~Part Two~
~Mysteries Unraveled~
~Chapter Fifteen~
Teachings
It had been two weeks since the day when Derez had let Runner go. Knall had not made any progress with the rock. No matter how hard he pressured Derez he would not give any clue to help.
Knall had done everything he knew possible. He tried gazing at it for hours, willing it to move. He had thought various spells so hard he had had a severe headache afterward. He had even attempted reasoning with it. Nothing had worked.
Knall and Derez were still along the exact same tree line they had been walking over for the past few weeks. He had been told it was The Hidden Forest but when asking why Derez had remained silent. Knall had been trying for weeks to get him to talk. Apparently letting Runner go had made a larger impact on him than he thought.
Nevertheless Knall had not given up attempting to make him talk. “Why won’t you tell me anything about the rock?”
“You need to figure it out for yourself.”
“Why?” Derez never answered. Discouraged but not completely put out Knall tried again. “Did you have to learn this?” Derez nodded and Knall continued.
“Who taught you?”
“No one.”
“You mean you taught yourself?” Knall asked, surprised. They walked for several minutes until Derez finally spoke without answering the question.
“Look into the stone. Not at it,” Struck with a revelation, Knall hastily reaching into himself and retrieved the smooth stone Derez had handed him back on the Kystel River. He held it in the palm of his hand and gazed at it. He shook his head, no, into it.
Stretching out his sense he felt the rock. Now completely focused on it, he slowly stopped walking. He reached out to it, touching it with his sense, taping it with his mind.
He felt it pulse in response. Yes! Refocusing, he stretched out again with the aid of magic. He touched it with his mind, a spell waiting for it to be cast. As Knall’s mind linked with the stones essence, the spell and magic flowed into it.
The rock flipped over. “Yes!!!” Knall shouted out triumphantly. Derez smiled and continued walked. “Good, keep working,” Knall smiled at the challenge and gazed, into the rock once more.
*~*~*
Khor sat on his cot, hugging his legs and staring at the wall with wide eyes. The table in the center of the room had the dishes left over from dinner. Friizen had just left and Khor was thinking about what he had just done.
Is joining Mourn really what I want to do? Do Vathen and I have time to play around in some castle? What happens if I fail? What happens if I pass?! Either way there wasn’t much I could do about it. Vathen would have wanted me to and Friizen defiantly pressured me to, so…
His thoughts drifting, he looked up at the small oil lamp hanging from the ceiling. “Lessons start tomorrow.” Khor whispered, echoing Friizen’s words. He gazed over at the chair in the corner and saw the uniform he will have to wear.
There was a white buttoned up shirt that had a small red emblem in the shape of a snake coiled around a teardrop. The pants were black as well with a black belt. There was a tie with stripes of red and black. There was also a dark green sweater vest and formal shoes.
Khor got up and walked over to the closet. He threw it open and saw his own clothes hanging on thin pieces of wire. He looked at his white jacket and his black shirt. Then his hand brushed against Melden.
This brought back every memory Khor had experienced back with even more force. Khor saw flashes of the thousands of Shades on the white bridge. He saw the Instructors being brutally murdered. He remembered Jhere. “I will never forget Jhere,” Khor whispered with anger.
Khor turned around sharply and slammed the doors of the closet. He sat back down on his cot and glared at everything ferociously. There was a soft knock at his door and Khor bitterly called out, “Come in,”
The door swung open and Vathen stepped in. He quickly looked around the room and grasped a chair, setting it in front of the cot. Khor removed the pillowed and leaned against the cold stone wall, hugging the pillow, hiding his mouth.
Vathen sat down and began to speak. “I just heard you decided to join. Are you sure you can do this?”
“We don’t have enough time?” Asked Khor hopefully.
“No, we have time, but… Are you sure you can after the academy. I explained what happened to Friizen if you don’t mind. He understands if you want to change your mind,” Khor sat in silence for a moment, thinking.
