by Jarod Meyer
This event was unusual to say the least. They had never had an Adjudicator visit them in training before. William looked from Juarez to Katrina, who simply shrugged. The captain broke the seal after a serious look at Meredox, and unrolled the parchment. Meredox’s gaze turned towards William. He continued to stare, standing perfectly still with his arms behind his back.
William stared back, and he thought he could see some sort of satisfaction in the man’s eyes. He looked away after a moment, however, as he didn’t want to waste his time worrying about the one person who’d done nothing by tear him down since he had come here. He turned and began to walk over towards Katrina.
“Initiates! At attention!” Chang Fei shouted.
The six of them all jumped quickly into line and snapped to attention. He didn’t believe any of them held any delusions as to what this was about.
“William of Archonia, step forward,” The captain shouted.
“Yes, Captain!” he responded loudly.
“William of Archonia, with the Synod’s Approval, The Council of Justicars has decreed the following in accordance with the Commandments of the Fallen. As a tainted soul, if you do not successfully pass Guardian training and become a sworn protector of the realm you shall lose citizenship in Archonia, and in so doing be deemed a threat to the peaceful peoples of Archonia. The sentence, in that case, will be obliteration!”
There were gasps behind him, but Chang Fei’s eyes stifled any further noise with authority. William’s heart was pounding so hard he could feel it in his head. Despite years of training and combat missions, where he’d faced death, he still felt the surge of fear. The adrenaline made his head fuzzy and everything slowed. He stared straight ahead, completely aware that Meredox’s gaze was still locked on him.
This was somehow his doing. He was the Grand Justicar, and had been fighting for this since day one. Finally, he had gotten what he wanted. The uncomfortable silence continued and William became acutely aware of his breathing, which sounded unusually loud. His head turned ever so slightly and he looked at Meredox, trying fruitlessly to wound him with his look. As of tomorrow he would be battling for his life.
He broke his gaze once more and stared off into the setting sun, before shouting with every ounce of strength in his body and lungs “Sir! Yes! Sir!
“Initiates report tomorrow for final testing. Dismissed!” Chang Fei finished and then sped away with Meredox.
“William!” Katrina gasped, already at his side. She gently placed a hand on his upper arm.
Juarez was on the other side. He didn’t so much as look at any of them. He didn’t want their pity. He only wanted to kill Meredox. His heart shut down, and he turned on his heel quickly and marched off.
William barely meditated that night. He secluded himself in the corner of the dimly lit meditation chamber and stared into the soft glow of the little orb in the center of the room.
He felt like he was right back in Juvi. The judge had just told him he was going to serve in the military, and he thought it was pretty much a death sentence. Tomorrow may very well be a death sentence. For a while he wondered if there was anything after this life. Then he envisioned himself beating the hell out of Meredox. He thought about fleeing in the night, but he didn’t have any idea where he could flee too.
There was sorrow and rage, but that all soon turned to determination. That greasy-haired little bastard is not going to kill me, he thought.
* * *
William arrived first in the morning to the lecture hall. The first test was a written exam. He was worried about this test, so he sat down quickly, quietly pondering all that he had learned in his class so far. He had a book of notes which he had been studying. He hadn’t had the patience to study in his former life, but there had been so many hours in a day here that he had studied more than he needed to.
Professor Echard strolled into the lecture hall, and stopped briefly, looking William over, and then looked at a clock hanging on the wall. He set a stack of parchment on his desk, and then indicated to them. William got up with his notes in hand and extended them to the historian. Professor Echard took them and handed William one of the exam packets.
“You have one hundred minutes, Initiate.”
William took his seat and started in on the test. The others showed up on time and he could feel them looking at him and wondering, but he didn’t look up. To his delight the test was simple. He had paid excellent attention in his classes.
He eyed the clock after he answered the final question. It had taken him just shy of 50 minutes to complete. He went back through to ensure he had completed all the questions, also double checking his answers as Juarez had recommended. He had been helping William with the academics a little, just as he had helped Juarez with the physical challenges.
He stood up and strode to the front where Professor Echard was reading a large dusty book. He looked over his bifocals at William and smiled slightly, taking the proffered exam. William turned and began to walk out.
“It will only take a moment, young one,” Echard said, gently fingering through the exam.
William looked at the others, specifically Katrina and Juarez, who were still taking their tests. It was the first time he’d seen them since last night. They both looked up at him and smiled. He looked away, feeling a mix of embarrassment and guilt, but then smirked at them and gave them a nod. In that short amount of time the professor completed his review, which was astounding, but not surprising. William told himself that he’d probably been grading these for decades. With that much practice, it wasn’t surprising that he was incredibly fast at it.
He heard a clap as Echard pressed a stamp into his papers, and looked down to see the professor extending his papers towards him again. His heart fluttered and then a smile spread across his face as he saw “PASS” stamped in bright white ink on the paper. He snatched it triumphantly, waving it at his friends as he exited the room.
