Young Writers Society

“Let me be clear. I’m just as unhappy about this arrangement as you are,” Navarre said from the sofa to Reyvo, in response to the glares being flung his direction. “I would be satisfied sharing a room with pretty much anyone other than you, so of course I end up as your roommate.”

Reyvo snarled like an animal. It was just another example of his behavior being too unrefined for Navarre not to despise. “If we agree,” started Reyvo as he hopped off the top bunk, which was apparently his, “then let’s not pretend to be personable with the other.”

“I didn’t know you could fake personability,” Navarre commented indignantly as his new roommate left the dorm, slamming the door behind him like he had never in his life held in a negative emotion. “Alrighty then, this is gonna be a long two years. At least I can go home on the weekends.” Navarre scanned the informative pamphlet he had found on the desk.

Getting up, he too left his room and headed for Alyis and Cre’lo in the training field. Once he had arrived in the clearing, he saw a good portion of his class standing around the two upperclassmen. They were being shown the cafeteria building, extending out of the far side of the stone wall surrounding the clearing. Opposite them were maybe four or five upperclassmen, running training drills through gallons of sweat.

Navarre met up with the rest of the class, instantly gravitating to Luatia. Exliana was not yet present, so she remained the only person Navarre knew in a sea of foreign faces. He approached her, and saw she was talking to the two identical Silvamancers from the entrance competition. “Heya, Navarre! How’s the roommate thing going?” she asked with a wink when she noticed him.

“Don’t get me started.” Navarre groaned.

Luatia stepped aside to show her new acquaintances off. “Well, this is Nalu, and this is Natu. They’re in the room next to mine, so we’re basically like best friends now.” The twins nodded to him politely, and he returned the gesture.

“You were the boy who finished first, yes?” the one Navarre thought was Nalu asked.

“Oh, uh, yeah, that was me.”

“Be prepared. One of us will surpass you by the end of the year,” Nalu replied with a straight face, staring him in the eyes. It took Natu bursting into laughter beside her for Navarre to realize Nalu was cracking a joke.

Navarre folded his arms, smirking with a mock Reyvo-esque arrogance. “Pfft, I’d like to see you try.” Navarre was glad the fake narcissism didn’t miss its mark and seem genuine, as he saw Nalu smile. Her smile seemed reserved, or calculated, like every inch her mouth curved was being noted in her mind. Natu, who was still laughing, seemed to be the clear opposite, her laughter raucous and wild, while still being more refined than Reyvo.

“So... who are we waiting on?” Cre’lo asked in his drawling, tired voice. He looked around, trying to narrow it down and figure out who was missing. “There was that Ignismancer girl who’s not here, and the quiet Aquamancer girl. Oh, and the Fulgurmancer boy. Anyone feel like getting the-”

One of the students let out a startled scream, falling to the ground. He pointed up above the Frouri Dynmico, and a fearful shock fell upon the students. Flying through the air over the fortress was a wyvern. In one talon it carried an unconscious Aquamancer and the Fulgurmancer from the entrance contest, and in the other talon was…

“Exliana!” Navarre called out to the unconscious body of his long-time companion. Slamming his hand into the ground, he imagined a pillar of ice emerging from the ground below him. Realizing what he was doing, he stopped, the world going silent as he looked down at his hand on the ground.

Blood? Why was there blood on his hand? He lifted his hand, trying to shake the blood off, but it was like a stain on his skin. He heard screams around him, but they were muffled by a louder sound. Someone was sobbing. Did they need his help? Where were they? He stumbled forward blindly, his vision blurring. Water in his eyes?

The water was warm. It was tears. He was the one crying. Blinking back the tears, he saw the body. And the blood. No, no, this wasn’t real. He had gotten carried away again. Bring yourself back to reality. Exliana. Think of Exliana. Exliana is real, this is not.

He was back in the clearing again, his hand still on the ground. Instantly, the situation at hand came flooding back to him. Exliana was being carried away by a wyvern. Screams from his classmates rang out.

“Crap! How the hell did it find us?” Alyis shouted among the uproar, lifting her hand up towards the aerial beast and watching as the heat built up. Cre’lo, finally seeming alert, placed his hand on hers.

“If you knock that thing out of the air, you’ll send the apprentices falling down a solid forty feet. They won’t survive.”

Alyis sighed impatiently, lowering her hand and watching the wyvern fly out of view behind the Frouri Dynamico’s walls. The clearing was silent. No one wanted to say anything that would induce panic, but after what they had just watched, there was really nothing else to say. So instead, they said nothing.

