CHAPTER ONE

Daydreams

  He had no idea why everyone had to make such a big deal. It was just another day in their lives after all. Just like turning eighteen had been. He had gotten over the disappointment of that event months ago. For some reason he had hoped that he might suddenly be enlightened, might suddenly be let in on some great secret that came with adulthood; that, just possibly, he’d wake up the next morning and see the world in a completely different way. He hadn’t. Nothing had changed, nothing ever changed in Yora.
This festival was just the same. It never altered. The graduates would all be cheered for their passage into adulthood and the bands would play the same boring old music as everyone got drunk and ate far too much like they did every year.
  “Think of it as finally entering the real world!” his mother had expressed countless times.
  What did that even mean? Was he suppose to believe that they’d all been living in some fake world for the past eighteen years and all of a sudden this giant portal would open up and suck them into a new one?  It was so dumb.
With a gentle swoosh, a bird dived from the roof above a fell the length of the window in front of him, obscuring the world teeming below. Any other person would have been startled but he was used to it, he almost welcomed it now. For just that brief moment, the whole of Yora and all the people busying themselves with the preparations were gone.
  Regretfully, he watched it soar away across the rooftops, circle around the tower and disappear across the forest and the mountains that engulfed Yora from either side. He closed his eyes and let himself be carried away with it. Higher and higher into the clouds he climbed, all the while the town growing smaller and smaller until it was nothing more than a dot on the landscape. It was bliss to finally see the stale old town disappearing beneath him.
Here, however, the bird left him; bore gracefully away upon some unseen current and flying faster than he could ever dream. He watched it until he could no longer make out its silhouette against the quivering shadow of an airship perched ominously on the horizon.
  “Sorin!....Sorin!....are you paying attention boy?!”
Was the bird calling to him, beckoning him to follow? Of course he was paying attention, what kind of silly question was that anyway? What should he do?
  “Oh all right, wait for me…” he answered lazily.
Suddenly there was a sharp pain in his side and he was violently jolted back to reality. Slightly stunned it took him awhile to readjust as his surroundings slowly swam back into focus. Numerous lines of pale faces were staring at him quizzically. A few were giggling to themselves and talking in hushed voices to each other while keeping their eyes fixed firmly on him. Not still fully aware of what had happened, and growing increasingly uncomfortable as each second passed, he quickly looked around the room for anything that might remind him where he really was.
  Huge piles of dusty papers were placed in a jumbled mess on the table just behind his, each threatening to topple over any second and come crashing down upon the six rows of student’s desks that made their way up the centre of the room.  Several unlit lamps hung above the cabinets and bookcases that lined the wall to his right and sunlight poured in from the windows to the left, throwing burning, elongated shapes across the old, wooden floor.
  Next to him sat his best and only friend, Noah. Long, blonde hair trailed down his back and fell in front of his face just enough to partially hide his brilliant green eyes. His elbow was held in position, ready to hit him in the side for a second time should he not show any sign of recovery soon. Staring at Sorin intently, he quickly jerked his head to the front of the classroom to indicate where he should be looking. Needing no further guidance Sorin hurriedly followed the instruction.
  There, an elderly man stood before a row of large blackboards covered in writing with the title ‘The History of Crystal Theory’ etched in bold letters upon the central most board. His long, bony fingers were clawed over the edge of a large, moth-eaten book that was perched precariously an old oak stand. His cracked lips were pursed viciously thin and his eyes flashed dangerously behind his gold rimmed glasses. Thin, white straggly hair protruded from each side of his head, rising to a point at the back. His crooked nose twitched impatiently.
  “I beg your pardon?” he asked coolly.
  “Umm, I mean…yes sir, Professor Gray.” Sorin replied sheepishly.
  The professor looked affronted at having been so obviously lied too but had no time to retort. With a loud creak, the rest of the class shuffled back to face the front of the room and turn to talk excitedly with the person sitting next to them.
  Within seconds the room had burst into a raucous medley of chatter as everyone seized the brief pause in the flow of the lesson to talk amongst themselves. Sorin was just glad all eyes in the room were no longer on him and followed suit, ducking out of the professor’s frantic gaze to issue Noah with his disgust at being prodded so violently.
  “That flippin’ hurt you know, you didn’t have to do it so hard!”
  “Well if you hadn’t taken so long to answer him I wouldn’t have had to hit you at all would I. What’s with you today anyway? You’ve been staring out that damn window all lesson.”
