Cartlidge: Rise of the Imperfect Flame (5 page)

Shortly after removing Walker from the arena, the medical
officers came back to take me to the infirmary as well. I did not have any
serious injuries, but the officers wanted to be sure. My body became numb with
every other step so I allowed them to take me to the medical room. I spent the
night there, thinking about what had transpired while they injected unknown
chemicals into my legs. What would happen next? Was I to be punished? Banned from
the warrior program?
And what of Walker?
Did I truly
take another life because I lacked control? Eventually the questions forced me
to ask. Much to my relief, however, Walker had survived.

By the next morning I was allowed to visit. Walker had
several tubes connected to his body, each pumping strangely colored fluids. The
tubes connected to large machines, which were maintained by two doctors. Most
of his body was held in place by restraints, though his head was given more
freedom. The side of his face had a darkened bruise from my final blow in the
arena.

“Ah! Well if it isn’t the victor! Come to see your
handiwork? Hey, if you ever find yourself in these things, don’t let them reset
your jaw manually. It hurts like
sevhevokilktev
!” He
laughed and then cursed himself for moving too much.

“I’m really sorry sir, I-”

“Don’t be sorry, and don’t call me sir. I’m not a commander
yet. You won fair and square, and as far as I can tell I’m not dead. There’s no
reason to hold a grudge for that. Heck, I should thank you.”

“Thank me?”

“Yeah, thank you! I haven’t had that good of a fight since I
was ten, and that was because it was three to one and I didn’t know how to
fight yet.” He tried laughing again, though it quickly turned into a spastic
cough.

“Hey you need to get out of here or you’ll miss your first
day of specialization training. You won’t pass without it.”

“Wait, you mean
..
I passed?”

“Of course you passed! You won the fight didn’t you? Now if
you’ll excuse me, I’m going to pass out.” Instantly Walker was asleep, much to
the relief of the doctors. A sense of shock swept over me but I quickly
recovered. I turned around and darted to the main theatre where we were
supposed to gather. The main theatre was normally used for only three purposes.
The first, today, was specialization day. We would be separated by our talents,
physical attributes, and fighting styles into various groups for specific tasks
in combat. Each squad had its own commander, support, and medical officer. It
was also quite common for each group to have a pair of scouts for
reconnaissance. Then there were much rarer classes who would join into the
squad, sometimes taking control for their own assignments. A common example was
the King or Queen, though control was only given if said warrior was of a
fitting rank. The second time we would gather in the main theatre would be in
preparation for our final test, and the final, more coveted, use was for
graduation. Only half the people now gathered here would be able to reach that
day this year. The commander made his way to the stage,
then
calmly waited for silence to fill the room. Finally he spoke. My Rovanekren was
still in need of improvement, though I could understand the majority of his
speech.

“Congratulations, young bloods, on surmounting the first
test of the month. I am sure you are all feeling rather proud of your
accomplishments up to this point. Well, I am here to tell you that it would be
best-” He paused, “- if you start praying to the angels, because the tests only
get harder from here. In a few days you will all be put to the final test. Half
of you will leave for the remainder of the year. Half of you will stay, no
longer young bloods, but soldiers, clad in your shiny, new armor. While we sort
you into your roles, pray that you are part of that latter half.” He traded
spots with Brin,
then
walked off the stage.

“Alright, I want operators in the left stands, intel
officers in the right stands, and combat specialists in the center.”
Immediately people began shuffling throughout the entire room. This first
separation was not the final one, but it did help make the process run a little
smoother. I stood awkwardly for a moment, trying to discern where the Kings
would sit. In truth, a King or a Queen could potentially fit any role. I soon
realized I was the last one standing and quickly found a spot in the center
stands.

