MAGE CHRONICLES: The Beginning.

It turns out, combat involved everyone, and I mean everyone in Thorne Academy no matter your species. Skill level and experience were the only thing defining the distinction.

From freshmen down to the incoming graduating class, the graduates and the knights…everyone was in the combat hall. The place was massive, and I was beginning to see why.

“Stop gawking and get to your group,” I turn to whoever spoke and I’m glad I manage to hold in my gasp. Lord was she gorgeous, the kind of beautiful that had a sharp edge. Nice to look out but not so nice close to it.

My eyes turn wary when I make it to her face and find a sneer fixed on her face, directed at me. What did I do now?

“Well get on with it,” She commands.

Shaking my head I move away from her. Whatever that was I didn’t have the time or energy to care.

Aarya bounds up to me dragging me towards a group of familiar faces, “I see you met Eve.”

“Eve?” I ask as I move to stand in line arms drawn back like everyone else.

“Yeah, she’s Niamh’s older sister and role model, she’s also about to become your biggest nightmare.”

I ignore the fact that it made her Aarya’s sister too. I was a good friend like that.

“Why is that?” I ask cautiously.

“Well, birds of a feather do flock together,” the girl in question says moving towards us her sneer still firmly in place.

Resigned Aarya explains, “Because she’s our instructor.”

Great.

Eve moves down the line speaking to everyone else while I look around the room. Ax and the rest of the guys are in a separate group with Keon, Damon is with them too. Killian is with another bunch of students and I sport Niamh and her crew there. Mor, the last familiar face of all the instructors has a really loud group around her, they look like knights. Blue is balanced on her hip taking everything in.

A loud clap startles me back and I turn my attention back to my group to find Eve’s eyes firmly fixed on me.

Shit.

“As I was saying, since most of you are beginners, you are going to pair up and spar so that I can gauge your skill level.”

Double shit.

My apprehension must show on my face since Aarya hustles to reassure me, “Don’t worry, I’ll go easy on you.”

Eve bursts our bubble seconds later, “For this to be fair, I’m going to pair you up myself,” she finishes with an evil smirk.

“She won’t do anything, we’re in public and all your guys are here and you’re also royalty, she’s not that dumb,” Aarya says, but I don’t believe her, since she sounded like she was trying to convince herself too.

Eve rattles off people’s names and my name is called with some other guy who looked elven.

I scan him trying to get a feel of him, but that’s a hard thing to do when you couldn’t see someone’s face. That changes when he snaps his head around and flashes me a sharp smile. I narrow my eyes at him, and then I feel a foreign signature in my head scratching down my walls.

Narrowing my eyes further, I imagine kicking him out of my head and the feeling is gone in an instant.

He flashes me one last smirk turning his attention back to our instructor.

“What was that?” Aarya asks.

I shake my head at her question asking my own, “Who is he?” I ask gesturing to the elf creep. You try getting into someone’s head with no permission, you are a creep, at least in my book.

“That’s Konte, he’s Niamh’s boy toy; always follows her around like a damn puppy, wait, why is he in this group?”

The apprehensive feeling that had been bombarding me increases, I had a bad feeling about this.

Before I could panic further, the first duo is called onto the ring. My hopes that this would only be for our group are dashed when the place grows silent, all the other groups closing in around us and the ring.

Was this what a panic attack felt like? I think as I struggle to get my breathing in order. I couldn’t honestly say I watched any of it, I could hear the cheers and jeers but it was like there was a wall in between me and everything else.

A tap on my arm jolts me and I turn to find Andrei next to me. When did he get here?

“Can you hear me?” He asks, though he feels like he’s speaking from afar.

I nod, Ax is next to him and the rest of his group, Damon is there too. When did they all get here?

“Drac, you good, we can…”

Ax is cut off when Eve calls my name pointing towards the ring. Shaking off my anxiety, I head to the ring ignoring the murmurs that bubble around me. Why was I doing this? They all knew I had no experience whatsoever, was all this necessary?

I stand in the ring facing Konte, who looks positively giddy. What was he so excited about?

Eve blows her whistle and I square up, eyes intent on the guy. What I didn’t expect was him charging towards me the minute we start. I jump aside turning to face him in the next moment as he barrels past me. How much force had he put into that charge?

He comes at me again this time sweeping his feet when I move aside.

Jump.

I obey on instinct.

Duck to the left.

I follow, what was happening?

Focus!

Shaking my head, I focus on Konte who also seems to be scanning me warily.

He had thought this would be easy, tough luck dude so had I, but that was before a drill sergeant started shouting instructions in my head.

“Hey! New girl, I need you to actually fight, jumping and running around isn’t cutting it,” Eve yells from the side lines.

A few laughs break out then I hear a growl and everything goes silent again.

He is favouring his left side, feign to the right then attack his weak side.

Huh?

That costs me because I’m too late to move out of the way, I catch the delighted surprise on Konte’s face before he barrels into me. I fly through the air slamming onto the floor with a thump.

Images flash through my head at the impact, a dark cell…a deranged Alain…

I thrash against her hold on my neck struggling to pry the cold hands away from me.

“Who’s going to help you now? they all died, because of you, and you’re all alone again like you deserve,” she whispers.

No! I had Blue, I had my mate…I scream as something splashes on my face, I look up and see Rhys holding Blue both their necks slashed, that had been blood.

“Why?” Rhys rasps, “Why did you do it?” Then their heads topple from their bodies.

I scream staring at their detached heads and the bloody knife in my hands.

“See, it’s your fault…”

I snap, grabbing Alain I flip us so that she’s the one lying in the rapidly increasing pool of blood, blood from my…no!

I grab her head bashing it onto the floor repeatedly, she claws at my hands but I don’t relent. Grabbing the knife that I had dropped I raise it with one hand aiming for her neck but before I can bring it down, a blow lands at the back of my head, and everything goes black.