  “I was just interested in the festival that’s all.” Sorin knew as soon as he said it that it wouldn’t hold.
  “Oh! You mean the festival you loath and despise, the festival that you never look forward too, the very same festival you’re determined not to have fun at tonight, the one that-”
  “Oh all right!” Sorin said bitterly, “I was daydreaming again, happy?”
  “Very!” Noah replied triumphantly, grinning form ear to ear, “So what was it this time? Dragons again?”
  Sorin couldn’t help but smile. He had known Noah ever since they had both started at the Yora School of Magic. Over the years he had grown used to his constant daydreaming. It was no secret that Sorin was easily one of the poorest magic users in the schools entire history while Noah excelled at it. No one had ever understood why or how they ever became friends, not that it had ever mattered to either of them what people thought. Ultimately, they both wanted the same thing - to get away from Yora by any means they could manage. Sorin, at least, had always guessed that’s why they had remained so close.
  “Well actually,” he began.
  But he had no time to finish telling Noah of his wonderful, half a minute trip into the beyond as Professor Gray had picked up his bamboo cane staff and started to bang it on the blackboard closest to him, which was rattling loudly in protest at having been treated in such a manner. As quickly as they had taken to conversation the class fell silent again.
  “Yes, yes! Come now, settle down all of you!” the professor bellowed across the room. “I know you’re all more than a little excited about the events which will take place tonight but honestly, let’s show some composure, eh?”
For a moment, Sorin thought he had escaped further humiliation but suddenly professor Gray’s eyes whipped back to where he was sitting. Before he had time to blink, the professor disappeared from where he was stood with a flash of bright blue light and reappeared right in front of the desk at the back of the room where he and Noah were sat.
  As the flurry of papers, that had been whipped into the air because of his teleportation, rustled gently to the floor Sorin gazed upwards. His brow was so furrowed that all his numerous wrinkles pointed mercilessly toward his dark eyes. Refusing to be intimidated by this display, Sorin met them ruthlessly. Calmly, the professor stooped low over the front of the desk so that their faces were only a few inches apart. The smell of his musty clothes suddenly caught in Sorin’s throat and he was forced to break eye contact in order to avoid coughing into the professor’s face. Every word he then spoke rasped from his cracked and tormented lips.
  “That goes double for you my lad. In all these years we’ve been together you’ve never failed to amaze me Sorin. Maybe one day you’ll pull your head out of those clouds you seem to live on, forget about flying away from this place and concentrate more on where you are at the time. Perhaps all this daydreaming is the reason you were not accepted into further study, did you ever think about that my boy?”
  With that he sharply hauled himself up and whisked back to the front of the classroom, foregoing teleportation in favour of saving the massive book as the oak stand finally gave way and sent it hurtling toward the floor.
As he held it hovering eerily in the air with one hand he gathered up all the fallen papers that now littered the floor with the other. No one spoke as he did so. All attention was now firmly fixed upon him once again and sensing this, out of spite, slammed the book shut when he had finished, making the entire, unsuspecting class, jump.
  Satisfied he’d got his point across he finally let the book rest upon his desk causing it to become instantly lost amid a sea of unmarked student papers. He scratched at his chest in the same agitated manner he always did whenever he performed magic, fiddling with the fashioned crystal pendant that hung next to his bare skin beneath his robes. Sorin had never figured out why professor Gray kept it there if it bother the man so much. Gray wasn’t shy of using his magic to enforce the schools rules either so it was a wonder he had any skin left to scratch. Taking up his bamboo staff once again, the aging man began pacing vigorously back and forth in front of his desk, striking the floor in a steady, hypnotic rhythm as he took each step.
  “Now where was I? Ah yes! As all of you should know by now tonight is the night of the graduation ceremony and the festival of light! But! This is not just any ceremony, oh no! It’s your ceremony!”
  It was obviously well rehearsed. Sorin could imagine him looking forward to giving this speech every year to the class that would be leaving and he seriously doubted it had changed much either. Listening to the professor’s attempt to glamorize the whole occasion only deepened his lack of love for it all.
  “This is a very important event, not just because it is a traditional that goes back over a thousand years, but because it is one that marks the end of your young lives and the beginning of your adulthood. After tonight you will be treated no longer as girls and boys, but men and women, each ready to serve Yora in any way that should best fit your abilities.”
  “Oh joy” muttered Sorin to himself. Luckily no one else had heard him this time, though he thought he saw Noah stifle a quick laugh out the corner of his eye. The professor continued with his speech.
