A large carriage passed through the gate and travelled left along the entry road.
It was pulled by four great stallions, held to the carriage by a silver contraption. The body of the carriage was large, the exterior wrapped in black and gold.
The carriage was stopped part of the way around the fountain by a large wall that protruded from the floor.
"What do we have here?" asked a man as he disembarked from the carriage.
The man was tall and had a menacing look in his eye. He was adorned in armour that was black enough to match the carriage, with a silver cape that spilled down his back to the top of his high-rise boots.
In his hands he carried a sheathed sword that he pointed towards the ground.
"Forgive me, my Lord," Madam Williams said. "Two of our boys we have here got overeager for your arrival earlier today."
The man waved a hand. "It is nothing. I am glad that you have talented boys here who can do this at twelve merely out of excitement. Forgive me, but who are you? It is usually the senior carer who greets the guard, is it not?"
"I am senior caregiver. Madam Williams," she said, offering a hand in greeting.
"Pleasure to meet you. What happened to Rasha?"
"Mrs Shah passed away, a number of years ago now."
"I'm... I'm sorry to hear that. She was a good woman."
"That she was. If you don't mind, who are you? How did you know her?"
"I met her a few times when I had been here before. As for my identity, I am Lord Commander Marth Garnell, Commander of the guard outpost north of here."
"You came here yourself?"
"I did. And it seems I was right to," he said with a gesture to the wall.
As the two spoke, four more men climbed out of the carriage. They all wore identical uniforms that were similar to the Commander's, yet had differences that gave an idea of rank.
The door to the orphanage burst open, and the children who were prospective recruits raced out.
Commander Garnell scanned the line of children as he paced across it. He saw twenty children in total.
"Listen up! This marks the start of your exam to join the national guard! You will form into four lines, and will take turns duelling the people I have here with me. That will be the first part of your exam."
Marcus lined up separately to Bran and Elanor. In his group of five, he stood third in line.
Instead of watching the two in front of him, he thought intently, trying to decipher which magical attribute would be best suited to showing his skills.
"That boy there, third one back, Marcus Grant, and that one there, Branhen Tarno. Those two are the boys that caused this mishap," Williams told the commander.
"Which one of them made the wall?"
"Marcus. Bran's magic is water based."
"I see. Thank you."
Marcus looked up to see a figure standing to his left.
"Marcus, right? Marcus Grant?"
"Yea- I mean, yes sir."
"I am Marth Garnell, commander of my outpost. I hear this mess of a wall was you. I'd like to see more of what you can do with your Earth ability."
"Yes sir," Marcus responded.
'Shit, I don't have a choice. I've gotta use Earth.'
"Everything okay, Marcus?" the commander asked, seeing Marcus's face grow pale.
"Yes sir, I'm fine."
"Okay. Well, get ready, it looks like you're about to be up."
No sooner had the commander spoken the words than the boy in front of Marcus was thrown back in defeat.
"Next," shouted the man.
Marcus took a breath to compose himself, then stepped forward.
He looked at the man opposite him and began to panic.
'Shit, I should have watched. I have no idea what I'm up against.'
"Come on kid," the man called to him. "Let's see what you've got."
Marcus remained motionless.
'I've got to let him make the first move. My Earth is defensive and I have to use it.'
"Damn," the man muttered.
A gust of wind shot at Marcus, causing him to blink.
When his eyes opened, the man was right in front of him.
'He's quick!' Marcus thought as he snapped his fingers.
The ground beneath his feet shuddered before sprouting rapidly, putting him in the air out of the range of the man's attack.
Marcus jumped off of it with another snap of his fingers. This time, the snap was offensive, and the ground pooled around the man's feet before solidifying, trapping him in place.
"Not bad," the man said with a smirk. He muttered words that Marcus couldn't make out, in the language of the Elders.
The ground around him erupted into flames, which was quickly followed by a gust of air summoned from a flick of the man's left hand.
"A dual elementalist?"
'I can't use fire here. I just have to put up a good fight with my Earth.'
As the thought formed on Marcus's mind, he lost.
He suddenly found himself on the floor, the man stood over him.
"Good job kid, you made me use my second element."
Marcus punched the floor in frustration before standing up.
As he headed behind the lines to where the other people who finished were waiting, he glanced across at the other groups. He saw Bran engaged with his opponent, displaying a talented understanding of his element.
Once all were finished, the four men consulted with the commander for a few minutes. Once done, the commander approached the children.
"Johnathan Sands!"
"Branhen Tarno!"
"Johanna Cain!"
"Elanor Loxley!"
"To you four, congratulations! You have been assessed fitting to join the National Guard, and shall be collected tomorrow."
"To the rest of you, unfortunately, we will not be recruiting you at this time. Good luck in all your future endeavours."
With that, the five men entered the carriage they had arrived on and left the orphanage.
'What? What happened?' Thoughts raced through Marcus's head as he glanced at his two friends.