The field was empty except for nine others. The night was pitch-dark, making it difficult to see. Dorvan Minishota rubbed his eyes and stifled a yawn. He had been one of the first to arrive. A few days ago, a mage came to him, telling him that he can help protect all of Aidris against the invaders.
Dorvan had been suspicious until the mage told him he wouldn’t be part of Mortham Tower but a secret group of power users dedicated to defending the innocent. The invaders had taken everything from him. He would never forget the night Arindall was attacked. His family went missing, and the only reason he survived was the power. Six of the invaders had exploded when trying to attack him. Shortly after, he collapsed. Luckily, none of the invaders found him as his body was hidden by long grass. It didn’t take long from there to realize he could use the power. That was also the only time he used the power.
“How much longer are they going to be?” Someone asked.
Dorvan turned when he heard movement and sighed when he realized it was another person. He was about to look away when something caught his eye. It was a woman with red ribbons in her silver hair and red eyes. Her shirt was gray, with a red buckle on her right arm, and red pants. The eyes were what drew him the most. Red eyes, that were supposed to be something special but he couldn’t remember what.
“Excuse me,” the woman said. A couple of the men couldn’t take their eyes off her and she ended up stopping next to Dorvan.
“I like your hair,” she said with a smile. “Oh yeah, my name’s Aurora—Aurora Sinclair!” She reached out her hand but tripped over a rock, almost falling before catching herself.
“Dorvan, Dorvan Minishota,” he said and clasped her hand, somehow holding back his laughter. “Are you here for the training?”
“Of course!” Aurora said proudly. “I was lucky to be found as I wasn’t sure what I was going to do.”
“What do you-”
“Hey! We should all introduce each other,” One of the others said. A handsome fellow with a crooked nose said. “I’ll start. Lewis Barder.”
Dorvan and Aurora gave their names, followed by the others: an older man with gray-streaked hair named Harold Jankroon, and two women, Khalia Zeldit and Tol’Solie Wak’dern. Dorvan couldn’t pinpoint Tol’Solie’s accent or where she was from.
That was when the politeness came to an abrupt end. “What do you need my name for? You won’t make it past the training. You all look so weak,” A man with a hard face said. He was muscular with tattoos across his arms. Dorvan had no doubts this man had seen battle. Two of the others had matching tattoos in the shape of a sword covered in blood.
“Three of you with the same markings, interesting,” Lewis said, rubbing his beard as he spoke. “If I had to hazard a guess, you were part of some mercenary band and ranked highly, only leaving because you found out you could use the power.”
Dorvan watched the three look at Lewis with surprise. “You’re an observant one, aren’t you?”
“Enough,” a voice said and a figure appeared out of thin air. Dorvan didn’t recognize this as the mage who recruited him. He glanced at the others and saw familiar looks of confusion. “You should all respect one another as you’ll be fighting together.”
“And you are?” Lewis asked.
“I’m Qidan, the one who recruited you.”
“You don’t look like the man who talked to me,” Dorvan said.
Qidan shook his head, and his disguise vanished, as though it had never existed. “That’s because I was hiding my looks. What I’m doing is dangerous and if a mage recognized me…” he didn’t finish the sentence and looked at each of them, nodding his head. He stretched out his right hand and a portal appeared. “I recognize you all. Before we continue, I want you all to be sure you want to go through with this. You’ll be going through difficult training and be put into dangerous situations. Once you step through this portal, there will be no turning back. If we are discovered, you’ll be taken to Mortham tower and I have no idea what punishment would ensue.”
“We knew the risks when you first asked us,” one of the tattooed men said.
No way I’m backing out. This might be the only way I can help in this war. Dorvan thought. He wasn’t a skilled fighter, not like his friend Arturo had been before his death. He could do some real good with the power. “I’m ready,” he said.
“I hope you are,” Qidan said and moved aside. “Step through the portal or leave. Make your decision now.”
This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author's work.
The three tattooed men were the first to walk through. Dorvan was the next and he took a deep breath before stepping into the portal. What he saw surprised him. He arrived in a forest and immediately felt the power in the air. In front of him, twenty others were training with the power. Not far off were houses being built. Some of the students were using the power to arrange logs and fuse them. In the middle was a bunch of stones, with a majority of the students working on a huge structure. Dorvan guessed it was a training facility but he couldn’t be sure.
“Wow, this is amazing,” Aurora said and almost tripped as she walked forward. “Oops, I need to watch my step.”
“That’s enough,” Qidan said and walked past them. “Follow me.”
The group followed and Dorvan now fully understood Qidan’s warning. The mages would kill to find this place. This group of power users was going to be a threat to Mortham tower and there would be thirty of them unless there were more hiding somewhere else.
