A black exhaustion had laid down over Ranvir, as he walked alongside the carriage. They’d been traveling for over a month in this fashion.

Though there’d been more than a few days where he’d had to retreat into the carriage, even if he didn’t like it. His legs simply felt too weak to carry him far or fast enough to keep up, even on the shoddy back roads Taggir was taking.

Through out they’d stopped at a few villages and hamlets, communities even smaller than Ranvir’s home. There’d been slim pickings. A few had manifested some small amount of ability, but not enough to be recruited for the army.

Taggir kept mostly to himself, though sometimes he would tell an occasional story from the front lines, before retreating into his tent. He made sure everyone got up early in the morning, Sansir seemed to manage just fine, but Esmund needed a stern hand on more than one occasion. He kept giving Ranvir odd glances, as he refused to rest in the carriage.

It was odd, Ranvir could recognize that, but he felt proud for standing by his mother and only succumbing to the ease of the carriage, when he absolutely couldn’t keep up.

If Taggir sent him odd glances, then Sansir gave him full on weird stares, though. Sometimes Ranvir would look over at the carriage to find him staring intently.

Esmund came down and walked with him, at least for an hour on most days. It was nice to have someone who could talk his ear off as they trotted along. It made the traveling easier to bear.

One time Sansir came down too, after Esmund returned to the carriage.

“You’re the son, then?” He asked, after a silent minute.

“Hmm?” Ranvir replied, tilting his head.

“It was your mom, in the...” He trailed off, clearly uncertain about how to finish the sentence.

Ranvir wetted his lips, pulling in a deep breath. A slight flare of angry red blossomed in his throat. “Yeah, it was mom.”

“I heard about it, but never found out who it was.”

Ranvir nodded, but didn’t reply.

“I think I get it.” Sansir continued after a short while. “That’s a solid attitude to have as a soldier. Loyalty, that is.” He slapped Ranvir on the back and returned to the cart.

Ranvir looked at him as he jogged over, jumping into the carriage. It rocked as Sansir climbed on, sending a shaking yellow shiver down his spine. He noted Sansir’s broad back and the athletic gait, which neither himself, nor Esmund, had.

At some point the dark forests that claimed most of Elusria’s countryside started thinning as days passed into weeks. Slowly, more and more fields started cropping up, and people became more populous.

Towards the end of their journey, Taggir guided the carriage away from the main road and onto a lesser used road, that still had a bit of forest coverage. Ranvir felt a little disappointed, having hoped to at least catch a glimpse of the Capital.

Instead, they were once more traveling under the cover of leaves, like they were barely a day out from their village. Except for Ranvir’s worn shoes and sore feet, of course.

After another couple of hours on this much smaller, but far less busy road, the forest suddenly cleared up as they passed a bend. Ranvir heard the others gasp from the carriage, as the Elusrian War Academy came into full view.

The academy was a sprawling complex, ringed by a low fence. The fence was made of stone up to waist height, with a wooden barrier on top to just about chest height on Ranvir. There was a large iron gate, that barred entry and exit from the academy itself.

Taggir casually greeted the guards on duty. The one on Ranvir’s side, the other was obscured by the wagon, was slightly taller than the youth, with close cropped hair and a well-groomed mustache.

He was wearing a black uniform with white trim. On his lapel, he had an embroidered sword, ringed in slightly glowing thread. He winked at Ranvir, who realized he was openly staring at the guardsman.

He’d never seen starjute before, he’d known about it of course. It was part of the process of making paper, but he’d never seen it raw, in clothing like that.

Taggir loudly cleared his throat, which made Ranvir realize he was falling behind the carriage. He jumped into a quick jog, closing a bit of the distance before turning his attention to the academy itself.

A large part of the complex was just reserved for fields that surrounded the buildings, in the center. There were fields covered in grass, others with sand. Some seemed to be ranges, others had stones circling many smaller areas within the field. Some had a gray appearance where the sand had been mixed with a different material. That was just what Ranvir could see as they headed towards the inner complex.

