Arty walked quietly with his fellow students. It had been many, very boring days since Marcus' rousing speech. In that time Arty and the other students had been measured for uniforms, given military IDs, and Marcus had gone over the Entry test with the students to explain how everyone did. They had departed late in the day after a pretty grueling lesson on the history of Magic in Zytria, but everyone seemed excited to finally be out of the school building again. Arty stuck close to Zaben, who still seemed kind of down. Arty wanted to ask what was wrong, but he couldn't do it in front of all the other students. It was kind of annoying doing all this walking, but Arty was personally just grateful not to have been abandoned a second time. He was curious about their destination.
He didn't think on it much, his mind was really just focused on what Marcus had said before, about their purpose here. Arty realized that it was about more than just saving the Kingdom, because if he could do that, if he could learn to be the soldier they needed him to be, if he could use his magic to beat the Atherians, than he could show people that not all Magic users are traitors. He could prove to them that people with Magic do belong, and that they can be just as loyal and just as brave as any other Zytrian. He wanted to use his power not only to save Zytria, but to save the people like him, and the people still yet unborn, so that they wouldn't have to live their whole lives in fear of what they are. Instead, they'd stand up and be proud of what they could do, and they wouldn't have to go hide when men knocked on the door, and then they'd get to go to school and make friends and tell their families what they are, and none of them would have to stay up at night thinking about camps, or guns, or gas chambers, or whether an angry mob was going to come and burn their houses down, and they'd all grow up knowing their fathers. Their fathers would all look them in the eyes and say, I'm proud of you. That's what Arty was fighting for, more than just saving Zytria, he was trying to save the future.
The other students were a lot more worried about where they were going than he was. "Where are we going?" One of them
"The Colosseum," Marcus said, and that was that.
The Colosseum was an ancient relic of the old regime of the Elven Empire, which once stretched almost as far north and south as Zytria itself. Arty had heard a lot about the Colosseum over the radio. It was an example of Evlen decadence and oppression. The Elves would have massive battles for show within the Colosseum's walls. They'd pit human slaves, wild animals from all across the world, Professional Elven warriors, and sometimes even Dragons; whose wings were clipped to stop them from flying away, against each other in blood baths for the entertainment of the people. Supposedly it was a way for the Elven Imperial Senate to display its power and relevance, but the ever eroding waves of time transformed it into just another Elven Ruin now occupied by the humans it once existed to suppress. Arty had heard people on the radio discussing whether or not to bulldoze the place and make room for a new statue or houses or something, but the government decided to keep it, citing its historical relevance.
Eventually he and the other students made their way into the Colosseum. Like most Elven Architecture it was large, with a significant emphasis on circular features, and made of green stained granite accented with white marble. The Colosseum towered a good 100 feet into the air and the area surrounding it was largely clear of any buildings. It's size was an imposing sight for any human, in spite of this, it actually made Arty feel a little bit better, if mankind could overcome the people who built this, than maybe we've got a chance against the Atherians.
Standing beneath the towering visage of the Colosseum were 5 men in military Uniforms. One soldier stepped forward and said, "we heard you'd be here," he looked back and forth, scanning the students, "although we expected you guys here earlier, with more students, and more teachers as well."
"Well sorry for the inconvenience, but this is what we have. So if you won't waste any more time, yours or mine, we should get going." Marcus replied with authority.
The Soldier stiffened up in response, he seemed a bit bemused by Marcus' tone, but he quickly straightened out and replied, "Right away sir!" He turned around with the other soldiers, and said, "This way!"
The group of soldiers lead Arty and the Students, towards the open entry way of the Colosseum. Arty was a bit nervous seeing a military guy with his teacher, but he supposed he did want to be a Soldier and a soldier has to meet other soldiers. Zaben seemed to share Arty's concern, "So do you think he's taking us to like, be tested in front of all the Generals and stuff?"
Arty nodded in affirmation, it made sense as an explanation to him. He was excited to finally see the other students use magic, but the thought of a whole bunch of Generals looking over him like he's some sort of barn animal just made him even more nervous. I've never even used magic in front of anyone other than Marcus and my Mom... Arty thought. But to his shock, Marcus interrupted his train of thought and calmed his fears, "You're not getting evaluated by any Generals. You're all uniquely remarkable students and I would never expect men of a purely military mind to try and understand the nuances of magic. The only person you're trying to impress here is me, I just want to see what you can do."
