THE FIFTH SCHOLAR by Isaac Agumba

The letter wasn't supposed to exist.

Mara didn't apply to the Veyrath Academy. She'd never heard of it. And yet the black envelope arrived with her name in silver ink that shimmered like something living; sealed in wax that hummed when she touched it.

"Acceptance is not optional. Your presence is required. Your ability has already been noted.", it read, in conclusion.

Hidden in a mountain range that doesn't appear on any map, the Veyrath Academy is no ordinary school. It is ancient, hungry, and extraordinarily selective. Of the thirty students who arrive, only five are chosen to become Scholars: bound by ceremony, forged by fire, and watched by faculty who appraise them like collectors at an auction.

Mara has spent her whole life being quietly overlooked. Now she's been noticed by something that doesn't forget. And at Veyrath, being noticed is only the beginning of the danger.

As secrets unravel: a library of locked doors, a binding ceremony no one fully explains, a disappearance no one officially acknowledges; Mara begins to suspect that the Academy's greatest mystery isn't what lies in the restricted floors.

It's why the fifth scholar was chosen at all.

Five were selected. Only four were meant to survive.

The Fifth Scholar is perfect for fans of Harry Potter fantasy novels by J. K. Rowling, The Secret History by Donna Tartt, A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik, and Babel by R.F. Kuang, etc.