“I pledge myself to learn the ways of the Ones of Within and use my Vatra to help them,” I said, smiling weakly at James. My voice sounded strong, but I wasn’t confident that it was. I wanted to have a good first impression on him and the Ones of Within, but this was entirely new territory for me. Public speaking wasn’t my forte.
James handed my necklace back, a welcoming smile on his lips as if he could tell how nervous I was and trying to make me feel better. I turned away from him and walked quickly over to Kat, Dominic, and Austin, relieved. The Ones of Within members clapped loudly as I joined the others. I looked at Shay and Emilie, and they looked as pleased as I felt. The ceremony had ended!
In seconds, I was crowded around by the other Ones of Within members. Most of them just said congratulations while others said their names and told me I would love Sybra. A few even tried to share their life stories. I found myself entirely overwhelmed by the amount of rapport and kindness shown by them. After a few minutes of greetings, the Ones of Within members parted into groups again and started talking loudly among themselves. It was weird being in a place where I felt the center of attention when on Earth I felt like a nobody.
I walked over to Emilie, who was standing with a boy and other new recruits. “Natalie, this is Adam.” Emilie introduced me to a boy with curly black hair and distinct emerald green eyes. He wore a simple red shirt and jeans, but his eyes sparkled when he looked at Emilie. Now, that explained why her face lit up when talking about him. I felt stupid now thinking she might have a thing for James; clearly, her eyes were for the boy in front of me.
“Hi, Natalie,” Adam said with a friendly smile. He looked like he was the oldest one out of all six of us by at least a few years, but was probably in his late teens.
“It’s nice to meet you.” Seeing the expressions on both Emilie and Adam’s faces at the sight of each other made me smile.
“I’m glad that the ceremony is over!” Kat laughed.
“Me too. It was nerve-wracking up there!” I seconded her statement.
“It wasn’t that bad. It’s probably the only one we’ll get here.” Dominic replied, shrugging. I found myself looking at him again. He was so calm and collected. It was clear the whole ceremony unmoved him, and I wished I had his composure.
Emilie shook her head, a smirk on her face. “Wrong there! You get one when your Vatra shows.”
Kat groaned loudly, while Adam and Emilie laughed.
“Well, that can’t be too bad.” Austin said, glancing at me.
“I’m so glad I’m finally here,” I said. After the Shadow Bringer experience, I felt exhausted.
“What was the Shadow Bringer like?” Austin asked, curiously, “Nothing like that happened to me getting here. I can’t imagine what that was like.”
“It was scary,” I admitted. “The experience was at least. I felt a little bad for him in the end, though.”
Emilie frowned at me, clearly disapproving my last words, but didn’t push it. She recounted the story for the group like a practiced storyteller. The others seemed enraptured by her words, Adam more than the others I noticed smugly.
“How does this training program work here? Do we have someone teach us?” Kat asked, finally changing the subject onto something more positive.
“You’ll have instructors, just like you would at school. But I suppose Emilie and I could be of help to everyone also,” Adam replied.
“Not at all times.” Emilie shook her head. “Everyone gets specific instructors who are personally gifted in the certain subjects the Ones of Within members deem necessary. You’ll learn sword fighting, magic, acrobatics, history, archery, and many other subjects.” I wondered if Shay was a teacher; she certainly carried the self-assurance I had lacked since entering Aughmortor.
“Of course, you’ll be trained separately from Adam and I in the classes probably since we have two years of experience,” Emilie added.
“Just wait until you see Aughmortor when it is light out,” Kat said to me, “It’s incredible.”
“Is there really no sun here?” I asked. Emilie and Shay had been straightforward and truthful the whole way, but the thought of a world without sun was hard to grasp.
“There’s no sun here,” Kat confirmed.
Ones of Within members were starting to filter out of the room. I guessed that they were heading to their rooms for the night.
