《Banded》Chapter 23
Advertisement
Wren had re-joined the rest of his class. They were stood in a tidy line outside the front of the cafeteria. There were six other lines from different classes stood next to Wren’s class. At the front of the class Lops was stood taking a register, he noticed Wren coming over and waved him over to the back of the line.
At the front of the line stood Xiao, her stoic confidence shown readily on her face. She nodded to Wren as he walked to the back of the line. He passed Liam on the way, he stood out as the tallest of the class, he was towards the middle but he refused to even meet Wren’s eyes as he walked past him.
“In a moment we will be travelling to the other side of the island where you will be tested on your latent elemental ability.” Lops called out. “These tests will be very different to the previous tests, none of you will have ever used elemental abilities before, even the Legacies among us, so please follow every instruction you are given.”
Wren was excited. He would finally have the opportunity to use the ability he’d unlocked. He’d thought about sneaking off the night before and trying it out, but he didn’t know what he was doing, he could hurt himself or someone else, and there was no guarantee that his activities would go unnoticed. The sensible thing was to wait until he could use his abilities with guidance.
Wren looked to his left and right, the other classes were receiving similar messages from their own instructors. They all looked as excited as Wren felt, fidgeting in their lines, whispering to each other in hushed gleeful tones. It was then that Wren noticed a set of eyes looking back at him. It was Chadwick.
Advertisement
Wren could feel the boys gaze digging into him, pressing down on him as if he had ten tonnes of weight on his back. Chadwick had a dark look in his eyes and an even more sinister smile across his face. He was stood at the back of his own line, similarly to Liam he was the tallest in his class and seemed to dominate the space around him. He lifted a hand and pointed it towards Wren.
“I’m coming for you.” The boy mouthed at him.
Wren turned away from Chadwick, trying to ignore the other boy. He wouldn’t let it get to him. He would just continue on with his day, try to complete the elemental tests and then return to his dorm.
“Everything will be fine.” He muttered to himself.
His class had started moving off at the direction of Lops. They were heading into the forest in the direction of the wind room. He steeled himself and left with the rest of the class.
He felt Chadwick’s eyes on his back with every step he took.
~
The group had journeyed through the forest, taking the same path that Wren had taken when he’d gone to explore the island the previous day. They’d travelled past the structures Wren had assumed were offices and had reached the wind room where Wren had thought their journey would end. However they continued along a path past the wind room, making sure not to get too close to the edge of the island. He remembered the force field and the effects it had had on the Dusk Vulture. Would it have the same effect on the recruits if one fell from the island, Wren didn’t want to find out.
Finally the class had reached a meadow where they stopped and regrouped. There were no signs of any other groups having followed them, so he only assumed that they had been taken to other locations to carry out the testing. If all of the recruits weren’t in the same place, then the island must have had plenty of useful little outcroppings for testing and teaching to take place.
Advertisement
The meadow was filled with three separates stations, each having different sets of equipment. Wren could only assume that the elemental test would take the same form as the physical test and be split into three different parts, examining different aspects of their elemental abilities.
“Gather round everyone.” Lops said. He waited for all of the recruits to form a semi-circle around him before continuing to speak. “I will not be the instructor conducting your tests this afternoon, that honour has been given to an instructor much more specialised than me.”
In the distance a figure appeared, sporting a familiar shock of long white hair that came down to her waist. She appeared from a break in the trees and made her way over to the gathered group.
“I would like to introduce you all to Instructor Penn, who will be facilitating your tests this afternoon.” Lops said, gesturing to Anastasia. “Instructor Penn here graduated last year with record breaking scores and was invited to become an instructor this year. Now she may not be much older than you, but I would recommend listening to her, lest you want to keep all your limbs attached.” Lops said chuckling. Anastasia only blushed. “I hand things over to you.”
Anastasia stepped forward, the blush removed from her face, replaced with a steady confidence that told the group she knew what she would be doing.
“The test this afternoon, will be split into three parts. The first activity will test the strength of your ability, the second your range, and the third your stamina.”
The class whispered amongst themselves; the test sounded exactly the same as the one they had done in the morning.
“Now I’m fully aware that none of you have ever used elemental abilities before, many of you will not yet be able to summon your abilities. It is for this reason that some of you will not be able to partake of this test. And so, in this first test we will not only be testing the strength of your abilities, but whether you have a natural affinity as a wind elemental.”
