Chronicles of the Blackblade 04
Chapter 4 – Pole Position
The boy was nice, since he rolled his rock over conversation was slow to start up, it took a lot for him to break the ice, but soon conversation started up.
His name was Gonzo Salvato, his parents had died when he was young, so he was orphaned at Kyndale keep, it is his dream to become a warrior strong enough to protect those who needed it, and he had been training - working towards that dream.
Since he lived in the keep, he knew of what was to come, but wouldn’t tell Dawn any of it.
By the time life stories had been told, it was getting on, there were around fifty to sixty students in the courtyard, just over a quarter of the number here earlier, a few was still stumbling in, collapsing just inside the courtyard, and being moved out of the way by the gate guards, but soon they started getting ready to close the gate, it was nearly time, and Dawn expected the bell to ring any moment to signal the end of the race.
Dawn stood up, something had caught her eye near the courtyard gates, she wasn’t sure what it was but the wind had picked up, it blew her robes against her body and her hair into her face.
Zela screamed, she was being thrown though the air at a unnatural speed, twisting and turning, she had no control over what was happening, and she was getting dizzy, she had tried to give some stability to herself with her own magic, but not having the use of her arms hindered the use of her magic, she didn’t dare release the rocks she held, knowing that doing so would cause her, or the tiny girl somewhere ahead of her to fail.
It was almost too late, they were rapidly approaching the academy at high speeds, she released the rocks she held, knowing that if she was to die then wouldn’t need them where she would go, but instead of dropping to the street cobbles, the wind simply took them as well.
Zela concentrated; trying to push the dizzying effect from her mind, unable to completely remove it as she was swung around in the violent winds, she looked forward, the courtyard gates and wall rapidly approaching.
Rose looked around, the wind had picked up, the remains of her dress blowing in the wind, it seemed like it was coming from the courtyard gates, two people had exited the academy and ran across the yard, one a warrior from his brawn, and one a elementalist from her flowing red regal robes, using the warrior in front as a wind breaker.
They reached the gates and the woman left no time in beginning to chant a spell, the warrior standing in front shielding her from the wind and the threat of being blown away.
He suddenly dropped down into a stance, pulling his sword from its sheath, Rose had no idea which stance it was, but she knew that whatever it was, it was coming.
Dawn sensed trouble; she broke into a run towards the courtyard gates, followed in short order by Gonzo, she got half way across the courtyard when the wind grew too strong to run against, and she soon slowed to a walk, the wind threatening to pull her hair from her head and the robes from her body. Gonzo wasn’t far from the same condition, his peasant clothes almost ripping under the stress, they both saw the warrior in front drop into a stance and draw his sword.
“Get down!” Gonzo yelled, jumping on, and pushing Dawn to the ground; covering her with his own body defensively, “That’s the ‘Deflect Arrow’s’ Stance!”
Dawn watched in awe as the warrior moved at lighting speeds hitting two incoming objects out of the way of his own body and that of the elementalist behind him with his sword, They were rocks, as Dawn saw them roll past where she laid on the floor.
“DISPELL!” the woman cried out, her voice carrying over the academy courtyard and beyond, it was a cry of desperation, of hoping that it would work, Dawn knew that chanted spell’s would always be more powerful then a hastily cast spell and she only hoped it was enough.
The wind stopped in its tracks, suddenly everything became still, apart from the two bigger objects approaching in the air at rapid speeds; accompanied by the sound of screaming…
The scene that followed was one of mayhem, of madness, and for the two flying girls, one of pain.
What happened next could not be completely explained from one person’s single point of view.
The warrior had ran and jumped, attempting to catch the girl in front before she hit the floor, of course trying to stop a fast moving object while being stationary does not work well, the warrior caught the girl and was taken along for the ride, he held her in a protective embrace and put himself in harms way, they crashed into the floor spinning and rolling, slipping and sliding as the warrior held the girl away from the impact zone, he himself taking the brunt of the impact as they crashed into the wall at the far side of the courtyard.
The second incoming girl was not as lucky; there was no one to catch her to soften the impact.
The elementalist dived out of the way to avoid getting hit as the girl flew by, hitting the floor at a nasty angle with an audible -Crack-, bouncing back into the air to continue onwards with her journey towards the courtyard wall.
“Mark Of Protection!” A voice bellowed from a academy balcony, strong and powerful, the words carried around the courtyard, as a glowing white light engulfed the girl in the air, just before she crashed into the floor again; and back up for a round three.
