--- Raya ---
"You hear about the fire?"
"There was a fire today?"
"Thesia was sent to help subdue it, it must've been something serious."
"She wasn't sent 'cause of the fire. I heard it was dealt with before any of the knights got there."
"Huh? That doesn't make any sense. Why would they send-"
"Attention!" Our instructor walked out to the front of the crowd. He was dawning an iron chestplate large enough to be worn by a horse over his tall torso. A giant of a man, rough at every corner, and acted as serious as any royal I've met.
He marched forward to the front line, only a few people down to my left, his boots kicking up dust from the hard dirt ground that was made for us knights to train on.
"I heard this lot did a good job in the warm up. However, I wasn't here to see it so I'm going to assume none of you are special!" He started walking down the line my way, careful to keep an eye on the whole crowd. "My name is Chip Bradley! But you will refer to me either as Sir or Sir Bradley, understood?"
"Yes sir!" The crowd shouted back in unison.
"Now I'm sure you all know what it means to be a knight, but for those whose brains are smaller than their asses, I'll explain it in simple terms!" A couple snickers from the back of the lines could be heard, while Sir Bradley continued on, pacing back and forth. "Our army is built to protect our people and to keep this kingdom's order! We are a force who are meant to be looked up to and counted upon by anyone in need! We serve our wonderful Queen and those who wish to cause trouble are not welcome! Does everyone understand?"
"Yes, sir!"
"Good," he answered as he paused in front of me. "Now for training. How many of you have already awakened their weapons?"
My arm snapped upwards as a few others behind me followed suit. Just from the quiet sound of clothes rustling I could tell that I was in the minority. Yes! I knew awakening my weapon before enrolling was a good idea.
My smile grew fast and I could see the instructor eye my pretty face, probably intrigued by the enthusiasm. His mouth opened, ready to continue, but the sound of rushing footsteps caught his attention.
"Is there a Raya Lazaros?" A knight, much smaller than Sir Bradley, called out from the side of the training field, standing straight underneath an open entrance to a hall that extended to the building behind us.
My face dimmed as Sir Bradley repeated the messenger's words. "Raya Lazaros!"
I took a step forward.
The messenger knight walked briskly over towards where I stood. "Royal Thesia has summoned you to the entrance of the infirmary. She wishes to speak with you."
The whispers immediately spread from person to person as I stood there puzzled by the summons. Why am I being summoned to the infirmary? Did something happen to my family? Why is it a royal knight who's meeting me?
"Silence!" boomed my instructor. The crowd twitched and shut up immediately.
"Did something happen to my mother? My brother?"
"I don't know the details, but you must follow me." He turned his body fully to face Bradley and bowed slightly. "Please allow her to be excused from training temporarily."
The giant face looked down at me with a cold look, only his eyebrows being relaxed. "I'll allow it. Return quickly."
Seconds later we were speed-walking our way out to a wagon ready to take us to the infirmary. We jumped on and as the minutes wizzed past I contemplated on what could have happened. It was my first day at the army, I definitely wanted attention, but being called out might be too much for me.
"We're here."
The wagon stopped in front of a tall stone building that has darkened from age. One probably would think it looked more like a church from the outside, which is partially correct since it's used as a connection to the god of health, but it's primary use is to house the wounded royals and knights. Distant memories of running to my brother flashed back to me as I stepped foot through the entrance and into the main hall. A long stretch of stone brick flooring expanded forward, with doors off to either sides, most of which led to rooms full of beds. I looked up to the first door on the right as I felt the water layering over my eyes as I thought about all the burns that covered Aleo's body on that day. The day I decided to climb up to the position of a royal knight.
Off to my left a tall slim woman in her early thirties dawning a dazzling set of armor — much nicer than Sir Bradley's chestplate — trod her way over to me. Although I had only just awakened, I was easily able to sense her spirit. As the soul grows more powerful and connected to the gods, it's spirit capacity expands to a point it can be sensed outside of one's body. And this knight was certainly powerful.
