Out of the corner of his eye Damien watched his father and the strange man chat as they walked along the edge of the practice field. A moment later he felt the weight of the stranger’s regard. Damien turned his head and locked gazes with the long-haired man. What the hell did he want?

The stranger broke the connection between them and said something to his father. He wished he could hear what they were saying.

While Damien watched, his body kept making the proper cuts without conscious direction from his mind. He’d been doing them since he could stand. They required no more concentration than breathing. His father raised his hand to his mouth and blew a whistle.

Everyone stopped. His father pointed at him and waved him over.

What had he done now?

The Master of Swords turned to Damien. “You saw the commander, move out.”

Damien sighed and trotted over to join his father and the stranger. Behind him the others resumed their training. Damien clasped his hands behind his back and faced his father. “Sir?”

“Relax, Damien, you’re not in trouble. This is Master Shen, an old friend of mine. He has something important to discuss with you.”

Damien turned his focus on Master Shen. “Sir?”

The strange man smiled, a warm expression filled with kindness. The sort of expression his father never wore. “I understand you’ve been having trouble with your soul force.”

Damien nodded. So this was some expert Dad had brought in to fix whatever was wrong with him. “Yes, sir, it doesn’t work.”

“That’s because you’ve been using it wrong. Do you know about sorcerers, Damien?”

He hesitated at the odd question. “A little, from what I’ve read and rumors, of course.”

“Would it surprise you if I said you were a sorcerer, like me, and not a warlord?”

A sorcerer! He snapped a look at his father, who nodded.

It’s true, Damien. I’m sorry I didn’t realize it.

When Lizzy confirmed it he accepted that they weren’t joking. A sorcerer. How was it possible? “Is that why my soul force doesn’t work?”

“It works fine, Damien, just not the way you’ve learned. Sorcerers like us use our powers outside our bodies, the exact opposite of a warlord.”

Damien tried to process what Master Shen was saying, but failed. “What happens now?”

“You’re going to train at The Tower of Sorcery, the school for sorcerers,” his father said. “Go pack your things and Master Shen will take you.”

“Yes, sir.” Damien ran for the fortress before they changed their minds.

He leapt once as he ran. A sorcerer! He wasn’t a failure after all. His father and all the masters thought they knew so much and not one of them realized he couldn’t do what they wanted him to. It wasn’t that he wasn’t trying; his power just didn’t work like theirs. Everything finally made sense.

He ran through the front door, up the stairs, and down the hall to their quarters. He didn’t have much in the way of clothes or possessions; Dad thought things just held you down and forced his preferences on him and Jen.

Damien’s bedroom held little save a bed, table and chair for studying, and a chest of drawers for his clothes. He dug his rucksack out of the bottom drawer and set to filling it. Small clothes, two tunics, two pairs of pants, and dress boots. A horn comb that had belonged to his mother he wrapped carefully in the tunics. Of his meager belongings, he treasured that one the most.

He opened the top drawer and hesitated before taking the sword and dagger set his father gave him when he began training as an official cadet. The sword was almost identical to Lizzy, from its straight, thin blade right down to the lacquered black sheath. He sighed and hung it over his shoulder. The only people he’d miss were Lizzy and Jen. He touched the hilt of the sword. Too bad he couldn’t trade with Dad and take Lizzy with him. He couldn’t of course. She was far too powerful to leave in the hands of a kid.

The dagger had a short, curved blade and a sheath that matched the sword. He clipped it to his belt. Damien started for the door then hesitated again. He was still wearing his uniform. Only cadets and instructors wore the silver-and-blue tunics and after today he wouldn’t be a cadet anymore.

Best to make a clean break. He took off his weapons, dug out his black tunic, and tossed his uniform aside. He’d never wear the damn thing again.

The door burst open and Jen ran in. “You’re leaving?”

“Dad told you? I’m a sorcerer, apparently. I have to go to a school for sorcerers.”

“When will you be back?” She sounded so worried it tore at him.

“I don’t know. I don’t know anything except that I have to go. Hopefully, when I finish my training, I’ll be able to come home.” Damien turned toward the door, his father stood in their watching. “Of course, I may not be welcome.”

She put her hands on his shoulders. “You’d better come back. This is your home whatever anyone says.”

Damien hugged her and whispered in her ear. “I’ll miss you too.”

What about me?

Just for a moment Lizzy brought him into her world so they could talk without anyone overhearing. “I’ll miss you even more, Lizzy.”

She hugged him with both arms and wings. “What will I do without you?”

“I was thinking the same thing. I love you, Lizzy. As soon as they let me I’ll come see you, I promise.”

“You’d better.” The instant before she returned him to his body he could have sworn she was crying.

Master Shen entered the room. Damien kissed his sister on the cheek and stepped away. “I’m ready, Master.”

He walked out past his father. They exchanged no words, didn’t even make eye contact. Dad was probably as glad to be rid of him as Damien was to leave his father’s disapproving glare behind.