MAGE By Judah  

Chapter 1 – The last day

The military stinks. No, it literally does stink. I’m pretty sure that no one in the history of most of the universe’s militaries has taken a shower. That’s one thing I’m going to miss. Yes, that’s right, I’m unfortunately going into the military.

 Not by choice though. I was one of the unlucky recruits who was drafted each year. I had a month to get ready before I had to report for boot camp. That’s going to be over tomorrow.

To make matters even worse my mom has lost herself in a torrent of grief after my dad died in the Orcish war that’s been going on for so long no one who was alive when it started except maybe the Mages but the Mages are so mysterious and not many people like them so we don’t talk about them much.

One time a Mage came to our village while passing on to one of the Mage guilds. The guild lived in a castle called Mageton which was not actually that far from our village. Only about a week.

Once the community learned that one of the Mage guilds was right next to them they got even more nervous and our Mayor outlawed Magic entirely in the town unless of course a higher official said otherwise.

The worst thing about me going away was seeing my mothers face as the day drew nearer. She knows I will die. I know I will die. We had already lost my Dad to the war. She has never gotten over it. I am worried that if I die she will go mad and die. So I can’t die. I know though that I will die. I’m going to die and I’m only 13 years old. And if this isn’t bad enough my death will cause my mom to die and our family name will be wiped from the face of the planet.

If it’s any consolation I’ll see my dad again. I haven’t seen him since I was 7 years old. He died in the battle of Tuckers ravine in the year 273 ‘563.

He and the rest of the battalion were tasked with freeing a group of prisoners who were captured in the battle before by the Orcs. It was a very important group of prisoners who had been spying on the Orcs for about a decade and were just about to report back when they were captured.

If the mission was a success each person would be given 40 ‘000 gold pieces. The battle would have made my family rich. Would have, being the key word.

The battalion was caught in a rocky canyon right near the prison where the prisoners were to be executed. Thousands of Orcs began to jump down the canyon walls and surround the battalion.

The battalion were good fighters and were fighting off the orcs pretty well. But suddenly a Direwolf jumped into the canyon. With one bite he managed to tear off the heads of three members of the battalion.

Luckily at that point the Orcs let their guard down and the rest of the battalion managed to fight their way through the masses of Orcs and out of the canyon.

All except my dad. The other soldiers described their last sight of him vividly. While the other soldiers fled in terror he stood his ground, pushing back any Orc that dared come near.

When the Dire wolf reached him he spun his spear violently, slitting the throats of all the orcs around him. As he did so he jumped. His spear sank directly into the Direwolfs head.

The Direwolf died but right before he did the Orc general who was riding him sent his spear right into my dad’s heart. With that the soldiers ran away.

The battle was not a complete failure. The soldiers managed to free the prisoners and make their way back to the camp. They each received 40’000 gold pieces. We did not.

When the battalion was dismissed to send in a new battalion only two members remained.

They visited regularly to pay their respects to my dad. They called him a hero. My mom agreed. I did not.

I loved my dad but how had he been so stupid as to stay back and fight when he had the option of running away.

His death was meaningless and because of that we didn’t get any gold. And now we were slowly starving to death when we could be living in a mansion. When my dad died Jonathan told the Sergeant that we should receive money because dad slayed a Direwolf. The Sergeant unfortunately said that since the death didn’t help the battalion he could only give us the traditional 200 coins that families who had a family member who died in the war received.

Now I had to enter the military just so my mom could receive enough gold pieces to survive another year. But then what would she do? She was too distraught to get a job or do anything and I wasn’t old enough to get a job so all I could do was rely on  Harry and Johnathan (my dad’s friends who made it out of the war alive) to give us money. And my mom was too stubborn to accept it. I had to accept the money in private and say I had gotten a job at the blacksmith. Luckily my mom had forgotten about the age limit. I hated lying to my mom but I didn’t have a choice. After I’m done packing I’m going downstairs to force my mom by any means necessary to accept money from Harry and Jonathon. It is her only chance of survival. Mine had departed nearly a month ago.

I look over my shoulder at Richard, my parrot. His feathers are a lovely green and his eyes are a deep blue.

Harry had given him to me after my dad died as a way of saying sorry. He’d also given my mom a golden bracelet to wear on her arm. She had had to sell it long ago.

I named my parrot Richard after my dad, Richard Taser. I’ll miss Richard. My plan is to give him to Harry who promised he’d take good care of him.

A couple minutes later I put the last shirt in. I close my suitcase. I open the door. Time to argue with mom for the rest of the time I have left. I walk downstairs with my suitcase.

 “Mom I-” I stop mid sentence. Mom is not alone. Sitting next to her on a stool is a woman. She has long brown hair and olive skin. She has golden earrings. She is wearing a purple dress and red sandals.

 “Hello Alex Taser,” She says in a musical voice. “Can we talk?”

Chapter 2 – The Mage

“My name,” The Woman explains, “Is Terry Rendel of the Creativity Mages. I’m sorry to startle you like this but I needed to get to you before you got to boot camp.”

 “Hi,” I say nervously. Inside my head I am freaking out. What does a Mage want with me? I don’t think she is going to suck my soul out like the mayor claimed but I am still terrified,

 Terry glances at the suitcase in  my hand. “Oh good you packed,” she says. “I was afraid that you wouldn’t pack until the last second and you would need to pack when I told you and frankly we don’t have much time.”

“Told me what?” I ask. “What do we not have much time for?” Terry grins.

 “I love this part of the process,” she says. “I like the look of shock.”

 I am growing frustrated. Mage or not She is really getting on my nerves.

 “Could you please get to the point?” I demand? My mom shoots me a warning look.

 Terry just laughs.

 “Fine, fine, fine, she says. “Alex, You’re a mage.”

My suitcase falls from my grasp and lands on the floor with a thud. I don’t believe Terry’s pronunciation but if I do it will mean that according to the Mayors law I have to leave my home and never come back.

That’s even worse than going to the Military. When I’d registered for boot camp I’d met a couple soldiers who knew my dad. That would have made things easier.

As a Mage I would be alone.

Terry smiles gleefully, unaware of what’s going on inside my head.

 “Wasn’t disappointed.”

 “What do you mean I’m a mage?’ I ask. “I’ve never done magic in my life. I expect Terry to agree and go away but instead she just smiles. (She is  smiling a lot. What is her deal?)

 “Is that true?” she says. I pause for a minute. A memory pops up in my head. I was 10 years old. Me and my mom were visiting the ice cream shop to buy Ice cream cones. I ordered a chocolate fudge. When my mom told the cashier the order he shook his head. “Your dirtiness is dirtying my shop. Get out of here.”

 My mom frowns.

 “Your boss-”

 “I don’t care about my boss. Go away.”  I began to cry. I cried harder and harder until suddenly my vision turned red. My ears began to ring and then I heard someone shouting.

 “Put me down, Put me down.” My vision returned just in time to see the cashier getting off the ground clutching his ankle. He glared at my mom.

 “I’m going to report you.” My mom stared at him. Then she showed him something in her hand. The man hissed in frustration and handed over two Ice cream cones.

I licked my cone but it didn’t taste good. Suddenly I bent over and threw up.

My mom took my hand and  we walked home. I threw my cone in the first trash can that I saw.

On the walk home I asked my mom what happened. But she just said that the cashier tripped over the counter and threatened to sue her.

Over time I had forgotten all about it. Terry nods as I recount my memory.

 “Impressive. not many people have cast a levitation spell before induction. You’re going to be a really good mage.”

 “But how does that prove I’m a mage,” I say. “My mom told me-”

Just then my mom cuts in.

 “Alex, I wasn’t telling the truth. That day you made the cashier fly up into the air and he sprained his ankle when you dropped him.”

 “But what was that thing you showed him?” I ask. Instead of answering my mom gets up.

 “I’m going to make a pot of tea,” She says. After she leaves Terry claps her hands.

 “Right,” she says, “pick up that suitcase and we’ll go.”

“Go where?” I ask, a bit suspicious over my moms sudden departure.

 Terry laughs.

 “Why Mageton, of course.”

 I stare at her. Mageton is where apprentice mages train. I couldn’t go there, right?

 Terry sees the look in my eyes.

 “This isn’t a joke you know,” she says. “You’re a mage, and a mage needs to go to Mageton.”

 I give in.

“Ok,” I say, “Let’s go.”

Terry grins.

 “I knew you’d come along,” she says. Just then my mom comes back carrying a pitcher of tea along with 3 cups. When she sees me standing up she says,

 “You’re going already.”

 Terry nods.

 “I have a special assignment to do in a week so we must depart immediately.”

My mom sighs.

 “Oh well, good luck.”

 She wraps her arms around me. I hug her back. I don’t know when the next time I’ll see her is. When I turn back to Terry she says

 “If it’s any consolation your mother will receive two million gold coins.”

 I gasp. 2 million gold coins were worthy of a king’s ransom. With that my mother could not only buy a mansion she could do whatever she wanted for the rest of her life which would be considerably longer since I wasn’t going to boot camp.

I immediately decide that Mages are pretty cool considering that they have so much money and I definitely don’t believe a single word of what the mayor believes about them.

 Terry starts for the door. I follow. Outside I take one last look at our house with its red shingled roof and its green walls sparkling in the sunset. All that is a thing of the past. No more will I have to accept charity and be ridiculed by people for being poor.

