The Dark Odyssey {Unedited}

The Bloodletting [Short Story]

Sometimes people don't realize what is really happening until it's too late.

I think that every school can be boring, especially if you have something else on your mind. Like right then I couldn't stop thinking about the year before when I made the decision to go to this school, my mother begged me not to and told me that because of our noble status that I didn't have to worry about making money. She told me that one day she and my father would arrange for me a nice marriage and that a man would take care of me for the rest of my life. However I didn't want that, so when I signed up to go to the Academy, my mother was furious. The Academy was a school for all of Vaustri's soldiers under King Wailyn. Trust me, out of the entire world no one messes with the Vaustrian soldiers, especially because of the name that we made for ourselves in the first Blood War, when our world went from raising technological empires back to medieval nights of sorrow.

When the gods came back to the earth, our people came together and sided with the goddess of death, Era. Era took our leader Aeneas and turned him into the first Assa Tru, he was faster and stronger than any other human. However, he produced no heir, but the Assa Tru stayed strong after all they were soldiers blessed by the goddess to be unstoppable, and they were what we brought through to the new age. We have learned to become faster, stronger, and silent. Holy crap! I was paying attention in class? At the time I thought it was stupid for us to learn about something that happened 5000 years ago. However, my people hoped that once we knew the consequences, it wouldn't be repeated...again.

I was coming to the end of my first year at the Academy, and so far I've mainly had classes that involved our history and a few athletic courses to get me in shape for year three. During year three you are supposed to get your body used to the physical trauma of being a soldier. Which was the class that I was currently staring at through the window, just outside the classroom I had been stuck in for what felt like hours. The courtyard looked crammed with almost the entire third year class, it looked like the students were being paired together for what seemed to be a hand to hand combat exercise.

Watching them, I could tell which ones were more dedicated, which ones were not, and which ones were going too far. In the center of the courtyard, two boys who were paired together were beating the crap out of each other. I watched in horror as one of them got the upper hand and pinned down the other and began punching him in the face. There was blood and a lot of it and it was starting to pool around the boy's head on the ground. It wasn't the sight of the blood that horrified me though, it was how the school did nothing to stop the fight even though it had gone too far. I knew what I was getting myself into here, it was my choice to go to the most dangerous school in the world, but I didn't think that it would mean getting so used to seeing blood, but that wasn't what bothered me. No one did anything about the fight, the teacher sat in the corner evaluating them, not reacting otherwise. That's when Saher appeared. Saher was a fourth year, he tried to stay unnoticed most days, but I always noticed him. His dark brown eyes pulled me in deep, everytime our eyes met.

"Miss Marc?" my teacher called my name and my attention went back to her. "Are we interrupting your daydreaming, Miss Marc?" she asked me politely with a spite in her eyes. I shook my head 'no'. "Good, now Miss Marc, do you know the name of the last Namidian Emperor?" she asked me with a sly smile.

Panic filled me, I didn't know the answer to the question. I looked toward the board to see if she wrote down anything to hint at the answer to the question, but besides 'Namid' written in big letters on the board there was only the date, April 14, e5047. "It's..." I was cut off before I could guess at the answer. A blood curdling screaming came from the hall, which was quickly quieted. My teacher moved from the front of the room to the door, and looked out. All of us could see the body in the hallway and hear the crack of an arrow go through the door my teacher was standing next to. She ducked just in time. Seconds later an alarm went on. It rang throughout the entire room, so loud it stung my ears.