He walked around the halls for a bit, before deciding to return to the exam room, feeling every bit the excited, anxious teenager. He waited outside until Juarez emerged.
“Holy crap, Juarez, that only took you like twenty minutes,” William said.
“Amigo, I have taken these courses many times. This was nothing.”
Samuel and Ulifrig came out next, finishing at around fifty minutes, very close to the same time as William. The red head walked out at seventy, and finally Katrina at almost ninety minutes.
“Cutting it close there,” William said.
“Stop worrying about me, William. We need to worry about getting you through these tests,” she said seriously.
“Kat, don’t. I’m going to be fine. Can we all just act like last night didn’t happen?” he asked, looking from Juarez to Katrina.
“This isn’t a joke, William,” Katrina snapped.
“I know it’s not a Fucking joke!” William growled. Then he took a deep breathe. “Look guys, the last thing I need right now is pity. Right now I’m going to focus on doing this thing and doing it right. The best way for you to help me is to just…act normal. Now c’mon, we have to be at the second test in twenty minutes.”
The group followed William to the training grounds where they found a Guardian captain waiting. They had never met him before. His armor was glorious; he stood tall and broad, the silver of his armor shimmering in the morning light.
This is what I’m going to be, William thought.
“Welcome, initiates, to the test of speed. You will all have one hundred minutes to complete one hundred laps around the valley. You will stay on the ground at all times and within the boundaries of the path. Failure to meet any of these requirements will result in an immediate disqualification.” A bright light flashed in his hand, forming into an hourglass. He flipped it, and the group jolted into frantic action.
William’s legs swelled as he sprinted down the track. On his best day he could complete the warm up in about one hundred and forty minutes, so he knew that he had to push hi
mself. Katrina was already half a lap ahead of the rest of them, shoving off her natural speed. Her body cut through the air easily, leaving a trail of white behind her. William dug his feet into the ground hard, trying to extend his strides, and pick up the pace. His chest heaved as he fought to find his breath, but the burn was already taking hold.
You can do this…just find your stride, William told himself.
“Get your backside moving, tainted one,” Kat yelled the first time she lapped him. William growled and pushed his body harder, increasing his speed. He bounded down the path, his strides twenty feet apart. He no longer marveled at the inhuman speed he had achieved. Lap ten came fast, as Kat burst by them again with a sonic boom.
“Maybe Meredox is right,” her voice echoed as she disappeared.
William let go a roar. He pictured Meredox in his mind with that sleazy, victorious grin on his face. His feet thudded as they hit the ground, leaving a dent in the dirt. Laps twenty and thirty passed in a blur, and his arms and legs seared in painful revolt.
Juarez overtook William. “Come, mi amigo, we have to move faster.”
“It’s burning,” William barely choked out.”
“Nothing is burning. That is your human mind. Let go of it,” he said, and then continued forward.
William moaned in pain, and yelled to relieve the wrenching in his core from the decompression of each painful breath. His legs began to feel rubbery and throbbed with pain. Laps forty and fifty went by and he fell further behind. Meredox’ eyes flashed again in his head. He was going to lose and his life was going to be taken from him. His form began to waver and his legs wobbled under every footfall.
Katrina blasted by again. “Get moving, Soldier! That’s an order!” she shouted, this time slowing to his pace for a moment and smacking him across the face.
The force of the strike nearly knocked William off the track, but something sparked and he caught his footing. Katrina zipped away again, her feet gliding across the dirt. William’s feet sounded like thunder, and he overtook the entire group, save for Katrina in the next lap. His mind was gone. He lost count of the number of laps. He lost sight of everyone, and didn’t even register that Katrina was no longer lapping him. Perhaps she had already finished.
His muscles continued to scream and his chest burned, but his mind swallowed it all and he lost all sense of time. Adrenaline alone kept him going and the fear.
He felt arms wrap around him and saw Ulifrig in front of him, blocking him. He heard muffled speech and tried to keep running, but he couldn’t move, and the speech became clearer.
“William you’re done! You made it,” Kat said wildly.
“You ran 103 laps you fool. 87 minutes.”
His legs buckled and he sprawled to the ground in complete abandon.
“Congratulations, initiates, you have all passed the test of speed. Katrina of Helios, you set a new record for the Guardian Corps. You completed in only 66 minutes. You will all have one hour to compose yourselves for the test of strength. Report back to me in 100 minutes,” the Guardian said, before turning and walking away.
It took William a while to catch his breath enough to sit up. His legs felt like jelly, and his chest still ached. He spat up dirt he had inhaled, and tried to moisten his mouth.
“Well done, William,” Katrina said, handing him a cup of water. He looked around for a nearby fountain but couldn’t find one. She must have run clear to the other side of the field to get it.
“You too, setting records huh?”
“I didn’t have any idea what the record was,” she said, looking away. William could tell by her expression that she was lying.
“Frickin’ show off,” he mumbled, eagerly tipping the cup and feeling the fresh cool water slide down his parched throat.
“Two for two, tainted one. Only three more to go,” Juarez chimed in. He wore a smile on his face that seemed brighter than the sun overhead.