No more will I have to watch as all the rich kids in the town go off to school and then leave, laughing and chattering with their friends as they go out to do something fun together.

 Now. I am a mage.

Chapter 3 – The arrival.

Terry and I ride our horses all through the night, stopping only to pick up provisions from a trade depot. Once we leave the depot we are back on a roadless and practically invisible path through a massive forest that starts at the halfway point to the human territory and ends at the sea.

On the other side of the sea is the Elven kingdom of Feyla which is home to a forest even bigger than this one.

Up north are the great plains where the gnomes live, and further north are the foothills where dwarves and goblins coexist peacefully.

Even further North are the great peaks, home to giants, and ogres, and trolls.

All that makes up a third of the world. Another third is the vast wilderness called the Jungle where terrible beasts roam.

The Last third and the bottom of the world is what everyone calls the wasteland. It is home to all the Orcs that didn’t sign treaties with the humans.

None of the intelligent races survives a journey there except for the Mages.

When Terry tells me this, she explains that Mageton is on the border of a section of the Jungle which is actually inhabited by countless colonies of people who don’t like living in society.

Just beyond the Jungle is an Orcish colony that lives in a fortress called Dangston.

It is home to an orcish captain and his men though there are rumors that A Highly ranking official went rogue and took his army to Dangston where he is now serving as one of the lieutenants.

Once Terry finishes explaining all this I ask her a question.

 “What does Mageton look like?”

 “It’s magnificent,” Terry says. “It’s like a castle but only 5 times bigger. There are 6 towers. One for each level. Each student gets their own floor on a tower with a balcony. There are feasts in the dining hall and there’s even a mini village inside.”

It’s obvious Terry is extremely proud to live at Mageton and after hearing the description I can’t blame her.

 “It sounds wonderful,” I say. I’m not lying. It really does.

We ride on for a couple more hours until the sun starts to rise through the sky illuminating a small brook where we stop to drink.

The horses start to tire but Terry murmurs something in their ear and they move on with more vigor than ever.

When I ask Terry what she did she answers

 “I enhanced their strength. You’ll learn all about it at Mageton.” After another hour I myself start to tire. I keep nodding off only just awakening before I fall off my horse. Finally that night Terry halts the horses in a small clearing.

“We can rest here,” she says. I gratefully get off my horse and collapse onto a patch of grass. I close my eyes and instantly fall asleep.

In my dream Me and 5 other people are walking through a forest.

Unlike the Forest I was just in, this one has taller trees with thicker trunks.

 Besides me I see an elf, a dwarf, a goblin, a gnome, and surprisingly an orc.

Just then someone steps out of the forest. He is made entirely of darkness. He pulls out a rapier. He advances on us.

Everyone starts to run away. I want to go but instead I find my feet moving forwards towards the figure.

The elf stops running. “Alex, we need to run,” she says. I find myself saying

 “I’m staying.” I draw a longsword. The elf pauses for a minute then she draws a shortsword.

 “Then so am I,” she says.

 She gazes at me for a second and instantly I feel different. Not exactly happy but grateful. I also feel another emotion too, though I can’t place my finger on it. Could it be? I find myself charging towards the cloaked figure, the elf at my side. The figure laughs and raises his rapier. Then I wake up.

I am a mixture of emotions but there’s no time to react. Terry pulls me to my feet and orders me to get behind her. As I comply I notice five men on horseback riding towards us. The first horseman stops, two paces in front of us.

 “Give us your money and your death will be quick and painless,” he says.

 “I do not recommend this,” Says Terry. The man laughs.

 “Nice try but no. now step aside or answer to my little friend here.” A huge grizzly bear stomps into view. He has a mean hungry look in his eyes and his fur is tattered and his body is covered in scratches. He roars when he sees us. The man laughs.

 “Last chance. Or I Order Tar to attack. Terry crosses her arms.

 “No.”

The man grins. “I was hoping you’d say that. CHARGE.”

 In a split second all 5 men plus the grizzly bear are all flat on their backs gasping for breath. Terry snaps her fingers and they fly into the air landing a long distance off in the direction we came from. Terry chuckles. “I told you so,” She calls out. She’s answered by a course of groans and growls.

“Come on Alex,” She says. “Let’s go.”

 We ride for a couple more hours until the sun begins to rise. As it illuminates the surrounding area I gasp. There in front of me is Mageton.

Chapter 4 – Malice, and Sasha.

Mageton is all that Terry described and more. Each of the six towers is a different color depending on the material it’s made out of. 1 is made of emeralds, 1 is made of amethyst, 1 is made of copper, 1 is made of sapphires, 1 is made of topaz, the last tower and by far the biggest is made of obsidian. The castle base and wall is a rainbow of all the colors. As me and Terry walk up to the gate in the wall. The guard looks at us.

 “Password,” He says.

 “Mint cherry,” Terry replies.

 The guard bows and opens the gate. As we step inside I stop short. There in front of me are 5 figures about my age. The figures from the dream. There is the gnome, the goblin, the dwarf, The orc, and the elf. The gnome has green skin and is shorter than the rest. She has two brown ponytails. The Goblin also has green skin but is a bit taller than the gnome. He has long bunny ears. The Dwarf is about the size of the goblin. He had big muscles. The Orc is a taller replica of the dwarf except like the gnome and the goblin  he has green skin. When He catches me looking at him he sneers. I suddenly catch sight of the elf.   When my gaze meets her I stop. She has long flowing Scarlet hair cut in precise places so her pointed ears stick out. She is wearing a golden shirt with copper pants. Her eyes are a deep blue with specks of gold in them. Her skin is a perfect peach color. She is the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen.

 “Alex, are you ok?” Terry asks, jolting me back to reality. I blush. My cheeks turned as red as the elf’s hair.

 “Yeah I’m fine,” I answer, hoping she has not noticed me staring at the elf.

“ I’m going to let you get settled in while I go talk to some people,” she says then scurries off. I glance nervously at the people around me as they do the same thing. Finally the gnome steps forward.

 “Hello,” she says. “I’m Flora. It’s nice to meet you.”

“Hi,” I say. “I’m Alex. Alex Taser. The orc whirls around to stare at me. “YOU,” he shouts at me as he lunges forward. The dwarf steps in my path blocking the assault. He turns back to me. “Wonder what his problem is?” He says. “Anyway, I’m Torsten. I already heard you say your name. It’s nice to meet you.” I manage a smile, still on guard from the Orcs sudden attack. The goblin looks at me long and hard then says.

 “Hello, My name is Thistle. Check out what the guard had.” He shows me a ring of keys.

 “If you ever need a buddy for sneaking around the castle I’m your guy.” The Orc glares at me.

“Don’t expect me to say hello to you after what happened six years ago.” I start. My dad died six years ago. The Orc spits on the ground. “I suppose I could at least tell you my name. It’s Malice. That’s what they’re going to put on your tombstone under “Cause of death you know.” And with that he storms off.

Now I’m really confused. What’s his deal?

Suddenly I feel a light and gentle tap on my shoulder. I turn around to see the elf standing behind me.

 “Hi Alex,” she says. “My name is Sasha.”

 “Hi,” I manage to say.

 Shasha smiles.

 “Don’t mind Malice. He’s been being mean ever since we got here yesterday.”  I nod.

 Just then a pair of double doors I haven’t noticed swing open. A man steps out. He’s wearing robes made out of silk and has a long gray beard. His black eyes are a mixture of kindness and sternness. A broadsword is strapped to his back.

 “GOOD,” he booms.. “YOUR ALL HERE.”

 He gestures to us. “COME INSIDE.”

 We all troop inside. The man leads us through a maze of twisting corridors and to an archway. We step through and enter a massive room the size of my neighborhood. We take seats at the very front of the room next to a stage the size of my house. The man steps on the stage followed by 7 other people. I can see Terry among them. She winks at me when she sees me looking at her.  “WELCOME,” The man booms, “TO MAGETON.”

Chapter 5 – The tour.

Torsten raises his hand. When the man nods at him he says,

“Sorry to be rude but who are you?”

 “The man laughs.

 “I AM HEADMASTER TONTAM. I AM ALSO THE SECOND MOST POWERFUL MAGE ON THE PLANET. Torsten lowers his hand, nodding.

 “ANY OTHER QUESTIONS,” Tontan booms. There are none so Tontam continues with his speech after waving the people he was standing next to away.

“HERE AT MAGETON WE MAKE YOU STUDENTS THE BEST MAGES YOU CAN POSSIBLY BE. THEIR WILL BE SOME CLASSES WHERE YOU ALL PARTICIPATE AND OTHER CLASSES WHERE ONLY ONE OR TWO OF YOU WILL BE ENROLLED IN. WE HAVE STILL GOT A COUPLE HOURS UNTIL BED SO ALLOW ME TO GIVE YOU A TOUR.” Tontam starts for the door and gestures for us to follow. He leads us through more corridors till we reach a doorway with the words “Emerald wing” carved into it. When he opens the door we gasp. There inside is a massive corridor made entirely out of emerald.

On one side of the door a massive treasure chest with a solid titanium lock stands. I notice Thistle staring at the chest, his mouth hanging open. He’s drooling.

