They whisper something to each other, and then the pixie-cut woman manipulates the earth, making it move and rise around the inmyeonjo. It swallows the bird-woman until she is trapped in a mountain of soil and only her head is visible. A look of pure hatred passes over the inmyeonjo’s face as she fights to get free, but the witch has her hand clasped tight, and the earth stays firm around the bird body.

That’s when her twin sister strikes. She animates her cane, which I realize now is actually a wooden staff. And with a swift Spider-Man gesture of her wrist, the sharp end of the staff slices through the air, scraping past the inmyeonjo’s face.

The bird-woman lets out a bloodcurdling scream as blood gushes from her cheek. The sisters high-five each other, and the crowd cheers.

“Now yield to us, inmyeonjo!” the earth-witch yells.

The bird-woman stays unmoving, still trapped in the soil mountain, and for a moment the crowd goes silent. This could be it.

The inmyeonjo closes her eyes and takes a big breath. I hold my breath, too.

“Never!” she finally cries. “I will shatter every one of those mirrors, and you can’t stop me!” She caw-caws as she tornadoes out of the mound like a corkscrew.

She flies at the sisters, her talons outstretched. They cover their heads, but the inmyeonjo has the element of surprise on her side. She dips low and swipes at them both with one sharp movement of her talons. Side Shave trips and stumbles onto the soil mound, and the bird-woman goes for her again.

“Stand up, Yumi! Run!”

Pixie Cut helps her sister up just in time, and together, they run for their lives. Austin magicks the cage back down over the bird-woman.

Sora’s face drops. “Good try, Yumi and Yuri, but not quite.”

The clan leader finally turns to me. She gives me a small smile, then addresses the crowd.

“Everyone, I’d like you to meet Riley Oh. She is a Horangi, daughter of the late Mina and Yoon Seo.” Murmurs of recognition and curiosity ripple through the crowd. “But unbeknownst to us, she was taken from our clan and raised by a family of Gom.” The crowd gasps. “Fortunately, she has, defying all odds, returned to us of her own accord. And she wants to pledge her allegiance to our clan. She’s going to volunteer herself today in this task as her initiation, so I ask that you show her a true Horangi welcome.”

She raises her arms and the crowd breaks into applause. As they cheer, something cracks open inside me. There is no backing out now. I am actually doing this.

Sora quiets the crowd with her hands. “Riley, we know you’ve only just been biochipped today, and you may not have had a chance to unlock your power yet, but tell us, what is your dominant element?”

“Um, fire,” I mumble.