautious, understood there was no free meal waiting for someone who looked like him. So he offered himself as an errand boy to the grand elder — a post far more grueling than serving under the king himself.
Elisa was accepted into the elite training camp, and their mother was taken in to serve the queen, for during the selection trials Elisa had proven herself capable of ranking among the top ten elites of her generation without any prior guidance. It earned both her and her mother newfound respect. Solanky, however, remained an object of scorn among the upper echelons — his features matched neither the elites nor the common clansmen who still carried the founders' bloodline.
By the traditions of the tribe, anyone lacking the ancestral features was to be treated as an outsider. The upper echelons worked deliberately to separate Solanky from his mother and sister, convinced that a boy like him could only be a bad omen — a distraction dragging down a genius like Elisa.
To that end, they eagerly arranged for Solanky to serve the grand elder, a post that would take him far from the elite camp to a distant town. Solanky asked, politely, for one final chance to see his mother and sister before he left. The upper echelons refused outright, telling him plainly that he wasn't fit to stand before a genius like Elisa.
Fury lit through him. "Genius, huh?" he shot back. "Where were the upper echelons when a thirteen-year-old boy stood between her and death, back in the outskirts?"
The proud voices around him fell silent.
"Where were you," he pressed on, "the day she fell into the den of the ancient silver-blue leopard, and I offered my own life as bait just to buy her escape? Where were you then?"
A murmur spread through the crowd — hushed talk of the boy who, at only thirteen, had lured one of the most dangerous beasts on the planet and walked away alive. Solanky was sixteen now, and fear of the upper echelons had long since abandoned him; his years in the outskirts had been shaped by dangers most of them couldn't fathom, dangers some would never survive even at their current strength, though none dared admit it aloud.
One man finally spoke. "It is tradition to shield the dazzling ones from every form of distraction—"
He never finished. "That's some bullshit and you know it," Solanky cut in. "You only care about my sister's worth now — after the manuals you refused to give her, after chasing me down like a thief every time I stole one for her, all because we didn't live in the capital and we looked poor."
The yard fell silent, the onlookers stunned by his defiance. Then a single clap rang out — the grand elder, moved by the boy's refusal to let hypocrisy pass unchallenged just because he wasn't elite. Every head turned, and the moment they saw who stood there, the crowd dropped to one knee in reverence. The grand elder stood among them in flowing white linen, an ancient aura of power and authority radiating from him.
Solanky was the last to kneel. Before he could, the grand elder stopped him and told him to board the ship. Solanky refused — he wouldn't leave without saying goodbye to his mother and sister. The grand elder only smiled. "I knew you wouldn't leave without them." With a gesture of his hand, he summoned Elisa and her mother to bid Solanky farewell.
Elisa — ranked among the top five of her generation, only fourteen, and known as the goddess of strength — broke into a run the moment she saw him, leaping into his arms in tears. Two and a half years had passed since they'd last stood together. Solanky held her close. "Look at this," he teased, "the so-called goddess of strength, crying like the goddess of sobs, right in front of the ghost of the void. Didn't she know ghosts can't cry?" They both broke into laughter. Their mother reached them next, pulling them both into an embrace, telling Solanky to take care of himself once he was gone.
Solanky said his final goodbyes to his mother and sister, then stepped into the cabin of the grand elder's ship and departed. Once aboard, he dropped to one knee and thanked the grand elder for granting his last wish, pledging to serve him faithfully wherever he went. The grand elder looked down at him and nodded, satisfied.