 “Go ahead I’ll cover for you,” I whisper into his ear. Thistle flashes me a smile then starts to try keys from the ring he had pickpocketed from the guard earlier. I walk up to Tontam and say hesitantly “So how big exactly is  Mageton.

 Tontam smiles. “You must be Alex,” he says in a normal voice. “It’s nice to finally meet the son of Richard Taser. And in answer to your question it took a decade and a half to make Mageton and it’s so big we’d use up a ton of magical energy to find out. And frankly it’s not worth it.”

 I stare at Tontam.

 “You knew my dad,” I say. Tontam nods.

“Of course I did. Didn’t your mom tell you?”

 I shake my head.

 “Tell me what?”

 Tontam nods again.

 “Alex, your father was a mage here.”

 Now I really step back. “That’s impossible,” I say. “My dad has never done any magic ever.”

Tontam laughs.

“One of our classes at Mageton is controlling your magic. Which you really need considering the ice cream incident.”

I blush.

“How did you know about that?”

 Tontam smiles.

 “There’s nothing to be ashamed of. You didn’t know what you were doing and frankly that cashier deserved it. Anyway in answer to your question I make it my goal to know every single thing my mages say or do.”

 Then he frowns.

 “And speaking of which do you mind telling Thistle to not empty our entire chest. It’s embarrassing and we need it too.”

 I nod.

 “One more thing?” I ask “Why aren’t you shouting?” Tontam looks confused.

 “Do you want our conversation to be common knowledge?” I shake my head. Then I turn around and rush off back to my friends. Once I arrive back at the treasure chest I notice Thistle closing the lid with a grin.

 “Took about 3 pounds,” He says.

 “I’ll give you your cut later.”

Tontam claps his hands.

 “ALRIGHT LET’S GO.”

Tontam leads us along the corridor pointing to different rooms and naming their purpose as we go along. When we finally reach the end there’s a door made out of pure emerald. When  Tontam opens it the door reveals a spiraling staircase made out of emeralds of course.  Tontam leads us up the staircase till we reach a door made out of wood, bark and all. The word Flora is painted on it in emerald ink. Flora gasps when she sees it. Tontam grins.

“WE BROUGHT THE BELONGINGS FROM YOUR HOME THAT YOU COULDN’T TAKE WITH YOU UP TO YOUR ROOMS,” he says then gestures for us to follow. After accommodating Torsten, Thistle, Malice, and Sasha he leads me up to the top of the tower. The door is made out of plain wood with the word Alex painted on it in regular ink. I’ve never seen a more beautiful sight. Don’t get me wrong, I love all the Beauty of Mageton and all but I miss my simple life too. When I open the door I cry out with joy. Sitting on a shelf filled with books is a familiar looking birdcage. And In that familiar looking birdcage is a familiar looking parrot.

 “Richard!” I cry out and run to him stroking his feathers and cooing into his ear. Tontam smiles.

 “I recommend not feeding him any seeds that Mageton doesn’t make. After what he had for breakfast he’ll hate you for anything else.”

I wave to Tontam

“Thank you so much,” I say.

Tontam smiles. “My pleasure,” he says. “You can repay me by giving me back some of the treasure Thistle gives you. The rest you can keep. It would be rude not to.”

 I nod.

 “I will, I will,” I say as though I was seven years old and my mom or dad was asking me to do an “Important” task for them. Tontam winks at me and leaves. I take a good look around my room. The walls are a plain birch. The birch bookshelf is filled with (Mostly) Normal books. The bed is also made of the same birch though I notice the mattress looks a lot more comfy than my old bed. There’s a wool carpet on the floor which is the only thing in the entire room that’s made out of emerald besides the ceiling. If I could ignore that it might feel like home. I notice a small door in the side leading to a bathroom. I open it and go in. After looking longingly at the shower my temptation wins and after undressing I hop in. The water is warm and refreshing and washes off all the grime I inherited on my journey to Mageton. When I get back to my room I change into a pair of soft pajamas and hop into bed. I say goodnight to Richard and finally fall asleep.

Chapter 6 – A promise worth keeping.

“Psst, wake up.” I roll over to see Thistle standing over me holding a bag the size of a soccer ball. He hands it to me.

 “Here’s your share,” he says. “Wanna look over it.” I nod and sleepily crawl out of bed and onto the rug. Thistle joins me. He slowly takes out the items one at a time. First he lays out 25 emerald coins each having an area of about 4 centimeters with a picture of Mageton carved into the center. Then he pulls out a bag full of  Emerald soldier figurines. Half green and half lime. I think he’s done but he’s not. He reaches into the bag and pulls out a gorgeous necklace. The string is purely woven emerald with a beautiful emerald ball the size of a fist hanging from it.

“Thanks but I don’t wear jewelry,” I say. I try to give it to Thistle but he pushes it back.

 “It’s not for you,” He explains. “I had Torsten carve it so half of it is raised. You just press that seal over there. He also carved some Identification in it.” I open it and see a name carved into the bottom half of the ball inside a heart. I choke. “Sasha. What? Why?-” I stutter before Thistle cuts me off.

 “It’s ok,” We all know what’s going on after seeing you stare at her like that. I guessed you wanted to tell her how you feel but you don’t know how. This should do the trick. Check the top. I do and see in tiny neat handwriting a note.

Dear Sasha

I think you’re the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen.

Love Alex.

I blink.

 “I can’t do this,” I say.

 Thistle smiles reassuringly.

 “Yes you can. Just ask her on a walk then give it to her halfway. Besides, if you don’t I’m going to be really angry. It cost me half my share to have Torsten carve it.”

I sigh.

 “Fine,” I say. “I’ll do it.”

 Thistle cheers silently. “Yes,” he says. “Can you do me a favor though?”

 “What?” I ask. Thistle smiles mischievously.

 “Could I be your best man at the wedding?” I turn beet red.

 “Thistle,” I growl. Thistle laughs.

 “Kidding,” he says. He stands up.

 “Night,” he says.

 “Night,” I say. Thistle waves and slips out the door. I get back in bed but have trouble falling asleep. What have I gotten myself into?

The next day I wake to the gonging of a bell. I hope that my conversation with Thistle had been a dream but when I get up I see The necklace still lying on my nightstand as tormenting as ever. With a sigh I get dressed then start to search around in my box of valuables from back home. Finally I find what I’m looking for. A small pouch made out of red satin. My mother had sewed it for me back before my dad died. If I was going to do this I needed to do it well. And it would be better than if I took the necklace from my pocket. I slip the necklace into the pouch and after drawing the string I hide it behind my socks in the dresser. Then I head downstairs. When I open my door Thistle is standing there.

 “Me and Torsten are gonna make a pit stop at the cafeteria for breakfast then head over to his room to eat. Wanna come with us?”

 I hesitate. I am guessing that Torsten and Thistle were going to bombard me with questions about Sasha and the necklace and other stuff I didn’t want to talk about. Seeing the look in my eye Thistle says

 “Were your friends man. You should feel comfortable talking to us about anything.”

 I give in.

 “Alright,” I say. “Let’s go. After meeting Torsten at the foot of the tower we head over to the cafeteria which Tontam had showed us the day before and then back to Torstens room. The second the door shut Torsten says

 “So on a scale of one to ten how would you describe your feelings for Sasha?”

 Thistle whispers in my ear. “Dwarves love specification.”

 “I think for a moment then say

 “Well, let’s see. Her beauty’s worth 5 points and her voice is worth 3. Plus there’s the leaping heart sensation which is worth 8 so in all I’d say 16.” To my Annoyance  Torsten pulls out a notebook then writes something down. Then he passes it to Thistle who glances at it and says

 “Would you want to marry her?”

At first the questions feel like Torture but as they went on things got easier. It was nice having someone to talk to and I started having so much fun that My breakfast lay on the floor uneaten. We were on question 457 (How many kids do you want to have with her) when another bell rings. Torsten gets up.

 “Time to go,” he says, putting away his Notebook. “Hope to see you in class.”

 I scrape my breakfast into the trash can and follow Torsten and Thistle downstairs. We meet up with Flora, Malice, And Sasha (Who I avoid eye contact with) and hurry to the main hall which Thistle has already memorized the way to. A couple minutes Later Tontam walks on stage alone.

“WELCOME,” he says “TO YOUR FIRST DAY AT MAGETON. ONCE YOU RECEIVE YOUR SCHEDULES YOU ARE FREE TO GO.”

 Tontam waves his hand and a stack of papers on the stage fly into the air in different directions and land on each of our desks. I take a Look at mine.

          Student Schedule.

Name: Alex Taser.

Age: 13.

Grade: Emerald.

Arcane history……….. Room 25.

Scrying…………. Room 14.

Nobility……………. Room 17.

Dentistry…………… room 35.

I stare in disappointment at the last item on my schedule. The other classes sounded exciting. But I was sure Dentistry will ruin everything. As everyone else files out I approach Tontam.

 “Excuse me,” I say. Tontam looks up from a book he was reading.

 “Ah Alex,” he said. “Did you have a good night’s rest?”

 I nodded. Yes, thank you. I wanted to give you this. I give him the bag of emerald coins. Tontam looked inside.

 “Thank you Alex,” He said. The coins aren’t worth much but the fact that you gave the entire bag to me is. Good job. I nod. “Excuse me but can I ask you a question?”

 Tontam smiles.

 “I assume You want to know why you have Dentistry on your schedule?”

 I nod.

