’The Academy’; City of Rennan, 10 years earlier

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“Are you sure you want to go through with this, Caleb?”

Eli fidgeted in his chair, his hands clasped tightly and his legs swinging below him. The chair’s back was too hard and he slumped low in the seat. He looked to his left at Katryn and started to say something to her, but her eyes were half-lidded. The waiting room had nothing in it but a few more chairs and whirling dust motes.

“I don’t really have a choice, master,” their brother’s voice sounded clearly from the next room. “I’ve already explained everything to you.”

“So I ask again: come work with us,” the master said, seeming to plead. “You know how much we could use your skills in the field. And I know you want to be here.”

“I don’t have time for this,” Caleb said with emphasis. “If you insist, answer me one more time: can you guarantee me pay equal to the Riders?”

The master sighed. “I wish we could, Caleb. I truly do. If that’s all it comes down to… Please, fetch them.”

Footsteps. Eli straightened up immediately, and Katryn followed suit, slower. She rubbed her eyes with both hands as they climbed to their feet. She dropped her hands away from her face as the door opened, but not before their brother caught sight of them. He crossed the distance to them in two long strides.

“Headaches again, Kat?” Caleb murmured, bending down slightly to look her in the eyes. He stroked her hair. “It’s okay. Maybe Master Deotis can help.”

Katryn nodded unenthusiastically, but took Caleb’s hand when he offered it to her. Eli padded beside them into the other room. It was far more lavishly furnished, with rich rugs and several tapestries hanging on the walls. Every inch of wallspace not covered by a tapestry was home to a bookshelf, containing what seemed to be ancient and difficult tomes.

A grey-haired man with a neatly trimmed goatee stood next to a desk by the room’s single window. There was a chair in the center of the room, which Caleb motioned to Katryn to sit down in.

Deotis picked up a stone orb from a mount on his desk. Eli could see that it was covered in strange symbols. The master moved next to Katryn’s chair and knelt down. “I’m going to cast a spell, okay?” he said. “It won’t hurt,” he added quickly as she drew away from him.

“I promise it won’t hurt, Kat,” Caleb said. “He’s done it to me. It’s not like your magic. It won’t hurt.”

Katryn gritted her teeth, then nodded firmly. Slowly, Deotis placed two fingers on her forehead and began muttering words Eli couldn’t understand. Each word that he finished saying caused symbols on the orb to light up, until the orb was fully lit and glowing brightly in the dim room.

After a few moments, Deotis stopped. “She has a Spark,” he said as the orb began to lose its light. “It appears to be Earth, and if I had my guess it will manifest soon. She has a remarkable Weave, at that,” he continued. Eli looked to Caleb, confused, but his brother was too focused on Katryn.

“What of the visions? Did the reading confirm anything about them?” Caleb asked.

Deotis shook his head. “Let me have a look at that symbol, though.”

With even more hesitation than before, Katryn moved her hair away from the back of her neck. Eli couldn’t see it, but he knew what was there, and he unconsciously put a hand to the mark at the base of his neck in sympathy.

“Hmm…” the mage mused. “No. No, I don’t know the symbol, nor what it means. It is likely just an older form of the runes, though. Yes, I believe it is the same language,” he said, hefting the magical orb for emphasis. “I haven’t any idea how it could have just appeared on your sister, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it was the cause of these… visions. However, this is entirely unheard of. There’s nothing here at the Academy that would help her, and my colleagues would just want to study her.”

Eli looked at Caleb. His brother’s right arm was quivering at his side and that meant that Caleb was really upset. He looked away.

“Fine,” Caleb said in a strained voice. “Kat? Out of the chair, please. Eli, it’s your turn.” The process repeated once more, and while it didn’t hurt, Eli felt a strange tingling sensation throughout his entire body—most intensely at the base of his neck.

“Incredible,” Deotis said. “Absolutely incredible. His Weave is massive. That potential—but he has no Spark, Caleb. He’ll need to learn the runes if he wants to harness what he’s been given.”

Caleb nodded. “What about Eli’s symbol? It hasn’t manifested any physical abilities that we’ve seen. He seems… extremely sensitive of his surroundings, though. He can feel people around him. I’m not sure if that has to do with the symbol or if he’s just unusually perceptive. What would your guess be?”

Deotis shrugged. “I’m sorry, Caleb. I wouldn’t be able to say. I haven’t encountered anything like this before. However, between the two—”

“Yes, I know.” Caleb sighed deeply and crouched down once more to look Eli and Katryn in the eyes. “Alright. Do you two understand what is happening?”

“The master can’t stop my visions,” Katryn said with a shaky voice, staring straight at the ground. “The Academy won’t help me.”

“No, it won’t. But I will do my best, Kat,” Caleb said, taking her hand in both of his. “We’ve done well so far. We’ll find out what’s happening to you and we’ll stop it.” He turned to look at Eli. “And you…”

“Need to stay here,” Eli finished for him. “I’ll take your place.”

Caleb ruffled his hair and smiled half-heartedly. “If you want to. I won’t make you. I think it would be a good idea… I think you’ll be a lot happier if you learn how to use your magic. But you can choose for yourself.”

“How often can I come home?”

“Every weekend!” Caleb said. “And they have soft beds here, real beds, and good hot food you don’t even have to pay for.”

Eli looked at Katryn sniffling quietly beside him, then at the plush red rug on the marble floor. He looked at Caleb for a moment, then stared past him at the bookshelves. “You liked it here, right?”

Caleb was silent. “I loved it,” he said quietly. “I wish I didn’t have to go.”

“Then I’m staying here. And when you leave this summer, I’ll write you letters and tell you all the things I’ve learned,” Eli said.

Caleb smiled. “Alright. And you know I’ll make sure to visit every time I have leave.” He held out his arms and Eli rushed into his embrace. “I’ll see you at home this weekend, okay?”

“Okay, Caleb. I love you.”

“I love you too, Eli,” Caleb said. He had a strange tone in his voice. He straightened up, then held his hand out to Katryn. He cleared his throat. “Thank you, Master,” he said. “I won’t ever forget this.”

“I won’t forget you, Caleb. You’re my brightest pupil in a decade,” the old man said with sadness in his voice. “Come back and visit again before you’re deployed. I’ll make sure you’re allowed entry.”

“No… No, I don’t think so,” Caleb said quietly. “Goodbye, master.” He smiled at Eli before walking towards the door with Katryn in tow. He paused at the doorframe. He shook his head slowly. “Take good care of Eli, master. Teach him well.” He left.

“Caleb... off to make a living from the Hunt. I wish…” Eli’s new master sighed and passed a hand over his face. “All that boy ever wanted was to be a healer.”

He crouched down to look Eli in the eyes. “Well, you’re here now. How would you like to summon fire? Or learn to shake the earth? Here, my boy, you can learn to do anything you want—for the benefit of others, of course. We’ll teach you it all.”

Eli looked at the door through which his siblings had gone. “Yes, master. And I’ll be a good student. But… I think I’d like to be a healer, too.”

Next Chapter: Chapter 2 - Graves