It had been a long time of silence, but Navarre didn’t know how long. Ten minutes, maybe, or an hour. But finally, someone said something. “Queen Syleen won’t be able to send anyone to rescue them,” Cre’lo said.

“What? Why?!” Luatia asked almost with anger in her voice.

“They’re only three apprentices. What could the Wyvern Mistress possibly want with them? It’s clearly a trap, and even if she does have a reason for capturing them, the queen won’t risk the lives of countless more to save them.” Cre’lo sighed. “I guess that’s the type of decision a queen has to make.”

Finally Alyis spoke. “Then it’s a good thing I’m not a queen. Cre’lo, get Mistral and Lotus.” Cre’lo smiled before heading back to the dormitories, while Alyis looked to Navarre’s class and addressed them. “It’s a day trip to get to the Wyvern Kingdom, and a day trip to get back. It’s the weekend, so no authority figure is going to visit the Frouri Dynamico for at least two days.”

“But I thought the queen said Emniu would be giving us a lesson tomorrow,” Natu piped up from within the crowd.

“I’m not sure what’s going on, but that expression on Queen Syleen face tells me something big has gone down in the kingdom. Emniu will certainly be occupied for longer than the queen wanted to let on, so that was basically a lie. The adults will do that a lot, so you get used to figuring out what’s the truth and what isn’t.

“Anyways, I was put in charge of this place, so under my decision, I’m leading a rescue operation. If anyone outside of this place finds out what we’re doing, I’ll take the full blame. I’ve already got a team of four, but it would be unfair not to offer you places in it. So, step forward if you want to help save those three apprentices.”

Navarre stepped forward without hesitation. For a moment, no one else followed suit, and sweat began to roll down his face. Can we really save Exliana with only five people? I’m sure those four are strong, but we’ll be walking into enemy terri- Luatia stepped forward, with Nalu and Natu at her heels. She winked at Navarre, and he felt a wamth swell in his chest. Relief?

“Anyone else?” Alyis asked, clearly not expecting any more apprentices to volunteer themselves. But as she asked it, another student stepped forward, a student Navarre had known for a long time.

“Vala. I find it difficult to believe you want to help Exliana,” Navarre with an icy tone.

Vala chuckled. “Oh no, of course not. I would never risk myself for her sake. No no, I’m joining in to keep my favorite cousin safe.” She shrugged.

“Again with the whole ‘protecting me’ thing. That’s been your excuse for years.” Navarre folded his arms. “I’m fine without you, and you know it. Why are you really volunteering?”

Before Vala could answer, yet another student stepped forward, and Navarre—well, actually most of the class—could barely believe it. With an indignant look on his face, Reyvo stood beside the other volunteers, clearly annoyed by all the looks. Navarre didn’t know what to say.

“Okay, I guess that’s it,” Alyis said after no one else volunteered. She motioned for the others to do what they pleased, and most wandered away aimlessly, unsure what do considering what was happening. By now, Cre’lo had returned with a large blue haired boy and a polite green haired boy.

“Looks like ya got some scrappy volunteers here, huh?!” the blue haired boy roared, leaning in close to inspect Navarre. “Nice cape. Looks like you’re the kid who finished first. Well, better look out. It ain’t uncommon for the initial top-of-class apprentice to lose their spot if they get to arrogant.” Navarre slowly backed away, unnerved by this apprentice’s passion, which seemed to persist regardless of the situation at hand.

The green-haired boy behind him pushed up the glasses on his face with two fingers. “Don’t get the wrong idea about Mistral. He seems like he’s trying to scare you, but he’s giving you genuine advice.”

“He’s a sweet guy, and he means well. Doesn’t want the same thing that happened to him to happen to you,” Alyis jumped in. “I’m sure Cre’lo filled you in?” She turned to address Mistral and Lotus.

“Yes, he did. You don’t need to ask for our help. We know the terms of our pact,” Lotus said.

Pact? What did Alyis do to get these guys under her command like that? Navarre thought to himself, starting to wonder how scary she would be in battle.

“Well, if we leave now, we’ll arrive when it’s still dark, which is the best time for a rescue mission. Let’s get going,” Cre’lo said, leading the way to the exit gates. Navarre shot a glance at Luatia, who smiled uneasily. The first-years followed their seniors, headed straight for the enemy’s empire.