 “Tontam looks at me his eyes twinkling. All is not as it seems,” he says. Why don’t you come by here at around 7: PM and I’ll explain it to you if you still have questions.”

I nod. Satisfied with his answer. As I start towards the door. Tontam says.

“Oh and Alex. I suggest you bring the thing in your sock drawer with you to Dentistry. I blush and run out of the room before Tontam can say anything else.

Chapter 7 – Revelations.

My first three classes were pretty fun. In Arcane history I learned about famous mages and their familiars. In Scrying I managed to see into the hallway and refused Thistles dare to spy on Sasha in the shower. In Nobility I learned to my excitement that because I was a mage I would be living a life of the highest standards with my mom. Now though it’s Dentistry. While Thistle and Torsten run off to their next class I trudge up the stairs to my room. I grab the pouch from my sock drawer and trudge back downstairs to room 35 and open the door. To my surprise Sasha is there too wearing an equally disappointed expression. We exchange pitying glances as I sit down. Terry is at the front of the classroom. When she sees me she smiles.

 “Oh good, we’re all here. Let’s begin.”

 I stifle a groan. Terry smiles.

 “The good news is we will not be studying dentistry today or any day for the rest of your training. The bad news is that what we will be talking about is so dangerous that you will be wishing for Dentistry. Have either of you heard of The prophecy of Champions?” Sasha leaps out of her chair.

 “That’s ridiculous!” She exclaims. The prophecy is just a legend. Besides He’s not- Were not-” She stops, looking at Terry as if hoping Terry would say It was a joke and move onto Dentistry But she didn’t.

 “Um guys,” I say, “What’s the Prophecy of Champions?” Terry begins to recite.

 

“In the far off future the mages of Mageton will receive a mage different from all others. 

 His ancestors will have been mages 5 generations back. 

 His father will have died killing a Direwolf. 

 He shall control the 4 elements. 

  A token of devotion will determine his mate.

 She will be an Elven princess.

  They will be mated as emerald year students.

 She will bear him a child to continue his legacy. 

Along with 4 of their closest friends they will enter the final battle. 

It is up to the champion to win the battle.

 If he doesn’t, the war is lost.”

“The prophecy obviously isn’t true because there’s no sign of devotion,” says Sasha. “Right Alex?” She turns to me but instead of saying anything I just stand there. Stone cold.

 Sasha looks at me quizzically.

 “Right Alex,” She says. Hands shaking I pull out the pouch and hand it to her. She takes out the necklace and stares at it in horror. She sees the clasps and opens it up. The Necklace drops from her hand and lands on her desk with a clang.

 “No,” She says. “No, no, no.” Terry nods sympathetically.

 “Well,” she said. “Now that the hard part’s over, who’s ready for the fun part?

 “What?” I ask. Sasha is still looking into space horrified. Terry Grins.

 “Wedding plans,” she says.

Chapter 8 – Slumber party.

Tonight, I can’t sleep. I had talked to Tontam but he had refused to tell me anything more than I already knew.

 He did say that in about a month he would start teaching me earth magic since we were both elementalists and earth was a good starter.

 I am getting agitated. I need to get to sleep so I’ll be awake tomorrow.

Just then I hear a quick, light and timid knock at the door.

I Lie back in bed hoping that I imagined it but not long after, There it is again.

With a sigh I walk over to the door and unlock it, expecting it to be Thistle wanting me to help him raid the pantry or something illegal like that.

Instead It’s actually Sasha standing in the doorway instead of Thistle.

She’s wearing emerald pajamas with pictures of wolves howling at the moon on them.

“Hey,” she says. “Can I come in? I have the feeling we should have a private talk.”

“Sure,” I say, after a pause. Then with a laugh, “Richard, we have guests.”

Richard squawks from his cage and flutters up to the window of the cage.

Sasha walks over to him and lays her hand on  his feathers. A brilliant emerald light passes through her fingers to Richards feathers.

Richard squawks his delight and cuddles up close to Sasha, preening his feathers.

Sasha giggles. Then to my amazement she begins to squawk herself. Richard replies and soon they are deep in conversation.

When they finish Sasha turns back to me with a large grin on her face.

“My power is I can both talk to animals and enhance them. Your greedy little friend here wants a midnight snack.”

I laugh and toss a couple seeds into the cage where Richard immediately gobbles them up.

Sasha laughs a bright and crystal clear laugh that makes her seem even more beautiful.

“How did you get the name Richard?” she asks me as she strokes him.

There’s a long pause while I contemplate whether or not to tell her.

Then I say “I named him after my dad, Richard Taser. Richard was given to me by one of My dads friends after he died.”

Sasha looks at me. I see that she really wants to tell me something but is afraid to do so.

I give her an encouraging smile and she finally relents and begins her tale.

“You know, you’re not the only one to lose someone you love. I was tested for magic at birth and very powerful magic was found inside of me. I was to depart for Mageton when I turned 13. That’s where everything went wrong.”

She takes a long deep breath before continuing with this part of the story.

“My mothers evil sister chose my last day there to attack. She had been banished 20 years ago for trying to take over the kingdom. She had an army of outlaws and criminals and quickly stormed the castle. Me, my parents, and the royal guard ran down an escape tunnel but everyone else was slaughtered. We arrived at a large waterfall at the end of the tunnel.Their were rocks and we began to climb down them. Suddenly an arrow pierced by dad’s heart and he fell off the rocks and into the raging torrent below. The army had arrived. I had arrived at the bottom of the waterfall with my mother and we were hiding behind a rock. It was then that my aunt made an appearance. She appeared out of nowhere on top of the rock and stomped on my moms foot. My mom lost her grip and was sucked underwater. She was about to do the same for me and I was screaming. Suddenly two alligators leapt out of the water and attacked my aunt. Another one swam up and I heard its voice in my head telling me to climb on its back. I did and he swam all the way to the sea where a fishing boat gave me a ride to Mageton.”

Sasha finishes her tale with silence. Tears begin to form in her eyes and then she bursts out crying.

I am there in an instant putting an arm around her and holding her tight.

Sasha sobs into my  shoulder for what seems like an eternity. Then she gets up and looks at me.

“Alex,” she says. “Can I sleep here tonight with you? I just really need to be with someone.”

I nod and crawl into bed. She is getting onto the rug when I decide to take things a step further.

“You can come in with me if you want?” I say trying not to hide my smile.

Part 2 – Preparing.

Chapter 9 – The Beginning of the rest of my life.

The weeks fly by quickly. In the morning I get up and have breakfast with Torsten and Thistle where we talk about each other’s classes. In Scrying I can see almost anywhere in the emerald wing though it is still a bit painful. In Nobility I learn how to walk and bow and all kinds of other fancy things. In Arcane history we are learning about Gage the Magnificent and In Dentistry Terry is teaching me and Sasha how to dance. She had told me that they were working on getting me a sword fighting mentor but for now they were focusing on making a good impression. I am also getting to know Flora. Like me, she had come from a poor family and like me she had only accepted the invitation if her family was given money. Malice is always bumping into me and whispering threats behind the teacher’s back. One day I walk into Dentistry and see that Sasha isn’t there.

 “We don’t need her today,” Terry explains when I ask her. Then she continues.

 “In a week we’re throwing a big party and representatives from every mage guild in the world will be there.”

 I nod, unsure of where this is going.

 Terry continues.

 “We’re going to present you as the champion from the prophecy of champions.”

 I am  expecting that to come up eventually. Though what Terry says next shocks me.

 “And we want you to propose to Sasha then.”

 I stare at her.

 “Already,” I say.

 Terry nods.

 “Now is the best time. All the Mages will be there and you can show them that you’re really the champion.”

 I sigh.

 “Ok,” I say. “What do I need to do?”

We spend the rest of class practicing kneeling and what to say and how to hold the ring and most importantly how to do it before Sasha can comprehend what had happened. The ring is beautiful. It is a band of woven light with all the gems of Mageton embedded in it. Terry explains that the ring had been fashioned to fit whoever wore it because nobody knew the size of the champion and the ring was furnished centuries ago.

When I get back to my room I am both excited and nervous. I know Sasha feels close to me but does she love me? She would say yes either way because of the whole prophecy thing but I want it to be real. I need a way to find out. Then I realized something. Today I’m supposed to start earth magic with Tontam. I could ask him to do some sort of empathy spell to tell me. At 8:00 I get out of bed and walk down the stairs to the first floor. Tomtam is waiting for me in the great hall.

 “Ah, Alex,” he says. Great to see you’re still sane.”

 “I’m mostly sane,” I say. Tontam laughs.

 “That happens,” he says. “So are you ready to start earth magic?”

 “Ready as I’ll ever be,” I reply.

 “Good,” Says Tontam.

 “Now the first thing to do is to focus yourself on this ball of mud over there. Now imagine it exploding. Then Thrust out your hand towards the ball and it will hopefully explode.”

 I do that. Nothing happens.

 “Good try,” Tontam says, “You’ve got progress.”

 “It takes me another hour to make the ball of mud explode. When It finally does I’m exhausted, (And covered in mud.)

 “Good,” said Tontam. “You must be tired. Why don’t you get to bed?”

 “Wait,” I say. “Could you do me a favor.” Tontam smiles.

 “What is it?”

 I explain my dilemma. Tontam laughs.

 “A very excellent question,” he says.

