COMPLETED Remembrance of Self | Fantasy | LGBTQ

Chapter 9 Part 4

["They," the man continued. "Are my boys. Cadets that after this year, they will become your personal guard. Your protectors. Their sole purpose is to make sure you live until you hit Master. By no means does that imply they are your personal servants or slaves. They will be your comrades, your companions, your friends. You will need to trust them with your life as they will do so with theirs. Do I make myself clear?" he boomed, eliciting a mumbled acknowledgement from the young Wielders. "Each of you will find themselves a partner for this field trip. Take this rare opportunity to get to know them. If the Creators would have it, both of you would choose each other in the pairing next year." the man finished and allowed Master Rwoy to step forward]

Haiden was eager to get to Tasgal, he waited impatiently for Master Rwoy to finish his speech warning everyone of the dangers the Backwoods posed. With awakened ones you don't really know what you're getting. The infinite variations of traits the creatures can take on made for the wildest of beings to emerge, from a wee little thing minding its business simply existing to a flaming wild mron running towards you at full throttle. Master Rwoy attributed the presence of the Ash'en cadets to this factor of unpredictability with the creatures of the Backwoods.They have been training in combat ever since they arrived at the Academy while the young Wielders only just began to learn self control and some Minor spells.

The volatile and condensed nature of the ambiental Fios within the Academy grounds was in Master Rwoy's words, extremely dangerous. The apparition of awakened ones is so frequent within the Backwoods that the Academy organizes occasional parties to dispose of them before they become a threat to the students and the city of Elo'yn. It was both an advantage for training in real combat but a danger that had to be kept under control. Master Rwoy finally advised them to keep their shield at the front of their minds and always ready and to trust their Ash'en.

Once dismissed, everyone approached the Ash'en timidly. For some, it was the first time meeting one and just went about randomly saying hello, while others, mostly girls, like Malticia and her gang, went straight for the most handsome men, though one would argue all were extremely good looking.

It didn't surprise Haiden that Justinia, a beautiful blonde by normal standards that was part of Malticia's cackle, went straight for Tasgal. This lit a fire in Haiden's stomach. His feet marched on their own accord straight to them ignoring Maree and Camila mid conversation.

As he approached he could hear Justinia trying to butter Tasgal up to pair with her. That bitch, he briefly thought, a sense of possessiveness overcame him. He cleared his throat as soon as he approached the two.

"Haiden!" Tasgal said prying off a sleazy hand off of his bicep. "I do apologize, Lady Justinia, but as I said earlier, I had made a promise to a dear friend of mine that we would pair together." Relief flushed over Haiden. He bit the inside of his lip trying not to smile in triumph.

Justinia, dumbfounded, looked at Haiden once over then back at Tasgal. "You're blowing me off to pair with this dirty lowly commoner?" her nasally voice scraped the insides of Haiden's brain.

"Dirty? I- " Haiden wanted to rip her a new one, but he bit his tongue. He didn't need to make another enemy, he already had one of the most influential students targeting him, he didn't need Maliticia's cackle going after him too, not that they didn't hate him, but at least they tolerated him and stopped at petty gossip.

"No!" she stamped her foot. "No! You will pair with me! I am the daughter of Lord Thun'adal and this is an order!" she insisted. Her face twisted in an unseemly pout, turning red then a slight tinge of purple dusted her cheeks.