“You worried about me still, little man? Isn’t this the farthest you’ve gotten?” William shot back, smirking.
Juarez’s face flushed and he shook his head.
The rest of the hour flew by, allowing William’s body to recover from the run. He felt limber now, his muscles warm and stretched out now. He wasn’t worried about the next two tests. It was the final secret test that he was worried about. Soon they were all back in front of their test officer. The Guardian captain smiled as they approached, the familiar challenges lined up behind him.
Six identical pillars of stone sat perfectly spaced in front of a line.
“Welcome, initiates, to the test of strength. These stones each have a corresponding position at the other end of the field. You have one hundred minutes to carry it the distance and place it into position. It must be upright and in the circle. Be sure to note the color of your circle. I wouldn’t want to place it in someone else’s spot.”
The Guardian captain wasted no more words, and flipped his ornate hourglass over once more. William rushed over to a stone, determined to make quick work of this challenge. After all, he had shown more improvement in feats of strength than any of the other initiates, and was confident he could complete this challenge with relative ease.
The pillar was easily twice the size of the stone he had moved during his first day of training. But now it felt half as heavy, although it was much taller and to carry it upright would simply be too awkward. He pushed against the stone and it tipped over. As it fell towards the ground he deftly side-stepped beneath it and caught the weight on his shoulder. He then hoisted it up, quickly finding its center of gravity so that it balanced comfortably.
He strode forth without thinking about it. The walk was strenuous, but not nearly as demanding as the run. He had to periodically pause and switch shoulders. This cost him some time, but he didn’t really need the full hour. William arrived at the other side of the field and gingerly set his stone down next to his circle. Then he went to one end and hoisted it up, running toward the bottom so that the pillar tipped perfectly into place. The test officer watched him silently, before giving him a quick nod of approval. William spied the hourglass, which was now more or less halfway through.
He dusted off his hands, noting the extremely tough callouses that had accumulated in the past months. Shielding his eyes from the sun, William squinted across the field to check on his friend’s progress. The large Viking Ulifrig had been a couple minutes behind William and placed his stone with ease upon his marker. He turned and stood next to William to assess the rest of the group.
Three of them came in all very close to one another. Katrina, Samuel, and then Venice. Each completed their task with time to spare. However Juarez was still a mile or so off. William glanced quickly towards the hour glass, which was quickly running dry. The rest of the group celebrated their victory, but William became frantic. He couldn’t let his friend fail. Not after all the work he put into getting this far.
“Kat!” William shouted. She turned to meet his gaze, and looked as he pointed out to the field where Juarez toppled over into the dirt with his stone. Her face fell, and she shook her head in defeat, but William wasn’t about to give up. The directions to this test had been extremely simple and there were very few guidelines. William nearly stumbled and fell as he jolted over towards the test captain.
“Captain, can you please repeat the guidelines of this test?”
“That is a peculiar request, initiate,” the guardian replied.
“Captain, please!” William said impatiently.
“Each initiate has 100 minutes to get his or her stone across the field and place it in the designated zone.”
“Nothing else?” William shot back quickly.”
“No, initiate, the test is very clear and concise,” the Guardian said, confusion wrinkling his face.
“Kat, c’mon,” William shouted, breaking into a sprint towards Juarez.
He had a good head start on Kat, but she caught up to him in no time.
“William, what in
Dichonia are you doing?”
“We are helping Juarez. Nothing in the rulebook says we can’t,” William said, smirking triumphantly and quickening his pace.
William watched Katrina surge ahead of him. By the time he reached his two friends, Katrina already held one end of the stone and was arguing with Juarez about the rules of the test.
“Just shut the hell up you two and carry this. We can argue once we get this thing in place,” William barked.
Even if the Captain decided to disqualify Juarez William wouldn’t let him fail on his own. He took the center, and then shouted.
“Left! Right! Left!” William shouted, synchronizing their steps.
The remaining stretch only took a few minutes to gap, and they nearly squashed Venice, who was standing on the other side of Juarez’s marker. William caught the other side and the three initiates steadied the stone as it wobbled.
Just as it settled into place they heard the test officer yell, “Time! Initiates, attention!”
They all hopped into a line and stood perfectly still.
“William of Archonia, what in the name of the creators do you think you were doing?”
“Sir, you made it very clear that each of us was to get our stone across the field. You did not specify how, or detail any restrictions or rules pertaining to us helping one another. I was merely helping a fellow soldier.”
The Guardian captain looked annoyed, but didn’t argue.
“Pretty clever, initiates. You are correct. I failed to specify said guidelines. Something I will surely not overlook in the next two tests.” He stared at them for a few moments in silence, seemingly pondering what to say next.
William rocked on his heels, waiting to find out if they would get in trouble.
“Congratulations, initiates, you have all passed the test of strength. Juarez of Helios, you have some true friends here. Keep them close,” The captain finished, and abruptly walked away.
Juarez fell to his knees, and William was right by him, patting him on the back.