 “It won’t be right for me to help you directly though I could teach you Empathy magic if you want?”

 “Yes please,” I say. Tontam nods.

 “Good,” He says. “I’ll tell you when we start. Don’t forget to come back tomorrow for more earth magic.”

 “I won’t,” I say and exhaustedly go up the stairs and collapse in my bed.

Chapter 10 – Proposal.

A couple weeks later the day is here. I wake up just like normal and head down to breakfast, oblivious of what the day is to bring.

 “Did you hear the news?” Thistle asks as he bites into a piece of toast.

 “What news,” I ask.

 “Tontam said that were having a party today,” he said. “I don’t know why but I bet we’ll find out soon.”

 A sickening sensation comes over me.

 I have a feeling I knew what the party was about.

 “Alex, are you ok?” Thistle Asks.

 “Oh yeah, I’m fine,” I reply.

 The truth is I’m not fine.

 Today is the day that I’m going to propose to Sasha in front of hundreds of people.

 Actually, not fine is an understatement. I don’t know how I can go through with this.

I finish my breakfast in silence and walk off to class. Everythings fine till Dentistry. Their things take a turn for the worst.

 “Alright,” says Terry. “Alex, Sasha. Please follow me.” I silently groan. It was time. Me and Terry had gone over at what time everything should be done but I’m still not ready. I don’t think I’ll ever be ready. As we walk down the halls Terry signals me by tapping the back of her ear 3 times. I separate from Terry and Sasha and walk down a separate hallway until I reach my destination. It is a large room that is separated from the stage of the main hall with a curtain. Inside is the equipment I was promised. After a quick change I am ready. I take my place right in front of the curtain that separates me from hundreds of other mages and wait. After about 5 minutes I hear Tontams voice.

 “LADIES AND GENTLEMEN. I HAVE GATHERED YOU HERE TODAY TO ANNOUNCE WHAT WE’VE ALL BEEN WAITING FOR. IT IS JUST AS THE MAGES OF OLD PREDICTED. THE PROPHECY OF CHAMPIONS IS REAL. AND THE CHAMPION IS JUST BACKSTAGE WAITING TO BE WELCOMED BY YOU WITH OPEN ARMS. WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE HIM?”

 There was a stunned silence. Then- “YES,”

 “VERY WELL,” Tontam says. “THEN IT IS MY GREATEST PLEASURE TO INTRODUCE THE ONE AND ONLY…. ALEEX TASER.”

With that the curtain disintegrates revealing the entire audience before me. To my suprise not everyone is of a common race. I see fairies and ogres and even a few giants. Upon my entrance the crowd bursts into a thunderous applause. I see Tontam standing at the center of the stage. He turns around and I nod to him. It’s time for part 2. Tontam gives me a wink and snaps his fingers. Instantly rocks begin flying out of the walls and towards me. The audience breaks into a scream. Laughing I point at the rocks, exploding them one by one. Gray powder falls from the sky like a blanket of snow and gently lands on the floor. The audience cheers.

 Now for the next part, I think. Tontam continues.

 “AS YOU ALL KNOW THE PROPHECY OF CHAMPIONS PREDICTS THE TRANSFORMATION OF THIS BOY FROM STUDENT TO WARRIOR ELEMENTELIST, AND AS EVERYONE KNOWS EVERY WARRIOR NEEDS A WIFE. AND LUCKILY THE PROPHECY HAS PREPARED FOR THAT ACCORDINGLY. LADIES AND GENTLEMEN I PRESENT TO YOU… SASHA MOONBLOSSOM.”

 Sasha enters through a side door. She’s dressed in an emerald gown along with emerald high heels. She’s even wearing emerald earrings.

 “I DECIDED THAT IT WOULD BE BEST IF ALEX PROPOSED TO SASHA NOW,” Says Tontam. “WE THOUGHT IT WOULD CLEAR ANY DOUBTS ABOUT WHETHER OR NOT ALEX IS THE CHAMPION. ALEX,” Tontam says as he gestures to me, “DO YOUR THING.”

 I kneel in front of Sasha. As me and Terry had hoped she is still too stunned to say anything and ruin it.

 “Sasha,” I say. “Since the day I met you you have been the most beautiful girl in the world to me. I never thought our relationship would develop more than a crush though it turns out I was wrong. And I’m glad. Sasha… Will you marry me?” Once I’m done I follow the steps Tontam gave me and focus my emotions on her. Suddenly I feel her emotions. I feel Sasha’s anxiety and shock but most strong of all is her love for me as it washes over me like a tidal wave. I pull away after a couple seconds giddy with joy. Sasha pauses for a moment then says in a clear voice.

 “Yes, I will marry you.” The crowd explodes into an eruption of sounds. People are cheering, clapping, and jumping up and down at the same time. Tontam walks over to us.

“Congratulations Alex,” he says in his normal voice. “You did it.” Then he turns to Sasha. “Congratulations to you too. You’re a lucky girl.”

 “I am,” Sasha replies as she kisses me.

 “Alright,” says Tontam. “There’s only one thing left to do.”

 “What?” I say nervously.

 Tontam laughs. “Lets eat.

Chapter 11 – Celebrations and attempted assassinations.

Me, Sasha, Thistle, Torsten, and Flora all sat around the table, our plates piled high with food. After an award silence Thistle spoke.

 “So you’re saying that you not only are supposed to become a world famous mage, you’re also going to marry your crush AND YOU DIDN’T TELL US?”

 “Basically,” I say sheepishly.

 Thistle grunts in annoyance.

 “Are we good?” I say. Thistle grunts again.

 “We’re good,” he finally says. Suddenly Malice plops down next to me.

 “Hey Moron,” he says. “You know you’re really good at pretending to be special. “You should put on a play.”

 “Maybe I will,” I reply. “I could call it Moron Malice and his band of Moronic Misfits.”

Everyone except Malice bursts out laughing. Malice hisses.

 “It may be your destiny to be famous,” he says. “Though that doesn’t mean you’re not destined to be killed.” And with that he storms off. Thistle chuckles.

 “Good one dude. That was totally sick.” I nod.

 “Yeah,” I say. Just then I feel a familiar voice that makes me spin around.

 “Alex.” Behind me is my mom. Her face is shining.

 “Mom,” I cry and hug her.

My mom laughs and hugs me back.

 “Looks like you’ve been busy,” she says. “Four friends already.”

 “Three friends,” Sasha says. “Three friends and one betrothed.”

My mom laughs.

 “I guess that’s true,” she says.

 “I’ll leave you guys with your food. But save room for dessert. Their Apple cinnamon pie.”

 In a flash Thistle is dumping his barely touched food in a trash can.

 I laugh. “Thistle,” I say. I don’t think we’re getting our proportions depending on how hungry we are.”

 “Worth a shot,” Thistle says. My mother laughs again and leaves.

 After dessert (In which Thistle manages to eat a whole pie) Tontam walks up on stage.

 “LADIES AND GENTLEMEN THERE’S ONLY ONE THING LEFT TO DO BEFORE WE END TONIGHTS CELEBRATIONS.”

 He gestured to a mage named Pere who raises her hand. A swarm of hummingbirds soars through the windows of the main hall. And lined up in midair. Pere snapped her fingers and the hummingbirds burst into a beautiful song. After several verses, people begin getting up from their seats to dance  with each other. I notice Tontam staring at me expectantly from across the room. What was he doing? Then it hit me. I give Tontam a nod and he returnes it with a thumbs up.

 “Um Sasha,” I say. “Would you like to dance?” Sasha nods. I take her hand and lead her to the center of the main hall.

 Soon we are dancing exactly the way Terry taught us. As we dance Sasha leans in and kisses me. I return the gesture feeling without a care in the world. That is about to change. Suddenly about 10 people drop down from the ceiling and lunge at me. I leap to the side as an arrow flies past me. Tontam advances, his hands burning.

He thrusts forward and fireballs fly through the air hitting 5 of the men and incinerating them. Suddenly two more men leap out from behind at Tontam. Tontam spins around and deflects their blades. The other 5 form a circle around him. Tontam is holding them off easily but while he’s doing that 2 more men attack me from either side. I look for the other mages for help but I can’t even see them. All I see is a reflective barrier. Suddenly Part of the force field collapses. Torsten, Thistle, and Flora run out of it seconds before it reforms. Thistle has already got his teeths sunk into a man’s arm while Flora is muttering something under her breath. Torsten has the other in a chokehold. Suddenly the man Thistle’s biting flings Thistle off him and into a stone wall. He lunges at me. A giant venus flytrap appears under him.

The man screams as he falls in. The venus flytrap burps and sinks back into the ground. Meanwhile the guy Torstens strangling is easily throwing Torsten about and about by shaking his head. As he does wolf comes out of nowhere and tackles him to the ground. As the man struggles Torsten Tightens his grip and the man collapses. Meanwhile Tontam has taken down all but one of the men. Instead of fighting back He is running around and conjuring up stone barriers to block Tontams attacks. And Tontam was growing weaker. His fireballs were getting smaller and their distance was shorter. Finally his last fireball flickered and died. Laughing the man dropped his barrier and advanced on Tontam his sword raised. As he lowered his sword Tontam leapt forward and shot a fireball at the man. He fell to the floor with a thud.

