The Apprentice's Trial

Another day

Alex POV
BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. I rolled over with a groan and slammed my hand onto my bedside table, aiming for the alarm clock. I missed. That was surprisingly painful. I tried again, and this time I was right on the money. The infernal noise ceased and I rolled over again, ready to fall back into my peaceful slumber.

"GET YOUR LAZY ASS UP AND READY FOR A RUN ALEX!" Gabby screamed through the door. At least she hadn't emptied water over me again.
"Yeah, sure, I'll get right on it, I swear." I called back. I sat up with a groan and rubbed the sleep from my eyes, barely suppressing a yawn. Rolling out of bed, I pulled on some sweatpants, a t-shirt and trainers, ran a comb through my hair and splashed my face with warm water in the bathroom. It was still dark outside. I stumbled through the halls, past the other dorm rooms, out of the school.

I met Gabby by the front gates. She was limbering up, getting ready for a good morning workout. With a mutual nod, we both set of. This was no leisurely jog, it was a three mile gruelling run, though the fact I ran it every morning did help. It always ended in a race, but at the beginning, we kept pace with one another. It was too dark to see anything but the lit path ahead of us that was comprised of stones and sand. The crisp, early spring air was slowly shaking me from my drowsy stupor.

"Alex?" I turned my head to her with a smile.
"Yes?"
"Do you know when Sky and Matilda will be back? I need to run something by them." I shook my head. They'd left the country on 'Guardian Business' . Usually we would be told to tag along, but clearly this was too dangerous for apprentices.
"What do you need to ask them?" Maybe I could help her.
"I'm found an old galatica spell, but I had to translate it and I want Sky to ensure I did it right before testing." I couldn't help her with that. Very few people knew about my sisters secret talent. Most thought she was weak, because all they had seen her do was some basic telekinesis and healing. But she secretly practiced galatica magic, a very dangerous and powerful art that was almost impossible to get right and fatal to get wrong.

But my sister could pull it off, because she was smarter and stronger than anyone suspected. We lapsed back into silence, merely intent on finishing our wide lap of the school grounds. Thank the Ancestors it was Friday. While we still had to train on the weekends, it was much more relaxed.

The sky was a light grey tinged with streaks of pink, red and orange when the front gates loomed into view again. I shared a look with Gabby, flashed her a mischievous grin, and then sprinted as fast as I could towards the wrought iron gates that were inlaid with silver and gold. Every morning we raced like this, and the results were always pretty even. I neared it and stretched my hand out, trying to brush my fingers over the frosted metal. I was inches, no, centimetres from victory, when something wrapped around my ankle and yanked me to the ground. Gabby's pink trainers flashed by me, and she reached the gate first.

I scrambled to my feet, face burning, while Gabby doubled over with laughter.
"Cheater!" I accused, jabbing a finger at her to emphasise my point.
"In a fight, do you think the enemy will play fair? Cos they won't." She had a point. I grumbled under my breathe as I entered the school and stomped off to the dorms. I needed to clear up and put my uniform on before breakfast. The effects of the run were starting to kick in, and I felt extremely tired. I dropped my sweat soaked workout clothes in the laundry basket and went into the ensuite to shower. Most rooms didn't have an ensuite, instead they had a shared bathroom, but being the headmistress' apprentice had its upsides.

I towelled off and dressed in the uncomfortable, uptight uniform. Stiff black trousers, a crisp white shirt, dark green blazer and tie along with a pair of shiny black loafers. It was smart and elegant, as to be expected of the best school in all of England. Except the students weren't ordinary in the slightest. Everyone in this school studied and practised magic along with English, maths and science, all while keeping up the pretence of an ordinary school. Me and Gabby were on a special, exclusive course, that taught us offensive magic and fighting skills, and then Matilda and Sky trained us when they could. The breakfast bell rang and I left the room, locking it behind me and plunging into the crowd. Someone called my name and I turned. It was Adam. He fought his way through the crowd to walk beside me.
"Hey Alex! I stopped by your room this morning, but you weren't answering the door! What's up with that?" Everyday I told him about my runs, and every night he forgot.
"My running?"
"Oh yeah. I remember now. I'm starving, pick up the pace." The crowd streamed out of the dorms and led to the dining home over the paved path that wound its way over the perfectly manicured grass.