“Now that everyone is settled, you will be moved into the
separate meeting rooms where you will be examined by an instructor who will
help you decide which spot is best for you. Oh! And don’t worry if you don’t
find yourself where you thought you should have been. Not many people find
their specialization before sorting day.” We were up again. This time we turned
and exited the main theatre, then crossed the hall into our assigned meeting
rooms. These rooms were much like large class rooms. There were stacks of
tables and chairs that were moved to make space for the lines of young bloods
in each room. From what I had heard, the process takes several hours, so many
try to get as close to the front as possible. If you were caught cutting in
line, however, you would be forced to move to the back. Slowly the lines moved
forward. Despite the frustration, we all stood at attention, as if we were
being tested on our discipline. Many believed that we really were. After an
hour I found myself at the front of the line. An instructor sat impatiently at
his desk, writing something down for the previous individual.

“Name?”

“Uh, Jacob Cartlidge.”
I stuttered,
nervously.

“Hold on,” He pressed a few keys on his computer,
then
lit up slightly.

“Ah, yes, the human with a King’s potential. I assume that’s
the direction you want to go?”

“Yes, sir”

“Alright, give me a second.” He had surprisingly stopped
speaking in Rovanekren and began speaking in Gaia instead.

“Let’s see here, you are a normal-built human, you use the
standard armament for your fighting style, king’s power,
ummm
,
where’s the armor file…?”

“My armor isn’t finished yet, sir.”

“Ah! Well, yours has to be custom designed and built, so
that’s understandable. Well, you’re lucky. Usually I would have to go through a
lot more examinations than this.” He handed me a purple card with Rovanekren
writing on it, followed by his signature. “Present this to an instructor tomorrow
and he’ll show you the way.”

“Thank you sir.”
I turned and left,
awkwardly averting my gaze as the other soldiers glared at me with envy.

Though simple, Sorting Day was often much more stressful for
those who weren’t sure where they belonged. Some warriors could fit in any
class they wished, while others worked diligently just to be worthy of a single
specialization. Some did not fit anywhere, and would be forced to remain a
simple rifleman following graduation. The second day, however, was the real
start of specialization training. We were awakened early and told to go to
different rooms, depending on our specialization. Since mine was combat
focused, I was told to go to the training room. After a few minutes of
searching, I found an instructor. He pointed me to Brin who was the instructor
for new Kings and Queens. There were only three of us: a woman named Gen, a
singer named Alto, and myself.

“Ok, so according to this…” He paused to read something on
his handheld device. “Everyone is here. Welcome everyone to what is likely the
hardest training course in the complex.” After introducing ourselves to each
other, we moved to one of the holo-rooms.

“Alright, everyone, I want you to take everything you know
about energy and throw it out. We are not using our powers for fancy tricks, or
for enjoyment, or even for pointless fights with your teammates.” He looked at
each of us as if branding us guilty of one of these.

“In the next nine days you will learn to summon the power
entirely on will, sustain it, control it, and use it to fight.” He walked to
control terminal for the room and spawned a single holographic figure. The
hologram was not nearly as realistic, due to the small room and cheaper system.

“Alright, show me what you can do.”

“Sir, I thought you said to throw everything we knew out?”
Gen protested

“I did. But this is so that I’m sure that you know why.”
There was a pause. It seemed like the others were having the same problem I
was. We couldn’t simply start using our powers. After several awkward attempts
we all gave up.

“So you’re telling me you’ve all used your powers before?”
We remained silent. He slowly walked over to Alto.

“You’re a singer, right?”

“Yes, sir.
Born
with it, sir.
That’s how I know I have it, sir.”

“Color?”

He remained silent, confused.

“Color, soldier!”
Brin shouted.

“Green, sir!”
Alto finally
answered. Brin walked over to
Gen
.

“Color!”

“Orange, sir!”
She immediately
answered. Brin turned and walked to me.

“Color!”
Energy filled me. I
channeled it to my arm. I felt the warmth of the power travel down my arm to my
fingertips, where it formed itself into a small ball of light. It wrapped
around itself over, and over, vibrating rapidly, as if trying to escape. I
straightened my fingers, and the ball flew outward, like a bullet. The orb
smashed into the wall, just past the figure. I missed.

“Purple… sir.” I said awkwardly. He turned away and waved
for us to move. He then drew his sword and pointed it at the figure. His sword
had two thin blades that were connected by a tube at the center. The ends of
each blade reached just past the narrow, tube. The hilt had a large, smooth gem
embedded into it. The clear gem suddenly
glowed
bright
red. The color flowed forward through the blades, just until exploding
violently. A red ball of light darted forward, crashed into the figure,
then
exploded. The figure was gone. He then turned to us.

