Edge of Hope Page 2

  “You give me another look like that and I’ll kill you,” Cedric said. He spat on me and angrily walked away, kicking up sand as he went. The instructor looked ready to kill me himself. His charge toward me was interrupted only by the arrival of another adult.

  “Instructor Rastegaz,” a cloaked man called. The newcomer was flanked by two other cloaked figures, all of whom radiated power merely in their stances. The lead male’s voice oozed confidence as he continued: “Order your students to present themselves, please.”

  The instructor’s eyes went wide. I stifled a laugh at the man’s reaction, but quickly followed the immediate instructions to line up. One of the other students lifted Terro’s limp form, laying him down in his spot of the line. Rastegaz, whose name I had not known before, stood at the end of the line, next to the eldest of the students. I watched as closely as possible without stepping out of line: if this was a state inspection, I had to make my foster parents proud. What would old Pagred think if he knew his boy was losing fights left and right?

  The man pulled his hood down, revealing his head and face. His features reminded me of Cedric’s, sharp green eyes and military-cut black hair. He had a small, black goatee traveling around his mouth, only slightly concealing a scar on his lower jaw.

  Rastegaz bowed deeply. “Second Lieutenant Soczalza. It is an honor, my lord.”

  The Lieutenant ignored the pleasantry and scanned the line of recruits. “Two trainees died yesterday.”

  “They did my lord. They succumbed to their wounds during fighting.”

  “And yet, you have a few students here fighting despite their own wounds not fully being healed,” he walked down the line, frowning. He stopped in front of me. “Flavius Caeli?”

  “Yes sir!” I shouted. I stood as rigidly as I could with my wounds, my ribs and shoulder burning from the effort.

  “You may stand down, Flavius,” he said. I relaxed and smiled at him. He returned the smile briefly before turning to face the instructor. “This boy has three broken ribs, a broken shoulder, a punctured lung, and scar tissue build up along the abdomen. Yet, you asked him to fight today?”

  Rastegaz stuttered. “Of course my lord! They must be strong if they are to survive your trials later….”

  The Lieutenant looked back at me. “You are right, of course, instructor. Only the strong survive,” he grinned. “Come over here, Rastegaz.”

  The instructor jogged over, bowing again before standing at attention next to the Lieutenant. “Yes my lord?”

  “I prefer Nathrek,” the Lieutenant said. “Titles mean little on the field of battle.”

  Rastegaz nodded, “Too true my lord-”

  “Rastegaz, please stop talking,” Nathrek smiled at me. “You two are going to fight.”

  I immediately frowned. How was I supposed to fight an adult in the state I was in? Nathrek had already said how hurt I was! That bastard of an instructor would kill me!

  “Not to worry,” Nathrek continued. He walked up to me, placing a hand on my head. His eyes flashed and I felt power flow through my body. My shoulder immediately felt better and I could even breathe easier than before. My eyes went wide as I stretched my left arm out - the shoulder wasn’t even broken anymore!

  “My lord, is this necessary?” Rastegaz began. “Why do you need me to beat this boy-”

  Nathrek spun around and sliced the instructor’s right arm off.

  Through his screams, and the slick sound of the man resheathing his blade, Nathrek continued speaking, “You are right-hand dominant yes? That will be a hard thing to readjust.” The instructor looked at the Lieutenant with abject fear. Nathrek raised a hand up, opening a palm towards the terrified man. A beam of green magic connected his hand to Rastegaz’s open mouth. We all watched as Nathrek ripped the magic out of our teacher’s body. It was clearly a painful experience, Rastegaz was writhing in agony during the whole ordeal.

  As the instructor struggled to stand, Nathrek turned back to me. “You belong to the state, do you not?”

  I gulped, eyes still glued to my teacher. “I do.”

  “The state has ordered this man be executed for treasonous activities. Please do your duty and kill him for me.” He drew his sword, offering me the hilt.

  The rest of the trainees were aghast. I trembled as I accepted the warlock’s blade. It was far heavier than any weapon I had yet held, though the weight of what I was about to do likely caused more discomfort than the blade. Rastegaz was gasping for air, weakly grabbing at his own sword with his left hand.