Vathen stood and rested his hand on Khor’s shoulder for a moment. He then left Khor alone in his room. Khor stood and gazed at himself in the tall mirror in the corner next to his cot. He gazed at himself. He had a small amount of brown hair on his chin. He looked at his long black hair he let it hang in his eyes, looking at himself sadly.
Khor hugged his arms and felt a tear roll down his face. He forced himself to look at his reflection, gazing into the person who left them behind. He looked into his face and saw someone who left everyone at the school behind.
Everyone he grew up with, everyone he hated was gone. Instead of bringing happiness he felt another tear roll down his cheek. He gazed into his reflection, crying. He inhaled deeply and looked at himself. He saw a coward.
“I’m not strong enough!!!” He screamed punching the mirror with all his strength and rage. It shattered, thin cracks running around his fist. Pieces broke off, cutting his hand. The pain was a reminder of the pain all the others suffered.
The broken pieces shimmered in the dim light. He was broken, forever broken inside. One shard clung to the mirror and Khor looked at himself in it. “I’m going to kill every one.” He whispered, “Every, single, one.”
Khor barely slept at all that night. He slipped in and out of sleep, with only tars in between. He cried for the entire night and could barely remember what had happened before he had cried.
He cursed himself and the Shades. He cursed himself for being too weak, he couldn’t save them. He cursed the Shades, they killed for pleasure, they didn’t care that every single one of those kids had families. Everyone expect him.
When he glanced at the clock he realized it was early morning. He forced himself to get out of bed. He looked at himself in the mirror again, collecting himself. He wiped the last tear he had to spill off his cheek and started to mat down his hair.
He willed himself to smile and simply could not do it. He avoided his own gaze and hurriedly changed clothes. He took off his shirt and saw a red bruise from the night of the attack. When his shadow guardian had been hit, he felt it. He rubbed the bruise lightly and slipped into the white collared shirt.
He tied his tie as best he could and slipped on the sweater vest. He reluctantly wore the shoes, being so used to worn in boots. Now he looked at himself in the mirror and didn’t seem to care about anything now. He looked at himself sadly once more and turned to leave.
When he stepped into the hallway he reached into his pocket and found a piece of paper. He lightly took it out and unfolded it. Drawn onto it was a small map to each of his classes. His first class was literature.
He could read which was unusual if you hadn’t gone to the Academy. He could write but nothing beautiful or meaningful. He thrust his hands into his pockets and began to walk out of the student’s quarters and into the Central Tower.
Here were mostly several floors of classrooms. Before he found the right classroom he heard a bell ring and suddenly a large bustle of running feet. All were coming from where Khor had come, the student’s quarters.
He turned around and saw double doors open that he had just come through. There were hundreds of students walking towards him, carrying packs with one strap that they carried on their shoulder. They were laden with books due to their weight.
Khor saw them stare at him strangely as they walked by. He ignored them and sadly walked off to his rightful classroom along with everyone else. The door was already open and students were pouring in.
He came in and saw several desks lined up in rows, all facing the front were there was a larger desk and a chalkboard behind that. Khor quickly found a desk at random and students continued to pour in and sit all around him.
He ignored them, not feeling in the mood to be evaluated. Eventually a tall man wearing a suit and carrying a briefcase stepped in and closed the door behind him just as the bell rang.
He set the briefcase on the desk and opened it while saying. “Hysel, what was chapter seventeen about?” A student in front of Khor started and quickly retrieved a small book from his pack.
“Uh, well it was about… Um, stuff. Oh yea, Dacob met an Elcanos and invited him to travel with him and the rest of the group after the fight with the Volcano Demon,” he replied nervously.
“Correct. Um… Jimen, what was chapter eighteen about?” A student to Khor’s right began to answer almost immediately.
“Dacob and the group had to fly past the border patrol to get into the Fire Realm.”
“Good but a little more detail would be nice.” The teacher withdrew a sheet of paper from the case and looked around.
“Ah, class, we have a new student. Um, that’s a long name.” He said under his breath, a few students sniggered.
“Please welcome… Khoralie.”
“Khor.” He replied softly. Several friendly greetings came from all around and Khor ignored them.