Arty saw Brinton sulk at those words, clearly insecure about his powers. Zaben turned to Arty, speaking even quieter than last time "how did he even hear me!?"
Arty replied with simple assurance, speaking loudly knowing it wouldn't make a difference, "he can read minds, so he knew what you were saying before you even said it."
"Nope." Marcus replied, his head not wavering from its forward position, "Mind Reading was one of the few tricks I never picked up from my time in school. I just never got the hang of that spell, but all the best students could do it and I still needed to be able to compete. So instead of bashing my head against a wall trying to learn a power that wasn't coming to me at all, I just learned how to be very good at eavesdropping instead. It's a power that requires no magic and it's also just about as good as mind reading." He looked back with a smug smile on his face "you'd be surprised the kind of secrets people say when they think no one is listening."
Arty took a mental note not to say anything potentially embarrassing around Marcus. They kept walking through the Colosseum's surprisingly extensive network of dark marble passageways. The Soldiers had flashlights and seemed to know the way. Arty imagined that back hundreds of years ago these halls were lit by torches and packed to the brim with animals, warriors, and people coming to watch them all fight it out. He wondered which one of those he was supposed to be.
Eventually the dark passageway turned out towards the light. It wasn't too bright out, seeing as it was near sunset, but it was still bright enough for arty to need to cover his eyes as he followed the men out onto the dirt clearing that was the center of the Colosseum. The arena floor was pocked with large stone blocks, that looked like they'd been dragged into place across the dirt by heavy equipment. Pulling his hands away from his eyes Arty could see the whole image of what was really before him. Easily 400 feet across in a perfect circle, the towering green granite structure barely left any room for the bright orange sun as it reached up into the sky. The surrounding parts of the massive complex seemed to be designed for seating, of course those who would have sat there were long gone, but Arty could almost faintly hear the roar of the crowd echoing down through the centuries. Arty was no fan of the Elves, nor the giant glorified slave pen he was standing in, but he was impressed for how long it had been there. Hundreds of years was quite a while, and it stood as a reminder to Arty that history is being made with every passing second. Being in the Colosseum encouraged Arty to make a future for those who'd come after him that was better than the history of those who came before. Arty smiled to himself, knowing that was probably what Marcus was going for.
They walked for a bit across the smooth dirt floor of the Colosseum. They stepped out from underneath the golden rays of light cast down by the setting sun and under the cool shadow of the Colosseum's walls. When Arty and the other Students were in the center of the Colosseum Marcus stopped walking, the soldiers and the students stopped with him. "So this is the place." The soldiers dispersed after hearing Marcus speak, each of them stepping away with their backs turned to Marcus and the group of students. Marcus turned around to face the students who had formed a small semi-circle around him and continued speaking, "Back at my old school in Yire, they used to take us out into the fields beyond the city limits to test our abilities. We had to do that because they were worried we were going to do damage to the city if they let us test back at the school, and although I doubt that's a real issue here, your security is of the utmost importance, and I felt like it was important for you all to be able to use your magic in an environment that's safe." Arty turned and looked at the soldiers, each of them clad in the Red-Green camouflage uniforms typical of secret police. They were holding their rifles and facing the open seats of the Colosseum intently, acting like a threat could descend upon Arty and the other students at any moment, "Now, for your entire lives you've heard that magic is some kind of untarual fluke, that it's something to be ashamed of. It's also treated as something Universal, all magic is the same, humans who can use magic no matter what kind are considered all magical degenerates. But you should know now that human magic is individual, it's specific to the person who wields it, and I did say human magic. Another common misconception is that the ability to use magic somehow connects you to the elves or orcs or fairies that we are fighting in this war, and although these races tap into the same magical essence, the way each race wields it is unique, and another common misconception you may have been told is that somehow humans are weak with magic. Just because not all humans are born with access to magical abilities does not make our magic any less natural than any other races, nor any less powerful." His eyes dart back and forth, like needles staring into Arty and his fellow students, "Before I can teach you, I need to know what you know and more importantly what you can already do." Arty tensed up as Marcus' gaze went straight down onto him, "Which of you would like to go first?"
Zaben obviously wanted to go and he quickly raised his hand, but another boy spoke up first, overshadowing Zaben's more polite attempt at getting Marcus' attention. "I'll go first!" The boy said as he stepped forward.