  Nathrek stepped a few paces away and waved a hand towards the instructor. “You may attack when you are ready.”

  I couldn’t say no. If I had been hurting before, that would have been nothing compared to what Nathrek could do to me. I nodded my head slowly and looked toward the other students. Half of them were smiling, excited to see the bastard who had treated most of us so poorly get punished. Others, like Cedric, who had prospered under the man’s training, remained passive. I knew Cedric would want to impress the Lieutenant, he being from a major military family. He wouldn’t care one way or another, at least not in the presence of Nathrek.

  I hefted the blade up, slowly walking towards Rastegaz. “I’m sorry, my lord,” I said.

  “You brat, you can’t kill me,” he shouted at me. “You are nothing, and will always be nothing!” he drew his blade and tried to strike first. He stumbled and cried out as he did so. Nathrek had shot a bolt of fire at his right leg, searing his hamstring. The man cried out in pain, his body trembling on the sandy ground.

  I took a deep breath. At this point, it was about ending his suffering. Nathrek was clearly not going to let him live, and both he and I would only suffer more if I didn’t finish it. I lifted the blade over my head and brought it down, severing my former teacher’s head from his body. It rolled away, his face contorted in a macabre display of pure rage and pain.

  “Very good,” Nathrek said. He clapped for me, prompting the other students to clap as well. “You can all learn something from this. You can either be more like Flavius here, a true patriot, a true servant of the state. Or you can be like Rastegaz, and spit in the faces of your superiors.” He paused to let his words sink in. “I do hope you all choose the former. This group shows immense potential,” he looked at Cedric. “I look forward to seeing you all in the next phase of your training. For now, return to your barracks. The new instructor will be arriving shortly.”

  I did not understand then, but Rastegaz had been executed due to substantiated rumors going around about what he did with some of the trainees in his spare time. The story was, later corroborated by one of my fellow students, that the instructor would take a few of our number from their beds at night and whore them out for money in the back alleys of Daemonsh, the city nearest our training grounds. Some students he used for his own pleasures. I felt bad for him after I had killed him, even said a prayer for him that night. Somehow I feel Emer didn’t answer that particular entreaty.

  “Such a sad business,” the nurse said to me. “You must be quite upset over what happened.”

  I sat atop a tall table, swaying my upper body side to side as she inspected me. The demoness ran her fingers along my flesh, tracing my veins, ensuring that the magic Nathrek had deposited into me did not overload my body. Her violet skin was cold but her demeanor was always so warm that I couldn’t help but smile when I was around her. Unlike some of the other demons in the camp, she actually seemed to want to be there, to want to help.

  “I did what I needed to do,” I said. “But I will pray for him tonight.”

  “Oh? And who do you pray to, Flavius?” the nurse giggled.

  “Emer,” I said. She looked up at me and nearly rolled her eyes.

  “If that is the fantasy that suits you best, I will not dissuade you off it,” she said. “But do try to remember your best hope is yourself. Only you can deflect the blade meant for your throat.”

  I nodded enthusiastically. That was pretty normal adv
ice from her. I typically kept my faith a secret, especially from high-ranking warlocks, but I felt good when I admitted it to people. I just had to be careful who I told.

  “I hear the Second Lieutenant is the one who came and saw to the whole ordeal,” she said. Her scarlet eyes opened and closed, a mischievous smile appearing on her face.

  “Yep. He is pretty strong,” I said.

  She licked her lips, “Yes, quite the specimen indeed.” She placed a hand on my cheek. “You’re all set honey. He was careful, your body will slowly burn off the excess magic and you will be absolutely fine.” As I leapt off the table the nurse ruffled my hair. “Take care of yourself, Flavius. Try not to get hurt anymore. I am good, but there is a limit to what I can do for you!”

  I smiled at her and nodded my thanks for the healing and advice. She sighed as I left. She knew I’d be back shortly with fresh wounds. But I was hopeful. With Rastegaz gone, perhaps the new teacher wouldn’t abuse me to the point of breaking. Cedric was still here, so his bullying was likely to continue, but the other students treated me with a bit more respect after Nathrek had chosen me to perform the execution. I had done a state duty, and to most of the kids, that had a heavy meaning.