Qidan led the way into the building under construction. Though only a portion was finished, Dorvan couldn’t help being shocked at how big the inside was. This place had to be the main facility and would house hundreds, no, thousands of power users once the construction was finished.
Abruptly, Qidan stopped and Dorvan, along with the others, waited patiently. “There are some rules that you must follow. Disobeying has harsh consequences,” he looked at three specific people before continuing. “First, no one is to leave the boundaries without permission. If you try to run away, you will be detained and I promise you won’t get away. You will not attack one another with the power unless instructed to do so. Are there any questions?”
Silence was the response. “Good. You will need to learn quickly. You will use the power as much as possible. Want to grab a cup of water? Use the power to summon it if you can. Need a fire? Use the power. You will learn to use the power as naturally as breathing until it becomes second nature. You will be taught how to use a weapon. While this shouldn’t be necessary, it is a requirement. The training starts now,” Qidan said.
“What about our stuff?” Aurora burst out.
“You’ll put your belongings in rooms nearby. You have ten minutes. If you’re late, you’ll regret it,” Qidan warned.
The group split apart and Dorvan rushed out. He saw where the rooms were and walked into one. He threw his bag on top of a bed. There were enough clothes to last him a few days. Some of the others had multiple bags and next to his bed was Aurora, who put a small bag onto her bed that couldn’t possibly fit any clothes.
Nobody said a word as they rushed back to Qidan, who was waiting with his arms crossed. “You’re all early, that’s good. I like to see enthusiasm,” Qidan said and straightened himself. “The first thing you’ll learn is how to grasp the power. None of you will go to bed until you can touch the power.”
Great, not what I expected. Dorvan was already tired and he didn’t have the faintest idea of how to access the power. While he had used it accidentally to defend himself, he hadn’t been able to use the power since. He snuck a glance at the others and was relieved to see similar concerns. The only one who didn’t appear worried was Aurora.
“It’s quite simple. First, close your eyes. Then envision a tunnel above you, with an invisible force at its end that you can grasp,” Qidan said.
Dorvan didn’t hear the rest. He could feel the tunnel and see a bright light, he just had to grasp it. He reached and found himself entering darkness. The light was gone and he was lost. Where was the power? He found himself getting frustrated.
“I got it!” Aurora exclaimed.
“What?” Qidan asked, unable to contain his surprise. He walked up to Aurora and nodded to himself. “I shouldn’t be surprised.”
What does that mean? Dorvan shook his head and closed his eyes again. He had to grasp the power. Time passed and he found himself sweating. Despite the fact he was standing there with his eyes closed, he could feel sweat dripping from his chin. Then, he found the power. His entire body was flooded with energy and he felt invincible. Nothing could stop him. He could take out everyone in this place if he wanted to.
“Good, it took you a little over twenty minutes to access the power,” Qidan said.
Dorvan felt the power escape him in that instant and he couldn’t grab the power again. He had been the sixth person to access the power and he was relieved. He was worried he would have been last.
“Now try to get it again,” Qidan said.
Dorvan knew better than to argue and tried again. After two hours, only Aurora was able to consistently hold the power. He didn’t understand how she was doing it. She had been able to summon the power on her first try and it took her less than ten minutes to get a consistent hold of it.
“You’ve all done well,” Qidan said. “Don’t expect to be like Aurora, that is a rare talent to summon and hold the power in such a short amount of time.”
If Aurora was embarrassed or happy with the compliment, she didn’t show it. Her face was full of concentration. “Now, I am going to step away. You’ll continue to reach for the power. I’ll be back shortly.”
As time passed, Dorvan felt himself nearing collapse. Aurora was the only one who had no problems grabbing the power. Lewis was the closest to grabbing the power consistently, but still nowhere near Aurora’s. Why am I struggling with this? Dorvan thought and stopped when Qidan returned.
“That’s enough,” Qidan said. He looked at each of the students closely. “You’ve done all you can. You’ll go to bed and we’ll resume at dawn.”
Those were the sweetest words Dorvan had ever heard. His entire body was on the brink of shutting down. He could barely keep his eyes open. The others were in no better shape, except for Aurora, who didn’t appear tired at all.
He walked to his room with Aurora right next to him. The others followed and collapsed on their beds. “How did you learn so quickly?” Dorvan mumbled, shoving his bag under the bed.
“I dunno,” Aurora said with a shrug. “It all came so naturally.”
Something in Aurora’s tone made Dorvan suspicious. She knew more than she was letting on but what? Had she used the power before? Shaking his head, he figured it didn’t matter. He would be satisfied sleeping. He passed out almost the instant his head touched his pillow.