Ari was rudely awoken by a loud gong.

This was normal, of course. The Captain had strict standards when it came to discipline, and if he failed to get dressed he’d get drenched with ice water again. Ari scrambled out of his bed, pulling on the scratchy grey acolyte robes and hastily joined the others in lining up in the stony hallway.

“All right you detestable vermin!” The Captain bellowed. He was a towering, brutish man with virtually no hair on his head, and a complexion like old, worn leather. A fourteen-pointed star was emblazoned on his leather jerkin, the insignia of the Aenean Empire.

“Today you’ll be demonstrating for the Imperator herself, and I expect a good showing from all of you. We can’t afford failures in our endeavor, and I’m sure you all know what awaits you if you don’t succeed.” His dark brown eyes swept over them, briefly focusing on Ari’s own sickly eyes. Then the Captain began to walk down the hall, leading the ten future Foederati to the training pit. A set of heavy bronze doors were opened by twin guards.

Within, a massive set of stairs dropped nearly a dozen feet into the pit. The Captain stepped onto a balcony overlooking the pit, gesturing for the acolytes to get into position. Just as they did so, another door swung open on the balcony, and a woman accompanied by five heavily armed guards stepped onto the railless balcony. Ari was struck. She was a tall, dark woman, even for an Aenean, dressed in purple robes and face concealed by a veil. Ari was too busy staring at her to realize that the door behind him had opened. He saw a man dragged in chains by two Aenean guards, along with a heavy stone column. They quickly got out of the path of fire. The poor Edu prisoner was shacked to the post, arms held above his head, unable to move out of the way.

His stomach churned. Ari had only ever practiced on animals before, never a person.

For our redemption, he thought. To atone.

Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.

“One of you, demonstrate for the Lady Imperator Alessandra, Long May She Reign!” The Captain shouted in a slightly subdued voice. For a long moment, none of them moved.

Then Ari stepped forward, raising his hands in the first pose he’d learned.

Edu blood-magic had largely died out over the centuries, a trait diluted and warped until it became little more than a bloodborn plague upon anyone descended from the ancient Ormlands. A few, however, retained their ancestral power, although it was diluted and toxic. Ari was the most powerful one they’d seen in generations.

The man twitched, beginning to spasm, foaming at the mouth as he writhed. Blood from his bitten tongue seeped from his lips, along with a red trail from his ears and nose and eyes. Ari maintained the flow of invisible power, his eyes burning as the man’s skin sloughed off in flakes. Tendrils of yellow briefly burst from the bare muscle, and Ari closed his eyes as the silent current finished the painful job.

Something heavy and wet hit the ground. He ceased the flow, feeling the deepest parts of his body itching and burning from his display. Ari almost threw up, but barely restraining himself. He opened his eyes, looking directly at the Imperator. She was unreadable behind the veil.

***

Alessandra was disturbed at the sight.

The Edu were horrors, vermin that were eager to devastate the Empire, but this… she was not naive, she knew what the war meant. But the thing that fell out of the chains wasn’t even Edu anymore. It wasn’t even a corpse. It made her feel unclean just looking at it. She turned, gesturing for the Captain in charge of this group to follow her.

Alessandra had only recently been elected to the Throne, and she already had doubts.

“Tell me, Captain, about these Foederati.”

“Of course, Your Radiance. They are taken from the slums around Orm Archen or from Edu lands, and can kill innumerable men with a gesture. Unfortunately, their bodies collapse with use of their powers. That demonstration probably took a moon or so off his life,” The Captain said.

“That one was named what?”

“Ari, Your Radiance.”

“Ari. How old is he? Twelve?”

“Thirteen, Your Radiance. He’ll be burned out by twenty if he’s lucky.” Twenty. At most. Alessandra felt ill.

“Thank you, Captain. That will be all.” She walked away, Praetorian Guards walking by her sides, trying to forget those haunting, sick yellow eyes.

She doubted she would.