“Natalie, I’ll take you to your room. Everyone gets their own,” Emilie said, motioning with her hand for me to follow her and then Kat as well. I almost sighed in relief as I was struggling to keep my eyes open at this point. Tomorrow I would be ready to work, but I was exhausted right now.
“I’ll take you two to your rooms as well,” Adam said it to Austin and Dominic as we walked away from them and through the door out of the meeting room.
“You’re going to love training,” Emilie said to me absent-mindedly. Kat had probably already had a few days of training already since she got here before me.
“It’s hard work,” Kat said, smiling, “But I’ve enjoyed it so far.”
I couldn’t help but smiling too because I was looking forward to tomorrow and my new life here. Aughmortor’s existence changed my perspective on the world and broadened it considerably. I wondered what more there was to this place.
We walked through the door on the left. “Shay told me which room is yours. It’s the empty one next to ours that was kept for the new recruit.”
I was glad Emilie was next to me because she was the first person I wanted to see here. I hoped that we would still become friends on Aughmortor even if we didn’t have the same classes. Also, Kat would also be next to me, which was nice since she seemed really friendly and easy to talk to. All of the new recruits seemed cool enough, so I knew I should get to know them. For some reason, I felt more intrigued by the people here than I had ever felt towards people on Earth. Maybe, I was just changing my tune.
Emilie led us through a long hall full of doors with numbers on them. “The Ones of Within usually dress in leather or plain clothing. Your room has already been filled with clothes, complements of the Ones of Within.”
The hallway was long, but about halfway down the hall Emilie stopped. She turned to two rooms and pointed them out. “Natalie, yours is 216. My room is 215.” I heard a few voices talking loudly in a room farther down the hall, but they were muffled.
“Thanks,” I said, looking forward to seeing my room and collapsing into bed.
“No problem,” Emilie replied as Kat opened the door to her room on the other side of me.
“’Night.” Kat turned for a second, gave a quick wave, and entered her room.
Emilie walked over towards her room. “Natalie, breakfast is at exactly eight-thirty. There will be a bell that enters the dormitories around eight, which is the warning that breakfast is approaching. Make sure you get up when you hear it. There’s no snooze button here.” She winked at me, and I found myself laughing at that. I was prone to hitting the snooze button at least a few times before waking up, so this would be quite the change for me. Emilie opens the door to her room with one last glance towards me.
“Night.” I said quickly, opening my door as well.
“I’ll see you in the morning.”
The walls of my room were the color of the sky. A large, glowing torch on the wall provided light for the whole room. The bed had midnight blue sheets, a fuzzy blanket lying across the foot of the bed, and huge white pillows. There was a large desk on the far end of the bedroom and a painting of a blue flower that was hung on the wall. On the desk was a small leather-bound notebook that was empty, which I discovered upon further examination.
A few feet away from the desk was a large set of drawers that probably contained the clothes Emilie had promised me. It was nice to have clothes already bought and laid out for me, but I knew I would miss some of the pieces I had waiting for me back at my home on Earth. I walked over to the torch and blew it out, then walked sightlessly to my bed. As I lo
oked up into the darkness, I felt all of the emotions of today threatening to overwhelm me. I couldn’t believe I was in Aughmortor and that this was my new life. I couldn’t believe I had left my father back on Earth. Tears welled into my eyes and spilled over onto my cheeks. I let myself cry for a few minutes before forcing myself to calm down. He will be okay, I thought. I will be okay. Everything will be okay. As I tried to convince myself, I found myself slowly drifting into a deep sleep.
Chapter Seven
A loud bell, synonymous with the changing period noise at my high school, rang through the building, waking me from my restless slumber. I stretched my arms out, feeling refreshed from the much-needed night’s rest. When my eyes opened, and I saw the torch on the wall, I sat up with a jolt of realization. I was in Aughmortor, and last night, I had been initiated into the Ones of Within along with the three other recruits. The understanding of the truth started to kick in slowly as I stared numbly at the blue walls of my new room.
