“Where is everyone? I can’t be the only one. Am I?”
“No, of course not. There are others, but before you can join the general class, you have to pass the preliminary course. It won’t take long. Until then, you will remain in solitude.”
“And what is the preliminary course?”
“That,” Arimus mused behind his scraggly beard, “will have to remain a mystery. An important part of the course is its uncertainty, designed to keep you up all night with wild notions and visions of deadly scenarios.”
“How is keeping me up all night supposed to help?”
“So you won’t have the clarity and dexterity you will need tomorrow. If you can’t pass this, there is no point in going further. It would be wise of you to take every test at the Academy as if your life depends on it.”
James regretted asking. The last thing he needed was to stay up all night wondering what he’d have to endure the next day, but now that was exactly what he was sure to do. Only one thing comforted him and gave him a sliver of hope. The fatherly tone in Arimus’s voice. From the sound of it, Arimus would be giving him the course in the morning, and he didn’t seem like a cutthroat proctor. Of course, that could all be a part of the façade, but there was still something trustworthy emanating from him. James had no doubt the mysterious test would be hard, but he figured that at the least, his life wasn’t in danger.
“I’ll take it seriously,” he said. Arimus glanced up at the entrance to the fortress that was the Sentinel Academy. The creaking oak doors opened for a second under a gust of wind and Arimus immediately shut it, giving James just enough time to see that the building inside looked more like a prison than a school. He felt his stomach knot up.
“This will not be a vacation,” Arimus confirmed. “But we do have the bare essentials.”
“I couldn’t have put it any better,” James said under his breath, recalling the abundance of grey colors and dreary decorations.
“This is actually not the original academy building, in case you are wondering. That was destroyed in the siege of ’88. I assume you know a little about our history.”
“My father tells me nothing.”
“You didn’t learn anything in school about the Kingdom? Particularly the siege of ‘88?”
“I can’t say I was an avid listener.”
“Then I will settle with telling you a little about the layout of this Academy. We’ll discuss history at a later date. However, if your mind strays, I will bring it back. Agreed?”
James took a deep breath, concentrating on the words that came out of Arimus’s mouth. He didn’t feel like getting slapped twice in the same night.
“I’m ready.”
“Well, as I hope you know, the Kingdom as a whole is not without its share of defenses. Besides its walls, it is also surrounded by a thick wall of vegetation, filled to the brink with lethal creatures and animals. If an enemy happened to survive the sixty mile hike through the forest, then they would have to somehow make their way through the shield of fog that circles the outer perimeter. Most of the fog is due to the heavy precipitation we receive and the condensation caused by the forest swamps.”
“Is that why it’s so gloomy around here?”
“Mostly. This training facility happens to be right on the edge of the fog shield.”
“Why?”
“This facility is the first line of defense in case of an attack. The south side, where we now stand, is the only entrance that faces out toward the other Kingdoms. The other sides are quite guarded, so unless they are very resourceful, the enemy must enter here, which for them is a very bad thing. The first thing they see as their vision slowly clears is the tint of our blades and their blood violently spilling to the ground.”
James followed Arimus’s eyes back to the colossal steel doors that he had come through earlier.
“The other three entrances are guarded on the outside by graduated sentinel armies. And climbing one of the high walls that surround us is physically impossible, and quite impractical, for even if someone had the dexterity and will to do so, we have archers at the ready at all times, hidden, and in waiting.”
“What else is there to stop the enemy?” James asked in awe. He had never realized how protected the Kingdom of Allay really was. And the graduates had to be the best there was. How could someone guard a post for years without ever breaking cover? Without revealing themselves to a single villager?
“We have high sounding brass and copper instruments to accompany our first wave into battle. Due to a shortage of men, strategy is all we have. We cannot afford to go out into battle as some Kingdoms do, able to lose man for man, only winning simply because we have quantity. It is quality that we possess here, James. This is embodied in our motto: ‘We are not many, but they are few.’”
“So when they come out of the fog, the instruments are there to make the enemy think there are more than there really are,” James clarified.
“Yes. It is more of a fear of the unknown that betrays them more than anything else. We use that to our advantage. Every one of the four great Kingdoms have their own strategies when it comes to dealing with invading enemies.”
“What are the four Kingdoms? What are their strategies?” he inquired, very intrigued, and feeling ashamed that he hadn’t focused in school. Of course, teachers didn’t threaten to slap you for not paying attention there.
“That is for another time, James. As it is, there is little time to tell you of this one.”
“Fine,” he sighed. “But I do have one more question. Why does the only gateway to the south side lead first into an empty courtyard? There are no weapons on the pillars, or places an archer can shoot an arrow from except for the balcony I noticed above us. There’s no incline or low ground to give us one advantage or another. It’s all just flat ground under an open sky. There isn’t even a soldier on guard here.”
“Not to mention the lack of space,” Arimus continued. “There’s barely enough room to line up fifty men from one end to the other, let alone hundreds or thousands. Our infantry would be quite cramped and actually at quite the disadvantage.”
“Exactly.”
“James, do you know what the Sentinel Academy produces?”
