A tall slender man with a black robe was approaching me. “Welcome to Tyr Temple Markass,” the man bellowed “My name is Furvious.” I shook his bony hand which looked like that of a starved animal, not far from my own little bony hand. He took my tattered bag packed with what little belongings I had and waved for me to follow him. As I stepped inside the temple, my eyes were attracted to the large oriental statues that were placed on either side of a huge altar in the middle of the marble room. Furvious smiled at me, “ It’s pretty big isn’t it.”
“I didn’t expect it to look like this,” I gasped, twisting and turning my head in different ways in an attempt to take in every detail of the area.
“In this temple, we worship the god Tyr. You will learn more about him in your time here”
I noticed multiple people with similar black robes walk towards the altar. It looked like they were going to pray or something. Fervious led me down a dimly lit corridor, past a large library and courtyard into what looked like dorm rooms.
“Here is where you will live now,” he set down my bag. “You will only be able to keep one belonging with you during your time here, the rest of your stuff will be sent back to your family.” He opened the door to the small room where there was another boy, he looked fairly well built.
“This is Cho, your roommate,” Cho waved at me and I waved back.
“Right now all of the other children are in the courtyard but you can have some time for yourself to get adjusted. There will be a bell that calls you down to the dining hall which is the third door on your left. Cho will answer any questions you have.” And with that, Furvious exited hastily through the small door. I frowned. How could they make me only keep one thing? I mean, I don’t have many belongings because my parents could never buy me much. I did have a small picture of my family and the carved wooden dragon that my dad made for me, along with the one other pair of clothes I had.
“It sucks doesn’t it,” Cho said seeming to read my mind. “I hid a picture of my family under my bed and kept my necklace that my mommy gave me.” He dug underneath the mattress and revealed the picture to me.
   “I’ll do it too.”
I decided to keep the picture and stuff the wooden dragon under my bed. Hopefully, they wouldn’t get mad if they found it.
“You should change into your robe.” Cho pointed to the black robe with white stripes that was folded neatly on my bed. I silently slipped off my tattered white shirt and slipped into the clean robe.
“How old are you?” I could sense that Cho was trying to make conversation with me but at this point, I just really wanted to go home.
“10”
“Hey me too!”
“You don’t say much do you?”
I shrugged.
“Okay well let’s go to the courtyard and hang out with everyone else.”
Cho led us down the corridor towards the courtyard I had passed earlier. The courtyard was this wide open area right in the center of the temple, lush grass that was perfectly cut and a big oak tree right in the center. Some of the kids were playing soccer. I saw other kids in black robes, but I noticed that some of them had different colored stripes on their shoulders. My own had white stripes and many of the older kids had brown or red ones. I tried to avoid eye contact while I sat in the grass and observed. I could see that the older kids with the brown and red stripes were bossing others around. I guess that means they are more powerful. One particular kid caught my eye. He had golden hair that curled around his face and freckles that dotted his clear skin. On his black robe, he had orange stripes.
I watched him cross the courtyard as he maneuvered the ball towards the goal. His team cheered, “Way to go Elric!”. As they lifted them in the air, a loud twang came from the top of the temple. The bell swung back and forth signaling the start of dinner. I walked behind the group of boys who were jeering about the game they just played.
“Yeah did you see my shot! It totally curved into the goal.” said a tall lanky elvish boy with dark black hair and red stripes on his robe.
“Mine was cooler though,” said a short stocky halfling.
“Everyone knows that Elric had the coolest shot, he got you so good Ulra!” Elric sheepishly gave a grin. As we walked into the dining hall I noticed a large number of circular tables. The wooden floor complemented the white marble on the walls. The other boys went to sit in their respective spots and I looked for an open chair.
The elvish boy with black hair approached me and stuck out his hand.

“Hey my name is Hubys, you must be new.” I nodded and shook his hand.

“So there should be a seat for you over at that table.” he pointed towards the far table where a bunch of boys with white, yellow, and orange stripes were seated.
The other boys introduced themselves in a circle as a man in a white robe appeared from the kitchen. I stood up following the others and bowed to the man.

