Rattling chains startled Kai out of his fitful sleep. He had dozed off still thinking about the only real conversation that he had, had with the inquisitor. The last dregs of sleepy were thrown from Kai's mind when the heavy door of the prison cart swung open for the first time since Kai had left his home. It was dark out and two shadows stood outside the door. The one on the left had the glowing, shifting eyes of the inquisitor. The one on the right clearly was not a Magus as his eyes were not glowing.
"Inquisitor, you are certain that this boy is a Raven?" A skeptical voice came from the shadow without glowing eyes.
"Yes, he revealed his powers the day I took him." The inquisitor's voice was nervous.
'Is the inquisitor scared? Who could scare him? Will they let me out?' Even with the two figures looking at him Kai could only think of the open air that was behind them.
The shadow on the right grunted, and as Kai looked on, two glowing eyes appeared on the shadow. The eyes were a sinister green and seemed to swallow Kai. Kai became fixated on the eyes. Unknowingly, Kai began to lean forward as his body tensed. Energy began to swell in Kai and Kai's eyes turned the same shade of green as the shadow.
"You were correct Inquisitor. You are to be congratulated. Too few Oculars have been making it to the school. Did you encounter any trouble on the road?"
"Raven Knight, I encountered no trouble during my travels." The inquisitor said stiffly.
"Interesting, you will need to come into the school to receive you rewards. The new superintendent will want to speak with you. Few oculars are being transported here without trouble. There is also the matter of you travelling without submitting any notice or even putting a form nine in." The Raven Knight's voice carried skepticism.
"Of course, I am happy to assist the Raven Knights." The inquisitor's gulp was audible to Kai.
"Go to the guard room. I will escort our new student alone."
'What was that? Why do I feel so strange? Those eyes looked as though they could see right through me'
During the conversation Kai had remained tense. As the inquisitor walked away, Kai felt a sharp pain plunge into his mind. Kai cried out and grabbed his head.
"Calm yourself little Raven. You are not to use your powers without direction and if you try, then you will likely just hurt yourself. Get out here and follow me."
Kai picked himself off of the dirty floor and crawled out of the prison car. His feet touched the ground, but as soon as he put his weight on them he collapsed to the ground. Weeks of being locked in the cart had weakened him. It was as though he had forgotten how to walk, and as he lay there, terrible muscle cramps wracked his legs. Kai lay on the ground in too much pain to even cry out, and the Raven Knight's hand began to glow a with a dark blue light. The Raven Knight reached down and placed the light against Kai's back. He cursed as soon as he did.
"I guess he never even let you out of the cart. You have muscle atrophy in both your legs. I will fix it, but you'll be tired after. I guess that you won't mind that, because it looks painful." As soon as the Knight stopped speaking, Kai let out a startled gasp as a frigid force pushed its way through his body. After a brief moment the frozen force faded and left Kai panting in the dirt.
"Stand up young Raven." The Shadow spoke with a passive tone that worked to mask the fury that filled the man.
'Damn inquisitors, they always treat the young Oculars terribly. They know that bringing them here is the last opportunity they have to mistreat them. The next time the boy meets an inquisitor he'll be able to kill him without effort.'
As the Knight watched, Kai pushed on the ground to lift himself up. As he did, he braced himself for the same sharp pain that had driven him to the ground. To Kai's surprise his body responded perfectly. In fact, it felt better than before he had gotten into the cart. As Kai marveled at his sudden health the Raven Knight began walking and Kai rushed to follow. As they walked Kai stuck close on the Knight's heels. The night was not lit well. Kai could see several buildings that were lit, but the Knight led him away from them, choosing instead to lead Kai into the darkness.
They walked for around twenty minutes in silence before the ground began to slope upwards. The footing was unstable, and Kai continuously stumbled. The Knight was surefooted in the blackness. After climbing for another ten minutes Kai was covered in scrapes from falling and exhausted from the malnutrition and the healing. The strength that had filled him after the Knight healed him was gone and Kai was a wreck.
Finally, the knight stopped in front of a solid wall. The Knight placed a hand against it and with a soft rumble the wall sunk into the ground. Kai and the knight walked through the opening. As they continued walking the Knight clenched his fist and the wall rose to seal them in. As it shut, they were left in complete darkness. Kai froze in fear while the knight strode on into the dark. The Knight's steps were silent and so Kai had nothing to follow in the blackness. Another soft rumble cut through the silence as a second wall slid into the ground to reveal a well-lit hallway.
Kai attempted to marvel at the white stone paths and the displays of magic, but he was too tired. Even the strangely white light failed to spark an interest.
'I can't keep this up. This man is evil. Will he ever stop?'
Kai jogged behind the Knight as they moved down corridor after corridor. Briefly, Kai attempted to keep track of their progress, but he was too tired and lost track of the turns that they had taken. Eventually, they came to a stop in front of a double wooden door. The Knight finally came to a stop and turned to look at Kai. This gave Kai a chance to get his first real look at the Knight. Kai was surprised by how ordinary the Knight appeared. When people spoke of Magus they spoke of the deformities first. Similarly, when people spoke of Raven Knights, they crafted a picture of deformed monstrosities. Yet, this knight looked like a regular villager with a long nose and ears that were too big for his head.
