Being suspended upside down over the edge of a cliff wasn't something Aldric had anticipated. Yet there he was, dangling as if an invisible branch had hooked into the flesh of his ankles. He winced as his feet burned like the skin was being stretched off of them.
'Just a minor setback,' Raiden called down to him.
All Aldric could muster up in reply was a helpless groan as he felt himself falling upwards. This was Raiden's favourite game. He loved to mess around with the forces of gravity. Aldric's task was to learn how the gravity was meant to feel. How it scraped and struggled against manipulation and how it caused things to fall unnaturally: upwards, side wards, diagonally and spiralling out of control. Raiden was not meant to have sent him flying over the side of the cliff.
The power was lifted and Aldric toppled back onto the grassy ledge where a rather amused Raiden stood.
'Never again,' Aldric muttered, scrambling to his feet.
K's present lay lopsided in the grass a few paces away where it had tumbled from his pocket a while back.
"That was lucky," he said, stooping to pick it up. Aldric held it up to the sun and marvelled in its glistening patterns.
Raiden raised an eyebrow. 'You'll get the hang of it,' he said as he edged closer. 'Takes time you know. You're doing well considering.'
'Considering what?' Aldric asked as he opened the small wooden box to check that the necklace was still in there. It was. Raiden peered at it.
'That you weren't brought up on our world,' he said distantly. 'If you had been, you would have been taught at least the basics when you were younger. You were never supposed to have this much power.'
'Well I don't feel very powerful at the moment,' Aldric replied, brushing grass off his bottom. 'So what now?'
Raiden shrugged, his eyes fixed upon the box and necklace. His fists were clenched as if he wanted to punch something. Aldric backed away in case he turned out to be that thing. 'Are you alright?' he said. 'Did I say something or what?'
Raiden bowed his head.
'Don't ignore me,' said Aldric, folding his arms which quickly flew apart again when Raiden drew his sword.
'Don't take that stance with me.' Raiden jabbed Aldric in the chest with the handle but the blade cut into his hands.
'Ow! What're you doing?' Aldric bounced backwards and had to steady himself. 'Is this some kind of test? Look, you're bleeding.'
Raiden glared at Aldric before throwing down his sword. His eyes changed from being creased up in anger to a soft realisation. A flash of fear grazed across his face. He covered his face in shame, blood smearing onto him from his hands. The cuts were deep. Aldric crept closer to him.
'There's something inside my head,' Raiden whispered desperately.
'I should hope there is,' said Aldric. 'Your brain perhaps?'
'No,' shouted Raiden. He crouched. 'Something else, something...'
'Do you want me to get someone?'
'Like who?'
'I don't know,' Aldric hesitated.
'You're no good,' Raiden snarled under his breath. Aldric wasn't even sure that he was speaking to him anymore but a creature instead. He spoke as if he was speaking in inner-monologue. 'Who would you get? Incursio? Get him so I can run my sword through his green scaly body. Or you gonna run to my dear dad? He couldn't even save me, could he? I shouldn't even have lived.'
'Maybe if we rearrange our session,' he suggested. Raiden did not answer. Instead, he stormed down the hill. Aldric followed him at a distance.
'Get away from me,' Raiden shouted.
'What's wrong with you? Where are you going?'
Raiden stopped and turned on Aldric. He swiped his blade furiously.
'Seriously, have you lost it?' Aldric yelled as the sword skimmed through his jacket, pulling off frayed material.
'I lost Feliciana,' he hissed.
'That wasn't your fault,' said Aldric.
Raiden glared with rage before tearing away down the hill. Aldric shook his head, turned in the opposite direction and headed to Zace Ella Academy.
The guard, mainly there for traditional purposes rather than security, gave him a nod of acknowledgement as he wandered through. He kept on walking, following instructions Aurelia had given him, until he reached the double-doors right at the end of the stretched out corridors. Light trickled through the thin gap at the top and slithered between the tiniest cracks in the wood. Aldric found himself taking in a deep breath before opening the doors into the dining room. He was a little late. Most of the students had eaten their lunch and trailed off to their classes. He was greeted by only two eyes. Those eyes belonged to K. She sat at a lonely table next to a brightly lit window at the very front of the room, just a few feet away from where Aldric was standing.