"What's your name?" Marcus asked. At first Arty thought Marcus was just asking so the other kids would know his name, but then realized that Marcus had just failed to pick up on the boy's name at any point in the past 3 days.
"Krent's the name, and Lightning is my game!" The boy turned away from the group and stuck his hand out towards one of the many granite stones strewn across the colosseum floor. His palm flat but fingers arched slightly, as electricity crawled down his arm to his fingertips. The electricity reached forward and then bolted outward towards the dirt, entirely missing the granite block he was clearly aiming for. Once it hit there was a crashing sound as a small plume of dirt was shot up into the air. Krent nodded proudly to himself, clearly impressed with is ability.
Marcus smiled and asked, "Where'd you learn to do that?"
The boy looked confused, "Well- I didn't learn from anyone, I just... One day it came to me, and I knew how to do it. Like, I needed to do it, Like-"
Marcus interrupted, "Like it was something you were always born to do."
"Yeah, like that." The boy smiled to himself as electricity bristled back down his hand.
"Consider this all your second lesson," Marcus remarked, "Being able to use magic is more than just a curse, or a gift, it's a responsibility. In the history of humanity, Those blessed with magical abilities have been warriors, healers, advisors, some of them even leaders. All of them knew, in their heart of hearts, that their powers were meant to be used for the good of mankind, and for those moments at night, where you all felt the need to use the powers you'd so long kept suppressed, that was the same exact feeling. There are those who say magic is unnatural, but the only unnatural thing is refusing to use a power that could save so many." He turned to face the students and optimistic look on his face, "So who's next?" Many more hands went up this time compared to the last, but instead of picking one of the many students who had raised their hands, Marcus pointed to Brinton and said, "how about we try you?"
Brinton just frowned, "I'm no good." Marcus seemed confused, but then Brinto took a large coin out of his pocket an extending his hand, caused it to levitate. He dragged it about in the air, like a leaf or piece of paper being blown about in the wind. It actually looked like it took a bit of effort on Brinton's part before he finally brought the coin back to rest on his hand, "I can move metal stuff around. But nothing bigger than a one little coin. It's a useless power, I'm no good. I'm here to learn but," He shook his head, there were almost tears in his eyes, "I'll never be a real warrior with something as weak as this."
"Absurd." Marcus retorted, "Who told you that? Who told your power was useless? They must have been damned fools! I spent my years as a boy growing tiny flowers in the garden with my magic, and there were those who said I'd never be anything either, but they were wrong. Today it's quarters but tomorrow? You'll be lifting tanks to throw at the enemy and lifting buildings off of people during an earthquake."
Brinton shook his head, "You're wrong. All I've ever learned so far is how to use my power with less effort, but I haven't been able to lift anything bigger than just this stupid coin." Brinton frowned again, his voice broken, "I know I'm not good, so you don't have to lie to me. Just teach me about magic and I'll be happy."
Marcus said, "Small minds find irrelevancy in small objects." he then simply shrugged and walked over to one of the soldiers that was supposed to be guarding them, he tapped on the man's shoulder and then leaned in to whisper something into his ears. Unfortunately Arty did not have Marcus' skill for eavesdropping. Marcus pulled away his head and backed away from the soldier, he backed up until he was standing in front of a granite stone but still facing the soldier. He then nodded cryptically towards the soldier, who raised his rifle into the air slowly, taking aim down the sights right at Marcus.
"Wait!" Arty Shouted not knowing when or how he should act to save his teacher. The other students seemed equally as afraid and as baffled.
The only student who seemed to know enough to act was Brinton, who quickly lifted his hands into the air right in time, eyes blazing with a passion as a gunshot rang out loudly through the Colosseum, the sound of granite chipping as a cloud of dust and bits of rock shot into the air from the large pillar behind Marcus. But Marcus was still standing, and to his left was a 2 inch deep bullet hole straight into the granite.
One other student said what Arty was thinking, "You deflected the bullet." Brinton just stood there in utter disbelief as the other students rushed forward to the pillar. A smiling Marcus stepped back as the other student gleefully surrounded the hole in the rock, the students were pointing to it and studying it. Eventually Arty got a good look at it and, sure enough, there was a bullet lodged deep in there. He had truly used his magic to curve the bullet out of the way. It baffled Arty, he'd heard stories about men creating explosions large enough to sink battleships, lighting that could rival the strongest storms, ice to freeze the very heart of the world, and yet one boy and a bullet no larger than a quarter was what had truly taken the breath from his lungs.
