Luten Caers

  Sleep came with difficulty. Sometimes I dreamed of burning houses, sometimes of shadows by the river. But most often I woke with the feeling that someone had been watching me in my sleep.

  Elliot also slept restlessly—I heard him tossing and turning. We both pretended everything was fine.

  The second month of studies was underway, and there was no time to relax. Classes went one after another: theory alternated with practice, and training left us wrung out to the last drop. The schedule was updated every two weeks, so it was impossible to get used to it.

  Wake-up at five AM. I wanted to stay under the covers, but Miss Mirliss knew exactly when someone tried to slack off. Naive, we thought such a schedule would only be with Alice.

  Elliot was already dressed.

  "Luten, come on, get up! You were talking in your sleep again."

  "What did I say?"

  "Something about a girl with wings. And about 'not yet time.'"

  "Anyway, if we're late for meditation again, she'll make us sit in lotus position for hours!"

  A pillow flew at me. I reluctantly crawled out of bed, feeling my muscles still aching from yesterday's training. Warm-up began immediately after waking. We ran around the building, did stretches, and moved on to meditation.

  "Ellie, stop snoring during meditation. You'll be the first mage fired for sleeping on combat duty."

  "Sure I won't be first. Right after you, brother."

  He grumbled something in response, but each day became more attentive. Theory began at seven AM. And here's where it got difficult.

  "Why is everything so hard in first year? They saw our entrance fight, why all this again?"

  While Darius complained about such a heavy schedule, Selena responded sarcastically:

  "Welcome to elite academy, Darius. They want to make sure you're not an idiot."

  In the first stage we repeated everything we knew about basic magic: energy flows, spell circles, healing minor wounds. Over and over again.

  After lectures they led us to practical classes where we learned to gather strength and direct magic. Sometimes we ran between different faculties, barely making it to classes on time.

  "Faculty of Light, then combat arsenal... Who designed a schedule with such logic?"

  Each of us sometimes said similar phrases.

  After lunch, training began. First we practiced strikes on mannequins, turning them into rag dolls. Elliot always joked when he saw me trying to apply new knowledge in practice:

  "You'll finish off that poor guy yet."

  At first it seemed strange that no one sparred with us, since we'd already gained combat experience during entrance trials. But then the real fun began.

  "Here they are, our new 'friends.' Won't be relaxing with these dummies."

  Cassandra smirked when they rolled out enchanted golems made of stone and metal.

  The golems were programmed for different combat scenarios. First we fought them one-on-one, then in teams. But the most difficult stage turned out to be the last week. Miss Mirliss grimly announced the day's plan:

  "Today—the complex."

  "Demons again? We're already dreaming about them."

  We had to train against weak demons whose magic was carefully restricted, but the fights were still dangerous. Each time we needed to hone a specific skill or learn to work as a team. Without this, as Mirliss said, we wouldn't last long.

  Time passed quickly, and training ended close to evening. Discarded clothes, exhausted bodies, and wet towels became our usual routine.

  "Luten, next time you carry your own boots. I'm not hauling them anymore."

  A bag thrown by Elliot flew at me.

  Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.

  Yes, by evening we were falling off our feet. We returned to the dormitory as quiet shadows, barely surviving until our beds.

  There were exceptions: sometimes at the whim of one of us or our lead teacher, Eleanor Mirliss, we spent time together. The teacher was quite young, appearing to be about twenty-five or thirty, but none of us dared ask her for clarification.

  So today, Miss Mirliss spoke up.

  "Alright, kids, today's Friday, plus Professor Treymont's last training was canceled. How about a game?"

  "They still haven't told us what happened to him?"

  "Let's say he conducted an unsuccessful experiment. He'll spend the rest of the day in the medical wing."

  After this everyone gladly agreed to go. Though Rainer, as always, had to be persuaded a little, but over time he'd grown accustomed to us.

  "Today we're playing 'Mirror Reflections'!"

  The rules turned out to be simple: capture the opponent's flag while avoiding traps and illusory copies created by magical mirrors.

  As soon as the game began, the field started changing its configuration, and mirrors began creating confusing illusions.

  Selena led our team forward, but every time we thought we were about to reach the opponent's flag, mirrors created new obstacles or cloned one of the players.

  At some point Elliot realized he was chasing his own reflection, which copied his every movement. Meanwhile, one of the illusions made the opposing team believe they were near their flag, though they were actually running in circles.

  It was quite unusual for everyone when they were transported to other places, and overall the game lasted until late.

  Exhausted, beaten, but satisfied, we all went to our rooms together.