“Everybody, I would like to welcome Markass to the Temple of Tyr.” As we all got seated, I whispered over to Cho. “Who is that?”
“That’s the leader of the temple, his name is Daero”
“Why does he have a white robe instead of a black one?”
“The robes and stripes represent our rank in our training. You have a black robe with white stripes which means you are a beginner. You start with white stripes, then move to yellow, orange, green, blue, purple, brown, red, then black. And after you get black stripes, you go to a trial for your white robe and choose your monk path.” He excitedly pointed to the other tables around the room.
“So how do you move up stripes?”
“Well first you have to train for a test, then they put you through a gauntlet thing against all the masters in the temple. After that, you earn your next stripe. It’s really not that hard as long as you work really hard.”
I swallowed the frog in my throat. How was I going to fight all the masters in the temple? That’s impossible! As dinner was set out in front of us Daero stood up on a platform and began saying, “Reveal the truth, punish the guilty, right the wrongs, and always be true and just in your actions!” the other boys joined in too. After that, we got to eat. I had never been able to eat this much food before. My eyes widened as I glanced around the table at the heaps of food on everyone’s plate. “ Is dinner always like this?” I asked Cho.
“What do you mean?”
“Like do we always get to eat this much?”
“It’s not even a lot dude like at my house we used to eat twice as much as this.”
“Oh, yeah me too.”
I turned back to my plate and began scarfing down the mashed potatoes, the steak, and the carrots. I noticed one of the kid's point at me and snicker to his friends. That’s fine I guess, I’ve never really had this much food to eat before. I had finished my plate before everyone else.

“Wow what a pig” I heard the same kid say. I’m not one for confrontations so I just bowed my head and turned away. “Hey piggy boy, if you eat any faster there won’t be any food for the rest of us.” he laughed and went back to talking with his friends. “Don’t mind them,” Cho whispered to me. “Who are they?”
“That’s Ulra and his friends. They are the worst of the worst, don’t go around them.”
I nodded in agreement, and just like that dinner was over. We were given a free period and then sent to our dorms. Cho and I chatted as we made our way to our room.
   “So what do we do here exactly?”
   “Everyday we wake up and go to the altar to worship our god, then we usually eat breakfast. After that everyone goes to the training hall to work on our monk abilities. Then we have lunch and school. Then time in the courtyard and dinner. Repeat.”
   “Oh... that sounds kinda boring”
   “It’s actually really fun! I like training the most because I can work on my techniques.”
   I nodded in agreement as we entered our dorm. My bag was gone but the picture of my family was resting on the window sill beside my bed. As we got ready for bed I thought about the times ahead of me and how long I would have to stay here. Hopefully, I can be home soon.