"Third Rule of Magic, no one is born with a useless ability. So what if you can only move things smaller than a coin? There are plenty of things smaller than a coin to be moved." The students all stopped giving their attention to the stone and the miracle it represented, and turned to face Marcus. They were all absolutely riveted to his view, each of them granting him the utmost attention, desperate to soak up as much knowledge as possible, "If anyone ever doubted you in the past, please disregard that today. I do not care what your ability is, I know you all have the will you can make it your own and you can use it to be the kind of Soldier Zytria needs right now." He gestures out to the other stones standing upright in the Colosseum, "Now, who's next?"
A young girl raised her hand faster than anyone else, "Me, do me!" Marcus nodded at the girl and she took it as her chance to go, "My name is Mara, and yes I do share a name with the Queen, but you guys can all just call me Mara W. as in Windslow, that's actually my mom's maiden name, but I-" she catches herself rambling and pauses, before continuing "My power is deflection, I always thought it was lame and useless but-" She throws up her hands bringing up a yellow bubble looking barrier. It was partly transparent, like a piece of glowing glass. "I can't wait to learn what I can do with it."
Marcus nodded, "I'd hardly call that useless. It's the most important spell any Magic User can learn." He smiled, and turned away from the girl, "anyone else?"
Mara W. looked somewhat disappointed that she didn't get to really show off her power, but Marcus turned outward across the small forest of hands marked with serial numbers, and picked another student, "You there!" Salmy was the only person who didn't have her hand up and his gaze went straight to her, "Why the lack of enthusiasm?"
She sighed, "It's not that I don't want to show you my power, it's that I can't."
He looked puzzled, "but..."
"When I showed the guard to get into the school freaked him out pretty hard, but I brought that along for that very specific reason. I can't show it right now."
Marcus seemed a bit suspicious of her explanation, "Well could you at least tell me your power?"
Her face was emotionless, "I can bring things back."
To say the other students gasped would be an exaggeration, but there was a moment where they all skipped breath temporarily. Marcus seemed somewhat distressed by this revelation, "Back as in-"
"Not, back... Completely. But back as in, alive again." She sighed, "So Unless you have something dead lying around, we should just move on to somebody else."
Necromancy Arty was beyond intrigued, he desperately wanted to get to see something brought back to life. The stories he'd always heard about people who could bring others from back from the dead were usually not good ones. On the radio Necromancers were the prime example of the evils of magic, and Arty hated to admit to himself that when trying to rationalize his own powers he often told himself, at least I'm not a necromancer. But now, with the Academy there was no need to be afraid of what he didn't understand.
Marcus looked over to one of the soldiers, "Get us something dead."
The soldier seemed in shock and surprise, "What? Where am I supposed to find something dead just lying around, I mean-"
Marcus interrupted him, "It's a 300 Year Old Ruin, okay. There's got to be something dead around here."
"But what about Security?" Now the other soldiers were looking at Marcus.
"I'm more than capable of taking care of these students, Now Go." The soldiers each quickly ran off in seperate directions. It was strange to Arty that Marcus felt like he didn't need the soldiers to keep them safe. Of course Arty had never seen Marcus fight, in fact Arty had never seen Marcus use magic outside the flowers he showed them. Arty began to feel uneasy, if they really were attacked, what is growing some flowers going to do to protect them? Marcus might be a great teacher, but his powers left a lot to be desired. Then Arty thought back on what Marcus had said, there's no such thing as a useless ability. Arty spent the Next 15 minutes thinking about all the ways you could use plants to fight someone. The other students mostly stood in silence, despite their excitement about learning magic, they hadn't learned anything new about how to socialize.
Eventually one of the soldiers came running back to the center of the Arena. It was hard to see what he was holding cradled in his hands, but once he got closer, it became obvious that it was a somewhat decayed Rat, with parts of its skin falling off and the bones underneath exposed. It was disgusting and Smelly, and very clearly dead. The other students were disgusted by it, but also curious as to see what it could ndo. Marcus gestured to the dirt floor and said, "Set it down and then go back to your post." The soldier complied and then was on his way.
Salmy stepped forward and held her hand above the dead Rat. She seemed to be really focusing, her freckled nose was scrunched, and her brow pressed tightly together over her hazel eyes.
Zaben bumped Arty on the shoulder, "I don't like this."
