CLANG CLANG CLANG

Blinking a couple of times to rid his eyes of the sleep dust that had accumulated overnight, Ran was awoken to the sound of metal on metal. Fully aware now, he sat up into a crossed legged position, trying to figure out where he was.

Taking in his surroundings, Ran could see he was in a cell of some sort. It was a small room, at most five paces by five paces, and made of a dark, wet stone. There was no light source immediately visible, but Ran was still able to see, if not perfectly, similar to if the sun were just over the horizon. Ran also was unable to see any kind of shadow and so couldn’t identify the source of the light. In the room, there was a stone bed, that seemed to have been carved out of stone, as it was seamlessly attached to the wall. Also in the room was a waste bucket, which unfortunately didn’t appear to have been emptied since the previous occupant had vacated the cell. There was one metal door in the room, opposite the bed. The door itself seemed to be excellent craftmanship, as Ran couldn’t locate any hinges or other possible structural faults.

He was also wearing a sack.

CLANG CLANG CLANG

There it was again. This time Ran heard the sound much more clearly, and could identify that it was coming from outside the door.

“RISE AND SHINE!” a sickly-sweet, female voice sang.

As she spoke, the door seemed to pop out from it’s bracket, and move backwards from Ran, before sliding to the side to allow Ran to pass through. Still hesitant, Ran stood up and inched his way to the door, still cautious. Sidling up to the wall, he peeked his head out and round the corner.

To Ran’s surprise, the corridor was full of other children. His eyes widened in confusion at the sight of all these other people. There must have been at least thirty or more kids, dressed just like him in a sack. Each had their head down and walked in total silence.

Unsure if he should join them, Ran hesitated in his room.

“Hey,” whispered a voice, so quiet that Ran could barely hear it. “Follow the crowd. And be silent!” The last part was muttered with such emphasis that Ran was slightly taken aback. He turned his head to get a look at the person who helped him out, but they were nowhere to be seen.

“Hurry up children,” the sickly voice sang again, “we wouldn’t want to catch a cold now, would we?”

Ran felt the effect immediately. The temperature in his room dropped immediately below zero. Ice started to form in the corners before heading towards ran in a perfect straight line. Wearing nothing but his woven sack, Ran’s feet were uncovered against the quickly forming barrier of ice. Seeing he was being pushed out his room, Ran swiftly joined the procession of other kids. It felt like a funeral march.

———————————————————

Following the others had led Ran upstairs, to a large room with bowls on the floor at one end, and a huge tureen full of what smelt like food on the other. Copying the example of the others, Ran joined a line up on the side of the room with the tureen.

Without any ceremony, a woman appeared out of thin air and faced the group. She was undeniably beautiful, with luscious golden locks, piercing blue eyes and an hour glass figure. She walked with a grace of a dancer, making almost no sound as she crossed the stone floor. Silently, she waited, looking each of the children in the eye. At least, until her gaze came to rest on Ran.

She smiled. Ran shivered.

“Well, isn’t this a nice surprise,” she exclaimed, “We have new blood joining us.”

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Her eyes seemed to light up as she continued to gaze at Ran.

“Since you’re new, boy,” she said, speaking directly to Ran this time. “We will go over the rules quickly. Well, they’re pretty simple, actually. You win, you eat. You lose, you don’t.” Her smile seemed to grow wider at each word spoken. “Over there, on that wall, are sixteen bowls. The exercise is easy, you retrieve a bowl, then help yourself to food from this big cauldron.” She patted the giant tureen that was next to her. “Easy, right?”, she flashed a predatory glare and turned away as if that were everything before half turning back and saying, “Oh, that’s right. There’s thirty tw- no, thirty three of you.” She winked, then turned and disappeared in front of Ran’s eyes.

As soon as she had left, everyone in the room left out a collective sigh of relief they didn’t realise they had been holding. Then chaos erupted.

Ran felt himself thrown back against the wall as everyone started shouting at once.

“PULL!”

