The Choosing

"Each of us has made our selection." Libra was speaking again. She had stepped forward, into the circle. "Now it is your turn to make your choice."
"Our choice?" Lyra turned to the speaker, Leo's apprentice, the redheaded girl from the south.
"Yes," Libra replied. "As chosen apprentices, you each have the right to a choice. You can accept the apprenticeship, bring honor and blessings to your family, and embrace the bright future only Tsaro can offer. Or you can reject the apprenticeship, and return to your mundane life in the mortal realm."
A slight cough. Scorpio gave the others a cold smile when they turned to look at him. "If you do make the decision to reject the apprenticeship, I must give you fair warning. Although we promise you no harm or curses for such a choice, others tend to feel differently. Bad things have happened to those who rejected the apprenticeship. I won't share any gruesome details, but I will say that none of them met good ends."
"So we don't really have a choice." Virgo's apprentice, the blonde girl from the north, crossed her arms.
Another cold smile. "Oh, you have a choice. There is a difference between there being only one right choice and not having a choice at all."

The Choosing. The time where The Twelve each selects a new apprentice. The Selection. The twelve apprentices chosen. The Choice. To accept the apprenticeship, or to reject it.
And an enemy, hidden in the shadows. Someone from the past. Someone who yearns for the destruction of The Twelve. Someone who is about to strike.