Then the lightning student, Krent, spoke up, "Yeah, the only thing weirder than a Necromancer is one of those inbred freaks who got their powers from both their parents." Krent shrugged, "But I guess we're not supposed to judge either way, a power is a power right?" Zaben scrunched up like he was uncomfortable.
Arty ignored Zaben as Salmy's hands burst into flames, flames that were black as night and seemed to suck the very light out of the air, and rising from her hands was a bright white smoke. The flames surrounding her hands grew darker and darker, as the rat began to writhe and contort on the ground. It's eyes turned from a decayed beady red color into the brightest white stars Arty had ever seen. Sickening cracks emanated from the rats body as its bones bent in directions not natural, before eventually the noise stopped and the blinding white smoke and the dark black flame on her hand had faded.
The rat looked just as dead as it was, until she kneeled down onto the ground and whispered, "wake up." The rat, seemingly excited to be alive once more, lept up from its former position on the ground and excitedly began wagging its decayed and broken tail. It held its nose up in the air and started sniffing about wildly, before finally its white eyes found Salmy. She laughed to herself and extended her hand, "Come on." She, for the first time that Arty had ever seen, smiled, as the Rat scurried hopefully up her arm and then onto her shoulder, where it started nuzzling itself lovingly against her neck. She brought up her other hand and started petting it gently, before standing upright again and resuming her description of her power. "It's a lot harder on dead things that are larger, I mean I can do bigger stuff but it just takes some effort..." she took a breath "and it's also more difficult if it's more decayed. I don't know how, but I don't bring things back truly, I just stick new life into something where there was none."
The other students surrounding Salmy seemed to have their jaws near the floor. Some of them were simply amazed, but most of them seemed Fearful. Marcus also seemed surprised, but his face of shock turned into a smile as he walked up to the girl and said, "You have a very unique ability, but it's no surprise to me that a power to give life went to someone so obviously nurturing as you." Salmy smiled to herself, but Arty just felt even more confused, he wanted to turn to Zaben and say "Nurturing? Has he even met her?" but knowing Marcus' eaves dropping abilities, he decided against it. Before she submerged herself back into the group of children, Marcus was quick to ask, "Your name, too. For the people in the group who don't know you."
Her freckled face betrayed no emotion as she answered, "Salmy." The rat perched on her shoulder then lept down as if on cue, and darted through the crowd of students as they parted for the zombie rat that truly should have stayed dead.
Without even needing Marcus' say so, all the students threw up their hands, and despite Arty and Zaben throwing up their hands with more speed than anyone else, and displaying more enthusiasm too, Marcus always seemed to find someone else to call on. There was one girl who had power of air pressure, another boy who could control shadows and make them attack people, one kid could make objects explode at a distance if he tried hard enough, another could create illusions for other students, and there was some overlap between students, for example there was one girl who had the same lighting powers as Krent, and to Arty's concern, the oldest kid in the group, who had realved his age was 17 and his name was York, had fire powers very similar to Arty's, but they were surprisingly weak and he seemed to genuinely struggle in front of the other students, he seemed pretty mad about it too. But with every power shown came another lesson from Marcus, and Arty felt like his knowledge of Magic was growing so much faster then he'd ever imagined. He came here to become a soldier and help Zytria, but he never truly believed that he might actually want to know more. He realized that magic was a part of who he was, so by learning about it, he was also learning about himself in a way.
Arty and Zaben were the last two students to go, and as Arty shot up his hand he saw that Zaben's hand had beaten him to it. Naturally Arty began jumping up and down repeatedly until he was finally called on to show his powers.
"Let's see you." Marcus said pointing his finger at Arty, much to Zaben's disappointment, who just let his hand drop limp to his side and sighed in defeat.
Arty stepped away from the group and turned towards a stone pillar, he suddenly felt a wave of nerves rush over him. He couldn't help but be nervous, for as long as he could use magic he'd hidden his powers. He'd pushed that feeling of wanting to be something more than what's just natural in the world deep inside of him, he only ever felt safe using his powers far from anyone elses eyes. He never had anyone who could teach him, or even anyone who could watch him, or truly know him, without judging him as something else. And now? Arty wasn't even sure if he knew how to use his powers in front of so many people. He'd never had that chance before.