'Sorry,' she said as he pulled up a seat. 'I couldn't wait,' she indicated the two plates in front of her. Hers was empty but Aldric's was piled high with cold potato and meat that had gone soggy in its own oil.
'That's okay,' replied Aldric as he reluctantly began piling the cold food into his mouth. 'I wouldn't have wanted you to.'
A few more mouthfuls, but he couldn't get much more down. Aldric pushed his plate to the side and looked to K who was lost in thought. Her blond hair fell in front of her eyes and brought her back into reality. She tucked it back behind her ears and noticed that Aldric was looking at her.
'Not hungry?'
'No,' said Aldric as his mind pondered over Raiden's odd behaviour. 'Sorry.'
'Don't be,' said K as she avoided his eyes. She got up to clear their plates away but was stopped halfway to her feet. Kyrone, large and brutish, forced K back into her seat by the shoulders as if she were a child being forced to sit down and finish their dinner. Aldric narrowed his eyebrows.
'Stay,' he ordered her. 'And I will clear your plates away for you.' He glanced at Aldric, smiling a mean smile. He was as quickly as he had arrived, leaving Aldric perplexed. When he looked back to K he could see that she was confused too.
'What does he want?' Aldric asked. 'You didn't say that you knew him.'
'That's because I don't,' K replied, before turning the conversation onto dessert. Aldric protested that he wasn't hungry but K got him a slice of cake nevertheless. He gulped it down and tried to enjoy it.
'Are you alright?' K asked him. He said nothing. 'I'm sorry for being so cold with you this past week,' she continued. 'I was just a bit shocked about the whole thing with Ty and Ivor,' Aldric still said nothing. 'Aldric, please talk to me!'
'I don't know what to say.'
'Mind if I interrupt,' said a cheerful voice from behind them. It was Aurelia. Evie was with her. 'Do you want to get enrolled now?' she added as he and K got to their feet. 'Finished lunch ages ago but K insisted that we wait. Where were you?'
'Raiden's been mentoring me,' he explained. 'says I need all the training I can get.'
'And he's right,' declared Aurelia. 'Good for him. He's such a helpful guy, once you get past the attitude.'
'He was acting a bit odd,' said Aldric.
'He's always odd,' said Aurelia dismissively but Aldric was not satisfied.
'No,' he said. 'This was different. He was saying strange things like how his dad couldn't save him. He sort of attacked me with his sword, got all upset about Feliciana and took off before the end of our session.'
'He's under a lot of stress,' said Aurelia.
'I thought he was losing it,' Aldric continued. 'Cut his hand real bad too. Didn't even notice.'
'I'll talk to him later if you like,' said Aurelia. She looked considerably more concerned. 'I'm sure it's nothing.' They headed out of the dining hall and back through the corridors. 'You handed in your paper work?' Aldric and K nodded. 'Brilliant, we just have to get you assigned to your guilds and you'll start classes tomorrow.'
'Does that mean we'll have access to the library?' said K excitedly. Aurelia laughed.
'You'll be able to go anywhere,' she replied. 'You could even live in the dormitories if you wanted but from what I gather, Floyd's enjoying the company.' She stopped outside a door and knocked on it with confidence.
'What will we have to do?' said Aldric.
'Just answer a few questions,' explained Aurelia. 'You'll be asked mainly what you plan to do with your life. Each guild focuses on a specific study area see.'
The door swung open and a silver haired woman smiled at them all.
'Now, which one of you is Aldric,' she said.
. Aurelia wished him good luck. K gave him a thumbs up but Evie looked deep in worried thought and barely noticed as Aldric followed the woman into the room
'Please,' said the woman. 'Take a seat. My name is Polari and I will be your interviewer this afternoon.'
Aldric tried to smile.
Polari continued. 'First, I must say that you have been very fortunate to be accepted to our academy. The circumstances have been quite unusual. As for your friends, I am sorry to say we cannot allow them the same privileges.'
'Why not?'
'Shall we proceed? Your placement is a much more important matter than who got in and who did not.'