I recognized her as the royal knight Thesia, however her gentle face that I've seen in the past was replaced by an interrogative expression with a hint of sorry behind her eyes. For someone so important to the kingdom to be giving me that look, my body instinctively tensed, waiting for the worst outcome.
I gave her a light bow as she approached, anxious for whatever she had to say. She waved off the bow, and I looked up into her eyes, the silence crescendo-ing with every passing second.
"Raya." Her gentleness still being expressed through her voice. "Your mother should be arriving shortly, but I'm sorry to say that something has happened to your brother."
My heart thumped as I continued looking at her, worry spreading across my face.
"He's in a room down the hall, alive, but unconscious." Her arm reached out to my shoulder, comforting me as she continued. "He also has a bad burn on his right hand which doesn't seem to be healing."
"Not healing? Can the doctor here not heal a burn? What happened to Aleo?" My anxiety came spilling out along with my words. My temper rose while I thought about the possible causes for his injury.
"It's alright," she said with a smile. "This morning there was a fire outside the wall of the southern sector. It had grown to a dangerous size and some knights were dispatched to put it out. It seems your brother... got too close to the fire."
Her voice shook as she said that last part, but I only barely noticed. "How bad was the fire if Aleo got anywhere close to it? He'd never risk getting too close!"
"Quiet please." Thesia looked towards the front entrance, and I followed suit. My mother had finally arrived, her face looking paler than the snow on the mountaintops.
"Is Aleo alright?"
"Good, you're both here now, and yes he's going to be fine." Thesia turned around and gestured us to follow her.
We all began walking down the hall, my mother and I rushing to stay beside Thesia. The sound of our steps bounced off the walls more and more as we walked deeper into the building.
"Now before we see him I have one question I'd like to ask the both of you."
We had just stopped in front of the last door on the right as Thesia turned around to speak again. Her volume lowered, as if trying to keep what she was about to ask confidential.
"What sort of question? Respectively, I just want to see my son, Royal Thesia."
"And you will Adelle, but first," she paused before continuing, "has Aleo awakened yet?"
My eyes widened from her question as I urgently spoke out. "Has my brother awakened? He hasn't shown any interest in his own soul all his life, where is this coming from?"
"My daughter is right, Aleo is a nice boy who just wants a simple life. He hasn't practiced any arts like Raya has. At least that's what he tells me."
"Interesting..."
The seconds passed as I watched Thesia's face twist with curiosity. No one spoke and the growing silence made me burst out once more.
"Can we see him now?!"
Thesia's face snapped to attention. "Yes, sorry. Just one last thing." She turned to face me directly. "I'm sure you can sense my spirit correct?"
I nodded in response.
"Then don't freak out. I don't know the answers to your questions."
She pushed open the sturdy wood door as I was left puzzled by her last sentence. We each stepped into the room, my eyes scanning for Aleo along the row of beds. All the beds looked empty, except for the one in the furthest corner, where he lay.
However, my body stopped as my eyes were glued on the spirit that was emanating off of his body. I could tell right away that he possessed the same spirit as any royal knight. Just yesterday he was an average man, unawakened, with no trace of spirit to my eyes. Now he was on par with the knight that stood next to me.
I understood why Thesia now asked us if he had awakened. My mind rattled as the questions started flowing to my mouth, but one look at Thesia's face again and I remembered she was just as clueless as me.
"Aleo!" My mom rushed by, squeezing between me and Thesia and making her way towards Aleo's unconscious body.
I shook off my disbelief and slowly paced over behind my mother in silence. As I got closer I noticed something even stranger. Spirit comes from one's soul and is therefore spread evenly throughout the body. However, the intense amount of spirit I felt was only coming from one place. From the right wrist down a dark burn mark covered the tan skin that was once there. And all of the spirit I could sense was condensed around that burn.