Sam let go of the container that surrounded his essence only to find that it had faded to nothing.


    She looked at Porter who gave her a quizzical look and she shook her head. Maybe there had been a better way, but in the seconds she had before he reached her it was the best she could do. At least he still looked human, rather than looking like a draugr when he hit the deck. She looked around at the stunned faces and shrugged. It seemed no mater what she did she was going to become a killer, better it was the bad guys then and before they could enact they''re evil plots.


    She saw Porter coming over to her and she grimaced. “I''m sorry Porter, had I more time maybe I could have found a way to restrain him, I just didn''t have the time, I more or less acted on instinct.” Porter nodded.


    “Clearly he must have had some sort of heart condition. His rage at being found out must have put too much of a strain on his heart as he battered his way through the throng he must have pushed his heart too far and it killed him. Everyone saw you were no closer than ten yards away, it can''t possibly have been anything you did. You hardly moved a muscle!”


    Sam looked up at Porter, who nodded to her. She closed her eyes and nodded back, OK if that''s how he wanted to play it, that was fine by her.


    Sam looked wearily at Edward who moved close and gave her a hug, she felt herself melt into his embrace, she just felt so tired, death seemed to follow her like a shadow.


    The two guards carried off Anderson as Porter gestured to the crowd of young potential students and the held his hands up to direct their attention to him.


    “OK people! If you can follow me please and try not to stray! It''s important right from the off that you learn to obey instructions. very important indeed!”


    “Come along ladies and erm.. gentlemen.. follow closely.”


    They made it through the checkins without issue and headed into the massive ship with Porter working hard to make sure everyone knew beyond doubt that it was imperative that they go directly to the hall where the entrance exams would be completed before the students were issued cabins and given their maps. Anything other than that was unacceptable.


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    Sam sidled up to Porter and took a deep breath. She remembered the last time she had gone through the examination and whilst not the worst thing she had survived, if she didn''t have to face it again then she wouldn''t be upset.


    “Hey porter” Porter looked towards Sam. “Yes my dear, is everything alright? I must admit it''s not often a student has to fight for their life before their entrance examination, and to er....face their first ah...termination, indeed, it cannot have been easy.”


    Sam shook her head. “Unfortunately Porter that wasn''t my first how did you put it? Termination? In the original timeline things got pretty messy so yeah...not my first termination, not by a long shot.”


    Sam hung her head and closed her eyes as her vision blurred. The memory of that night in Valencia felt like a spike through the heart. She sniffed and her face flushed as she wiped away the tears from her cheek, she felt a gentle hand on her arm and she opened her eyes as Porter spoke quietly so only she could hear.


    “We have counselors for students and Magi who suffer traumatic events, even if we manage to avert them in this timeline you still lived through several horrific situations, I will make an appointment for you, just talking to someone who wont judge you could help you heal. Sometimes it''s not the physical ailments that hurt us the most.”


    Sam''s instincts were to pull away and refuse, but she knew that night in Valencia was going to haunt her for years, probably for the rest of her life. even during waking hours she was getting flashing images, Paul collapsing in a pool of blood. Icons of orange firing guns at Rae and herself. Orange was a colour she never really liked in the first place, but now it gave her a feeling of nausea if she caught a glimpse of it in the corner of her eye and she would flinch away instinctively, her heart pounding as if she were about to be attacked.


    The feeling of loss and fury as she stood in the centre of the city and raged at a cruel and unjust world as she syphoned off the life essence of hundreds of thousands of lives, one million people dead... She shivered and struggled to pull herself together, then squeezed Porter''s hands and nodded. momentarily not able to speak, she felt Porter tap her gently.


    “As soon as the entrance exams are completed I''ll get straight to it, you''ll get the best care the academy has to offer, I promise.” Sam took a deep breath trying to clear her throat and not sound like a little scared girl.


    “About that Porter, I know what it''s like to go through the entrance examination, it wasn''t pleasant when all I had was an irritating brother and a school nemesis to deal with, now? Is it at all possible I could ...not go through that again?” Porter looked sadly into Sam''s troubled gaze and shook his head.


    “If I had any say in the matter then of course I wouldn''t hesitate, but unfortunately the entrance examination is an essential part of the initiation of the students into the academy. I can''t go into too much detail but suffice it to say it is far more than just what you experience, to my knowledge no one has bypassed the entrance exam in my lifetime.” Sam''s shoulders sagged as she nodded. “Oh well it had been worth asking just in case.”