Sora could see Hana and Papa in the front row. Samara Mountain beckoned Papa home, but he wasn’t ready to go yet without Mama there, so for now, he stayed at the Citadel to be close to his daughters.

Liga was sitting in the front row, too. He had gotten permission to spend some time on earth to look for his mother, but he certainly wasn’t going to miss his brother’s big day.

The performance finished with a resounding boom as all ten drummers hammered their drums at once. The amphitheater vibrated. The audience broke out into whistles and cheers.

Fairy and the rest of the drum corps bowed. Then, as the applause died down, they cleared away the enormous drums and their stands, and Fairy jogged offstage to her place next to Broomstick. Sweat soaked the black handkerchief she’d wrapped around her head.

“Beautiful performance,” Sora said.

“It was brilliant, as usual,” Daemon said.

Broomstick just beamed at her proudly.

Empress Aki walked over. “Are you four ready?”

“Yes, Your Majesty,” they said in a mottled sort of unison.

She climbed the steps to the black stage. The Councilmembers already waited on the far end, each holding a black wooden chest. The boxes contained the pendants that would mark Sora, Daemon, Fairy, and Broomstick as warriors: silver chains each with a round black medallion at its end, engraved with Luna’s triplicate whorls.

“We are here today to honor four of our taiga apprentices,” Empress Aki announced to the amphitheater. “They have fought bravely, thought shrewdly, and above all, they have done the ultimate duty—they have saved Kichona and its people.”

Any remaining conversation in the audience hushed like a campfire suddenly doused by a tsunami. Despite everything Sora had been through, her nerves still jangled as she waited to be welcomed on stage.

“Spirit, Wolf, Fairy, and Broomstick, please join me,” the empress said.

Sora led the way up the short flight of steps onto the stage. She and the others lay prostrate on the gleaming black floor at Empress Aki’s feet. Then they rose and bowed together, deeply, to each of the Councilmembers.

“It is with great pride that we have watched you grow,” Bullfrog, the most senior member of the Council, said. “From the day each of you arrived as a tenderfoot, through your classes, your exams, your missions, all the way to this day when you stand before us, ready to take your place among the ranks of the warriors. You have humbled us with your prowess. You have honored us with your dedication.”

He opened the lid of one of the black chests. “Fairy, step forward, please.”

Empress Aki picked up the pendant. “By my right as ruler of Kichona, I hereby declare you a taiga warrior.”

Fairy bowed to an almost ninety-degree angle. The empress draped the pendant around her neck.