  Already around midnight, Elliot and I heard a faint knock at the window.

  "Hey, guys, wake up."

  I barely opened my eyes and saw Elliot reaching to open the window.

  "Darius, you dummy. What are you doing here? How did you even get to the second floor?"

  "Second floor? Oh, well Selena helped me."

  I approached the window and looked outside. This fool stood on some cardboard that threatened to collapse any moment, since Selena couldn't control wind force well enough at a distance, considering Darius's weight.

  "Come on, get ready and step onto the platform."

  I shook my head and chuckled:

  "Are you sure this is a good idea? We could get caught. If they see us, we'll not only get reprimanded but lose points. Alice will definitely kill us."

  Elliot rolled his eyes, already holding his jacket.

  "Seriously? When's the last time you saw anyone get caught in first year? You're paranoid."

  "You're the paranoid one. You said yourself you can't sleep properly because of demons."

  Elliot snorted and clapped my shoulder.

  "That's exactly why we need to get out. Dude, relax. Let's go blow off steam. We won't be long. Campfire, sweets, the works. Selena's with us—what could go wrong?"

  I shivered.

  "Selena's a princess, not a protection spell. How can you trust her with such a scheme?"

  "Because it's fun. And because you don't want to spend all night replaying strange visions in your head."

  I froze. He's right! The visions, that mysterious angel... If I stay in the room, these thoughts definitely won't let me sleep.

  Elliot again pulled the blanket off my bed.

  "So are you coming?"

  Sighing, I got up and began pulling on my boots.

  "Fine, let's go. But if we get caught—this was your idea."

  Elliot grinned:

  "I'll note that in my report."

  A couple minutes later we were ready and Elliot climbed through the window.

  "Brrr, wait."

  As soon as I tossed a small pebble onto the platform, Darius crashed down. Fortunately there was no noise, since Cassandra caught him. Though Darius started showing me rude gestures from below.

  "So, where are we going?"

  "Selena found a secluded spot in the forest. We grabbed some sweets from the dining hall—we can light a fire and shoot the breeze!"

  "Well, you're brave ones. Lead the way."

  At the fence where we climbed over, no one was around.

  "Where's all the security?"

  "Don't worry, I solved that question too!"

  "Interesting, how?"

  "Heh, I'll tell you sometime later."

  I was a bit surprised. The Princess, and Cassandra too, seemed to me ardent supporters of rules and etiquette.

  We made our way deep into the forest, where there was a small lake, more like a puddle really. Sitting by the campfire, we shot the breeze and talked about ourselves.

  "Selena, how did they let royalty, and alone at that, go to academy? Don't you have your own personal tutors?"

  "I'm a bit ashamed, but I begged daddy about this for a very long time. You should have seen father's face when I made a scene in the throne room. Oh, it was magnificent!"

  "And what, it worked?"

  "Of course. In the end he gave in—I always win."

  "What does a princess even do all day?"

  "Actually, we had many concerns. Without going into details, mainly etiquette rules and how political games work. I'll take you with me sometime! Like, Darius, could you spend an entire day in one room studying which utensil is for what?"

  "I don't know. My father's a blacksmith, so from childhood I constantly got into trouble and was a hair's breadth from death. Either father or mother constantly pulled me out of vats they were about to pour molten metal into, and a couple times I nearly drowned in the river."

  It was hard for me to keep up the conversation, but sometimes I caught the wave.

  "How did you manage to pass the third exam with such clumsiness?"

  "Ha-ha, you're right. I'm shocked myself. What about you? Twin brothers, and so strong too. Where are you from?"

  "What do you mean strong? We're orphans, Alice Veil took us in."

  Selena seemed to understand who we meant, but I decided not to tell the truth.

  "She works as Commissioner of Police in the capital. After the incident with our father I don't remember anything, so I can't tell much."

  "Then let Elliot tell something fun?"

  "Me? Oh, well this... I don't even know."

  I jumped into the conversation.

  "I have something fun. This summer we lived in a village, and there Elliot fell in love with a girl named Aura..."

  "Shut up, idiot!"

  While I diligently dodged Elliot, Rainer spoke for the first time:

  "Listen, Luten, Selena. Remember the first demon fight in the training bunker?"

  "Yeah."

  "Were you ever told from the complex why your specimen was stronger? That's an incident after all—it could have led to tragedy."

  "No, neither we nor the scholars know what happened."

  Selena looked at me with an uncomprehending gaze. She definitely wanted to tell everything, but I waved her off negatively. Elliot noticed my concern and quickly changed the subject. In the process I began remembering what had happened.