  “Even though you will be the centre of attention tonight you must remember not to get carried away. You will be representing the whole of Yora after all, not just yourselves, we can’t have it seen from the outside world that we do not have any control over the young members of our society now can we? Oh yes you’ve all been told what is expected of you and how you should behave I’m sure but let me just go over it one final time, just so it’s fresh in your minds.”
  He was now flourishing and waving his staff around so enthusiastically that the students in front row had to duck out the way to avoid it. Sorin could tell this was his favourite part. It might actually have been worth the trouble listening to too if he hadn’t already heard it a million times from his parents and at least once from every teacher they’d had that day. All that stuff about not wanting to appear bad to outside world was a joke anyway. Everyone acted like it was some amazing coincidence that the number of people that actually came to Yora was same as the number that left.
  Over the coming summer they were expected to find work, choose a career or go on to further tuition. This had been the norm for centuries. People born in Yora rarely left or got to see the outside world. Once they were old enough they were expected to give back to the community that had given to them while they were children. The only way to get out into the world was to be accepted as an apprentice to the High society of magicians called the Magi or join the army. Both worked for the elected High Elder of Rydia, the capital of Raiorin, and were often dispatched around the world on various missions.  It wasn’t likely that Sorin would ever be joining either of them though.
  The Magi were made up of only the most skilled magicians. Anyone wishing to become an apprentice had to pass a demanding test that pushed their abilities to the limit and he had failed that rather spectacularly only a few weeks ago.
  “Congratulations Sorin! You succeeded in getting the lowest score in our history! That’s something to be happy about eh?” The examiner had said while handing him his results, “Have you ever considered the army my boy? They’re always looking for healthy young lads like your self.”
He had a suspicion that they were required to say that to anyone who failed the test. It was common knowledge that the army was commanded by a general that often drove his troops to breaking point. He had a notorious reputation and while no one argued his results, no one cared much to join his ranks either. After what he had overheard from the troops while spending some Saturday’s in his father’s shop, the army was a definite no.
  His father owned the town’s only weapon shop and as a result was responsible for making all the arms for the soldiers stationed there. They would often come to the shop and discuss such things with him and his father whilst picking up their orders; all the while glancing nervously over their shoulders in case their commanding officer should overhear them.
  Whenever he had given in to his curiosity and asked what it was like, not a single soldier had responded positively. They had all tried to discourage Sorin from joining the army, saying it was far more trouble than it was worth and nothing but hard graft. If he didn’t make up his mind soon, however, he’d be doomed to spend the rest of his days in his father’s shop, being forever regaled and tormented with tales of the outside world which he would never get to see.
  Whichever way he looked at it, his time was running out. Tonight he would be paraded onto a stage in the centre of the town and handed a bit of rolled up paper with a ribbon tied around it. Housed within would be words of wisdom and proof that he had finished his childhood education. A part of him hated the whole charade. To Sorin, it was like being congratulated for finally growing up. As if they weren’t more than capable of accomplishing this on their own without some ridiculous ceremony.
  He shuddered at his thoughts and chanced another glimpse out of the window. Professor Gray appeared to be thoroughly distracted by this time anyway. He was currently reliving his own graduation ceremony aloud, and telling everyone how a certain young lady had tripped over her robes and was sent flying into the crowd.
The classroom itself was situated near the very top of the school and overlooked Yora’s entire Central Square. The people far below were already busy bustling to and from the adjoining streets and shops. The stage was already up and stood proudly over the tiny river than ran out of the mountains and cut a path directly through the centre of the town, effectively dividing it in half. Various stalls were placed around the stage so that they lined the edge of the square. That way they formed a barrier for anyone wishing to leave in a hurry after the ceremony’s proceedings had been adhered to and the festivities began.
  In front of the stage, placed upon a small plinth was a large crystal. It was said to be the remnant of a much larger one that had resided in Yora many years ago, though what had happened to the rest of it Sorin did not know. Only the Elder knew the full story of its history and he was the only one that it ever worked for. The rest of the year it resided within the halls of the tower, dulled and lifeless, for all to see if they wished.
  Later that night the Elder would bring it up to the stage and draw upon the energies within it to create a dazzling aurora in the sky. That single gesture would mark the end of everything he had known up to this point. As the rest of the town would launch into the festival he alone would be left wondering just what in the world he was going to do now. It was liberating and depressing all at the same time.
