Chapter 13

I woke up with reddened eyes, puffy and dry and tender.

I also woke up way too early. It’s not that no one else most likely also did at the time, as I would be shocked if anyone could sleep through such a shrill horn. It disrupted the air with a rather cacophonous attempt at a melody, but it was far too early. I glanced over at the barred window, groaning with the motion, and saw no light poking through. It may have been West facing but a darkened morning sky was still less than desirable. My father used to joke that humans, like plants, don’t really thrive before dawn, and I wholeheartedly agreed.

“Good morning. Looks like we got to sleep in,” Christopher said in greeting. I instinctively loathed the way his voice sounded so chipper. Even if he was only getting up now, he seemed to have the energy of someone who had been awake for a while. It was one way to clear my mind of the dream.

The thoughts still lingered though. Of seeing Rose. Of regret. Of hate. “Someday, we’ll find Tobian.” Her words echoed in my mind. Maybe if she could push the blame onto him, I could shoulder a bit off of myself, too.

“Morning,” I grunted back as I got up, sitting and letting the blanket fall off my body. Even in yesterday’s clothes I shivered at the morning air which contrasted with the warmth I didn’t realize I had been hoarding. It took a moment longer before I could pull myself out, throwing the covers aside to greet the day in earnest.

Christopher was already dressed and standing at the door.

I grimaced to myself as soon as my back was turned to him. I quickly sild out the drawers of the dresser that was apparently mine. Undergarments, socks, white shorts, and sky blue shirts. Apparently the uniform was absolute as there was no deviation across the half dozen outfits supplied, folded and stacked in neat piles of military precision. I pulled a shirt out, letting it unfold in the air, and measured it against my body. Close enough to my size, if not a touch long.

I began to take off my shirt before turning to look at Christopher. He had his back to me, facing the closed door, and I knew he and I were in silent agreement this morning about something at least. I quickly dressed before patting him on the shoulder. “So—”

He must not have realized I was about to speak as he threw open the door without delay. I shut up just as fast, greeted with the sight of a small crowd of now somewhat familiar faces waiting for us: the three blue cloaked adults, Bradey, Brontus, and Andor, as well as a group of far more closely aged peers.

“Step to,” Bradey ordered, and I tried to keep up with the uniform sea that followed his guidance back through the winding halls. He kept glancing back, as if making sure we were still there, peering through half closed eyes. The other two shadowed us, bringing up the rear and making sure there were no lingerers. I reached up to rub a bit of residual sleep from my eye and must’ve slowed my pacing, as I felt Andor’s hand on my back, prodding me forward.

When I finally got into the classroom, there were fourteen seats filled, everyone appearing in the spot they sat the day before. I turned around, expecting to see someone else to have slipped behind me but only came face to face with Brontus and Andro. I glanced back; nine boys and five girls, meaning we were missing one of the latter.

“To your seat, Ren,” Scolffice grunted, his scratchy wheezing voice waking up what small part of me remained dormant.

I nodded, slightly embarrassed at being called out like that, and shuffled over to my seat in the third row, in one of the middle aisles, putting me on the right half of the room once I was facing the front. Unlike yesterday, where the desks had been bare, this time each had a booklet and pencil. I bumped into the empty ring on the side, almost swearing as it connected with my hip. Like all of the desks, it was empty, the only exception being Christopher’s. This time when I glanced over to look, the metal cuffs swung gently underneath, leaving his hands free to clasp together on his desk by his own volition.

As I sat down, I was pulled back into focusing in front of me as I saw movement out of the corner of my eye. Sarah turned partially and smirked at me, not in a mean way, but playfully. “Apples and Pear say ‘hi’,” she whispered.

“Um, yeah,” I just mumbled back.

“Now that you are all here,” Scollfice continued, “let’s begin with today’s lessons.”

I almost raised my hand, confused as we clearly were not the full group. I couldn’t remember the name of the girl, only that she was blonde and on the shorter side. No one else reacted though so I didn’t either, holding my hands in front of me to keep them there.

The whole day was stuck in that classroom. We did break for an early lunch of the same soulless food as the day before; wilted lettuce that apparently counted as a salad, a hard boiled egg with the consistency of rubber, and a knuckle of bland cheese on the side. I had been sticking to Christopher who seemed to savour the meal. I couldn’t help but glance across the room, where the bowls that held the adults’ poor excuse for salads at least looked a touch crisper, though it may have just been the lighting. After we ate, the four didn’t seem to care to even pretend they weren’t herding us in a tight escort, keeping around us an evenly spaced four point huddle that made me feel claustrophobic in the rear of the group. I again was the last to stand, missing some silent cue, and Brontus looked like he wanted to step on my ankles as he followed up behind me, his blue cloak wavering behind him.