"Through this door is the living area for your class. There are sixty rooms. Twenty-nine are already taken. The leader of the class was chosen seven months ago. She is waiting to meet you. She will assign you a room and explain the schedule. Do not leave this room until the morning training session. Do you understand?"
The Knight's words cut through Kai's fluttering thoughts about how the Knight might look flapping his ears and soaring through the sky.
"Wait how long has the rest of the class been training?" Kai asked in confusion.
'There is already a class? Am I late?'
Genuine concern about tardiness took over Kai, and the Knight realized that Kai was not up to comprehending anything more tonight.
"I do not answer questions. Do you understand?" The Knight maintained a perfectly neutral expression on his face, but as Kai looked at him it occurred to Kai that the Knight looked as tired as Kai felt. Not wanting to anger the tired Knight Kai nodded. The Knight gestured at the door and then walked away down the hall. The Knight quickly took a left turn and was out of sight.
Kai took a deep breath and pushed on the doors, but they did not budge. Kai shoved harder and they still did not move. Frustrated and tired Kai slammed his shoulder into the door in an attempt to force it open. Kai bounced off the door and fell down. As Kai sat on the ground rubbing his shoulder the doors swung open towards Kai. A pretty young girl with bright red hair looked down at Kai with a bemused look on her face.
"You know it's easier to just pull the doors open than to try to knock them down." The girls spoke in a very matter of fact manner, but the corners of her mouth continuously twitched.
"I'll have to remember that next time." Kai sputtered.
'Great, just great. Not only do I show up late, but I manage to do it while looking like a complete moron.'
"Well are you going to get up or do you plan to sleep there." Kai's face flushed and he hurried to his feet. The girl looked Kai up and down. "You look rough. Follow me I'll show you where you can sleep and answer any questions that you have. I'm Flame by the way."
'AH, I'm looking like a moron again. Pull yourself together Kai.'
"I'm Kai. Flame? That's a weird name." Kai smacked himself as soon as he finished talking.
'Nailed it. Cool, calm, and collected. I wonder if they have the death penalty for stupid people?'
"Thanks, I do try to be weird. Don't apologize, I'm joking. We are allowed to choose new names, some do it to help adjust to living here. Other times people get given nicknames and they stick. People called me Flame because of my hair and I just let it stick. This room will be yours.
"Here's the deal. You aren't allowed to have food here. You have uniforms in the closet. Wear the one that fits. The servants will take what you are currently wearing and the uniforms that don't fit tomorrow while we are training. Bath chambers are all the way down and on the right. They are group chambers, and we all bathe together. It's an adjustment, but you'll come to like it. Now what questions do you have?"
Kai looked at the very businesslike girl. She was about a head taller than him and wore a black uniform with green trim. Kai recognized that the green was the same shade as the Raven Knight's eyes. Kai almost just shrugged and went into the room. He was tired enough that, that was all he really cared about doing, but there was a deep kindness in the girl's eyes that urged him to ask a question.
"So, what is this place?"
"Ha, right to the point. They didn't tell me until I got here either. This is the Ocular school. The schools are separated by ability. We are Ravens, so this is the Raven school. They teach us how to read, fight, blend in, and use our powers. The school is supposed to turn us into Raven Knights." Kai moved to open his mouth, but Flame jumped to answer the question he was about to ask. "Raven knights are the hidden weapon of the Royals and the Empire. Knights act as assassins, reconnaissance troops, secret police, and battlefield assassins. Unlike the Magus we look like everyone else, but we can also use all the powers that Magus can. We aren't limited to just one. You'll find all about that stuff in class. Trust me, our instructors talk about it constantly."
"What if we don't want to be raven knights." Flame gave Kai a look that was full of sympathy.
"You don't have a choice. If you have the powers, then you will not be allowed to leave. None of us are. You will become a Knight, or they will kill you. Whether you like it or not you are here to stay." Kai stared back at her with shock. Some part of him was still expecting to be able to go home.
'This sounds even worse than I thought.'
"Are we allowed to visit our family at least?"
Flame shook her head and gave Kai a compassionate look. "When they took you, you ceased to exist. As far as your family is concerned you are dead. I'm sorry, I know it's not an easy thing for most people."
Kai felt his eyes fill with tears, but also noted that she did not seem to include herself with most people.
"For what it's worth we are your family now. No matter what this class will have your back. You won't be alone. Even when you want to be." Flame said the last part with a smile and Kai let out a choked laugh.
"I'll let you get some sleep. We wake up early. Don't worry about sleeping too late, I'll make sure that you're up."
Kai nodded and entered his room. Flame closed the door behind him, and Kai stood in the bare room in shock. There was one stone desk and one stone bed that both looked like they had risen out of the ground. Of course, with the powers that Knights wielded they probably had. The bed had a thin mattress on it with one blue blanket and a white pillow. The desk had a small wooden chair. There was a closet in one of the corners filled with uniforms. There was no door to the closet. There was nothing else in the room. It was a bland and militant accommodation.
Kai stared at his surroundings blankly, still overwhelmed from his conversation with Flame. After standing for a few moments Kai felt his legs tremble. He went to the bed and flopped onto it. He grunted as he landed. The mattress did not stop Kai from feeling the stone it rested on. Kai wondered how he would be able to sleep on such an uncomfortable bed. However, before his outrage had a chance to take root, he drifted off to sleep.