  As I walked from the nurse’s office to the barracks, I was stopped by Cedric. The elder boy had a deep frown on his face as he approached me, a small dagger clutched in his hand. I was decidedly naive about the situation, choosing to smile and ask how he was doing rather than running away.

  “I am quite fine, actually,” he replied to me, twirling the dagger about in his hand. “How do you feel with all of the additional power the Second Lieutenant fed you?”

  I shrugged. “I can move my arm,” I said. “And my other wounds are healed too. Otherwise I don’t feel too different.”

  Cedric nodded slowly. He seemed to struggle with what he wanted to say next. “I came by to….” he clutched the dagger tightly. “Thank you.”

  My eyes widened in surprise. “Thank me?” I was pretty sure he had wanted to gut me just like I used to stab sausages as a toddler.

  He nodded. “Yes. Thank you, Flavius. His death was….freeing,” he gazed off away from me, towards the desert beyond the camp. “I am just happy I don’t have to serve under that man any longer.”

  “I am glad you are happy,” I said, trying to sound as genuine as possible. “But I would thank the Lieutenant, not me.”

  The elder boy sized me up again, frowning. “Perhaps. But all the same,” his cheeks darkened as he bowed a bit to me before spinning on his heel and heading towards the barracks. I stood in shocked silence as he walked away. Only the sounds of the mess hall horn got me to consider moving.

  I did not quite know how to handle the praise being heaped upon me once I entered the mess hall. The younger kids clapped excitedly for me. Students closer to my age all patted me on the back and showed me off as their ‘friend.’. The older kids, Cedric among them, all nodded in respect towards me. I was amazed by the treatment. Then I got to the front of the line to get my food. The large woman who always dolled out our slop was in particular form, her eyes bright red, likely from crying.

  “Think you’re amazing now, don’t you kid?” the cook asked. “Slaughtering your teacher like that, do you even feel the least bit of remorse?” Before I could answer, she continued. “I bet not, you little heartless bastards are all the same.” She dumped my food on the floor in front of me and shoved me aside.

  I frowned, unsure of how I had harmed her directly, but decided that, for the moment, it did not matter.

  When I sat down, some of my new ‘friends’ shared their food with me. I did not starve, despite the cook’s efforts. My newfound popularity would not last long, probably only a few days at most, but I took advantage of the opportunity by learning about my fellows’ names and backgrounds.

  “My name is Charla,” one of the girls said. “My family is amongst the wealthiest in Riontrii. Once I am finished with my training, I will work for the elite guard at the Council Chambers, one day destined to be a council member myself!” She did not make it past the last series of tests. From what I heard, she was mentally dominated by a male demon she summoned, and she was never seen nor heard from again.

  “My name is Cravitz,” a nondescript boy with brown hair and eyes said. “My family is an old military one, I will probably die on the front lines someday,” he shook away the negative thought. “With honor, of course.” He wasn’t wrong about dying on the front lines.

  “I am Kora,” another girl pushed her way through to speak with me. “I am the daughter of the Praetor of Daemonsh. I will serve Warvesi faithfully until the day I die,” she nodded tersely, her voice confident in her family’s pride.

  “My name is Sardis,” another boy, sitting rather far away from the rest, said. We all quieted down to hear him. The dark-haired, red-eyed boy barely spoke. He was half demon, a fact that made some revile him and others quite jealous. “I just hope to kill our enemies.”

  I nodded. His wants were simple, and I could appreciate that. My adoptive father had been a rather simple man, with needs that began and ended with me and my foster mother. At least not everyone had such lofty expectations of themselves. Dinner continued on in this way for nearly an hour, until I had heard most of the names and stories of those my age or younger. Cedric and the older boys stayed out of the conversation….I chose not to push my luck with approaching them.

  When we returned to the barracks, one of the other kids produced a bottle that he had hidden under his cot. He said it was wine he had taken from Rastegaz’s private store. I had never had any sort of alcohol before, so when I was offered a cup I drank of the red liquid greedily. He shared only with me and one of the girls….it was a big mistake.