“Alto, you lack the strength to sustain your power beyond
singing. Gen, you lack the will to try, and Jacob, control. This is good
though. Now we know what we need to work on.” We spent the rest of the day
learning simple motions and techniques for sparking the energy ourselves. We
learned that to create the energy, we needed to feel it around us. The energy
is everywhere; in sound, light, heat, and even movement. Then we needed it to
spark. This was the most difficult part. In order to spark the energy around us
we needed to reach out of ourselves with our souls. We felt the energy swirling
around us, and willed it to bend to our desire. This bending would ignite the
energy, and like two magnets between a
piece
of film,
the energy would be bound to our souls.

The third day was spent learning about the energy itself.
The colors represented the different spectrums of light. Each person used a
different frequency. Red and purple were the strongest, but also the hardest to
control. Potency decreased towards the center, while control became easier.
There were also different levels of energy. The first was the color spectrum
levels, and was the most common. The second was rare and difficult to master.
In the second level, one’s color would mix with the others of the spectrum,
creating a deathly white light. Few ever were able to transcend to the third
level. The energy spectrum would then separate into all of its individual
colors upon reaching this final level.

The fourth day was spent understanding how to maintain the
energy and why it is dangerous. Once power is sparked, the process of maintaining
it is rather simple, though it requires a constant effort. If a king were to
relax, the powers would immediately fade. Prolonged exposure to the energy,
however, is incredibly dangerous. Since the power is bound to one’s soul, it
consumes the life essence of that person, much like the wood of a fire.
Eventually, the power can render one unconscious or even cause one’s organs to
fail. Higher levels of energy are worse in this case, and few people actually
live to tell about reaching the third level.

We had the fifth day to ourselves to rest and practice on
our own.

We began practicing together on the sixth day. Each of us
trying and failing miserably at sparking energy. By the end of the day, we were
all exhausted.

Improvement finally arrived on the seventh day, but when Gen
and Alto began to excel, I continued to struggle. Once it started, I could
maintain the power well. Sparking the energy proved difficult, however.

By the eighth day I was only sparking the energy half as
often as the others.

The ninth day was meant for us to begin practice combat with
energy. I was halfway to the room when Brin approached me.

“Jacob, I’m sorry but I’m not going to be able to let you
pass like this.”

I remained silent.

“Don’t worry. This won’t prevent you from reaching the final
test, but you will have to do it as a rifleman. Perhaps, if you give it another
year, you’ll be able to try again.”

“Yes, sir.”
I turned and left. I
was disappointed in myself, but not surprised. I knew I had power, but
releasing it was always a coin toss for me. Controlling it was even worse. I
watched as Alto used his powers to create symphonies, while Gen used hers to
send blades of energy at holographic opponents. They had control. Their powers
obeyed them. My powers were only a last minute option. I sighed and returned to
my bunk, and rested the remainder of the day.

I spent day ten in my usual manner. I ate, trained, ate
again, and rested. Towards the end of the day, I found myself in the training
room. One of the holographic rooms was empty. Hoping no one else needed
it,
I slipped inside and started a simulation. Three targets
stood before me. I spent what felt like another hour trying to get a spark.
Nothing happened. I tried desperately, wanting, begging, willing the energy to
appear, but it eluded me. By dusk I gave up. Tomorrow was the final test and I
needed the sleep. I left the training room and entered the hallway. I continued
on into a large, darkened room that I knew well. Below a Rovanekren sign
another sign read “Artifact and Prophecy Library” in Gaia. The room was
overwhelmingly spacious, with ceilings that rose to the heights of the ancient
cathedrals. The walls were covered in shelves of books and capsules filled with
objects from unknown times with unknown stories. There were few lights in the
room, giving me the notion that I had just escaped the very bounds of time. The
room was filled with tables, desks, and platforms with descriptions of objects
in Rovanekren. There was a group of Rovanekren civilians listening to an
instructor lecture about a strange statue towards the back.