The third time the girl landed was the last time; the next place she hit was the courtyard wall with a loud -Crunch- and a -Thud- as she fell to the floor; leaving cracks and chips in the wall, dust and dirt covered the courtyard creating a cloud which obscured vision.
Zela vomited, her mind was switched off and her body was moving on impulse; at the moment it needed emptying, and that’s exactly what it done, after that it painfully allowed her mind to return.
She was dizzy, dazed and disorientated, she didn’t know if she was alive, dead or somewhere inbetween, maybe she was dreaming, she didn’t know, nor care, she vomited again, clearing out the remains of her breakfast. She tried to sit-up and failed, a shooting pain down her leg causing her to scream in pain and agony; finally causing her to lose consciousness.
Dawn ran over to the area, trying to assist in anyway possible, she had no idea which girl to attend to first, and noticed that the first lying with the warrior was unconscious. She heard the sound of retching from the second, as she got closer she heard a scream of agony and then silence.
She approached the girl and pulled her away from the pool of vomit close by, the back of her red dress was mostly in tatters, as was the currently covered front, the short term enchantment cast upon her earlier had saved her life, but it had not saved her from the brunt of the damage, her leg was twisted at a impossible angle, completely broken, as was her arm.
“Someone bring a blanket!” Dawn yells out to everyone within hearing distance, not looking to see if anyone listened, she claps her hands together and keeps them together while silently wording her spell.
“Healing Touch!” and with a light tap upon the girls back, she is engulfed in glowing energies, healing the cuts she received, as the glow dies down, a shirt is laid across her back, much bigger then the girl it hangs down on both side, Dawn looks up to see whose shirt it was, Gonzo stood above her, shirtless. She returns her attention to the girl in front of her, moving her arm and leg into places that more resemble the human form, “Cure Condition” she casts, fixing her broken arm, fixing the bones in her leg, the nerves and muscles was beyond her power, it would need someone more powerful then herself to solve them problems.
Dawn looked over to the warrior and the short girl he caught in mid air, there was already a monk in training standing next to them wearing old and partially tattered robes, her long red hair hanging down just under her shoulders, her skin a golden tanned colour, and her face slanted as a foreigner – a rather tall one. Seems like the small girl was not very badly hurt and a simple spell healed any injuries she did sustain, the warrior was also standing; towering above both girls, he quickly started walking towards herself.
A young boy, barely older then herself came running out of the academy holding a blanket, he wasted no time in throwing it over the girl in the tattered clothes, who was promptly picked up by the warrior and carried into the academy, Dawn stood and started to follow but was promptly stopped by the young boy.
”Miss Surane will attend to this girl now, you still have to wait here, you have still not completed the entrance inauguration yet.” And with that he turned and left with the warrior holding the blanket wrapped girl.
Glad that her job was done, she returned to her rock and sat back down; Gonzo was already waiting for her.
Rose was in shock, she didn’t know to laugh or cry, giggle or cringe, after what happened in front of her. Seeing a human bounce along and crash into a wall; as a football would with kids kicking it, yet she didn’t move from her spot, instead she dragged herself back to her own dark brooding thoughts.
The woman from earlier stepped out onto the podium, stunning as ever, her beauty captivating her audience, she spoke, her voice sounding much like a angels would; reaching the entire courtyard with little effort.
“Congratulations to all those present, you have all been accepted into Kyndale Keep.” Cheers went up at this, but were shortly silenced by the woman. “Shortly we will decide where each of you are staying, engraved upon your rock’s is a number, when your number is called you will come up here, take a ticket from Semige here;” gesturing to a small boy that had appeared at her side carrying a small sack, “And then depending on the letter and number upon it; you will be shown to your room’s.” In a singsong voice she added: “oh, and lets hurry this up shall we? Lunch is soon to be served in the dining hall, and I’m sure you don’t want to miss that.” She finished with a smile, able to melt hearts and turn even the greatest of warriors into a gibbering idiot, before excusing herself and disappearing inside the keep.
Dawn watched as numbers were called; and students strolled up the steps, many times a number was called yet no student ventured forwards, she looked at the number on her rock again, her turn loomed ever closer, and soon it was upon her.
“43!” yelled the man at the top of the stairs, Dawn stood and made her way to the top of the stairs, the sack held out in front of her; she thrust her hand in and fished out a screwed up piece of parchment; the boy held out his hand as if waiting for something, but Dawn unscrewed the paper and read the contents aloud.
“C12.” She stated, the boy not caring that she could read; just pointed her in the direction of an older student and an already gathering group.
There she waited until everyone had been called, once everyone had his or her room number to hand, they was lead away to the rooms that they would call their own, for the next seven years if they was lucky.