As soon as he did all the barriers in the room vanished. We all stared around at each other in shock. Tontam raises his hand and all the bodies catch on fire. After a minute he gestures to me, Sasha, Torsten, Thistle, and Flora.

 “Follow me,” he says.

Chapter 12 – The Prophecy unveiled.

Tontam leads us to his room in a part of Mageton that we’ve never seen before. It’s really comfy with couches, a carpet and a fluffy bed.

 “Sit,” Tontam says, gesturing to the couch. We comply. Tontam pulls out of his desk a giant scroll and hands it to me.

 “This,” he says. “Is the complete version of the prophecy of champions. Read it aloud if you please.”

 I do. I read through the part Terry had shown me and Sasha on our first day but there’s more.

 “Among the champion he shall have 4 generals. 

The first one will be his right hand goblin. With the ability of transformation he will rip through the orcs. 

The second will be a dwarf with a powerful battle axe. He will craft like never before 

The third will be a gnomish maiden and friend of the plants. She will call them to her aid as she reaps death by sharp thorns. 

The last will not seem like a friend. He will be an orc and enemy of the champion. But by an act of truth the bond will be established. And his berserkness will defend the champion through life and death. 

The first asassination will begin the war. The first battle will take place in Dangston. After that the war will go west through all 6 homelands. Blood will be shed in all.         

The Natural and the unnatural will meet each other on the battlefield for the first time in 3 millennia 3 months after the champion is introduced. The earth shall shake as the swords clash and magic burns.”

Once I was done I look at Tontam.

 “What does all that mean?” I ask.

 Tontam smiles.

 “Let’s decode it together. What does the first part mean?”

 I read it aloud.

 “Among the champions he shall have four generals. I guess there’s no decoding for that?” Tontam nods.

 “Next,” he says.

 “The first one will be his right hand goblin. With the ability of transformation he will rip through the orcs.”

 Tontam smiles. “Know any goblins?”

 I instinctively turn to Thistle.

 “It’s Thistle. And transformation is his special ability.”

 “Yes,” says Tontam. “Let’s continue.”

 And we do. I correctly guess the next 2 generals. Torsten is the second and his special ability is that he can create magic armor and weapons. Flora is the third and she can command the plants of the world. But the last part still puzzles me. “I don’t know any Orcs who I’d like to be my general,” I say.

 Tontam smiles.

 “None that you’d like to be your general yet. But you still know the Orc.”

 All 5 of us recoil.

 “Malice!” I say in shock.

 “Of course Malice,” says Tontam. “Who else would I be talking about?”

 “But he’s so mean,” Torsten says.

“He can change,” Says Tontam. “Everyone can change.”

 “Not Malice,” we all say simultaneously.

Tontam laughs.  “Well,” he says. “Only time will tell. In the meantime I say we adjourn this meeting for now and you all go upstairs to your rooms.”

We all hastily agree considering we are exhausted.

 As I walk upstairs to my room I go through the day in my head from me waking up to my proposal to Sasha to the attempted assasination to Our Discussion with Tontam in his office.

Then another part of the prophecy hit me like a bolt of lightning. In 3 months I am going to my first battle along with my friends. Fear courses through my veins and for a minute I think I might faint. Then I remember a little trick that my dad had taught me. The trick is to imagine what would happen if you succeeded in whatever problem you were dealing with. I imagine a huge battle with me at the front, slicing away at any orc that comes near. As I do, my fear is replaced by excitement, and I run the rest of the way up to my dorm and fall asleep.

Chapter 13 – New students and Village exploration.

“Now remember,” says Hayger. “One of the most important weapons you can use against an opponent is surprise. If I were to attack you right now you would die before you could say Mercy.”

 I nod. Ever since the attempted assasination from last week, Tontam had hired Hayger to teach me how to swordfight. He had chosen him mainly because Hayger was an orc and orcs were mainly what I was going to be fighting so I would be able to learn from Hayger.

Today we are in the indoor arena. It’s around 10:00 PM but it’s still light in here thanks to magically generated fire in glass orbs hanging from the ceiling.

I wouldn’t say I was a good Student, but I wasn’t a bad one either. I hadn’t touched Hayger once even though he’d touched me 15 times, but I’d come close a couple times. Hayger lunges at me and for the first time I actually manage to parry without breaking my wrist. It doesn’t make a difference though because 5 seconds later Hayger has me on my back on top of one of the yoga mats with his blade at my throat.

 “You’re getting better, ” he says when he sees my exasperated expression.

 “You should be ready in time.”

 “You mean I’ve got another three months like this?” I say, imagining slicing Hayger’s horns in two. “I am giddy with excitement.”

 “Cheer up,” says Hayger. “We’ve still got another half hour before you can go to bed. So, you can get some extra practice.”

 It’s at moments like this that I wish I was a good sword fighter so I could slice him so hard we wouldn’t know the word cocky if he looked it up in a dictionary. When I finally go to bed I’m so tired that I don’t notice the package on my dresser till I wake up. When I open it it contains two things.

One is a note.

         Dear Alex.

We are enclosing this note to everyone. We have a new student. He is human just like you and he comes from a noble family. I ask that you treat him as you would any of your other friends. Enclosed you will find a map of the school. You will need it to go visit the village as you have just been granted permission to visit it along with your friends. You will have a chance to visit during your lunch break. Here are also 35 gold coins to get you started. Have fun.

      Tontam.

I look in the second package. Sure enough there is a map along with some gold. I am also excited by the prospect of a new student. I hope he’s nice. I put the map and coins back in the package and head downstairs to breakfast.

Thistle and Torsten are discussing the village.  “The money Tontam gave me should be enough to buy a nice cake,” Thistle is saying. “Oh, Hi Alex.”

 “Hey,” I say. “Are you excited for the new student?”

 “Immediately Thistle and Torsten forget about the village.

 “I hear he’s a nobleman,” says Thistle.

 “So,” says Torsten. “I heard that he bathes in liquid gold.”

 “Liquid gold!” says Thistle.

 “That probably means he has diamond Shampoo or something.”

 “Guys,” I say. “Human Noblemen are more common than dwarf or goblin Noblemen. He’s probably not the kind of rich you’re describing.”

 Thistle sighs. “I know, I know. He’ll still be cool though.”

 After breakfast we meet up with Sasha and Flora. When we get to Arcane history I notice that a boy in finely dressed robes is already there. He has pale skin and black hair with a mischievous look in his eyes.

 “Class,” says Mrs. Kyley, the teacher. “We have a new student. His name is John Tumav. Say hello to John everyone.”

 We all say hi and he answers hi back. In the middle of writing an essay on the Warlock Forester, Thistle taps me on the shoulder and gestures to John. I look at him and to my annoyance I see him staring at Sasha. Thistle begins pantomiming me blowing up the floor under John and I begin pantomiming me blowing the floor under Thistle. That shuts him up.

After Nobility, Thistle, Torsten, Sasha, Flora, and I decide to head into the village to explore. As we walk through the gates into the courtyard John sidles up to us.

 “Hey guys,” He says.

 “Hi John,” I say.

 He turns to Sasha.

 “Want to have lunch with me?”

 “No thanks,” says Sasha. “I’m having lunch with Alex. You’re welcome to join us though.”

 John grits his teeth in frustration.

 “Ok,” he says. “Want to go on a walk later?”

 “I was planning to go explore the village with Alex,” says Sasha.

 John looks like he’s about to explode.  “Fine,” he hisses and storms off.

 “Wow,” says Thistle,” What’s that guy’s deal?”

 “”I think he has a crush on Sasha,” says Torsten.

 “Oh no Alex,” says Thistle. “You’ve got competition.”

 I give him such a glare that he leaps back.

 “Take it easy dude,” he says. “I was just joking.”

 I retract my glare.

 “‘C’mon guys,” says Flora. “Let’s go check out a restaurant.

We walk through the gates and into the village. We are greeted by the smell of baked goods and all the people, talking and laughing as they go about their business. The village is made out of large houses with cobble walls and a wooden roof. Each house has a small backyard with a garden leading out onto the cobbled street with a back gate.

 “Wow look at that house over there,” says Thistle.

 Then he gestures to me and Sasha.

 “You two should start picking out the house you want to live in. That one’s a good place for your Chil- WHOA!”

In one fluid motion, I grab a cherry pie just to throw it in Thistle’s face. He screams and wipes whipped cream from his nose.

 “Waste of a perfectly good pastry,” he whines as I pay the pie vendor. Meanwhile Sasha and Flora are laughing so hard they are clutching their stomachs. Torsten helps Thistle wipe the pie off his face and we walk off.

We keep walking through the village. We pass a Chestnut vendor where Thistle buys a bag for himself and a lemonade stand where Flora gets a cup for each of us. We’re passing through the market square when we hear a voice.

 “Gather around, Gather around, and hear the marvelous tale of Edgar the champion of ancient old.”

 I look at my friends.

 “Should we check it out?” I ask.

 Flora shrugs. “Why not?”

 We walk over to where a bard is standing in the center of a raised platform. He is an old dwarf carrying a thick book which I guess holds all of his collection of stories.  After a couple more people arrive, he raises his hands and begins.

Chapter 14 – The story.