“Why don’t we go around and introduce ourselves. I’ll start, I am Mr. Reseir. Okay, let’s just start at one row and go down.” One after another each student told Khor his or her name. Khor didn’t make an effort to remember any of them.
I have to stay distanced. What if I lose all of these people too? Once they were all done introducing themselves Mr. Reseir dropped a small book on his desk and a large textbook.
After several minutes of extremely boring lecturing Khor felt something tap his arm. He looked over and the girl next to him was handing him a sheet of paper. He took it emotionlessly and unfolded it underneath his desk.
Don’t worry; this is the most boring class.
Next to the message was a smiley face. Khor looked across at her; she was looking at the teacher then looked at him and smiled. Khor looked at her again. She had medium length black hair. Most of it was covering her right eye.
It was dyed half red on the part covering her eye. She wore the simple uniform, white button up shirt with black and red tie. She wore a black skirt that ended above her upper leg. She wore long black socks and formal black shoes.
Khor tried to smile but simply couldn’t do it. He scribbled something down in response and refolded it. He had written “Thanks” and passed it across to her. It landed on her desk and she quickly took it. Unfolding it under her desk she smiled as she read it.
The rest of the class was entirely uneventful. Khor now felt something different inside him. It was a small gesture but meant a lot to him. His spirits rose as the class ended and he walked next to her out in the hall.
“Uh…” She didn’t hear him over the sound of the crowd. “Do you know what class we have next?” He raised his voice. She turned and saw him.
“Oh, yea. Uh, combat classes. By the way, I’m Rakari.” She held out her hand and Khor reached out his and shook it. “Khor.” He said back.
“Classes are about to start, come on,” she said and began to walk. Khor followed her, carrying his books with him.
Khor followed Rakari through winding staircases and down several floors until they reached a large room with several students in it. There was a sunken circle in the middle, the students crowded around in.
Khor saw most of the packs were piled up in one corner. Before he walked over he took Rakari’s and dropped them into the pile along with his books. When he returned she smiled at him and said, “Thanks”
“No problem,” replied Khor. Eventually a very tall man came from one of the two entrances and stepped into the middle of the circle. His voice was loud and commanding.
“Alright, each of you had to research and chooses a specific weapon. Let’s start here and go around,” he pointed to a random student on the circle.
“Claymore.”
“Chain.”
“Short sword,” the choices were stated quickly and it kept on moving. Khor stood next to Rakari and when it came to him he clearly stated, “Katana.” The students all gasped simultaneously. Khor looked around confused.
“Mr. Kyrala’s specialty is the katana. No one ever picks it.” Rakari whispered into Khor’s ear. Khor looked at Mr. Kyrala in the eyes as he said, “So… Katana. Well boy, you think you’re good?” Khor nodded and the class gasped again. Khor rolled his eyes at the drama. “Fine, then. Let’s have a duel,” the teacher turned his back towards a large rack of weapons and retrieved a fair sized katana.
He threw it to Khor and he easily caught it. As he stepped into the circle he caught a memory of Instructor Gybridef. The teacher came back with a larger katana and he bent into a defensive stance.
“This is ridiculous,” commented Khor.
“Duel!” Commanded Mr. Kyrala. Khor turned around and threw the sword into the air. As he was walking away he heard the teacher mumble, “Weakling,” the single word triggered something inside Khor.
As fast as he had dueled in the arena in the Academy he turned and ran. On his way he caught the sword that seemed to be hovering in the air. Before the teacher had even begun to react Khor had his sword on his throat.
Khor looked up at him and let go. He returned the sword to the rack and returned to the outer circle of students. He crossed his arms and glared at Mr. Kyrala. The shocked teacher stood, shocked. He gazed at Khor and rigidly returned the sword to the rack as well. “Uh… Hysel come. You too Jalesh. Pick your weapon and duel,” two students from the circle silently chose their weapons and stepped into the circle.
:D:D:D:D!!!
. That's pretty cool. I like the part where Khor breaks the mirror. Though it made me depressed 
, it showed me more about Khor. It helped develope his character some, giving him some more depth. Good job!