His past, a past of acceptance and love, that was robbed from him. All he ever knew about magic was the cold balance between fear and desire. He feared the country he loved, and the sister he loved, and the mother he loved, and everything that he loved, because he knew those things could just as easily turn on him if they knew what he really was. And if there was ever one person, one human being in the whole wide world who would accept him, who would have loved him just as he was, that person was gone. Arty's father was killed by the very people he was now training to fight for. That possibility, of love, of understanding, of someone being able to look him in the eye without seeing a monster or something to fear, someone who could truly know him, that was taken from him, he was robbed of that. The very power that now pulsed through his veins, the burning sensation that was building in his arms, that was a power he'd inherited from a father who he'd never get to know. The fire ignited in his hands as he thought about everything he'd lost, about how this was possibly the greatest moment in Arty's life and the one human being in the universe who could actually understand what it meant was choked out of life in some fucking gas chamber before I was even born!
Arty's internal rage turned into an outward scream, as he brought his hand arcing forward. Fire was streaking off of it as it blazed its way through the air until finally at the midpoint of his arc all the burning in his veins shot up into his hands, and an explosive blast of fire shot outwards towards the stone pillar. The recoil of the attack was enough to knock arty to the ground, but the explosion that came afterwards as the fireball hit the stone pillar was immense. It sent a shockwave backwards that ripped across the ground, and launched shrapnel and broken rocks at least 45 feet in the other direction. By the time Arty could uncover his eyes from the wind of the pressure wave, he could see a small mushroom cloud of dirt and broken granite, and a crater 5 feet deep, where the stone once was. His anger turned to pride as he stared at the smoking ruin of a pillar that represented his accomplishment.
Arty turned around to see the other students who were speechless. Arty had by far put on the biggest performance in the whole group. His eyes instinctively went to Marcus, searching for affirmation that he had in fact succeeded. Marcus' face seemed halfway between happiness and shock. Next Arty's eyes saw Zaben walking over extending his hand, "That's one heck of a power you got."
After being yanked back upright, Arty quickly glanced back towards the steaming crater of broken stone and dirt then casually admitted, "Yeah, I guess I'm alright."
Zaben just smiled and said, "Well I think it's pretty cool."
Upon hearing those words, Arty started beaming with a pride that even Marcus' words couldn't have given him. Marcus Jaunted closer to Arty before finally speaking, "There are two types of warriors in this world, the kind who hide behind their weapons, and the ones who throw their soul behind the good fight. Zytria is lucky to have a Young Person with as much fire as you have, and I'm talking about more than just the magic." Arty nodded to himself in pride. The feeling of warmth that welled up in his chest was like nothing he'd ever felt before. He realized in that moment that he was exactly where he was supposed to be and he was doing exactly what he was supposed to do.
Marcus turned to face Zaben, who seemed the slightest bit ticked off that he was going last, although Arty couldn't help but think that he should have just been grateful to be going at all.
"About time you notice me! I've been jumping up and down like a crazy person this whole time!" Zaben remarked with a hint of disrespect.
Marcus just smiled, "Yeah, sorry about that. Part of the whole "save the best for last thing" is that the best are made to wait, which I'll admit doesn't seem very fair." Arty was confused and by the look on Zaben's face, so was he. Marcus just smiled, "Well, it actually only came together on the walk over here. First it was just the look about you, then it was the fact that your answers on the entry test were the best I'd seen, the most creative I should say, then it was your last name, which probably should have been more of a give away but I've always been terrible with names, your serial number" Zaben looked down at his wrist, "And your eyes," Zaben's head cocked back up to meet Marcus' gaze, "They filled in the rest of the picture."
Zaben looked like he was going to say something, but as Marcus stepped closer to him, he stopped himself. Marcus got down onto one knee and said, in a volume of voice that although not a whisper was clearly only intended for Zaben's ears, "I knew your parents." Zaben's glacial blue eyes suddenly froze in shock, "I went to school with them, we were in the same study group, I dormed right next to them as a first year." his words were soft, as if meant for someone he cared about, "Me and your father were good friends, well, as good of friends as he was willing to be with anyone. Vanessa and Arcturus, They were extraordinary people, absolutely fantastic sorcerers, I learned more from just being around them then I ever learned from any class. The things they believed in, the idea that even in the face of persecution you should work to better the lives of those trying to persecute you, that's the only reason I'm even here teaching this school." He stuck out his hand and put in on Zaben's shoulder, "When I heard about what happened in Camp 18, the break out, what they said, mountain's of ice. I couldn't believe it was them, and I'd never have believed it was you. I never even knew that they had a child, but I believe it now. I know that your parents aren't here today, but if they were they'd be more proud of you than words could ever carry."