Dad was still on Earth, along with my phone, clothes, and any other possessions I had before. He would probably wake up around nine like he always did on Sundays and make himself a cup of bitter, black coffee before banging on my door to wake me up. That reality no longer existed; Dad was going to walk into my room, and I would be gone. There were no ties to my disappearance, no promises, no notes, no letters. He would call the police, and they would most likely devise an unsuccessful, pitiable explanation for my disappearance to satisfy the world, and Natalie Quinn would sufficiently cease to exist in result.
To those people on Earth, it would almost be like I had never existed. My life on Earth was now, contrary to my prior beliefs a few days ago, meaningless. The thought of my lost existence didn’t settle well in my stomach, and I felt pathetic tears well up in my eyes at the thought of my father. I knew there hadn’t been a choice, but I missed him. Part of me wished I was a normal teenager with no parallel universe nonsense and no Ones of Within and Larta breathing down my neck. The other half of me relished the change in my life; I had been bored out of my mind most days in my life on Earth and had no drive, no ambition, no imagination. Emilie and Shay had opened an entirely new reality for me.
Rubbing my eyes in annoyance to avoid any further self-pity, I stood up and walked over to my dresser. I rummaged around the neat, folded clothes. In days, this room would be a mess, similar to the way my own bedroom looked back on Earth. I spent a few minutes examining all the different pieces of my new clothing. Most of the outfits were made up of leather or several different types of cloth. I recognized instantly that the clothes were mainly pastel colors, browns, or black and white but no pieces of vibrant color.
Even though they weren’t the normal clothes I would have worn on Earth, I decided that it would be interesting to experience different styles. I grabbed several items from the cabinet and began trying them on. The clothes were surprisingly warm and comfortable even though I felt like I was in someone else’s skin when wearing them. By the time I was ready, I knew it had to be close to breakfast time. I decided to make sure Emilie and Kat were awake so we could walk over together. Truthfully, I wasn’t entirely sure I could find my way without their help.
Before leaving my new room, I looked back at it from the doorway. It was going to take a while to get used to the changes, but so far I did really like it here. I no longer had my father to tell me what to do. I was virtually free of all former restraints that I had on Earth. I’m sure there would be different things controlling me, but I was excited about the changes. In this new world, I could be whoever I wanted to be and do, basically, whatever I wanted to do. Instead of drowning in the past, I decided to look upon the situation in a new light. I imagined what I could do with my newfound freedom as I walked over to Kat’s door and knocked.
“It’s Natalie,” I said loudly.
It took a few seconds for Kat to reply. “I am almost ready; just go without me.” I suspected that she had forgotten to wake up with the bell but didn’t say anything.
Emilie opened the door before I could knock on it, wearing a pair of jeans and a pale blue t-shirt. “Good morning Natalie!” She greeted me with a bright smile. “Ready for your first day in Aughmortor?”
“More than ready,” I replied, beginning to walk to the dining hall.
“Aren’t we going to wait for Kat?” Emilie asked, following me.
“She said that she was almost ready and that she would catch up with us.”
We walked down the long hallway and opened the door to the dining room. I wondered what the food would be like here and if any of the others would be up. Yesterday, I had learned that the people ate some things I would find familiar, but many other things I had never seen before. Dad had always encouraged me to explore new food options, so I was excited to try all of the new things Aughmortor had to offer.
A lot of Ones of Within members were already gathered on the numerous tables in the dining hall. The room was painted in a plain cream color, but the floor was covered in dark wood, and the tables and seats were black. At the far end of the room was a door that I expected led to the kitchen.
“We have a lot of chefs here that know what they are doing. Each table will be filled with all sorts of food that you can pick and choose from,” Emilie saidamidst the loud talking in the room.