The center of the academy was a cluster of buildings surrounding a tall tower. The light caught on the coppery metal of the bell, at the top of the tower. Many of the buildings had odd proportions, many appearing to have multiple floors. The only building he’d seen with more floors were the Mayor’s house, and the City Lord’s manor, though that was more of a skeleton of a house than the finished works before him.

There were a few people out on some of the fields, but he didn’t catch anyone expressing their abilities, unfortunately.

As they closed on the tower, Taggir slowed the carriage until it came at a full stop a couple dozen meters in front of the looming building. It rose into the sky above them, Black and ominous, like the spear of Ingra, the Face of Wrath. In fact, all of the buildings seemed to hover above them, lending the whole area a precarious feeling.

He startled, as he heard Taggir’s voice. “Am I the first one here?”

Ranvir made his way around the carriage, hoping to see who the tethered was talking to, when he heard the reply.

“Yes.” The voice was slow and deep for a woman. “Though you always are.”

“I try.”

Ranvir finally rounded the carriage. Taggir had stopped in front of a large rectangular building, which wasn’t very descriptive, since most of the buildings were large and some form of square. This close he felt like it was leaning over him. The massive gray stone of its construction eating up most of the usually clear sky. It was so much taller than anything he’d ever seen in the village, it took his breath away.

Though, as Ranvir looked around, taller than any building in his village, was a good descriptor of all the constructions in the Elusrian War Academy.

Then his eyes landed on the woman. She was average height, with hair so black it seemed to reflect a dark blue. Her skin was a shade darker than even his father’s weather worn visage, though hers was smooth and had a healthier sheen to it.

She was wearing something similar to the uniform he’d seen the guards in, with a few noticeable differences. It wasn’t as tight over the torso, shoulders, nor were there any symbols on hers.

Ranvir’s mind paused for a second at her alien appearance. The large majority of his village had either brown, blond, or red hair. No one had such a dark shade as her, the only ones with skin color even close were the farmers after long summers, when they spent all day under the sun.

“Introduce me to your recruits, then.” She said, gesturing to wagon.

“The puppy’s name is Esmund, he might not be bright, but he’s talented and had a strong warp manifestation as a generator.”

The woman supported a slate tablet on her hip, as she pulled out a piece of chalk and wrote something down on it, while Esmund complained about being called a puppy.

“The bald one’s Sansir. Solid Ice generator.” The person in question let out a snort of laughter, as Esmund’s complaint grew in volume.

The woman nodded and kept writing, as Taggir gestured towards Ranvir. “The weird, quiet one is Ranvir.” Ranvir’s attention snapped to Taggir.

I am not weird. He thought, as Taggir continued.

“Space manipulator, so…”

The woman paused, before she finished writing. “Thank you, Taggir.” She set her tablet back on her hip. “You get on your way.”

“Ma’am.” The bearded man said, snapping the reins.

Ranvir stepped a bit further away from the horses, as the carriage went by. Taggir winked at him. Soon the carriage turned around the tower and disappeared from view.

“Alright!” The woman said, gathering the attention from the boys. Ranvir hadn’t even noticed Sansir and Esmund jumping off the carriage, but saw them standing in front of her, all the luggage at their feet. “My name’s Pashar. I’m one of the librarians and part of the administrative personnel here at the Elusrian War Academy. If you have any questions, feel free to visit me at the administration building. It’s the one labeled ‘Administration & Library’.

“Now, if you’ll follow me. I will show you to your rooms and lounge.”

Ranvir ran up to the others, thanking Sansir for grabbing his pack, while slipping the strap over one shoulder. Together they followed after Pashar into the huge building. The first thing that struck Ranvir was how meticulous and neat the stone tiles on the floor were. He’d seen stone used as floor before, but never in small tiles like that. It was too hard to cut them properly. Too many pieces would have to be thrown away.

