Chapter 30

"This is wrong!" Riley said to herself, not projecting.

Panic gripped her heart; she did not know what to do.

"Begin," an instructor cried, standing in front of a simple wooden podium, his reed pen hovering over the parchment.

Half of the parade ground had been converted into a firing range. For the last few days, it had all been stationary targets, moved further out each round.

Today, they were people, all wearing copper torcs. Some carried targets above their head, running at random angles; some milled about or remained stationary, wearing large placards about their neck with a blue X upon them.

Riley closed her eyes, refusing to look, as Tobias took a deep breath and began firing.

A muffled cry reached her ears, for her to open her eyes with a jerk.

Tobias had struck a target but singed a hand in the process. The man couldn't have been older than twenty four. He crumpled to the ground as Tobias winced but kept up the pressure.

They just left him there, his hand visibly blackened and burned.

The last target went down, and Riley looked to the instructor in what had become a reflex.

He checked a form and handed it to Tobias, along with a stamina and mana potion.

"Take these, then report for your final holding trial," he said. Two of the servants dragged their fallen comrade off to what Riley hoped was the infirmary.

She had a healing spell, primed and ready to go, but didn't know the rules, and the last thing she wanted was to hurt Tobias' chances of passing.

Her heart tore between two opposite and contradictory poles as she gained a new hatred for this place.

"Are you ok?" Tobias asked.

Riley realized she was shaking.

"Hell no, I'm not," She snapped before wincing.

"I hurt him," It seemed amazing that Tobias knew her so well in that short of time.

Riley looked up in a scan and noticed he was just as conflicted.

"Are you ok?" She asked in echo.

"I tried my hardest, and they'll see him healed; still, it's the first time I've ever hurt anyone with my magic. I don't know what I could have done differently, though," Tobias stopped and stared down at the ground, then downed his two potions.

"We do our best, and if we ever have a chance to change things, we do," She said, deferring, which left her feeling no better.

In fact, she had never felt more like a coward.

Moving down the hall, they approached a door, on which Tobias knocked twice.

"Enter, apprentice," came the military like reply.

Three instructors were waiting on the other side as Tobias handed over his paperwork. The centermost one, looking it over critically, nodded before issuing his orders.

"Hold fire in your hand."

He gave a curt bow before saying, "Yes, instructor," His words short and clipped.

Riley saw the orange light suffuse his hand, and the ball of flame appeared, floating above it.

The center instructor's eyes narrowed, watching for a few eternal moments, then flipped over an hourglass.

The entire week had been like this, a balance between boredom and terror. They'd report when summoned for a few hours of testing, firing fireballs at targets, or creating a defensive wall of flame, followed by the holding of flame.

Today was the worst, though. Riley could not get the live fire exercise out of her mind.

"That poor kid," She said to herself. The fear of throwing Tobias had kept her quiet. It was only between exercises that it felt safe to talk.

After today, she had a whole new appreciation of the consequences of failure.

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It was as if society here was a funhouse mirror; in some ways, things were better, and in other ways, it was shockingly worse.

When they weren't under trial before three seemingly random instructors, they were in a casting room as he practiced and worked, doing what he could to prepare for the challenges ahead.

"Keep it up, you're doing fine," Riley praised, breaking her rule, watching the sand ran down into its basin.

Five minutes, then ten, twenty, and finally thirty minutes of sand collected in the hourglass, leaving Tobias straining with the effort, sweat beading off his brow. The time stretched out into a frozen eternity of waiting.

As always a copper torc rested in front of the center instructor, an encouragement and a warning against failure.

Some students had already vanished from the regular churn between exam and casting room, the numbers dwindling by the day, while the ranks of the cloistered grew by fits and starts.

The stress was intense.

"Dispel," came the order. Instructors scribbled furiously until the one sitting at the center looked to the right and to the left, conferring with the others.

"You've shown a solid effort these last four days. We are in agreement you have sufficient ability to face the final trial," They each nodded in agreement.

Tobias slackened for a moment, then returned to rigid attention, "thank you, instructors."

He bowed deeply, following custom and training.

"Dismissed," Was the only reply. He turned, spinning on his heel in an about face, moving quickly out the door.

Justinian was waiting, sitting at a bench by the door, rising with a hopeful look in his eye, "Well?"

"Passed everyone so far, but I think I got close with my wall trial yesterday, and I just singed someone," Tobias let out a deep, relieved breath.

The artificer pulled him into a hug.

"I told you you'd make it!" He said, pumping his fist into the air while Chadrick strode by.

