A young boy who looks to be about ten or eleven years old, sits on the bench located on the right side of the office doors. His legs are too short for his feet to reach the floor and he is swinging them back and forth. The boy’s hair is short and silver. As I look more closely, I find myself unable to pull my gaze away. There is something about him. Something familiar. But I don’t think I’ve ever seen him before.


    “Shue,” Taithon says.


    The boy raises his head, looking directly at me and not at the headmaster. It takes him a moment, then he blinks. “Cute familiar,” he says.


    Senza squirms on my shoulder.


    “Shue,” Taithon says again.


    This time Shue looks at the person who is actually speaking to him. “Y-yes?”


    Taithon sighs. “Well, since I don’t think you’ll be returning to your quarters any time soon, maybe you can assist us?”


    Shue snaps the book closed and hops off the bench. “Sure,” he says. “What do you need?”


    “I need you to go get three of the house heads,” Taithon says.


    “Aye aye Sir!” Shue says with a mock salute. He disappears into the office we had just come from.


    Curious, I walk over to the open doors and peer inside. It was just an empty room. Where had he gone? Maybe out the open window? I turn to Taithon and give him a questioning glance, hoping for some answers. Here merely shrugs and nods towards the elevator. I tug on my braid and follow him in.


    “I hate that man,” Taithon says as the elevator doors close. He presses the button for the main floor and leans against one of the walls, crossing his arms. “How long?”


    “I… what do you mean?” I ask.


    “How long has he given you to grieve?”


    “Oh…” I look away. Kazine hadn’t given me any time at all. We had received a letter of their disappearance and then we were here. “Why do you care?” I ask.


    Taithon sighs and turns his gaze towards the floor. “Believe it or not, a lot of other students are going through what you are right now. I just… obviously don’t tell Kazine I said this, but things should… no they need to be handled differently.”


    He cared. I have to admit that this… caught me off guard. Aurys Academy was a place where magic users and a multitude of different races were put up against each other. Every day here will be a struggle and that is something I am most definitely sure of. Professors are not allowed to step in, or even the headmaster himself, if a fight should break out among my peers. Even if they are as young as Shue is. Though, I came here thinking all the students would be my age or older.


    A question occurs to me and I look up at the man who is apparently my uncle. “You spoke to me as if I actually had a choice,” I say. “Was it true? Did I?”


    He shakes his head. “The only person to ever be allowed to freely leave after entering those doors, is Kazine.” Taithon surprises me then, by raising his left wrist. He wears the same kind of black band he had shown me, on his own wrist. Silver runes are sewn into the fabric. “Not even I am allowed to leave.”


    “Then why?”


    This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.


    “Because that man… let’s just say, outsiders are required to treat my students with respect. That unfortunately, is not something Kazine is any good at.”


    “Oh… Okay.”


    The elevator dings and the door opens. I follow Taithon in silence, down a corridor on the left. We walk until we reach a small, plain door which appears to lead into the basement. Taithon opens it and I follow him down a small, spiral staircase until we reach the landing. He walks forward, until we come to a long line of glass walls. The room on the other side is huge, with several blue mats laid out on the floor, creating what appears to be five fighting rings.


    Five figures are standing and sitting on the other side of the room. Four of them I recognize almost immediately. Shue is sitting on a chair, reading presumably the same book he was before. Remmy stands with his head down and arms crossed. Daxton, like when I had first seen him, is leaning against a wall with his arms crossed and the fourth person… I drop my hands to my sides.


    “Emri…?” I whisper.


    Emri was a good friend of mine who I had known since we were both barely old enough to walk. But he vanished almost two years ago. No goodbyes, no letters. He was just gone. I push my way passed Taithon and into the room. I needed to know the reason why he had left, why he didn’t tell me.


    On my approach, Emri the brunette with short well kept hair and a grey uniform not unlike the one Remmy wore, looks up at me. He freezes then, his emerald gaze locking with my ocean blue.


    “Sai?” he asks.


    I stop before him and nod.


    Emri places his hands on both of my shoulders, his face a mixture of longing, confusion and sorrow. “What are you doing here?” he asks. “You know this place is dangerous right? You could…”


    “Die,” I finish for him. “I know and so does Kazine. He doesn’t care though, if he did he would have never…” my voice breaks and I stop myself before I can completely lose control.


    His expression softens. “Right…” he says. “What happened then? Did your mother…?”


    “She, along with Reynne, were both declared MIA.”


    “When?”


    “It’s only been a few days,” I say. “Less than a week.”


    “Gease…” he says. Emri takes in a long breath and pulls me against his chest. “That man doesn’t waste any time, does he?”


    Someone clears their throat and I pull away from Emri. Taithon stands there, tapping his foot impatiently. “If you don’t mind Emri,” he says. “I do believe everyone else here…” he pauses and looks at Shue. “Everyone except for Shue, would like to go to bed some time tonight.”


    “Sorry Sir,” Emri says as he takes a step back and places a fist on his heart. That I knew to be our military salute.


    “And Daxton,” he says. “Why are you here?”


    “Same reason as Shue,” he says. “I want to see where she lands.”


    “Alright fine,” Taithon says. “You can stay and watch.” Taithon turns to the a fifth person who was currently sitting on the floor. “Kieran, you’re up first.”


    Kieran, though he was short, appeared to be the same age as I was. His hair was short and unkempt, a dirty blonde and his eyes a striking gold. The uniform he wore was blue, with the sleeves missing. He looks up at me from where he is sitting.


    “So I guess we’re doing your assessment to find where you fit in?” he asks.


    “I… yeah, I think so,” I say. Though I had absolutely no idea what that entailed, because Taithon had not explained any of it on the way here.


    “You will not be fighting to kill, to maim or even incapacitate,” Taithon says. “This will just be to see where she is at magic wise. If Sairya shows that she is stronger in one element than another, that house is probably where she belongs but… Sairya is also not a normal mage. She is a summoner, so I believe this assessment will be a bit different.”


    “Right…” Kieran says as he steps onto one of the mats. “How are you in hand to hand?”


    “Hand to hand?” I ask.


    “There might be times when for some reason, you are unable to use magic,” Senza says. “Learning how to fight physically, might be useful to you.”


    He did have a point there but… yeah… I didn’t know a thing about fighting with just your hands and your feet. I look at Taithon. “I can’t take Senza up onto the mat,” I say.


    “I’ll take him,” Emri says as he gently lifts my little otter friend off my shoulder. He walks to the wall where the others are watching and waiting.


    I give Emri a grateful smile and then I step onto the mat, facing Kieran. “Not good,” I say.