  The rest of the afternoon passed in a hazy blur. It was an unusually hot May, the kind that was far too good to be wasting away indoors. Being in a valley surrounded by mountains the weather often didn’t vary all that much between winters; it was just as unexciting as Yora itself so a day like today was something to be enjoyed and always put the townsfolk in high spirits. The classroom grew more and more uncomfortable and stuffy as the minutes ground by unnaturally slow. The relief that burst forth from the students when a loud, clear bell sounded across the square was immeasurable. The professor however was thoroughly startled.
  “Oh my!” he remarked, clearly a little disgruntled that his well prepared speech had be cut tragically short, “Well that’s appears to be it! I will miss teaching you all I must say but I’m sure this won’t be the last time we see each other eh? No, no, indeed I shall be seeing you all tonight! May I be the first to wish you all every success in whatever life you have left ahead of you!”
  With a violent screech the benches were shoved backward from the desks, backpacks were swung over shoulders and within seconds the room had emptied as Professor Gray disappeared in a flash of bright blue light once more. Sorin thought he saw tears briefly enter the professor’s eyes before he disappeared though he had little time or desire to feel sorry for him, however, as, like the rest of the class, he just wanted to get out of there. Lucky for him Sorin scowled.
Students and people without the correct license were not allowed to use teleportation as a means of travel. Not that everyone could achieve it anyway. Even if they could, no one had ever managed to teleport far. Sorin knew the teachers lounge to be directly below professor Gray’s classroom and that the headmaster had arrange everything as such because Gray was getting on in years and had difficulty with the stairs.
  It made sense for him to simply be able to teleport between floors but it also meant he was never late to his lessons and so always knew when you were. An event that was unfortunately almost a foregone conclusion in Sorin’s school life and one that had seen him in many detentions. Nonetheless it still hurt him a little to be denied access to the one area of magic he had always been good at. Noah had always reasoned his ability in portal magic was because of his rather over active imagination as it required a picture of where you were heading held firmly in your mind to be successful.
  The corridor outside wasn’t much more pleasant. A mass of students from all years surged toward the staircase, jostling for position, eager to race home and get ready for whatever awaited them that night at the ceremony. It was almost impossible to talk over the shuffling of feet and excited voices, so, when they reached the staircase, Sorin and Noah hung back until everyone had disappeared into the depths below.
  “So what was it?” asked Noah, grinning.
  “What was what?” replied Sorin not quite understanding what he meant.
  “The day dream you spoon, you never did get to answer my question before.” said Noah, taking the first steps towards the stairs. Sorin followed.
  “Well, umm, I dunno airships I suppose” he said distractedly.
  “You suppose? Wow you really were gone that time. You know, I thought you might be a little more focused, today of all days, but you were worse than ever. I don’t think I saw you go five minutes without looking out some window and watching your eyes glaze over.” There was a pause as they rounded the corner and continued down to the first floor. “Are you worried?” Noah finished.
  Sorin stopped slightly taken aback. Noah knew that he had made no plans for what to do over the summer but he had never voiced any concern for it until now, and there was something about the way he had asked it that made him feel he really ought to be.
  “Worried? About what?” Sorin asked warily.
  “Well you know, about tonight.”
  “Why would I be?” He was being childish now and knew it.
Noah looked at him a little annoyed and started off down the stairs again at a faster pace, reaching the turn to the ground floor before he had time to move. It was becoming more apparent that he wasn’t going to weasel out of telling the truth to his best friend that easily.
  When they reached the bottom of the staircase the small hallway opened out into a large corridor. Being the main corridor, it was usually swimming with people, students and teachers alike. Now, however, there was no one except for a few reception staff waiting impatiently for them to exit the building so they could shut the schools rather large and cumbersome front door. Sorin hadn’t even given a thought to the fact that everyone was supposed to exit the school as soon as possible on festival day.
  Together they hurried along under the stone arcs, the old rugs kicking up trails of dust behind them which danced in and out of the beams of sunlight teeming in through the windows all along the corridor. When they reached the front desk they were unceremoniously ushered outside and the great door was shut promptly behind them. Sorin could hear the security guard cursing under his breath as he struggled with the stubborn locks inside. Moments later there was flash of blue light and he appeared in front of them holding a small purple crystal in his hand.
  They quickly moved out of his way as he rapped on the door. This was obviously a signal to anyone else left inside reception that he was ready to seal the door as no sooner had he lifted his hand away from the wood, two staid looking receptionists appeared next to him. Hurriedly, they said their goodbyes and rushed down the front steps into the fore court, through the gardens and off across the Central Square.
