Magic, Dark Lords, and Other Lies From The Empire

Chapter 1

I was the last person at the training grounds, as usual. The other members of my cohort had either headed for home or to hang out with their friends hours ago. Perhaps I would have done the same, but not today, not with the Trials only a week away.

*CLANG!*

*CLANG!*

*CLANG!*

I punched the reinforced post over and over, the harsh sound of my iron gauntlets striking the metal plate the only sound in the torch-lit training grounds. Even with my arms heavy and burning with exhaustion, the force behind the blows dented the metal as I forced myself to keep moving.

*CLANG!*

*CLANG!*

*CLINK!*

"Damn it!" I snapped as I lost my form, the punch glancing off the plate instead of striking it directly. My arms dropped to my knees, holding me up as I panted heavily. I steadied my breathing as I tried to shake some feeling back into my arms.

"Come on Xara, you can do this," I told myself, shifting my weight from foot to foot. "Just one more set. A hundred punches. They're not hard." I stretched my back, looking up to the dimly lit sky.

...Dimly lit?

My eyes widened as I looked up at the sky, processing just how long I'd been here and remembering what cycle of the week it was.

"Not again!" I shouted as I scrambled towards the girl's locker room. This may not have been the first time I lost track of time while training, but Father would kill me for being out this late during a gaqemcyu cycle.

'How did I not notice the sun rising!?' I wondered for the millionth time as I began focusing my aura into my legs. Moving as fast as I could I rushed to the locker room, nearly breaking the wooden door off its hinges(again) as I slammed it open.

I didn't bother changing out of my training gear as I rushed back out, although I did replace my combat boots with my normal shoes and shoved them along with my gauntlets into the locker. Traditional battle gear might be less dangerous to carry about than a sword, but that didn't mean the guards would be any more lenient about citizens walking around with weapons.

I started running down the cold stone halls of the academy. Most of the lamps lining the halls were extinguished, providing less light than a moonless night and muting the colors until all I could see was grey. Still, it was enough light to see by as I ran at top speed. I leapt off the walls to avoid slowing down as I made my way to the main entrance.

Slowing down just enough to not crash into the large wooden doors, I stepped out into the Grand Courtyard. The three-hundred-foot-long stone path stretched out between me and the main gates. Mercifully, the thick metal grate was already open but was lowering itself after letting a quagga-drawn carriage through.

Vydiqa Academy had been built like a fortress, and the portcullis of the main gate was intentionally designed to close quickly and open slowly.

'I have to get through!'

Gathering every drop of aura I had left, I dashed for the gate.

The gate was nine feet off the ground.

My body accelerated rapidly.

Eight feet off the ground.

I was halfway there.

Six feet.

I was covering dozens of feet in a single bound.

Four feet.