Dark: Saga One

Chapter 2 - Buvia/Orientation

I woke up and was met with a familiar face. It was the Mage that gave me my entrance exam. "Sir Galan." I said. His Elven ears popped up and his face was pale in complexion while his eyes were a bright blue. "Ah young Dark, I was told you made quite the commotion yesterday!" He laughed.

I sat up in bed and felt my body still recovering from yesterday. "Sir, if I may ask? Why did I pass out?" He walked away and grabbed paper from a nearby desk. "Well, I had a theory that you used an artifact." He walked towards the window and opened the curtains and illuminated the room with sunlight. His blond hair seemed to intake the light, he moved back to the bed and pulled out a map. "Did you use something like this?" He asked. I nodded and he sighed. "I figured, there's no other reason."

"Okay, you've slept for about seven hours. I'll let you get some more rest before orientation. He closed the curtains and exited the room. I laid down and closed my eyes.

I woke up several hours later and got up. I walked out of the room and into the hallway where I saw a lot of people walking. I waited and waited for Sir Galan, but he wasn't here yet. I walked down the hall and heard screaming. I turned the corner and saw a group of kids picking on another kid. The group was about five boys and they all were smaller than me. I walked up behind them and towered over them. "Hey, what are you doing?" I asked. One of the boys laughed and said, "teaching this twerp a lesson." I grabbed the boy and pulled him aside. "Get out of here. I'm not saying it twice." 

The boy seemed to get the idea and yelled at me, "This isn't the last you'll see of me." I looked back to the bullied boy and helped him up. His hair was a pure white, and his eyes were a dark blue. "Thanks, I don't know how to repay you." He said. I extended my hand, "How bout' your name?" "Grayson Oris." he muttered. I laughed, "Ah that's funny, I met your grandpa in Duxia." 

His face lit up, "You saw Grandpa?" I went to a nearby bench to sit and he did the same. "Yeah, so I was boarding one of those Magic Trains and he gave me a ticket and he asked me where I was going and the conversation led to you. Though to be honest, I kind of forgot about it till I saw your white hair." 

"Yeah that sounds like Grandpa, wait; did you say Duxia?" He asked. I nodded. "What's he doing out there?" he said. "I've got a question." I said. Grayson nodded and I said, "He said you hair was grayish, but yours is pure white." Grayson rubbed his hair, "Yeah, last time he saw me it was gray, but that has been over a year ago. My hair quickly changed when I first started practicing Magic."

I heard a sudden ringing and Grayson got up and said, "Come on, orientation is starting." I got up and followed him to a hall where we sat and waited. The students in the room were talking and making a lot of noise, but then a sudden boom was heard from the front of the room. A man was standing there. "Hello Students of Bekerth, today is orientation. That means we'll be showing you why you applied here. The best way to do that is our little introduction."

Smoke burst in the several corners of the room and started heading towards us students. Then a gust of wind scooped up the smoke and gently threw it through the window. A burst of fire erupted around the students and was put out by water. The room was then suddenly bright with Light Magic and then it a dark void by Shadow Magic. The room returned to normal and there were five teachers standing on a stage.

Everyone clapped and then the Dean came out. I had heard that the Dean of Bekerth was an Elf of the highest standing, but I didn't realize who it was. The Dean walked to the podium and cleared his throat. "HELLO STUDENTS! I am Dean Terra Olaris. I've been Dean for fifty years. I probably had your parents or grandparents as students so as a warning; I know most of you by name already."

The Dean stepped down and towards the students. He grabbed a student and said, "This here is Ayas Yinven, like me an Elf and of the three prominent bloodlines." The young student sat down and the Dean walked towards me. He waved his hand and then he grabbed Grayson. "This is Grayson Oris, Heir to the Oris family." Grayson sat back down and the Dean grabbed me, "Hmmm, you I don't know, although you're familiar with my son." I sat back down and he made his way grabbing students and saying their names.

After a while he went back up to the podium, "Now, I'm sorry. That wasn't the point. The point is that I will help you all achieve a great status in the world, whether that be good or bad." He waved his hand and walked off stage. A teacher stepped up and spoke. He was a human with white hair. "Is that guy related to you?" I whispered to Grayson. "No, it's common for people to have their hair change color when they awaken their magic." The man spoke clear and loud, "We are Bekerth, we are the pride of the world and so you will act like the pride of the world. we'll be giving you a rule book. There's only three rules. Number one: Do your best. Number two: No discrimination. Number three: No killing."

"That's it, now for the freshman. We'll be separating you guys into groups for your rooms. A through D, come here now." The teacher said. "Well, guess this is goodbye for now. See you later." I said. I walked to the group and was at the back of line. A dwarf walked from the front to the back and held out an ink bottle. She poured it onto the back of our hands and then engraved it to our skin with her fire magic. She explained, "This ink is invisible, but it's appears when supplied with Magic and it acts as a key for your dorms." Someone in the front was rubbing the ink and asked if they could remove it. She smacked their head and said, "Do not mess with the ink, it takes me forever to make these, plus those last till your senior year." 

She led us up several sets of stairs and finally to the dorms where we'd be staying at. She began listing off names and rooms. "Valian Dark, room six with Sage Gloomfire." I saw Sage enter the room and I followed behind. The door shut and I sat down on the bed across from Sage. Several minutes passed and I cleared my throat. "Ah, my name's Valian Dark, my attribute is Shadow."

Sage sighed and sat on his bed, "Sage Gloomfire, my attribute's Fire." He waved his hand and summoned a fireball. "So, are you taking any of the advanced classes?" I asked. He scoffed, "Naturally, what about you?" I smiled and said, "I don't have the best control over my Magic, so I can't risk going advanced till I'm confident."

"You said Shadow Magic? That means that there isn't really a lot of tutors here." He said. I laid down on the bed. "Yeah, but fortunately Sir Galan is a teacher here. He's got the same attribute." Sage put out his Magic and said, "Sucks that you're not good already, you seem like a good sparring partner." I laughed and looked over, "I'll try my hardest and then we'll have a match. Okay?" Sage flicked his fingers and said, "Alright, let's go to bed."

I laid back onto the bed and felt as the shadows swarmed me. They've been with me since I was a kid and even now they help my body as it aches. I even feel them helping me fall asleep.