“Long long ago before Mageton was founded there were 2 groups of people. There were the Non Magics who populated most of the globe and the mages who could control aspects of magic. There were the magicians who could perform simple spells like Telekinesis or summoning. Then there were the mages who could perform 6 kinds of magic. 5 of them had a 19 percent chance of being found in a mage. 1 was the ability to talk to animals. Another one could not talk to animals but could transform into them. a third could summon and control plants. A fourth could craft magic armor and weapons. The 5th went into a berserker rage. The 6th only had a 5 percent chance of being in a mage. The Elementalist allowed you to control the 4 elements. If successful the bearer could become extremely powerful. It was a peaceful time in the land where everyone lived together in harmony.

 Unfortunately all good things must come to an end. The forces of destruction in this world wanted power. They wanted to destroy the forces of creation. And forge a world of their own making. A world of pure destruction. So they created a race of beings called Orcs. They began to run rampant on the land and take it for their own. But with the combined forces of Mages and Non magics alike the Orcs were being driven back. So the forces of Destruction reached further and further into their power and destruction and created a champion.

He was a being of untold power that rivaled only his creators. He began to organize the Orcs into armies and lead them in massive attacks against the Mages. As he did so he enhanced the Orcish power until they were 5 times as strong and fast, and smart, and some even were given magic powers. Then the champion began converting the landscape around him to pure destruction.  Just as His masters wanted. The vast oceans turned to boiling seas. The Forests turned to carnivorous trees that feasted on human flesh.  But the forces of creation would not stand to see their world destroyed. So they created a champion of their own. His name was Edgar. They gave him the powers of an Elementalist and they did even more. They gave him 4 generals of four different races and powers. They also gave him a wife to bear him children. The 6 of them were known far and wide as the Creation mages. When the final battle between Creation and destruction came in, The Creation mages led the charge. While Edgar’s army held them off, The Creation mages stormed the castle of destruction champion who had been given the name Sorrow. The battle was great but in the end the Creation mages reached the throne room of Sorrow. But Alas. Only Edgar had enough power to bypass the magical barrier that guarded the entrance to the throne room. The Rest of the Creation mages retreated back to the fight to lead the army. After a mighty battle that shook the fabric of the world itself, Edgar sealed away Sorrow and The forces of destruction themselves in a pit of nothing at the cost of his life. But that was a mistake. In the pit of nothing the Forces of destruction entered Sorrow. All their power became his power. All their everything became his everything. The powers of creation poured all their power into sealing away Sorrow but little by little he was breaking free. His Orc army was growing more powerful by the day and was wreaking havoc. So the  forces of creation stopped fighting Sorrow for just 1 moment. Long enough to send reincarnations of The Creation mages far off into the future. Then they resumed the fight. But because of their pause, Sorrow grew stronger by the day. The creation only had the power to delay Sorrow’s entrance. But they had succeeded. Once the reincarnation of Edgar is born The Forces of creation are going to enter him. And he is going to Save us from Sorrow and slay him once and for all.”

 The bard takes a bow and the audience breaks into applause. I, on the other hand, throw up. Ignoring my friends I turn around and run all the way back to Mageton with only one thought coursing through my head. I am Edgar.

Chapter 15 – Confrontation.

When I arrive at Tontams room I see him sitting on his bed.

 “Alex,” he says. “Is something wrong?”  The words make me furious. I point toward a pot of soil on Tontams dresser. The soil spins out and flies at Tontams head. He lazily sends it back into me, splattering it over my face.

 “Alex what is wrong,” he asks.

 Wiping the dirt from my mouth I spit out the words

 “I met a bard. He shared quite an interesting story.” Tontam looks confused.

 “So,” he says. “Alex what are you talking abou-” He stops. I see understanding pass through his face.

 “Alex please understand, I did that for a reason.”

 “I. Don’t. Care.” I roar at him. I thrust my hands towards him in frustration and to my astonishment a painting flies off the wall and smacks Tontam in the face. He collapses to the ground with a thud. Suddenly my anger turns to concern.

 “Tontam are you ok?” I ask as I lift the painting off him. Tontam is lying their his eyes closed. Suddenly he jumps up with a grin.

 “That was profound,” He says. “I might just make a champion out of you.”

 Then he looks at me.

 “I’m really sorry for not telling you Alex,” he says. “I just thought it would be better.”

 “It’s ok,” I finally say. “You didn’t mean any harm.”

 Tontam nods. “Let’s go find the others, Shall we?”

 I agree, “I sort of surprised them,” I say. Tontam laughs.

 “I’m sure you did,” he says. “I’m Sure you did.”

Chapter 16 – Code O north.

We find Sasha, Thistle, Torsten, and Flora. In the cafeteria.

 “When she sees me Sasha runs up and kisses me.

 “Alex,” she says. “Where were you?”

 “I was busy throwing paintings at Tontam,” I replied, Gesturing towards Tontam.

 Sasha laughs. “Yeah right,” she says.

 Thistle runs up to us.

 “Hey Alex,” he says.

 “Hi Thistle,” I say.

 “Cool stuff huh?” says Thistle.

 “Yeah,” I agree. As we are talking I notice John and Malice talking in a far off corner.

 “I don’t like the look of what those two are doing,” I say.

 “I agree,” says Thistle. “Let’s get out of here. We walk off towards our next class, Scrying. As we do I notice John following us at a distance, his eyes fixed on Sasha. I slow myself down so I’m behind Sasha and blocking his view. I hear John hiss in frustration. When we get to scrying Mr Raven Announces that we will be attempting to scry past scry blocks which are invisible barriers cast by magical artifacts that make it harder to scry people. Our task is to Scry through a covered object that is enchanted with a level 1 scry block and say what is on the other side. Thistle goes first. He closes his eyes really tight and after a second he says

 “Apple pie,”

 “No,” says Mr Raven. “The Object is-”

 “Oh I know it’s a tin can,” says Thistle, “I just want an apple pie. I want it with whipped cream please.

 Mr Raven slaps his palm against his forehead. “Thistle,” he says. “You just had lunch.”

 “So,” says Thistle. “I’m hungry.”

 Mr Raven decides to ignore Thistle and moves on to Torsten. After a couple of tries Torsten manages to guess the rock underneath it. I go next and, like Thistle, manage to guess the ball of Tinfoil under the cloth on the first try. Under normal circumstances I would have been proud of myself. But now I figured I could only do it because I had the forces of creation inside me. Once everyone goes Mr Raven has everyone who couldn’t get it on first try try again with different objects. By the time everyone is done, Me and Sasha are 3 minutes late to Dentistry.  As we burst through the door Terry is waiting. “Good,” she says.

 “You’re here. Today we are starting a project called Operation Simulation.”

 Terry claps her hands.

 “Alright,” she says. “Who can tell me what we’ve gone over?”

 “We’ve planned for our wedding, Danced, and Practiced looking amazing,” Sasha recounts.  Terry nods. “Good work,” she says.

 “This week I will be sending you to a mini reality. Your job is to spend an entire day there. When you get back no time will have passed.”

 Terry lifts her hand.

 “You ready?” she says.

 I look at Sasha. She shrugs.

 “We’re ready,” I say. Terry puts a golden orb on her desk.

 “When you’re ready just touch this.”

 Me and Sasha raise our hands in unison. We are just about to touch it when Tontam bursts through the room wildly.

 “He looks at us.

 “Code O north, Code O north.” he roars.

 Terry snaps to attention.

 “Alex, Sasha get to the main hall. We’ll meet you there.”

 “What’s going on?” I ask.

 Terry grimaces.

 “Code O North means that Orcs are approaching from the north.”

 You mean…” I say.

 Terry nods. “Unfortunately you are correct. Mageton is under attack.”

Part 3

Chapter 17 – Preparations.

Me and Sasha meet up with Thistle, Torsten, Flora, Malice, and John in the main hall. They all look just as panicked as we do. After a couple minutes Tontam emerges into the main hall.

 “Alright everyone,” he says. We still have a couple hours before the Orcs get here. We should use that time to get ready. Alex, Sasha, Torsten, Thistle, Flora, and Malice are to come with me. John, I want you to follow Terry into the Hold. Speed is of the essence here.”

 Tontam walks off and we all follow him.

 “So you can talk normally?” asks Thistle.

 “Yes,” says Tontam. “I just find yelling easier.” We reach a room I’ve never seen before. Enough suits of armor stand in front of me to outfit a whole army. Tontam leads us to the back where he spins a combination lock. The wall in front of us slides to the side revealing a smaller room with only 5 sets of armor. In front of the armor are several different weapons along with 5 shields with different crests.

 Tontam leads Torsten to a suit of armor. “This armor belonged to the Creation mage Foog who was a dwarven warrior.” He hands Torsten a ruby battle axe and a shield with a red ruby emblazoned in the center. “These were also Foog’s.”

 Sasha gets a bow and a quiver of infinite arrows from The Creation mage Shal. Flora gets a scepter from the creation Mage Hali. Thistle gets a pair of knives from the Creatio mage Toon. Malice gets a mace from the creation mage Gitan. Finally Tontam leads me to the very back of the room. There He gestures to the one set of armor.

 “This was Edgars. It is made of pure Mithril and will deflect most blows but not slow you down.” He gestures to the Shield. This is Edgars shield. It is also made of Mithril and has the Creation crest emblazoned on it.