  The next morning, the three of us awoke with a new sensation. My mouth was incredibly dry, my head was pounding, and the bright light reflected off the sand below burned my eyes. I, as well as the two who had partaken of the wine with me, suffered as I prepared myself for the day’s training. Cedric laughed at me knowingly as he walked out of the barracks.

  We all lined up on the sand, eager to meet our new instructor. To our surprise, Nathrek greeted us that morning. I struggled to look at him, my head and eyes pained by the bright light of the outside world.

  “Good morning, future warlocks,” he said. “Your new instructor is en route, so today I will be your teacher.” Many of the students gasped, others simply smiled in excitement. I was too busy dealing with my hangover to have an opinion. “As some of you may know, I lead the Fifth Daemonsh Elite unit within the province of Eastern Warvesi. We are based in Daemonsh, a city all of you are likely familiar with, not far from here. It turns out that we have several openings for trainees of our own after an unfortunate happenstance.”

  Unfortunate happenstance. I frowned.

  “Today, I will determine who among you are worth transferring to my division for the second phase of your training. I hope you are all at your best,” the students nearest me laughed. I strained to open my eyes further, finally noticing that Nathrek was eyeing me with a frown upon his features. “If you are not, allow me to force you to be.”

  As a group, we all inhaled deeply as a wave of magic buffeted us. My eyes flashed to life, the pain from the light gone and my head thinking clearer than it had in weeks. I flexed my muscles, feeling strong, and saw those nearest me doing the same. The older students were beaming, their newfound power giving them the confidence needed to prove themselves to the Lieutenant.

  “Flavius,” Nathrek said. “You will fight Sardis.”

  I gulped. The half demon? He had way more power in his left arm than I had in my entire body. Still, it was an order, and I intended to perform those orders to the best of my ability. I waved at Sardis as we both stepped forward, giving him a broad smile. The other trainee stared at me, confused by my actions.

  “I expect great things from both of you. A half demon and a tool of the state. What better way to begin the day’s contests?
” he tossed two longswords he had been holding behind him onto the ground. “Begin.”

  Wide-eyed, I leapt to action as I watched Sardis dash for the blades. He picked up both before I could get there, and began his assault in earnest. He swung the blades, one after the other, at me with nearly blinding speed. I am still not sure how I managed to dodge the blades. I don’t have a weapon! I thought. How can I beat him?

  I remembered back to the day before, when Nathrek drained Rastegaz’s power. I thought that I could emulate that spell. I had never casted before, but the magic Nathrek had pumped us up with might give me just enough to force it out. While dodging Sardis’ attacks, I stuck my left hand out, willing magic to come to it. I nearly lost the hand several times before I lowered it again.

  Come on! I screamed at myself. Do something!

  I pretended like I had a stone in my right hand, curving back my arm and lunging forward as if throwing it. Sardis grunted as a small bolt of fire struck him in his midsection. “Yeah!” I shouted. It wasn’t enough.

  The other boy quickly recovered, dashing towards me and swinging with both blades simultaneously. I had been caught off balance, I couldn’t run, so I brought both of my arms up in a vain hope that they would shield me from the steel. I heard a clang reminiscent of metal on metal and looked up to see my arms covered in some sort of green shielding. Sardis struggled to cut through it, his neutral mask breaking to show frustration.

  I smiled, shoving my arms out to push him back and following up with a sweeping kick to his ankles. He fell on his backside, wildly swinging his blades in front of him to keep me away.

  “Cease,” Nathrek said. I stopped moving immediately. Sardis swung the blades once more before also calming down. The warlock clapped his hands slowly. “Very impressive,” he continued. He walked over and offered a hand to Sardis. “Dogged determination, the ferocity of a demon, I like it.” The boy bowed slightly after he was brought to a standing position, acknowledging the compliments. “And you,” he said, turning to me. “Using magic without any training in it. I am truly impressed. I expected you to lose this fight with little challenge, yet you managed to cast spells. Very interesting.” He rubbed his goatee.