“The Academy is kind of like the recruitment center for an army. This is where our infantry receive their training before going out into the world.”
“Very good. I see you have paid at least a tolerable amount of attention.”
“I have my moments.”
“James, the Sentinel Academy produces some of the finest men on the face of the planet. But where it truly shines is not through our infantry. You see, out of a hundred thousand students that step through our walls…a Sage emerges.”
“A Sage?”
“A Sage is usually defined as someone who is very wise, but there is more to it than that. When one becomes a Sage, they gain knowledge so profound, most faint at its very whisper. They acquire power that can rip an entire army in half with techniques, and skills forbidden to and hidden from the common man. A paradoxical creature that is both mighty and servile. Fearless yet kind. These few become the strong arm of our Kingdom. They are actually the sole reason the Kingdom of Allay still exists today. If you could only see the brutal yet elegant swing of a Sage’s sword as he battles hundreds of men pouring in ten by ten through this very courtyard…you would believe your own eyes were lying to you. A Sage could not do his or her job surrounded by thousands of liabilities. That is why this courtyard was made for the Sage and the Sage alone. There is hardly a watchman at this entrance, yet it is arguably the most guarded place in the entire Kingdom.”
James stared at the courtyard with newfound awe and respect. He had read of such men in the few books he had managed to read, but he never would have thought they actually existed. And to think, there was an Academy, only a few hours from the house he grew up in, that could train a boy to become one of those men. It was not a question of chance, or whether you were born int
o royalty. It was about dedication and hard work.
Something, he knew, that he did not possess.
Yet, here he was, taking that first step in the right direction, standing on the very gravel of countless battles, gazing upon the marks of mysterious blades scarred into the courtyard pillars. He could see those men, fighting their once proud enemies, now falling in both fear and reverence to what they had once dismissed as mere myth. A Sage standing before them, cool, tranquil, waiting—not for his enemy to strike, but for his own adrenaline to reach its peak. For the moment his blood ran cold and his muscles methodically moved with the blade that had become one with his hand. Quick, and so hideously precise, the Sage would take his next breath and a Kingdom’s army would fall to its knees.
For the first time in his life, James was filled with a sense of breathtaking awe, and he never wanted to forget the feeling. He wanted more, and there was only one way to get it.
“Arimus,” he said firmly.
“Yes?”
“I want to be a Sage.”
“Oh?” Arimus replied, looking curiously at the young recruit. James stood resolutely, unwavering in his declaration.
“I’m serious,” he said.
“You and every other student that has or will enter that gate,” Arimus said, refusing to sugarcoat his words. “James, I do not mean to crush your spirits, but even the strongest of the infantry fall short of a Sage’s status. If you can’t even beat one such as Kyran, for example, you have no hope.”
“Kyran is part of the infantry?”
“Yes, but his position is not something to gawk at. He is a brigadier general in the highest division of the infantry. Not a Sage, but still very formidable.”
“And what about you?” he asked quickly. “Are you a Sage?”
Arimus lowered his eyes in sorrow and rubbed the back of his neck.
“I wish I could say I was. Nothing would be a greater honor, but unfortunately, I am not.”
James looked away from Arimus in disgust, not because his new mentor hadn’t reached the coveted rank that so many strived for, but for the revelation that, in order to even think about becoming a Sage, he would have to defeat Kyran and Arimus in battle—two men that he figured could take decades to surpass.
“Your visage betrays you,” Arimus said. “I know exactly what you are thinking.”
“Arimus, why couldn’t you be a Sage?” James cried out. “Did you not pass the test?”
He was practically yelling, but he couldn’t restrain himself. He just couldn’t come to terms that this man—the first he believed that he could actually look up to and aspire to become, could not have reached the height of power. What went wrong?
“It’s not like I lacked the ambition. It was simply a matter of order. I was not destined to be a Sage, so I did not become one.”
Arimus’s mind trailed off, recalling past events. He came back to the present as soon as he could, and an amused smirk came over his face. He placed a firm and calloused hand on James’ head, who simply stood in awe at how the palm covered his entire crown. James glanced shamefully down at his own smooth, delicate hands, and scowled. They were so pristine, so inexperienced in all things known as work.
He could not become a Sage with such hands.
“Few are able to keep me talking this long,” Arimus replied. “You must have a gift…but, it is getting late and you must retire for the night. Your questions will be answered as all things are…in time.”
Arimus opened the Academy door and pushed the new student gently inside.
“Your temporary room is straight ahead beyond the winding stairs. You can’t miss it, and I must add one more thing. Tonight you do not get the privilege of exploration. Understood?”
“Sure,” James replied, unsure of what his words really meant.
“I would escort you, but I have some business to attend to. Good night.”
“Good night, Arimus.”
Arimus turned around and swiftly ran toward and out the steel courtyard doors before James could blink, opening their massive exterior with a simple, effortless shove and disappearing like a phantom into the night.
James watched until he was out of sight, and then turned to enter the building, wondering just how Arimus looked so young yet had such gray hair. The closing of the oak doors behind him broke his thoughts and he sighed and looked around. There wasn’t much to see.