If he was to see this kind of floor anywhere, he would expect it in a palace, not in a dorm of the academy.

The rest of the entrance was as grand, if not as puzzling. It was a huge two floor high ceiling. Instead of torches on the walls, thin metallic sticks were sitting in sconces. There were multiple doors that led away from the entrance, but Pashar was headed towards the back, where a huge set of stairs lead up to the next floor.

Esmund let out an excited low murmur as his eyes ran over every little detail, probably missing as much as he caught. Ranvir just felt a bright white awe from the sheer amount of work it would take to create such a structure.

And this building was only one of many, if he were to guess the teachers probably had even nicer quarters.

After reaching the second level, and seeing it was laid with wooden floors, Ranvir felt a little more like he was back on firm foundations. At least he could understand wooden floors, even if not every household had floors, the ones that did were wooden.

Pashar lead them through a few hallways before opening a door. “This is your lounge. This is where you will likely be spending the majority of your free time over the next year.”

Ranvir looked inside to find a large room, with lots of chairs, tables and even a few couches. There was even upholstery on most of the furniture. More interestingly, there were chess boards scattered through out the room, on the various tables.

Personally, he hadn’t played a lot of chess. He didn’t even know the rules, but he always found it fascinating.

“Through here.” Pashar said, stepping into the lounge. Ranvir noticed doors set into the sides of the room. “You will find sleeping arrangement.” She opened one of the doors.

Esmund and Sansir took the lead, as they entered to examine the room. From behind them, Ranvir could tell it was quite small. Six beds and a small chest at the foot of each.

“This will be your sleeping quarters. Fear not, usually there are more than a few beds to spare. At the academy, we believe in being prepared.”

Ranvir stepped in after the others, dumping his pack on the bed next to Esmund’s, Sansir picking the one on the opposite side, next to the wall.

“In here.” Pashar continued, catching their attention once more. “You will find your uniforms. There are still a few days before they become required wear, after then do not get caught outside of your lounge in anything other than your uniforms. Except on free-days.”

Ranvir opened his chest. Inside he found three pairs of black uniforms and boots, which made him let out a little breath of relief. Pulling one out made him attempt to draw it back in again. These weren’t a little small, they were small. Way too small.

He shot a sideways glance at Pashar, afraid of making her think he was questioning her. She noticed, of course.

“There’s a trick to it.” She said, simply. Ranvir nodded, deciding against questioning her. “You get three. There’s a laundering service on the ground floor, where you can drop off dirty uniforms and they will be cleaned and returned. Just put them in the bag at the bottom, and they will be returned to your beds.”

She stepped back out of their sleeping quarters. “You’re free to explore the rest of the academy until classes begin. You should get your schedules tomorrow.” She pulled her slate tablet out from under her arm.

“Ranvir, you’re the space manipulator.” She scanned before stopping her gaze on him. Ranvir felt a nauseous pale green stir inside him, as she locked her eyes on his. “I will need to see you tomorrow after lunch. Meet me in the administration building. Just stop by the desk and ask Himir for me.”

She turned at quickly stepped out of the lounge, disappearing into the hallway.

“You’re in trouble!” Esmund teased, never missing a chance to poke at his friends. Ranvir shrugged, not sure how to reply. He’d barely arrived and something was already wrong.

As Ranvir undressed that night, he felt the necklace fall free as he pulled his shirt over his head. Silently, he laid down on the bed, dragging the blanket over him. Clutching at the necklace, his thought wandered to the three rings on it. Mother, Father and Son. He hadn’t seen his parents in over a month and a half.

He wasn’t going to see them for a long time, either. He was going to be gone for at least five years, if not more. Then he might have enough time to travel back, before being sent to the front lines. Hopefully.

Lying under the stars, next to Taggir’s tent, it hadn’t really sunken in, but now…

“Goodnight mom. Goodnight dad.” He murmured quietly, closing his eyes.