Despite the name, no one had died during The Culling in living memory. However, Xina's family was filled with record-breakers, and she wouldn't be surprised if this were hers, especially after how disastrous her last attempt had been.
Xina had never intended to try again, but her sister, Zes, insisted that she wouldn't go if her big sister didn't join her. Their father would have absolutely lost his mind if neither of his daughters had gotten into the academy, so eventually, Xina agreed to go, as long as Zes did her best to succeed, even if Xina was sent home again.
Zes had agreed, but she'd also stubbornly refused to believe Xina would fail again.
The two sisters reached the starting point. Most of The Culling took place in the black forest surrounding the academy. Dominion Academy was a magic school, but obviously, most students only had a basic understanding of magic before entering, so most of the challenges The Culling gave could be dealt with in multiple ways. The ingenuity was part of the challenge, as The Culling was meant to establish that the new students were clever enough to succeed no matter what was thrown at them, even if they didn't have much knowledge of magic.
Xina and Zes had some starter knowledge, as their father wanted them to have an advantage. Zes had tried to argue that it wasn't a competition, as the academy wanted to accept as many students as possible, but to their father, everything was a competition.
The girls lined up with the other hopefuls. The Culling was done in small groups of 6 to 12—one a week for a period of three months. You applied to join with a fee of 1000 gold for the opportunity, and they'd assign you a week. Their assigned week was the very last one of The Culling this year.
The supervisor arrived shortly after, and Xina wanted to die when she saw who it was. Rosalind Calred was also the supervising professor last time, which was just her luck. Dr. Calred politely didn't call attention to her, but her eyes widened in surprise and flicked to Xina while she read the register, so she clearly remembered her.
"Hmm," Calred said. "Looks like you're all here. Nine, that's lucky."
She smiled wryly. "Well, here's hoping that luck gets you through. I'll be around to intervene if something serious happens, but if you want to succeed, you better not need my help. Once you enter the forest, you have until the night of the thirty-first to reach the academy. Your efforts will be observed and rewarded. Any failures or inaction will count against you."
"If I have to intervene to save you, you fail. If you don't earn a certain number of points, you fail. And if you don't reach the school in time, you fail. And remember, the nine of you are a team for The Culling and will remain a team once you reach the academy, so try to get along. And you can enter the forest... now."
Calred moved aside to allow them to approach the forest line. They stood together, staring at the trees. After a moment, a girl with long black hair streaked with silver started forward, her braid swinging behind her as she marched. The rest of them followed, Xina taking a steadying breath as she entered the black forest for the first time in six years.