Deathbringer

CHAPTER 2

At first, Beatrix was only aware of the cold floor beneath her. It was hard and pressed into the claw marks left behind by the stymph. She groaned.

The stymph. There was a stymph. 

She shot upright, so quickly that a jolt of pain spiked through her sides. She was in what looked like an entrance chamber. In fact, if she wasn't mistaken, it was the entrance chamber to a castle. The stymph was nowhere to be seen, but there were other people in the room. Their whispers drifted towards her across the room.

"-Weak. She isn't-"

"-Must be a mistake-"

"Can the stymphs make mistakes?"

"Silence!" The voice came from the other side of the room. Beatrix turned her head with a wince. It took her a minute to locate the person that had spoken. It was a man, about three feet tall. His stature would have been funny, if not for the fact that he seemed to command the utmost respect. He looked at the group of people across the room. "You are not here to gossip about the new arrival. You may speak only if you have something worthwhile to say." The group remained silent. He shot Beatrix a withering glance, as though he'd known she was awake and listening the whole time. She lifted herself into a sitting position; the strain made her muscles scream for mercy.

The man curled his lip at her obvious weakness. "Clearly there has been some mistake. The Deathbringer would never wish to recruit such a weak girl as you. And human, too. You are not even useful in other ways."

"Why—"Beatrix stopped. Her voice was raspy as sandpaper. The group snickered. She coughed to clear her throat and tried again. "Why do you care how useful I am? You're only going to kill me anyway."

The man raised his eyes to the heavens. "Year after year." He grumbled. "You pathetic humans always assume we're going to kill you. Did it never occur to you that we wanted to recruit you?"

"...Recruit?"

"Well," He amended. "We recruit the healthy ones. You are most definitely not healthy. So you will have to die. Unless somebody here is willing to vouch for you."

There was the briefest of silences. Then a boy stepped forward. Beatrix was so surprised that she froze. The man in charge also seemed rather nonplussed. "Jamie—I mean, James?"

The boy bowed his head in a show of respect, though there was also a certain sense of irony in the gesture, which spoke of a familiarity between the two. "I am willing to vouch for the recruit. Let her mistakes be my mistakes. I accept that any punishment that may befall her will be my punishment also. And, in the event that she flourishes under training, let her triumphs be my triumphs."

The man—Galdur—broke free of his speechless trance. "I warn you that there is no going back on this vow. Any punishment of hers will indeed be a punishment of yours also."

Beatrix could see she didn't have much of a choice. She didn't want to join the army, but if she refused she would die, and they would kill this boy alongside her. She didn't want to be responsible for that. "I—I accept."

Nobody spoke any more of the matter, but there was a sense of agreement in the air. The group of people broke ranks and headed en masse for a door across the room. Only two remained: Galdur and James. They proceeded to have a whispered conversation, which Beatrix only heard some of. 

"Jamie—" Galdur hesitated. "Are you sure about this?"

"I can't back down now, you know that." Jamie ran a hand through his silvery hair. "Besides, she's strong. I know it."
"Jamie, she literally can't stand up."
At this point, they both stared at Beatrix, who was indeed struggling to even keep her sitting position. She glared and pulled herself higher, just to prove them wrong.

"...Maybe so." Jamie admitted. "But emotionally, she's strong. She's more stubborn than most of the recruits combined. That sort of determination may be enough to get her through training. There's no need to worry about her."

"I'm not worried about her. I'm worried about you."

"You don't need to worry about me either."

Galdur heaved a sigh. "I hope you're right." He turned on his heel and strode off toward the door. When he was gone, Jamie turned to her.

"Always one for dramatic exits, that one. I f he was allowed to use magic in front of recruits, you can bet he'd be adding some flashes and bangs to really add to the drama."

Beatrix stared. "He can do magic?"

Jamie nodded. "Of course he can. Magic is second nature to a brownie like him. Of course," He mused. "He can't do anything really impressive—not like a pixie—but he knows enough."

Beatrix eyed his pointed ears. "Can you do magic?"

Jamie laughed at that. "Me? Do magic? Do I look like a pixie to you? I'm half elf, stupid! Half elf and half human. Elves can't do magic. We work manually."

"Like Santa's elves." She suggested. Jamie gave her a dark look. "Or...not?"

"Come on." Before she could move, he reached down and lifted her to her feet. She swayed for a minute, unsteady. "You okay?" She nodded. "Great. Let's go then. I'll show you to your dormitory."

                                                                                     ***

The other recruits made Beatrix feel pathetically weak and useless. They didn't appear to all be there—Beatrix could see several empty beds—but she could feel the power coming off in waves from the ones that were there.

There was the green-skinned, dark-haired girl with shimmering wings. She was performing magic for some of the other recruits. Beatrix figured she was one of the pixies that Jamie mentioned. She saw Beatrix looking and grinned, showing sharp little teeth like a shark.

Then there was the warty-skinned boy who was very obviously a troll—and a powerful one at that. He was putting the finishing touches to caring for a wicked club that was longer than Beatrix's arm. He didn't make any effort to interact with his fellow recruits. Then again, the recruits didn't seem all too eager to interact with him either.

Then there was the yellow-eyed boy and the tall, pale girl who were snarling at each other. Quite literally, in the boy's case. His unkempt, overgrown hair stood on end. Beatrix didn't think he was a faerie, but he certainly wasn't human. Neither was the girl. There was something other-worldly about her, as though she was on a different plane of existence all together.

Next to these recruits, even James looked positively ordinary. And he was an armed half-elf.

He obviously commanded respect though. Just like Galdur. The second he appeared in the door way, the recruits all stopped talking and stood up respectfully. Beatrix wondered what he'd done to gain that respect.

"This is Beatrix." He gestured for her to step inside. She did so, subtly using the doorframe to support herself—at least, she hoped it was subtle. "She's the newest recruit, from—" He looked at her expectantly.

"From Rumelt."

"From Rumelt!" He repeated cheerfully. "Be kind to her."

"No." She interrupted. "I don't want anyone to be kind to me just because you asked them to. I want to earn their kindness myself. Or their respect, at least."

The pixie girl looked at her in admiration. "Well, this could be an interesting year. I heard most kids from Rumelt will take the kindness. Respect doesn't even cross their minds." She smiled at Beatrix and offered a hand. "I'm Laurel."

Beatrix shook her hand awkwardly. "Beatrix."

"Can I call you Trix?"

"No."

"Well, nice to meet you Trix."

Jamie grinned as though this was all very delightful. Well, now that you're all settled and happy, I have things to be doing."

He left the room, leaving newly-dubbed Trix alone with her strange dorm-mates.