Chapter 2: The Road to Oswalda

I slung a burlap backpack over my shoulder, stepped out of the house, and went down the crumbling steps. My parents followed. My father, Mylaki, did his best not to show his emotions, but I knew that he was beside himself.

My mother let the tears fall freely. I had prepared myself for the waterworks, but the truth was, I wanted to go. I’d lived in our farming village since I was born. Most people enjoyed its coziness. They made a quiet and ordinary life work for them. My parents needed help harvesting crops and selling fruits and vegetables at the market in the main square, so I helped them. They were convinced that most kids in the village were up to no good, and because I was shy and gullible, they wanted me to keep to myself. I did that too.

I lived for my parents, just like they lived to protect me, but I couldn’t help but hate feeling like an outsider. It wasn’t an exaggeration either, because the trip to Oswalda was going to be the first time I’d get to spend time with people my age.

I promised myself that this year was going to be different. I’d be different. I’d try to get out of my comfort zone. I’d study hard, and even if I wasn’t deemed eligible to serve my country in the end, maybe I’d at least make some friends along the way.

My father held out his arms. I melted into him. He kissed the top of my head. The crackle in his voice made me want to cry, but I needed to stay strong. If not for me, then for my parents.

“All packed?” my mother asked and patted my back. Her eyes brimmed with tears.

“Yes, all packed.”

She knew I was. After all, she was the one who’d helped me pack last night after dinner. It was the quietest meal I’d ever had in my life.

“The others are about to head out.” She said it softly, like she wished she’d never told me that Oswalda existed. “Hurry up, you don’t want to be left behind.”

I could tell that Mother’s heart was aching, and so was mine. I threw my arms around her tiny, frail body one last time before setting down a gravel road and joining a few other eighteen-year-olds from the neighborhood.

Parents, relatives, and friends cheered for us and wished us luck, but the farther we walked, the quieter their voices got, until eventually, I couldn’t hear them at all.

I held back tears. I wouldn’t let myself be sad right now. Not when Oswalda Academy awaited us.

We walked to the center of town and gathered around the water well, where we waited until the people from the more remote corners of the village showed up. A girl with brown hair was the last to arrive. Her face was stained with tears, and her eyes were red. Even I knew that she didn’t want to go because she was in love with a man two years older than us and she didn’t want to leave him.

I couldn’t even imagine love like that. Romance, just like friendship, was a completely foreign concept to me.

A man who always bought potatoes from me at the market had volunteered to take us to Oswalda. He did a quick headcount. There were seven of us, four boys and three girls.

“The trip will be rough, but I don’t want to hear any complaining. Also, keep an eye on your things because if you lose something, we’re not going back to get it,” he announced in a gruff voice. He pointed to a large field behind a thick line of trees. “This way.”

He didn’t lie. The trip truly was horrible. We slept in the dirt for days. We took turns staying awake throughout the night to keep the fire going. There were also wild animals to look out for. When it was my time to keep watch, I trembled whenever a low howl pierced the air, but I’d never wake the others.

Only brave people belonged in Oswalda, and as scared as I was, I wanted to be one of them.

The men hunted and fished. The women handled the cooking. A few times per day, the smell of fish filled the air and made my stomach turn. I absolutely hated fish, but I couldn’t be choosy because the trip was strenuous, and just like most of the other people here who didn’t want their families to go hungry this week, I hadn’t packed any food for the road.

Once daylight hit, we were off again.

I didn’t know my trip companions. They didn’t seem to know one another either, but that didn’t stop them from chatting.

“What do you think Oswalda will be like?” a blonde girl named May asked without addressing anyone in particular.

“My brother went last year,” a boy with freckles and the most vibrant red hair I’d ever seen said. “He told me that the masters are really tough.”

I’d heard of the way the masters pushed students and drew power out of them like the last droplet of water in a canteen, but that wasn’t going to happen to me because I had no magic to give.

“The classes were hard too, but they do have amazing food,” he continued.

“Wasn’t your brother really fit when he came back, James?” someone in the back of the group asked.

James nodded. “They make you work out like crazy. My brother is still working out. He wants to stay in shape so he can apply to the Army of Knights.”

I was in pretty good shape from dragging around sacks of grains all day. Whatever the masters had in store for me when it came to physical training, I was more than ready.

“There it is!” a girl in front of me squealed.

The seven of us raced to a brick bridge that separated us and our new home—the biggest castle I’d ever seen. Tapered towers and stained-glass windows took my breath away. The wanted posters featuring scary men and women hung on the pillars, but the scariest of them all was a pale man with short black hair and a deadly look in his dark eyes.

“Guarin,” I read out loud.

“The right-hand man of the Arachnid King,” a boy said. “They say he chops people’s fingers off and eats them.”

Trying to get that image out of my head, I followed the other people as we crossed the bridge and joined the newcomers from the other villages. As we walked through the gates, Oswalda’s students and staff watched us intently.

A man with shaggy blond hair stopped us in a vast courtyard.

“Hello and welcome to the Academy of Oswalda. You must be hungry and tired, but before you are able to enter, you must pass through the barrier. One at a time, please,” he added brightly.

“What barrier? There is no barrier here,” someone shouted.

The blond man smirked. “Are you sure about that?”

He pulled out a wand. Once the wand hit the air, lavender ripples erupted from its end. We watched as the ripples rose higher and higher into the sky.

“Just because you can’t see something doesn’t mean it’s not there,” he added. “All right, let’s get to it. If you are eighteen, then the barrier will let you through. If you’re not of age, or if the barrier believes you to have devious intentions, you will be questioned privately.”

I held my breath as one by one the newcomers walked through the barrier.

“Next!” the blond man shouted.

I was so close, but what if the barrier decided that I didn’t belong in the academy? What if it accused me of being dangerous? I’d get interrogated, sent home, or even imprisoned.

“We don’t have all day,” the man said, sounding annoyed.

I took a deep breath before crossing through. I didn’t release it until I felt a cool sensation pass through my body and realized I was on the other side.

“You’ll be given further instructions once you’re inside. Chop, chop!”

Relieved, I slowed to the back of the line and let the others go through the giant double doors before me. From the corner of my eye, I could see hooded figures. The way they watched us gave me chills. ~Are they older students with abilities I haven’t even heard of?~ I thought. After all, the way they stood, still and confident, was starkly different to the way I kept tripping as I moved through the hall.

We were asked to line up against a wall. I didn’t realize how large our kingdom really was until I saw how many new students were joining Oswalda this year and how many more had already been here for a year or more. I wasn’t even counting those who didn’t have any magical abilities and had to return to their normal lives, those who had magic and decided to leave, or those who ran away before the first day of school and were disciplined for it.

Entering the academy was a big step, and a lot of people just couldn’t handle the pressure or responsibility that came with having magic and letting it grow inside of you. Magic wasn’t just amazing. It could also be very dangerous. Some people couldn’t control it and went mad. There was no cure, magical or otherwise, that could put their minds back together.

~I guess I see why someone would want to run~,I thought. ~But this might be the one time when having no magic comes with a perk—a chance to experience the wonders of the school without having to be afraid of losing my mind.~