“LIFT!”

“GRAB!”

and even a “BURN!”.

The cacophony of noise was deafening, and the confusion was overwhelming. Panicking, Ran found himself squished up in a ball right in the corner of the room. Feeling a tap on his shoulder, Ran looked up to see a young girl, maybe about three years above Ran’s ten.

“Hey, Shorty.” She said, with a genuine smile. Blinking up at her, Ran stuttered out,

“H-Hi.”

“Okay, we don’t have much time, and I’m missing my chance for breakfast because of you!” She crouched down to Ran’s level, making sure to keep space between them. “First off, if you want to survive here, you have to listen to me.”. But Ran’s wild eyes were unfocused, darting round the room.

The girl sighed, and then said, “Listen.”

And suddenly, he could only hear her. His breathing steadied and his eyes found hers. Seeing he had calmed down a touch, she smiled and said

“First Rule. Stay calm. Control yourself, otherwise you won’t last long here.”

Ran nodded. Completely focused on her whilst all those around them were clawing tooth and nail at each other, trying to get a bowl by any means necessary. Several were on the floor, bleeding. A few had already gotten a bowl and had sat down to eat, ignoring the rest.

“Second Rule. Stay silent. The Masters don’t permit talking except during practice or meals.” She paused. “This is meals, by the way.”.

By now, most kids that were going to get a bowl had gotten them. There were only three bowls left, and twenty kids.

“The Third Rule is- You know what? I do want breakfast.”. She suddenly disappeared, not unlike the beauty before.

A loud groan could be heard from the remaining kids, before the sound of flesh hitting flesh. Suddenly, only a moment later, Ran felt a tap on his shoulder, turning, he could see the same girl who had just disappeared, but now, she was holding two bowls, each filled with what appeared to be a grey goo.

She turned to Ran with a more serious expression before handing one of the bowls over to him,

“The Third Rule is simply the survival of the fittest. Power is everything here.” Her steady eyes held his and he reached for the bowl. She held back, “Understand?”

Ran thought he did. It was obvious life here was tough. He nodded, and she passed the bowl over, and Ran started to devour the flavourless gruel. It had been a long time since he'd eaten.

There are people bleeding on the floor. From breakfast.

Ran suddenly felt extremely unsure… Where was he? Was this the orphanage? It didn’t sound like one. But then again, Ran didn’t really know what an orphanage was like.

A sudden thought struck Ran,

“Wa-was it you who saved me before?” He asked

“Well… I mean, I wouldn’t say I saved you. Everyone needs a bit of help at the start. Besides, you’re kinda cute.” She winked, before a serious look overtook her face, “but don’t count on this to be a regular thing. I won’t protect you forever, if you want to survive here, you will need to train your spellform.”

“Spellform..?” Ran hesitated… he’d thought he had heard that word before.

“Magic, sorcery, sympathy, wizardry, necromancy…” She paused, “these are all forms of spellform.”

“Wait.. wait.. I think there has been a mistake, I can’t do any magic!” Ran’s eyes had gotten wide, as a thought occurred to him,

Is this even the orphanage?, he felt his heart beginning to race, Where am I?

A bell rings out, interrupting any chance the girl had for a reply. It seemed breakfast was over. She shook her head, “Calm down, we’re out of time for now, just shadow me for today. It get’s easier. Just know you must have talent, otherwise they wouldn’t have brought you here.” She flashed him a reassuring smile, “My name is-“

“Silence, children.” The beautiful woman was back. “It’s time to start training.” She raised an eyebrow at those still on the floor, before saying, “Anyone who falls behind will die.”

Anyone still on the floor quickly got to their feet. Ran couldn’t be sure, but it seemed like they were less injured than a couple minutes ago.

The girl, looking slightly chagrinned, shrugged apologetically at Ran. She then turned and started to walk out the door. Hearing no footsteps behind her, she stopped, turned, rolled her eyes at Ran, and dramatically gestured to follow.

So he did.