"Out of my way, servant," he snapped before striding into the room.

"I still have my combat trial. Maybe I can fight Chadrick; he's a monster I'd love to fry," Tobias grinned wickedly, "so, how are your trials going?"

"Piece of cake, but I've got my big demonstration tonight, as you know, and I need a favor," Justinian grinned.

"Anything you need. Is this about your elemental armor?" Tobias wondered.

"Exactly that. I could do the same thing with charged Magistones, but I'd like to have a mage to give it a little drama. Now that you've all but passed your trial, well, it will psych the crowd up for your grand victory tomorrow," He said, patting Tobias on the shoulder as they began to walk.

"Do people ever die during the combat trial?" Riley asked.

"Sometimes, but it's rare. There are trained sorcerers ready to jump in, but that's an automatic failure," Tobias explained.

"And I'll be on the field next to him?" She worried.

"Nah, you'll be confined to a cage for your own safety. Will you be ok with that?" Tobias asked.

"You're the one that's going to be risking his ass. I'll be fine," Riley replied, chewing on a decision she was wrestling with.

All she wanted to do was help the stress, pushing her forward down a path she had never considered before.

"So what now, man? More casting room time?" Justinian asked. They came to the stairs, which led them down to the lower levels.

"It's what, just after 3 bells? I thought I'd go to the expo with Riley, get some food, and clear my head. It's been a week of terror, but I've made it. Only one hill remains to be climbed," Tobias sounded tired but resolved.

"The fair sounds nice. If I had to stare at that copper torc for five more minutes, I was going to go nuts. What's the idea of that anyhow? As if the trials aren't already threat enough," Riley complained as they descended.

"It's a reminder of the cost and an old tradition. Only those that meet the standards are considered worthwhile. It's a reminder that our worth hinges on what we can do, not who we are. The privilege of being born with magic invites the care of the Ashenrealm but at the cost of service," Justinian recited, sounding reflective as they emerged out onto a bright and beautiful spring day.

"One way or another, you're going to pay the bill in copper or gold," Tobias replied.

The saying sounded old, a calarian cliché with all the gravitas of a hammer blow.

Riley stretched and reveled in the warmth, trying to chase the chill out of her soul, "The world I came from had inequality, too, but I saw starving children on my way home from the pet store. If they were magical, though, that wouldn't have happened, right?" She pressed, finding their way out through the portcullis, back over a bridge.

Tobias looked down towards her with a mournful look, shaking his head.

A sea of tents, rivaling that of a small town, had sprung up between the castle and the academy over the last few days. Pennants blew in the gentle spring breeze, in myriads of colors. At the very back, as if a Castle in its own right, was the largest tent Riley had ever seen, dwarfing any circus she had ever been to. Its blue and white striped canvas billowing gently in the wind as it caught the air.

The sweet and salty smells of greasy food took her back to the fall and late summer fairs of her youth, early comers milled about, some eating food on sticks.

For a moment, Calaria didn't seem so alien and strange.

"Want to hit the ball toss? I'll bet it's open." Justinian asked.

A black robed sorcerer passed.

Riley recognized the spectacles of the man from the roof where she was fished out of the astral and noticed the copper torc around his neck.

"Good morrow, Sorcerers," he bowed reverently, scurrying past, not bothering to wait for a reply.

"He was cloistered," Riley whispered.

"You'll see a lot of copper torcs over the next few days. This is the only time of year they have a chance to see their families or cut loose a little," Tobias explained.

Riley's mood soured, "How can this world be so amazing and so terrible all at the same time? They're still people."

"They are, and most of us remember that, but there are always a few jerks," Justinian said.

"At least that's something," Riley glowered.

"This is my fault, isn't it?" Tobias sighed.

"No, I just don't know how to feel. Is that fair? Where I come from, I wouldn't be allowed at the table, but people are supposed to matter, but we still have homeless folks and corporate greed. No one would think I'm a person there like they do here, but something like that live fire drill couldn't happen, legally, at least. I'm confused!" Riley shook her head, trying to chase away her demons.

Tobias frowned in introspection, "I suppose no place is perfect; I don't know how I'd begin to fix it, though,"

"So tonight? I think I'm going to go set up, I ate earlier." Justinian asked.

"What?" Tobias looked towards the artificer in confusion.

"My trial. You'll be there? I want to go check on something," He replied.

"Yeah, the exhibition tent, right? 7 bells?" Tobias asked.

"Right, see you then," Justinian replied.