I looked around at the Ones of Within members. Even though I remembered the massive amounts of Ones of Within members in the meeting room last night, it seemed overwhelming to be in such a busy room once more. Most of the people were more focused on their discussions and hadn’t noticed our arrival. I caught sight of Adam, Austin, and Dominic sitting at a table at the far left of the room.
“They’re up early.” Emilie commented, before waving to them and heading over towards them. I sat down in the seat next to Dominic.
“Where’s Kat?” Austin asked.
“She said she was almost ready, but I think I woke her up. She’ll be here in a few minutes,” I said, shrugging, before adding, “What do you think we’ll be taught today?”
“Usually, Ones of Within will post schedules on the bulletin board over there. They usually put it up after breakfast,” Adam said, pointing to a long blackboard that was to the left of our table.
“That board can’t hold the schedules for us all,” I said disbelievingly. Despite the fact the bulletin board was large, I didn’t think all the people here would be able to have their schedules fit on there.
“Usually, it’s broken up into experience ranges. It will have a long list of names on it. It will be in alphabetical order, so just look for your last name.”
“There’s Kat,” Dominic said, making my head turn. Kat stood inside the dining hall beside the door, looking around anxiously. I waved at her to come over to our table. She caught sight of us and walked over.
“I had a few minutes to spare,” Kat said, settling down on my other side.
“I’m going to look forward to seeing Natalie put on armor for the first time.” Emilie laughed. Armor? I should’ve known that I would have to wear armor. After all, I would need to have protection from a sword in battle. I refused to be worried by Emilie’s words, though. Armor couldn’t be that heavy, right? The cooks came out of the kitchen with trays of food, interrupting my hopeful thoughts. The cook coming to our table had brown hair that was tied up in a sloppy bun and had an uncountable amount of freckles spread across her cheeks.
“Enjoy.” She smiled at us and set down plates of food in the middle of the table. I recognized the eggs, sausage, oranges, bananas, and apples. Other than that, everything was unfamiliar. She left us with about seven trays of different kinds of food and a plate for each of us.
Austin was the first to grab a plate, closely followed by Dominic and Adam. I waited until everyone else had a plate before I picked up one. Each of the foods had a large spoon beside it.
“I believe that for today, the training will be a little unusual,” Emilie informed us, “So don’t be alarmed by the people you are training wit
h are unfamiliar or have had years of experience.”
I grabbed a funny looking fruit the size of a plum with unwelcoming spines. It looked interesting, but I had no idea what to do with it. Luckily, Adam helped me out.
“Cut it in fruit in half and cut out the center as well. The seeds are edible,” Adam instructed. I cut the fruit in half, seeing the crimson juice threaten to trickle across the food on my plate.
“What is it?” I asked curiously.
“The fruit is called Tama. It’s one of the most popular fruits grown in Slâva.” Emilie answered.
“Where’s Slâva?”
“It’s the elves capitol. Slâva is about a week’s travel away from here on horseback,” Emilie responded. “Large populations of elves live in smaller cities as well. Their other main locations are Frëwùn, Irise, and Növa.”
“Do you think I’ll get to meet the elves eventually?” I asked as I cut out the inside of the tama. Most of the fantasy novels I read talked of elves, and I couldn’t believe they actually existed. The thought of meeting them excited me. Emilie and Shay had mentioned several supernatural species that lived on Earth also. I took a bite of the tama hesitantly. The tama was sweet and tasted like maraschino cherries. I finished the tama and helped myself to some herb-crusted meat and a muffin with red specks in it.
Most of the plates of food were complete by the time everyone was done. One she finished, Emilie stood up and walked over to the updated bulletin board. I joined her, skimming through the lists to find my last name easily. The bulletin board informed me that my first class of the day was archery. I had never picked up a bow and arrow, so I wasn’t sure if I should be looking forward to it or not. With a dismal sigh, I walked back to our table, wondering whether I had just come here to make a complete fool of myself.
“Archery!” Emilie announced, sliding into her seat next to Adam.
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