Mark of the Ranger

II. Lio, Hopeful Graduate

          I felt like I was drifting through an endless void. Everything around me was white. There was nothing as far as my eyes could see. "Lio!" something called out from the distance. "Lio!" The voice persisted, calling some strange word that I can't place. "Lionel McCarthy!" The voice yelled again. Those words sounded familiar...

          Wait, that's my name.

          I snapped awake, somewhat glad to know that I was in my bed instead of an endless white void. I picked up the pocket watch that I keep by my bedside. 6:30. Late by Ranger standards, but the ceremony is at 7:30, so I had some time. I hastily clothed myself, then put my pocket watch in my shirt pocket. Jeff must have been the one calling me from downstairs. I practically leaped down the stairs and rushed to the front door, grabbing one of my mother's waffles. She must have made them for my big day today.

          Today, my friends and I were graduating from the Academy. We were going to be Outland Rangers! I met Jeff outside my mother's lodge. 

          Jeff Swilmore was a stocky young man. He stood a bit shorter than me, but he made up for it in having twice the strength I did. He had styled brown hair and serious sideburns. His limbs rippled with muscle, strange for a guy who was only a little older than thirteen. 

          Jeff shook his head a little with annoyance. "Rangers are always on time, Lio," he chided me. "You know that." I shook his comment off, more than a little excited. We needed to pick up Karen by the river first. 

          Jeff and I dashed as fast as we could over to the river. It was a great river, only about half a mile from our village. Jeff, Karen and I used to play in that river when we were kids, before the academy separated us into gender groups. We reached the river, but Karen wasn't there. Jeff looked at me with brief uncertainty. Where was Karen? 

          Before we turned and left, however, the river began to bubble. After a few minutes, the water rose into a boil. Jeff and I looked at each other nervously. The river was normally cool and calm. At the moment when we both took cover, fearing that there was a river stalker in the water, Karen burst out of the water, with a tall merman next to her.

          Karen landed on the bank next to the river with little grace. Merfolk weren't gentle on land. Karen's dolphin tail slowly morphed into perfectly good set of human legs, complete with a set of trousers. The tall merman morphed his lower half, as well. The two stood up.

          Karen Ner'ellan was known as a beautiful lady among merfolk. She had hair that was as red as fire, a smile more enticing than any siren song(she was a great siren singer, but her order refused to use it for its traditional purpose). I should know. I've seen her use it on shopkeepers. Like Jeff, she was more muscular than a thirteen-year-old mermaid should. I was the only one who had average amounts of muscle.

          "Hey, guys," Karen greeted us, her voice ringing like a church bell. "This is my dad. He would like to 'escort' me to the ceremony, so to speak." She pointed to the tall merman next to her. Her dad, who looked like an average fisherman with his sun hat, tropical shirt, sunglasses and Bermuda shorts, waved congenially.

          So the four of us turned and walked over to the Ranger Headquarters. It was about seven miles away from the river, so we realized it would be best to run. During our training, we had been trained until we could run for ten miles straight at ten miles per hour. However, after about twenty minutes, I had begun to wonder why everything in the Outlands is so spread apart.

          Karen's dad was the fastest out of all of us. When I asked Karen why, she told me he was an Outland Ranger, and had requested a day off to be at the ceremony. That statement made me establish the idea that Karen's dad, probably known as Mr. Ner'ellan, was a nice guy.

          After quite a bit of running, we finally reached the headquarters. It was a magnificent building, full of large crystal towers. The crystal towers were where we would be staying as Rangers, and they surrounded a large building, the main hall. The main hall also had a beacon on the top, which shot a beam of light towards the sky. Oculus, one of the directors and an automaton, referred to it as a "pylon." 

          Karen, Jeff, and I stood in front of the dramatically large doors, side-by-side. Of course the doors had to be dramatically large. If they were normally sized, that would be boring. You can trust me when I say that the Outland Rangers, or any of the other four Ranger Corps, are not boring in the slightest.

          We all opened the door together. Opening the doors was a three-person job, unless you had the Mark of Strength. If you had that, opening the doors was no problem. We walked inside.

          The main hall was nearly full. I checked my pocket watch. 7:22. We were slightly early, with eight minutes to spare. I looked for Oculus, but he was talking to another Outland Ranger. I sat down with my classmates from the academy and began to chat about card games.

          Well, we tried to chat about card games, but we couldn't go five seconds without mentioning the day ahead of us. Up until now, I had been certain I would graduate, but I really didn't know. Last year, only half of the class had graduated. Half of the remaining went to the Wizarding Guild, a special city in the Highlands meant specifically for wizards and wizardesses, as well as witches and warlocks. I suddenly heard Oculus clear his throat, the sound magnified with a special spell.

          "Hello, hopeful graduates," the automaton said. "How are you today?"

          "Good," we informed him in polite response. Oculus chuckled. "I'm not one for dragging things on, so let's cut to the chase. Which of you will be Rangers and which of you are sadly incompetent? Let's find out."