Singularity

Kira had no way of knowing if the night had ended. But her morning began with the door flinging open.

“Get up and get dressed.” Elder Michalei ordered.

“Get out.” She growled.

“Fine, you can go like that then.” Michalei stated as he dragged her from the room by her arm.

“Let go you brute!” She growled. “Where are we going?”

“Breakfast first, then chores and training until lunch. After lunch you’ll have more training and chores until supper.” Michalei replied as he loosened up on her arm.

“You could drop the attitude. It won’t help you here.” He stated.

“When do I get to go home?” She asked.

“When you show progress and earn it.” He scoffed.

“You’d best get used to the schedule fast Kira. You can get run over very quickly here.” He said as he stopped in the archway of the dining room.

“I’m sorry.” She said suddenly.

“Eat fast, I’ll be back in twenty minutes to take you to the training room.” He said before vanishing down the hall.

Kira took Michalei’s advice and attempted to not make waves at breakfast. She kept her head down and ate quickly. When he returned for her she kept quiet and followed him down the hall. He left her in a room full of children. She knew for certain they were half her age. She felt insulted and took her place in the back of the room at the end of the line.

“Get a staff off the wall.” The little girl beside her whispered, “And do it quick before you get caught unprepared.”

“Thanks.” Kira whispered back as she dashed for the wall.

Kira barely made it back to her spot when she heard, “Good morning class.”

Everyone hit their knees, “Good morning Master.”

Kira hit her knees a moment late and muttered half the greeting. She caught a glimpse of the woman at the front of the class. She wore the black master’s robe that allowed her to blend into the shadows.

“Let’s begin our drills then.” She stated. “Right, left, center, turn.”

Kira had no idea what the master meant. The rest of the class kept up with her chanting as she stood there watching and trying to keep up. Finally she caught on as she mimicked the other kids. On right, her right hand dominated the staff holding that side in the air, with the left side at the floor. On left, she switched to the left side in the air. At center, her hands were even and then she turned to the right and repeated until her arms burned.

“Enough,” The master said at last, everyone hit their knees.

“Dismissed,” She said.

“Thank you master,” They replied stood and returned their staffs to the wall.

Kira could barely push herself off the floor. Her body ached as she made her way over to the wall and hung up her staff. When she turned toward the door, she collided with Michalei and cussed into his chest.

“Having fun are we?” He smirked.

“I love every last brutal minute of it.” She muttered.

“Get moving then, you’ve got chores to do.” He said as he turned on his heels and headed down the hall way.

Kira struggled to keep up with Michalei as he continued down the hall. He made a sharp left at the end of the hall and stopped in front of a large set of doors. She narrowly missed crashing into him again. He pushed open the door and the torches flared to life casting light across the massive room.

“What is this place?” Kira gasped as she looked around.

“Weapons storage,” He replied. “When you get to this stage in your training you come here to choose a weapon to master.”

“Very cool.” She replied.

“Your job is to clean and polish the weapons along with organization.” He stated.

“Alright,” She smiled at him for the first time.

“I’ll be back to get you for lunch.” He said and then vanished.

Kira got right to work. She excitedly raised her arms and used her powers to drag the weapons out of the shadows and into the middle of the room. One by one the dust was knocked off into a pile in the middle of the floor. Then she sorted the weapons by type and size before she decided where she would relocate them to. Along the far wall she ended up with piles of swords, daggers, maces, battle axes, and quarterstaffs. In the center of the floor were her battle hammers, mauls, sword staffs, war-scythes, flails, and morning stars.

There was no way to tell how long she had been working. When Kira heard a sound come from behind her she turned around expecting to see Michalei waiting to take her to lunch. Instead she was face to face with a master. She dropped to her knees and bowed her head.

“The use of magic is forbidden in this land.” The master growled.

“I’m sorry. I won’t do it again. Forgive me master.” She stammered.

The master didn’t give Kira a verbal reply. Instead he drew the whip from his belt and struck her on the back until she wept. She was terrified to look up but at last the beating ended and all that was left was the pain.

“Get back to work.” The master stated and faded away into the shadows.

“Yes master.” She replied and crawled over to the pile of swords.

Kira was placing the swords back on the wall when Michalei came strolling back in. She jumped and backed up against the wall before she realized it was him.

“You’ve been busy.” He commented.

“Yeah,” She replied quietly.

“Are you ready for lunch?” He asked.

“I’m not all that hungry.” She replied. “Can I just go back to my room until it’s over?” She asked.

“As long as you don’t go wandering around I can let you do that.” He replied.

“I’m not wandering anywhere. You have my word on that.” She trembled as she replied.

“Alright,” He said. “Let’s go then.”

Kira stayed quietly behind Michalei as he led her back to her room. She opened her door and made her way to light the lamp. As light enveloped the room he got a good look at her.

“Dear goddess Kira.” He said when he noticed her blood stained and torn shirt.

“What did they do to you?” He asked as he reached out to touch her.

She pulled away, “I got caught using magic. I’m fine just go away.” She begged.

“This doesn’t look fine to me.” He countered as she backed herself into the corner.

“I said leave.” She barked harshly.

“Alright,” He said taking the hint. “I’ll be back in twenty minutes.” Michalei closed the door behind him.