'To me it isn't!'
'Calm yourself Mr Bancroft,' she said, as she made some notes. 'It is vital you don't cause any more trouble for yourself. You will need more self-control if you are going to have a long and prosperous life as our Crystal Guardian.'
'Aren't you going to ask me any questions about what I want to do with my life,' wondered Aldric.
'Actions have consequences,' said Polari. 'You must forget everything you wanted out of life. You belong to the Evepyra now. You will be placed in the Guild of Diomond. They specialise in subjects such as swordplay which will be most useful for you.'
'Is that it?' said Aldric harshly.
'Don't take that tone with me,' said Polari. 'You only have yourself to blame for your situation. You are free to go.' Aldric wasted no time in getting out of there.
'What's the matter Aldric?' said Aurelia.
'They didn't ask me any questions,' he told them. 'They put me in Diomond without asking me what I wanted in life. How can I lead a life of my own if I'm this so-called Guardian? Am I stuck at a dead end or something?'
'It'll be okay,' said K. 'You're not at a dead end. You're at a gateway.'
'What's that supposed to mean?' said Aldric.
'I think what K means is that you just need to make the most of what life's given you,' said Aurelia.
'Whose turn is it next?' asked Evie. Aldric swallowed hard and caught K's eyes.
'They don't want us do they?' she whispered.
'No,' said Aldric.
Evie and K looked at each other disappointedly. Even Aurelia wasn't smiling anymore.
'There must be something we can do,' said Evie. 'Why don't they want us?'
'If I wasn't the Crystal Guardian, I doubt they'd let me in either,' said Aldric.
'Well this sucks,' said Aurelia.
'I'd like to be alone for a bit if that's okay,' said Aldric before heading down the corridor. He fumbled with K's box and felt sorry for her, hoping that at least, the party might cheer her up. The symbols engraved on the box did look very familiar. Perhaps there were some books in the library he could look them up in. He headed straight there, pacing through the corridor at great speed.
'Watch it,' a young man grunted as Aldric accidentally pushed past. To his horror it was Kyrone again. 'I don't care if you are the Crystal Guardian,' he poked Aldric squarely in the chest. 'Doesn't make you any better than the rest of us.'
'I never said it did,' Aldric retaliated.
'You didn't have to say anything,' he said as he closed his hand into a fist. 'I know you're thinking it. You're nothing but scum.'
'Oi, Kyrone,' someone called down the hall. 'What you doing?'
Without thinking, Aldric let a punch fly into the back of Kyrone's head whilst he was distracted but he missed and skimmed his face instead.
'What you tryin' to do?' Kyrone rounded up on him. 'Think you're tough do you? Throwin' a punch when someone's got their back to you, you coward.'
At this remark, Aldric ran.
He ran all the way back to the house and ended up looking through Floyd's books instead. He was halfway through 'A Historical Reference to the Royalty of Zace Ella' when there was a knock on the door. At first he ignored it but the person on the other side was very persistent. Aldric answered the door with a grumble and came face to face with a flustered looking Raiden who barged in. He had forgotten to take a key.
'What's wrong now?' asked Aldric.
'Your father is here, running around Zace Ella somewhere,' he said as he slumped into a nearby chair.
'What?! He is?'
'Now don't get excited, Aldric, he...'
'How can you say that this isn't a good thing?' Aldric spluttered. 'Is he okay? Was he looking for me?'
'He killed one of the guards up at the temple.'
Aldric sat back down onto the sofa.
'He wouldn't have,' he said. 'It wasn't him. I know it.'
'Who was it then?' argued Raiden. Aldric said nothing. 'Look, there was blood at the scene, there had been a struggle. The blood was tested this morning and it was his.' Something wasn't right. Aldric knew his father and he wasn't a killer. Raiden shrugged. 'I thought I should let you know,' he added. 'Also, K's party will be held later at the academy instead of the temple because of...because of what happened.'
Aldric nodded glumly but Raiden didn't even look at him as he headed up the stairs, his feet heavy with every step, making dust drop from the ceiling.
Aldric returned to the books but could only stare at the pages with blurred eyes. He gave up. Nothing made sense anymore.