The most impressive feature of the gigantic lobby was the winding stairs that came from the east and west sides of the building. They spiraled downward and diagonally until they nearly touched in the center. Between them was an entrance, leading to a narrow hallway through which he couldn’t make out whether there was actually a room or even a door at the other end. The respective destinations at the top of the winding stairs were also invisible from where he stood. But it seemed like they led into grand halls of stadium or arena-like size. He surmised that the Academy as a whole was a lot bigger than he had previously speculated.
One of the more interesting features of the lobby (and it wasn’t saying much), were the various scratched-out and destroyed paintings that hung on each side wall, ten in total. For a moment, James considered checking out each of the paintings, thinking that maybe, just maybe, there was a picture of a Sage gracing the canvases, but he dismissed it almost immediately. The disappointment of finding there was none would be too depressing.
Other than the paintings, there was nothing noticeable in James’ surroundings, like statues or chandeliers, beautiful tapestries or intimate candles. All that stood out was the dreary grey that inhabited the room like a foggy odor. The room was painted grey. The paintings were framed in grey. The stairs were grey, the floor was tiled in grey, the walls were for some odd reason painted in grey. To be honest, his mood was starting to turn grey by the second.
He sighed in disgust and started heading through the winding stairs, through the narrow hallway that would lead to the infamous “room” Arimus spoke of.
He decided to just jog to the door and burst through. When he did, he was surprised by what he saw. There were no windows (which he noted even prisoners received), but the room was humongous. About a fourth of the size of the courtyard in width, and with a ceiling that reached stories above him. He could only wonder at the room’s true purpose. A pastel blue, the room was much more inviting than the lobby, especially with the recently prepared fire that lapped at the back of his legs from the brick fireplace. He stretched and yawned and decided to allow himself a little time to relax, a feat he had accomplished many times over. Strolling over to the only two items in the room—a bookcase and a bed—he rummaged through the book selections, careful to actually take the time to fully read the titles. One in particular caught his interest:How to become a Sage.
He squealed in delight but then quickly covered his mouth, hoping no one had heard him. Even though he had decided to bury the bad boy image, there was no need to cremate it. He waited a moment for laughter, but heard only the crackling wood under the might of the flames. Satisfied he was in the clear, he tried maintaining his composure as he opened the leather bound gargantuan. Opening it slowly, as if it contained hidden treasure, his eyes widened as he saw the inside of the book carved out; in its place, only a tiny note remained, reading:HAHAHA. Psych! There is no book on becoming a Sage, idiot. Love, Kyran.
James grunted in annoyance and plopped down on the wooden bed. He was done looking for reading material. What he really needed was a good night’s sleep if he was going to survive whatever test Arimus had for him in the morning. He yawned again and decided he would dream about becoming a Sage.
But he didn’t get the chance.
Just as he hit the edge of dreaming, he heard a bloodcurdling scream that broke through his consciousness. Waking up at full alert, he strained his ears and gawked in horror as he heard faint laughing and giggling following the wakeup call. Confined to his room and surrounded by the unknown, it was no time to be a hero, but…if someone was in trouble, he shou
ld dosomething.
Already sweating through his clothes, he stood up and neglected his shoes, racing out the door to discover the source. He wasn’t sure of which way to go when he reached the lobby, as it was dead silent, but he figured he had a 50/50 chance of choosing correctly so he guessed. Deciding to pick the west side of the stairs, he took the steps two-by-two, desperately trying to maintain his balance. Sweating and heaving, he turned into a large assembly hall of some kind. Over the entrance read the word: GYMNASIUM. He wasn’t sure what it meant, but it gave him the impression that it was of great importance. The entire room was brightly lit by hundreds of lanterns that hung from the ceiling like stars, and banners graced each of the walls like a king’s wardrobe, showing off a display of bright colors he had only seen in a rainbow. But that wasn’t what really caught his attention.
It was the people.
Young adults like himself, both boys and girls, running around the hall, giggling and tripping over one another as they avoided one particular girl who was running back and forth and trying to catch them. At first, he thought it was a game of tag until he saw the girl that appeared to be “it” reaching toward one boy and starting to swing her arms toward his face with focused precision. It was obvious she had been trained in some type of hand-to-hand combat with how she tried to hit him, but what made it even stranger was that she was blindfolded while she was doing it. Surprisingly, the boy laughed and blocked her incoming blows with ease, running away after one particularly heavy swing knocked the girl off balance. She caught herself on the way down and immediately lunged toward the next girl she happened to hear pass by, but she missed her too. It was pure chaos, but they were all enjoying it. James had to know what was going on.
“What is going on in here?” he yelled to no one specifically as he looked down at his bare feet, suddenly feeling the cold tiled floor beneath him. James raised his head just in time to catch a fist to his left cheek. He cried out sharply as he tumbled over his own feet and skidded to the floor below, hitting the back of his head with all the grace of a rock. The laughing stopped immediately.
The Works of Julius St. Clair - 2017 Edition (Includes 3 full novels and more) Page 5