Advertisement
- In Serial6 Chapters
Waking Up
The story of Larin the Builder in the aftermath of Awakening This short story is the epilogue of Awakening, the first book of the Chronicles of Mother's Gate series. This epilogue is a great follow-up to the novel, a bonus story that adds extra layers between books without being necessary to the main storyline.Waking Up follows the story of Larin, who is alive but unconscious after her ordeal in the Nine Hells. She awakens in A'lara City a few days later and recuperates under the steadfast care of her repentant friend Jorn.As she reacclimates to her waking state, Larin struggles with her gruesome memories of the Hells and her decision to conceal them from Jorn. This story answers the question, Is Larin all right? with a resounding yes, and some storms on the horizon.It also raises the question, What happened to her down there? and includes an excerpt from the sister story Falling Down, about Larin's ordeal in the Nine Hells. Praise for Waking Up and Falling Down: Loved it. The difference between the two stories is great!The difference between Waking Up and Falling Down is astounding. So much light and love in the first story. You feel safe reading it. Healing.The second, so much darkness, pain and despair. The choice of vocabulary is awesome and makes an impact.And this set of short stories ties the two books together so well.-- Dana V. of Texas ★★★★★
8 97 - In Serial34 Chapters
The thought of peace
Major general Ray Brut was the best military strategist from his country. He had an elder brother who was brutally murdered. After being in shock for some time he went to uncover the mystery about his brother but then he found out the dark secret which lurks deep down the world. This story is about how Ray along with his men overcome the obstacles to change this world’s governing order and take down those who disrupts the universal peace.
8 285 - In Serial72 Chapters
The Other World
Every living being becomes a Traveler while sleeping. This means that part of what is called “consciousness” detaches from the rest, carrying us towards worlds located in parts still unknown of the universe. Most of these places have things that inhabit only our dreams. Worlds were physics is not the same one we know. Where magic exists and mythological creatures walk amongst the people. Most of the Travelers become mere spectators in this world, unable to influence it. With some luck, they can go back to their bodies and wake up with the memory of a pleasant dream. Others do not have the same luck and end up stuck in the limbo, unable to return home. There is one other category of Travelers. These are the ones strong enough to create bodies and separate themselves from the life they had before. These Travelers start a new life without ever thinking about returning to the place they once called “home”. This story is about the last kind of Travelers and their trials in a world filled with spells, magical creatures and monsters. **
8 131 - In Serial6 Chapters
Road Rage
A mechanic has to find their way through an alien landscape with their trusty pickup by their side and a weird screen hanging around. " VROOOOOM!!" " What do you mean don't go left"? " TOot Honk BRZZZ!" "... Ah. I see the teeth now. Lets Fucking go right" Wherein a journey home could also use some anger management. Participant in the Royal Road Writathon Challenge ======================================================================== This story will continue until it’s done so don’t worry about the curse of online writing. All the support I get will go into putting more time into writing, cool art, videos and special merch ( I’m talking an art book here people). The system in the novel if you havn't seen it before is based off the story Azerinth Healer. Don't worry ,got permission to use it. Go check it out on royal road or support it also through Patreon. It and wandering Inn are what made me want to write this.p.s I love making surveys and getting reader reactions so don’t be shy. Shout your support and your opinion.
8 199 - In Serial29 Chapters
BABYSITTER ༄ D.KS ✓
burdened with what seems like the worst of the worst, single father do kyungsoo not only has to sing at his former wife's wedding but is in need of a babysitter. the quiet and demure neighbor jung ara - lonely, peniless and possibly the best one for the job. ♡ 2017 © 01SEULGI cover by @frkledsoo BEGAN • 08/17/2017 ENDED • 06/02/2018༄ highest rank#1 kyungsoo#1 dokyungsoo#1 baejoohyun#3 taeyeon#31 irene#38 suho
8 207 - In Serial6 Chapters
Resist
~Won the Most Creative Award in TLOSFA Round 1~"So close, yet so far." Bree's thoughts when she was taken hostage by the Masked Man in An Author's Odyssey. Please read and review! Mild ConnerXBree. Originally published on fanfiction.net.✧・゚: *✧・゚:* ☆ *:・゚✧*:・゚✧A story offear,fury,resistance,and hope𝙍𝙀𝙎𝙄𝙎𝙏‼
8 132