The Wielder Trials. Franca Ogbonnaya

between the two Dyhaeri.

      To be honest, he had expected them to start fighting the moment they were assigned the punishment. Imagine his surprise when all he heard was what sounded like an overdue argument. He still didn’t know what to make of the two young Dyhaeri. He wished King Jahlaniin hadn’t gotten him involved, but there was no going back now.

      The younger one, Kahl, seemed to think this assignment was important, while Mat viewed it only as punishment. Lanead felt sorry for them. They had no idea how dangerous their real assignment was.

      Lanead shook his head as he turned. Tracee was waiting for him.

      “Cancel the second punishment. Once they finish, I suspect they’ll be hungry.”

      Tracee nodded. “I’ll let the cooks know.”

       #

      “Novice D’Tranell. Today we will begin your wielding assessment. Before we start, what is the Creed?”

      Britea took a deep breath before reciting the words. Instructor Eowise Shelley watched her keenly. She nodded once Britea was done. Warden Sammel Asteros was silent as he stood in the background. The three of them stood beside one of the large pools in the college gardens.

      “Good. You seem to have a good memory.”

      “Thank you, ma’am,” said Britea as she wondered if the Dyhaeri had a Creed of their own. Did they have to recite it a dozen times a day as well?

      “At the end of the wielding assessment, I shall discuss the summary of your assessments for the past three days.” Britea was so glad it was almost over; two days ago had been the social studies tests, and the day before had been the arithmetic test. She was exhausted.

      “First tier of forms, begin.”

      For a moment, in her panic, she almost forgot what to do. Then it came to her. She started wielding and concentrated on her forms. Drawing from the calm pool before her, she wielded an orb the size of an orange; six identical shapes joined the first. She held the seven orbs in the air for ten breaths, then picked a different shape: a triangle this time. Seven of those hung in the air. She repeated the first tier five more times with different shapes.

      Instructor Shelley kept a neutral expression. “Second tier.”

      Britea complied, and the forms came easily to her. She created two different shapes this time. An orb and a triangle floated before her, and she began to rotate them around each other as she twisted the shapes into a rod and a star before changing the shapes a third, fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh time while keeping them moving through the air.

      “Third tier.” Three different shapes this time, moving in different directions now, increasing in speed with each subsequent wield until the seventh and final set. One rotated around her left wrist while the remaining two rotated around each other.

      “Fourth tier.” Britea frowned as she concentrated. Now it was getting a bit harder. She took a moment to collect more water and form it into a watery shield that covered only the top half of her body. She glanced at the instructor and was surprised to see a frown on her face. Even Warden Asteros looked a bit pensive.

      “What of the lower half? It too is vulnerable.” said Instructor Shelley.

      “Um, right, yes, instructor,” said Britea as she hastily constructed a second shield to overlap the first one and extend down to her ankles.

      “Not bad,” said Instructor Shelley. Then she suddenly wielded a spear of air at Britea’s shield. The young woman gasped when the tip of the weapon penetrated her defense.

      “Did you not practice projectile deflection or shield hardening?” asked Warden Asteros.

      “N…no. There was no time.”

      Both instructors glanced at each other with relief. Britea wondered why they seemed happy about her lack of training.

      “Stop wielding.”

      The young novice complied. “Am I not doing the fifth tier?” she asked.

      The instructor smiled kindly at her. “In due time. For now, we need to concentrate on the first four tiers. You definitely need more practice with the fourth tier. Now it’s time for your placement in both general education and wielding classes.”

      Britea felt her heart rate rise. She was sure she was going to be with the babies of the college. Please, no.

      “Based on your scores in history, social studies, and arithmetic, you will be assigned to a class of your peers, and that will be the third-year class.” Britea could not hide her relief. After talking to Henrick, she’d found out that the third-year class was made up of sixteen-year old students like them. She had been dreading being placed in the first-year class.

      The instructor wasn’t done. “As for wielding, you will be starting with the most junior novices in the first-year class.” Britea blinked. Surely, she had heard wrong. Those novices were twelve or thirteen at most!

      “But, but I can wield up to tier five!”

      “Indeed, you can,” said Instructor Shelley. “But you still need to strengthen your skills in the first four and learn discipline. Look, we have no idea how Dyhaeri teach their wielders, but I suspect it’s a lot different than our way.”

      “Why do you say that?”

      “Because we never train our students up to tier five in just forty-eight days.”

      “Which is what Kahl did,” muttered Britea.

      Instructor Shelley lifted an eyebrow. “That may be so, but there’s a lot of material in the wielder curriculum. We need you to understand it the human way; thus, we will start from the beginning, understood?”

      “Yes, ma’am,” said Britea, trying to hide her disappointment. Well, at least she wasn’t getting kicked out of the college.

       #

      Britea felt her anxiety grow as she walked beside Instructor Shelley to her assigned general education class. What would the other students be like? Would they be friendly or belittle her?

      To be honest, she was terrified of facing the other students. She couldn’t explain why she felt this way.

      “Your class is currently in history. The instructor is Kacia Felgreen; be sure to speak to her after class to get a list of the reading material you’ll need for exams.”

      “Yes, ma’am,” said Britea nervously.

      Instructor Shelley looked at her, and her expression softened. “I know this is new for you, and you’ve not had much time to adjust. That will come with time. You’ll be fine.”

      “Thank you, ma’am.”

      The instructor rolled her eyes. “Please, call me Miss Shelley. Ma’am makes me think my grandma is right behind me.”

      “Yes, Miss Shelley,” said Britea with a small smile as they stopped before a wooden door. From within, she could already clearly hear a female voice.

      The instructor knocked loudly before opening the door. The voice within stopped.

      A short, plump woman with red curly hair and spectacles frowned as they entered. She wore a black gown with earth-brown edgings on the cowl. Judging from the expression on her face, she wasn’t pleased at being interrupted.

      “Instructor Felgreen, pardon the disturbance. However, I have a new student for you.”

      The instructor’s frown was replaced by a curiosity as she adjusted her glasses to study a shy Britea.

      “Class,” said Instructor Shelley, addressing the silent students. “This is Britea D’Tranell. She will be joining you.”

      Britea forced herself to look at her fellow students. She