Before and after eating we sat through lessons on history and geography, covering people and places that I had only heard passing words about, though others that Jard had taken the time to educate us on. Another lesson on principles of magic. One of dragons. They all blended together as I listened and tried to take notes with the paper and pencil provided to me. My head swam and I couldn’t remember ever having a class in my previous life that was this tedious.

“Alright, looks like it’s time,” Scolffice said as he erased his diagram of a dragon’s basic anatomy. I sighed with relief, my fingers stiff from writing for the past few hours. “We’ll resume after dinner.” A small part of me died as he said that but I still managed to shuffle on to the dining hall, mentally exhausted.

“You ok?” the boy across from me asked. He looked about a year older, with short cropped hair that matched the growing chisel of his jaw. I was pretty sure his name was Harley, not but not sure enough to risk getting it wrong.

“Oh, uh, yeah, sorry. Just tired.” I fumbled over my words, thinking over how many times I may be served the same tasteless soup and poorly baked bread. I looked up and saw him giving me a sympathetic smile.

“You get used to it,” he told me, though I didn’t know how long it might take for my sleep schedule to adjust. “The lecturer might have something… I heard in Oster that if you do well, you’ll get a little yellow friend to help you through the night.”

Beside me, Christopher snorted. “Not everyone swallows Soulsleep to get through the night,” he grumbled.

Maybe-Harley’s smile flattened. “And not everyone was the undesirable,” he grunted back. Christopher kept his eyes down but I saw his fists clench, knuckles whitening.

“Hey now,” I tried to intervene, not sure if this was the sort of place where hands might be thrown. “You're both from the training compound, right?”

“Compounds,” he corrected, softening slightly. “Harley, Oster. That’s in the west,” he elaborated to me specifically. “Opposite side as this easterner here.”

“Christo—”

“Yeah, I heard,” Harley cut him off, “Patricia told some of us. Of course, you can’t be surprised there were questions given how your desk was set up yesterday.”

Christopher jaw tightened. “I didn’t want my pairing.”

“And that’s why you’re weak,” Harley replied with a disinterested shrug. “Power is about action, not strength. Take Captain Hector for example; there’s a man that chased down what he wanted.”

I perked up at the name of my future judge. “This Captain Hector… who is he?” I asked.

“Oh, right, someone with ambition.” Harley turned his attention back to me. “You’re Ren, right? One of the only two here to figure out magic on your own.”

“Well, not just on my own. I’m actually looking for the person that… taught me.” I almost said ‘tricked’, or ‘murdered my sister’, not sure which would have come out. “Tobian?”

“Hmm… never heard of him,” Harley answered. I looked over to Christopher who likewise shook his head. “But to answer your question, Captain Hector is the man in charge here. One of the highest ranking military mages, he oversees the barracks and training camp here.”

“Ok… But what is he like?” I asked. “I just want to know what I may be in for.”

Harley hemmed and hawed for a moment, thinking it over. “Never met him; not yet anyway,” he finally said with another shrug. “He was gone when we got here. Only the Sandun group saw the mages off, since they got here a few days early.” He hooked a thumb further down the table, where a group of four sat together. Each of them, two boys and two girls, looked intimidating, with hair clipped just below their ears in some matched style, and talking in hushed whispers. “But… it was a pretty ballsy move yesterday for the evaluation,” Harley continued. “You can try to make your case, but I won’t be surprised to not see you tomorrow.”

“No complaints here; I just want to get out of this place. I didn’t want to sign up for the military,” I grumbled.

“What? And be a civilian mage?” Harley laughed like it was the stupidest thing he had ever heard. “No, I don’t mean you’ll just get to leave. Our group is already down one, wherever that girl went off to. And you forget that we’re all pretty much convicted murderers.” They way he said that so nonchalantly chilled my blood. “Either you stay here, or you get executed. There is no third option for any of us.”

A lump grew in my chest as the reality of the situation only settled deeper. I was trapped here, and the only way out was not one I wanted to take. “So, what? I have until this Captain Hector returns to not worry about my immediate future?”

“Yeah.” Harley nodded. “Might as well enjoy it while you can; they get back tomorrow.”