Finally Tontam rests his hand on a sword. The tip of the blade is red. The hilt is silver. The Jewel embedded in the pommel is green. And the rest of the blade is blue. “This is Edgars sword.” Tontam Announces. It was forged in the debts of creation itself. The Red part is fire. It will burn whatever it touches. The Blue is water. You can mold it to shape whatever you want. The Silver part is air. It will not only give the sword a ton of power it will make the sword so thin it can slip between anything. The Green part is earth. It makes the sword not only unbreakable but also the strongest sword forged that is rivaled only by Doomra. Sorrows sword. Edgar called it Elmenta.”

 I am stunned. Here in front of me are the greatest objects of war in the history of the planet.

 “Thank you,” I stammer.

 Tontam smiles.

 “You’ll do great,” he says. Then he looks at me. “Alright,” he says.

 “Let’s kill Orcs.”

Chapter 18 – The Siege.

As we walk towards the battlements, I hear Malice mutter “All going according to plan.”

 I have no idea what that means, and I hope I’ll never find out. A mage I’ve never seen before rushes up to us.

 “We’ve established a barricade around the castle sir,” he says. Tontam nods.

 “Good job Captain Tillago. Your next asighment is to bring the Creation mages to the North wall.”

 Captain Tillago nods.

 “Yes sir,” he says. “Follow me.” We race across the battlements till we reach the north wall. Hundreds of Orcs are massing up against the wall, their battering rams smashing into it. The Wall Trembles but stays put. A wave of Orcs begin to shoot arrows up at us. Captain Tillago raises his hand and a barrier shoots up deflecting the arrows. But as he does The battering rams once again smashess into the wall and this time a cry of victory rises up from the Orcs. Tillago squints. Then he curses under his breath.

 “They’ve broken through,” he screeches as he runs to the nearest ladder and starts climbing. “We must defend the hole. “We follow Captain Tillago down the ladder where hundreds of soldiers are waiting. As we wait Sasha takes my hand. I give it a squeeze. Orcs begin pouring out through the hole. Just as fast the mages cut them down. But more keep coming. One actually reaches us before Captain Tillago slices him in half. Soon Orcs are jumping in from everywhere and swinging their swords at us. One lunges at me. I snap my fingers and a rock rises up from the surface and splits his skull. Instantly exhaustion hits me like a tidal wave. The next few hours are a blur of slicing and cutting every which way. I am getting more tired by the second and don’t know how much longer I can make it. Suddenly the Tide of orcs thins out. Slowly little by little we are pushing them back. Out of the blue Malice screams. I turn and see an orc standing over him, spear raised. For a moment I consider leaving him to die. Then that moment passes and with the last bit of strength left in me I hurl myself at the Orc slicing his head off. The Orc roars one more time and collapses. Malice looks at me.

 “You saved my life,” he says. “Even after I was mean to you?”

 “I do what I do,” I say between gasps.  Suddenly Malice looks terror-stricken.

 “Alex-” he begins but is cut off when John rushes towards us. His face set with grim determination.

 “What’s John doing here?” I ask.

 Before Malice can answer though Sasha screams. I turn around in time to see an An orc snatching her bow out of her hand.

 “Sasha,” I scream as I run towards her. The Orc looks at me. Then he smiles an evil grin. He sneers at me then picks up Sasha, throws her over his shoulder and starts running towards the hole in the wall. I charge at him just to slam headfirst into a wall of dirt. I fall to the ground and get up. I see Tonton standing nearby, his face grim. With my last bit of energy I disintegrate the wall of dirt but that is a mistake. With my energy completed I collapse to the ground. It doesn’t take long for me to fall unconscious.

Chapter 19 – Aftermath.

I wake up in bed in my room back at Mageton. Elmenta is hanging from a wall next to my shield and armor. As I sit up I remember what happened before I fell unconscious. I leap to my feet only to fall back into my bed from exhaustion.

 “Careful, Alex,” someone says.

 I look around to see Tontam standing in a corner. In a flash I am up and reaching for Elmenta. Tontam snaps his fingers and a gust of wind pushes me back into bed. I struggle against it but it is too strong. In furry I use my own wind magic to push it back. It is no use and I am forced to lie still as Tontam talks.

 “I am sorry for restraining you Alex but I couldn’t have you killing me. I need you to understand that we have no idea where Sasha is and looking for her would be like searching for a needle in a haystack.”

 “I. Don’t. Care.” I groan as I push harder against the wind. I manage to move a couple inches but before I can do anything I am thrown back against the bed. Tontam looks at me pityingly.

 “Alex, do you promise to stop struggling?”

 “NO,” I roar. Tontam sighs.

 “Then I will have to stay here for a while. And don’t think of wearing me out. This is barely taking anything.”

 After an hour I finally give in. Tontam lets me go and leaves.

Fury sets in. How dare he just let Sasha go as if she meant nothing to him. As I lie there I resolve to make Tontam pay.

 He would pay. That was for certain. A couple minutes later Thistle enters. He’s not wearing his usual goofy grin. He looks solemn and serious.

 “I’m sorry Alex,” he says. “I should have been there.”

 “It’s ok,” I say. “You didn’t throw a wall at me.” Thistle sighs.

 “You win,” he says. “I just wish there was something I could do to help you.”

 I pause. “I’ll think of something,” I say. “In the meantime you can pay interest by driving Tontam insane.”

 Thistle grins.

 “You’ve come to the right place,” he says. Then he scurries off.

I lie in bed for a minute. After a moment I spring to my feet. I’ve made up my mind.

 Tonight I’m going to set off to find and rescue Sasha. I look around. I quickly throw all of my clothes into a suitcase. I then  put on my armor and strap Elmenta to my back. I toss my shield into my duffel bag and walk over to my door.

 I’m coming for you Sasha. I think.

 I am answered by Tontam screaming “WHO REPLACED ALL THE STUFFING IN MATTRESS AND COUCH CUSHIONS WITH HORSE MANURE.

Epilogue – The 4th General.

I silently creep down the stairs. It is around midnight. Precisely 2 days ago I had been happy. Now, I am anything but. As I tiptoe through the main hall, a voice calls out to me.

 “Psst, Alex Over here.” I turn around and see Thistle, Flora, and Torsten crouched behind a row of benches.

 Relief floods over me.

 “You made it,” I say.

 “Course we did,” says Thistle. “Wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

 As the four of us creep through the main hall I explain our plan to the others.

 “Sasha is probably behind a barrier that makes it hard to scry. I bet it’s much harder than a level 1. It’s probably like a level twelve or something. We’re going to one of the other Mage guilds and find someone powerful enough to scry past the barrier.”

 “That won’t be necessary,” says a familiar voice. We spin around.

 “Malice,” Flora gasps.

Malice grins.  “Me,” he says.

I draw Elmenta. “Stay back,” I say.

 Malice laughs.

 “Relax,” he says. “I didn’t come here just to attack you. I came to join you.”

 I stare at him.

 “You’re joking right?”

 Malice shakes his head.

 “Yesterday when you saved me I changed. I realize that you’re truly the champion. I also apologize for how I’ve been treating you. I’m willing to tell you if you let me join.”

 “And why would we trust you?” I ask

 Malice smiles.

 “Because I have this,” he says. He hands me a scroll. I look at it.

Dear Captain Fangspear.

I have accepted your offer. As of Tomorrow I will gather my army and bring them to you for Orcinating . I have just one request. It has come to my attention that the Elf princess Sasha is attending Mageton where she is to be married to Edgar’s Reincarnation. I have heard of her great beauty and desire her for my wife. I request a couple hundred Orcs to attack Mageton where I will be infiltrating as a student. In the middle of the fighting I want your fastest runner to snatch her and bring her back to Dangston.  If it is carried out successfully I shall  bring my army to Dangston. There we shall fortify the fortress  and prepare to wage war. Long live Sorrow.

Yours truly.

         John

I stare at the scroll.

 “Where did you get this?” I demand.

 “John showed me a copy,” Malice replies.

 “He was using me as a spy. He wanted me to get on your good side. I refused because as you know I hated you. John marked me as a traitor among the orcs and promised 100 thousand gold coins for whoever brought him my head. That and you saving my life was enough for me to change. When you saved me, I tried to tell you but I was too late. Please believe me.”

 I look at my friends. Torsten and Flora give me a nod. Thistle shakes his head. I know that they will follow whatever decision I make. I pause. Am I ready for these hard decisions? Then I hear a voice inside my head. The voice of a man. He sounds old and powerful. They are only two words, but they send a shiver down my spine.

 “For creation.”

 I have no idea what they mean but at that moment I know what to do. I nod.

 “Welcome to the Creation mages, Malice,” I say.

Thistle starts to protest but Torsten clamps a hand over his mouth. We walk for a few more minutes till we reach the gate. The hole in the wall is still there. I lead my friends (Including Malice) to it. One by one we step through. Soon it’s only me left. I turn around and look at Mageton. It’s sparkling in the moonlight. It looks just as beautiful as it did when I came with Terry all those months ago. Back then I knew nothing. I still don’t know everything. Though I know more. And I’m going to keep learning. I’m going to grow stronger and lead the Creation mages into battle. For all the while Sorrow is also growing stronger. And soon he will break out of his prison. Then I’ll need to be as strong as I can get. Cause one day It will be just me and Sorrow, fighting to the death. And when that day comes, I intend to win. With all those thoughts in my head, I take one last look at Mageton. Then I turn around and step through the crack, and into the darkness beyond.