Zaben shook his head and just said simply, "No, they wouldn't."
Marcus seemed stunned as he recoiled slightly away from the boy, "What? Of course they would, this is what they believed in, this is what-"
Zaben seemed saddened, almost to the verge of tears, his voice seemed to breaking under the strain of a despair Arty could not possibly comprehend, "Can you please let me use my power?"
Marcus tried to reassure the boy, but Arty observed that Marcus was finally being confronted with the downside of deciding to have this conversation in a public setting, "Please Zaben, I-"
"I'm fine." Zaben said defiantly, the tears welling up in his eyes. He turned away sharply "Just please, it's my turn, let me go." Marcus just nodded, and Zaben stepped forward away from the group. He seemed so crushingly alone as he walked, a tugging at Arty told him to just run forward, to take his newfound friend in his arms and hug him like crazy. He didn't know his story, but he didn't need to know. Something terrible happened in his life and he blamed himself for it, Arty could know what that was like. He'd blamed himself for who he was for so long, all he'd ever wanted was just someone he could trust, someone who would care. Maybe that's what Zaben needed too?
A cold wind washed down into the coliseum as Zaben took his stance several feet from the group. His feet drug into the dirt, his whole body seemed to be to be bracing itself, then he extended his hands and of the course of a few seconds, more ice than Arty had even seen in his entire life rushed out of the boys palms as it carved itself into what cannot be understated as a mountain. As the ice poured out of him Arty could almost barely hear the faintness of a scream echoing against the glacial torrent of ice tearing against the dirt and stone of the coliseum. It was over in seconds. Zaben was standing alone in a cloud of frozen fog, his skin and clothes covered in a thin sheen of frost. He stood their panting, but with a slouch, as if it hurt to stand. He looked broken, broken and alone. Arty realized in that moment that just like how his own Anger, the fire inside of him drove the fire that burned at his fingertips, so did the Despair inside Zaben, that internal coldness that seemed to be drowning him behind those frigid blue eyes, that was what fueled his powers too. But as Arty stared up at a towering mountain of jagged ice, that stretched as far and as high as the colosseum walls, he questioned how one boy could contain so much sadness. All the other students seemed impressed, running forward to touch the ice, as if to see if it was real. Even Marcus seemed astonished, he was for the first time since Arty had met him, without words. The gargantuan manmade glacier was truly magnificent, it bent and contorted the shining light of the setting sun, which gleamed like a giant green diamond through the blue Ice.
As Zaben just stood still, Marcus found his composure and began speaking. All the students turned to face him, Arty Included, desperate to know the secret to achieving a power like this. Marcus still seemed slightly in Awe as he spoke, he turned to Zaben and said, "How long have you been training to do something like this?"
Zaben answered coldly, "My whole life, even before I could use magic my parents were teaching me how to use my power. I trained every day with my si-" He froze in his words, looking as though about to burst into tears, there was pain in his voice as he continued, "I trained everyday."
Marcus actively flinched at the boy's pain, and he almost looked as if he wanted to say something to him, but instead he turned back to the small mob of students surrounding him and continued teaching, "You see? The only difference between what he can do and what you can do is training. If you train your mind and body with magic there's nothing stopping you from being able to do what he just did with your own power." He paused and then continued, "You are by a mile the most magically adept group of students I have ever met. Even in my own time at school when we were first years" he gestured to Krent, "Most students who were 4 years your senior and could still barley generate sparks," He gestured to Salmy, "The students who were Necromancers didn't even think they had any powers because they were so weak with magic that the only things they could bring back were single celled organisms." He pointed at Brinton, "And I can guarantee you no one at my school was deflecting bullets" he paused, "When I first proposed this Idea to the queen I did so because I believed that those with magic had the power to save this kingdom from those who would seek to destroy it. The first complaint from one of her Generals was that children who had seen their parents dragged away to be gassed, students who had lived their lives drifting from town to town on the run from the secret police, children who never really had a childhood because it was robbed from them by the very people we are now asking them to serve; those children could never be soldiers because the past had broken them. I'll be the first to admit that I shared his fears, I worried that overcoming your past would simply be to much, but I see now that what you've all lived through hasn't made you weaker, it's made you stronger! What is war versus an extermination camp? What is hiding from the enemy Versus Hiding from the secret police? What is using magic to defeat the Atherians Versus using it to keep yourself alive on the run for years? What is an Elven Invasion force, versus a boy who can bury an entire extermination camp in a mountain of ice?" He took a deep breath and continued, "You students have what it takes to save this kingdom, all you need to do is fight like you've been fighting your entire lives, and I promise I will teach you the rest." Before the students had a chance to cheer or clap, Marcus turned around and signaled to the soldiers, "Come on, we should get back to the school before the sun sets. The city is dangerous at night for people like us."