   I jerked awake as the loud bell twanged through the building. Cho was already up. “It’s time to wash up before the rituals. Grab your robe and bring it with.” We stepped out into the hallway and made our way to the baths. I took my turn in the bath, quickly soaping up and washing off because I had never been naked around other people besides my family. I heard some chuckles as I got out to put on my robe. The bell rang again signaling that it was time for the rituals to begin. We made our way down the marble halls into the large circular room. It seemed as though the statues of Tyr on the side were watching me. Everyone gathered to sit around the altar. As a few of the white-robed men gathered to the center of the circle and began to do something I couldn’t quite make out, everyone began whispering at once. “Justice” I heard from several people. “Law” from others. As the ceremony began, I noticed everyone else was sitting up very straight, with the highest colored stripes sitting closer to the center and the lower belts on the outside of the circle. I looked up at the ceiling and saw a glowing image of a balance on a warhammer. The oriental design stretched all the way to where the wall met the roof.
   “We will be champions of Justice and Order” others around me repeated and I followed suit. The ritual ended with a large fire being lit in the center and shouts of “Justice” and “Law” all around us. The ritual was finally over and I felt unsatisfied. Why are we being champions of Justice and Order when there are soldiers who fight for that. Paladins. Aren’t we Monks? Why is it our responsibility? I thought about this as we headed to breakfast. Furvious cut me off on the way to the dining hall. “Hey Markass, I need to talk to you is that okay?”
   “Um, why?”
   “Come with me please” I followed Furvious down a dark corridor into what I assumed was an unfinished classroom. We sat down in some slightly worn chairs. “How did that make you feel?” Furvious scoured over my face in an attempt to gain information.
   “About the ritual?”
   “Yes, the truth about how you felt.”
   “Well, it’s nice and all that we want to be champions of justice or whatever, but isn’t that the soldier's responsibility? We aren’t police.”
   “Exactly!” Furvious’ face lit up with joy. “We are Monks, not Paladin’s. So here is the proposition, you will join us, in worshiping another god and committing yourself to the Way of Shadow.” As he said that several figures appeared from the dark corners of the room. They all had black on black robes. “We are the cult of Darkness, and we intend to steal money from the major banks to make us rich, we use the stealth blessed upon us by Tiamat to invade and gain profit.” The figures began stepping closer to me and I noticed Hubys and Ulra among them. “If you accept my offer then you will no longer be poor, you could support your family. Never would you have to worry about having 3 meals a day.” My stomach growled at that very moment. “If you don’t accept my offer, we will wipe your memory of this encounter. You must make your decision now.”
   I stuttered and scanned around the room for any sight of possible friends to be in the group. Not one. My family is struggling though. And If I did this then my little sister would never have to come to the monastery. “Okay,” I muttered. The next thing I knew, I was being swept down a flight of stairs into a hidden corridor underneath the temple. Candles flickered around us. Furvious stepped into the center of the circle where there was a small forge. “To commit to our cult, The Cult of Darkness that worships the goddess Tiamat, you must show your sign of loyalty by stealing some small documents from the leader of the temple.”
   “How am I supposed to do that? I haven’t even been here for a day”
   “Hubys will assist you, and if you succeed you will bring your documents back down to this room. Then we will start the ritual of initiation.”
   They let me back upstairs into the main hallway. “There you are!” Cho shouted from down the hall, “It’s time for training.” He led me across the courtyard into a large room with wooden floors and massive windows. Other boys were already training and I saw some magic in the far back where the black stripes were practicing. I made my way over to the area where other white stripes were with Dareo. “Glad you could join us Markass” his voice was like thunder. “Today you will be learning the simple techniques that all budding monks should know.”
   As we continued the training session I began to grasp the ideas that were being presented before me. At one point Dareo handed us a staff, which I was quickly able to spin around fluently. Dareo watched me toss it into the air and catch it behind my back, “That is the best staff spinning I have seen from a white stripe, you have a lot of potential Markass”. After what seemed like no time had passed, I heard the bell ring again. Cho made his way over to me. “Time for school.” Everyone walked as a group down to the several classrooms that were scrunched together. I was put into the youngest group with Cho and sent into a small wooden classroom. There were benches with desks in front of them but I ended up sitting away from Cho next to Elric. The palms of my hands began to get sweaty. He leaned over, “Yo, I’m Elric. You must be Markass” I gave him a half smile and nodded. “It’s nice to meet you.” I found myself stuttering whenever he talked to me during class, and continually wiping my palms on my robe. Why does being next to him make me feel that way? The class was finally over and we headed to lunch.
   “So how is your first official day going?” Elric nudged me.
   “Oh, it’s pretty good. I really enjoyed the ritual”
   “Yeah that’s my favorite part of the day, I think it is good that we fight for justice and what is right.”
   “Yeah me too…” I then felt a tap on my shoulder. It was Hubys. “Hey Markass, I need you for something.” I nodded and gave a hasty goodbye to Elric. Hubys led me to a staircase that led upstairs. “It’s time.” I stayed close behind him as we entered, what I assumed to be, Daero’s office. “Okay, I’ll keep watch and you rummage around in his desk for any documents that have the words ‘Bank Statement’ on them.” I quietly made my way behind the desk as Hubys stayed at the door with it only a crack open. I searched the top of the desk that had piles of papers on them. Then into the drawers that creaked when they opened. All of the folders were neatly labeled so all I had to do was find the right one. But then I heard Hubys whisper, “HIDE”
I dove into the curtains that were draped to the side of his windows. Dareo’s footsteps were loud as they came into the room. “Hm, why is my drawer open. Guess I forgot to close it.” I could hear him grab something and as quickly as he had come, he had left. I stepped out of the curtains to see Hubys already back at the door. “Hurry up this time.” A little faster now I searched for the file with “Bank Statement” written on it. When I had found it, Hubys thanked me. “I will take the file and you head down for lunch.”
   Lunch passed like a fleeting memory. I sat next to Elric again, which sent butterflies in my stomach for reasons I couldn’t understand. It was finally free time and I noticed Hubys motion for me to come to him. I followed him back down into the ritual room where this time I noticed the large murals of what I assumed was Tiamat on the walls. “You have successfully completed your mission, congratulations Markass.” Furvious appeared out of the shadows. “Now you will begin your initiation.” I was to grab something I owned that was of worth to me to sacrifice to her. I brought the wooden dragon down. Hopefully, Dad won’t mind. I mean if this works out then they will never have to work another day, and Dad can spend the rest of his time carving. They had me sacrifice the wooden dragon into the forge. The glowing coals immediately swallowed the dragon whole. It was as if Tiamat herself had emerged to eat the statue. “Now, to show your loyalty you shall be branded with the mark of Tiamat on your thigh.” Wait, what does that mean. They slowly pushed my robe aside to reveal my bare thigh. I tried to push them away in a last ditch effort to preserve my skin. But it was done. I screamed out in pain as the hot iron logo pressed down on my thigh. They shoved a gag into my mouth. The room started to glow black as I felt myself fall limp.
   When I awoke, I immediately went to touch my leg. It didn’t hurt at all. I pulled up my robes to get a better look at it and noticed how it looked glossed over. “What did you do?!” I screamed at them.
   “Don’t worry, it has healed already. You should return to dinner now.”
   In a confused haze, I made my way back up the staircase into the dining hall. Cho noticed me sit down, “Where have you been? We were going to put you in the soccer game.”
“Oh, Hubys had to talk to me about new monk stuff y’know. Like testing and stuff like that”
“Are you excited?”
“I guess so, it’s only been one day so I don’t know what to expect”