  The security guard then lifted the crystal up in front of him and pushed it against the door muttering the words for the seal under his breath. The crystal sunk through the wood and the whole door began to glow a shimmering purple. Hexagonal panels flashed across its surface and gave way to a rune which Sorin recognised as the rune of protection. Then in the blink off an eye that had gone too and the door looked just as it always had.
  “Have fun tonight lads” the guard said, tipping his hat to them as he passed, following the ladies off across the square.
  Sorin and Noah wandered down to the small gardens in front of the school and flung themselves down on to one of the benches surrounding the fountain in the centre. Noah sat facing the square, watching the many people put the finishing touches to the decorations and stalls. Sorin had seen enough of that, however, and knelt on the bench aimlessly lifting the water from the base of the fountain with one hand and letting it trickle through his fingers. It was awhile before either of them talked.
  “You know, I’m not really.” said Sorin finally.
  “You’re not?” replied Noah turning to face him.
  He let the last of the water fall from his hand with a loud splash and got down off his knees to sit properly and stare blindly across the gardens. In truth he did know what to feel right now.
  “I wouldn’t say worried. I’ll find a way out of this town somehow, you see if I don’t.”
  “Well I am.” Noah said quietly, fidgeting with his hands. That same tone had entered his voice again and it was a little unnerving.
  “What! Why?”
  Sorin was shocked. He had never expected Noah to say that. He always seemed so together and had long since aced the test to become an apprentice Magi. As far as Sorin was concerned, Noah had it made.
  “I mean you’ve got the Magi to look forward to after the summer, I thought that meant everything to you?”
  “Maybe.”
  “Maybe? But I mean you’re all set mate, you’re going to be out there seeing the whole world and what do I have to look forward to? Weapon orders for the rest of my life!” Sorin’s effort to lighten the sudden change of mood didn’t seem to be working.
  “You talk like getting away from this place is the answer to everything.” Noah said sombrely.
  “It is, trust me! You still think so too don’t you?”
  “Maybe, I just don’t know anymore Sor’. What if it’s not everything we’ve been expecting? We’ve never even been beyond the forest, what if it’s not all we’ve dreamed it would be? What if there are things out there that we’re just no match for?...Maybe we’re better off here after all.”
  “I could never believe that!”
  “No I don’t think you’re capable.” Noah replied acidly.
  “Hey! What’s that supposed to mean? And what are you talking about, no match for what?”
  “Nothing, forget it.”
  “Well we’ll never know if we don’t even try will we.” Sorin said wisely, trying to keep the note of anger out of his voice.
  Something was off. It felt like he was looking for some kind of conformation from him that it was ok to just suddenly drop everything they’d ever dreamed about and stay in Yora after all. What had happened to suddenly change his mind like this? Sorin knew Noah didn’t really want to stay here anymore than he did.
  “Are you ok?” Sorin asked calmly.
  “I’m fine.”
  “But-”
  “It doesn’t matter,” Noah cut across him, “Just forget it. I…I…I need to get home.”
With that Noah stood up, slung his bag over his shoulder and marched off across the gardens and the square without another word.
  “Well why bring it up then.” Sorin muttered to no one when Noah was lost to sight completely.
  No matter what way he looked at it he couldn’t understand what had just happened. How the conversation got so dark, so quickly and what had Noah expected him to say? He almost seemed to be angling for a fight and that certainly wasn’t like him at all. The longer he sat there and thought about it the more worried he grew until eventually he became angry with himself for not having found anything more comforting to say.
  He watched the preparations for awhile longer and when everyone had finally retreated into the nearest pub for a break, he too made his way out into the square. He didn’t stop to look back at the school. He didn’t want to remember that place. As he passed the crystal standing in front of the stage, however, something peculiar happened. At first he thought it was just his imagination but the closer he got the more he realised it was real.
  Even though all logic told him otherwise it truly was glowing, and growing brighter every step he took. He slowed and came to a halt right in front of where it sat. His mind was racing. In all his years in Yora he had never seen it react to anyone except the Elder.
  He stared up at it in awe, shuffling as close to the edge of the small river trickling below the platform as he could manage. It was humming. No, not just humming, it was vibrating softly and he could feel it through the air and the floor and the water lapping at his feet. The soft white glow began to change and soon a rainbow of colours could be seen within its glassy surface. What did it mean? A strange warmth entered his body but he had no time to entertain it as his focus was broken and suddenly the hairs on the back of Sorin’s neck prickled.
  He was being watched!