That word again, us. Arty could not stop himself from feeling special in the shadow of that word. He thought about his mom and about Tau and the farm, yes they were his family, but they didn't share what he shared with his fellow students. He thought about his promise to his mother, about how he said he'd write to her. He could write to her about him showing off his powers, about him making a friend, about the flower, the speech and Zaben, but he shook his head, there's no point. Why write? he thought She's just normal. It's not like she could ever really understand.
As the other students followed Marcus back towards the exit, Arty noticed Zaben hadn't moved from his standing position before the wall of ice. He seemed not at all roused by Marcus' speech, clearly still bothered by whatever had come up earlier. It was obviously something from Zaben's past, something that had hurt him. Our pain is what makes us strong Arty thought about what Marcus said, it binds us together. He narrowed his eyes and walked towards Zaben, resolving to give every effort to cheer the boy up. As Arty approached, he turned his face to a smile, "Your powers are insane."
Zaben glanced back, still saddened and seemingly disappointed in himself "Thanks. But, I've actually seen better."
Arty just shook his head, "Well I haven't. That's easily the coolest thing I've ever seen. I mean, you could probably stop a whole Atherian Army by yourself." Arty imagined it, the reason he was there, the reason they were all there, to fight. He closed his eyes, moving his hands along with the motion of his thoughts, "An Atherian Sorcerer Lands with his Dragon that comes dashing at you, but you hit it with a wall of ice, freezing its feet to the ground."
Zaben's voice echoed into Arty's Vision, the sadness still present in his voice "There's no way I can fight a full fledged Atherian dragon rider all by myself."
"You're right!" Arty shouted defiantly, "I rush up beside you, We'll take the beast together!"
Zaben was desperate to evade the conversation. His voice robotic and monotone he stated blankly "The Dragon launches fire at us."
"But you dodge!"
"The Dragon Rider shoots lightning at us." He says, desperate to make sure he dies and his role in this verbal exercise is over.
"We dodge again!" Arty shouts defiantly
"He shoots-" Zaben paused, catching himself in his voice, "I wouldn't-" he paused again, as if contemplating whether or not to speak, "I wouldn't have dodged the lightning. I'd have thrown up an ice wall." As Zaben speaks there's the tiniest glimmer of happiness in his voice, Arty seizes on it.
"He tries to slash us with lighting, but to no Avail!" Arty threw his hands up as if trying to shield himself from the imaginary attack, "You throw up a wall of ice to deflect it away! It cracks and strains under the weight of his attack, but it holds up against it!"
"Now we're trapped behind a wall of ice, pinned by a dragon and a sorcerer." Zaben says, the negativity fully returning to his voice. Arty stops to think, desperate to find a way out of there bleak hypothetical circumstance and to give Zaben some optimism. Before he gets an idea, Zaben speaks again, almost reluctantly, but with a bit of joy in his voice, "You use your fire to create a smoke screen for the both of us, as we travel out of the ice wall each of us going separate ways."
Arty Smiles, partly glad for his imaginary escape and partly just happy to see Zaben finally getting his mind off things, "lightning and fireballs fly through the air in every direction as the Elf tries to hit what he cannot see!"
"But it's useless! He misses every time!" The excitement in Zaben's voice is undeniable, "From the smoke you launch a fireball that hits and launches him off his Dragon!"
"He lies on the ground injured and disoriented!"
"His dragon takes to the sky in fear!"
"We both close on him at the same time-"
"Simultaneously blasting him to smithereens with fire and Ice!"
"Standing over the Elf's frozen smoldering corpse, we claim victory for Queen Mara of Zytria and then move on to the Next!"
Arty opened his eyes to see his own hands were actually on fire, and Zaben's glacial blue eyes were staring back at him, as they stood in the glinting blue green light of the sun shining through the mountain of Ice. Zaben cracked a smile, "Man we really kick some butt, don't we?"
Arty nodded, "We will."