The alarm rang loudly in the room, stirring Dom awake from his deep stupor. He opened his brown eyes slightly, pushing his hand through his mouse brown hair. His blurred vision gazed at the clock, which showed 7:15am.

"Shut up." he muttered, before snoozing the alarm and closing his eyes again. What Dom hadn't remembered at this point in time, was that today was an important day. It was exam day.

Dom nodded back to sleep, back to his dream. In his dream he was holding Claire's hand, as he walked her up the path towards his parents home. Claire was tall and brunette, with curves in all the places that Dom, or any other male liked. She was also the girl that should be way out of his reach, as being part of the famous Thompson family, he was proud to be taking her home.

The home was a large cottage, passed down through his mothers family for generations. It looked homely and welcoming. With Ivy climbing up the walls, and immaculate gardens that had butterflies and bees buzzing around it.

His mother was waiting at the top of the path, her brown eyes and mouse hair matching that of Dom's. She looked kind and welcoming, the type of mother that everyone wished was theirs. She was wearing her military uniform, the one she had on at her awards ceremony when she was promoted to major for her war merits. Beside her was the shadow of his father, his face blurred behind a branch from a cherry blossom tree on the pathway, he was tall and imposing, whilst also wearing a military uniform.

The alarm rang again. 7:30. On average it took Dom 45 minutes in his morning routine. awake, toilet, shower, breakfast. Followed by the usual last minute jog to the military school that he was staying at, start time was at 8:30.

"Go away!" He moaned, before snoozing the alarm again. As usual, he would wait for the 7:45 before contemplating getting out of bed.

This time when he closed his eyes, Claire was gone, no longer holding his hand. His smiling mother was gone, as was the shadow of his imposing father.

There was just the path, to the now desolate house, broken down and abandoned, the Ivy dead and grey, the flowers dead and overgrown. The cottage was like most of the town. When the they were last invaded by Eastern Empire, they had claimed lots of territory before they were pushed back by the Western Kingdoms. During this chaos, Rivertown was abandoned, Dom's home. Even though the lines had pretty much returned to what they were before the war, Rivertown hadn't been rebuilt.

The alarm rang again. 7:45. He looked, but the memories of his past made him want to close his eyes again.

"5 more minutes, please." He begged.

His eyes closed again, but this time nothing came to him, just darkness and peace.

....

"Dominic! What are you playing at!" shouted Andrew, "its 8:15, we need to go!"

Andrew was Dom's dormmate, they shared a joint living space, with 2 others, however each bedroom had their own ensuite bathroom. They were luxury dorms, given by the government to those who were on scholarships and whose parents had sacrificed the most to the war effort.

Andrew was tall, dark and handsome, or so people said. Dom himself thought he was an idiot, but he wouldn't be without him.

"I'm not bothering today, I don't feel it." Dom replied sluggishly, before rolling back over.

"Its the exit exams today! You can't miss it!" Andrew replied quickly.

Andrew was like the big brother Dom had never had, both of Andrews parents were scientists that were killed during a targeted bomb when he was young, and since then he had lived in the military school dorms. He only left to visit his grandparents who lived over 100kms away. He cared for Dom like family, as they had lived together for the last 5 years.

"Today?" grumbled Dom with realisation.

"Yes!" Andrew roared, before picking up Dom's night glass of water from the bedside table and throwing it at him. "Get a move on or you'll fail and miss out on a university place!"

Morning ruined; Dom rolled out of bed. 8:17. The jog would take him 10minutes to get to class. No time for a toilet, shower or breakfast.

"You go! I'll be right behind you!" Dom commanded, in a stern tone, before scrambling to find some clean uniform from his wardrobe.

The students at Military Academy 26 wore black pants with red stripes, with a matching blazer and a white shirt. Their blazer was embroidered with a flaming phoenix with the number 26 on its chest. The phoenix being the embodiment of rebirth that represented the Western Kingdoms, for most of the members of Dom's dorm at Academy 26, it had a deeper meaning.

"Fine, but get a move on!" replied Andrew as he quickly left the room and headed out of the dorm building.

Dom quickly got dressed in to his uniform and looked at himself in the mirror. He had dark rings under his eyes and his un-brushed hair made him look like he had just walked in from a late night out.

He quickly left his dorm and ran across the campus towards his class. The journey wasn't long, but it followed a winding path from his dorm, through the courtyard, which was filled with large oak trees that towered over the pathway. There were another 2 blocks of dorms to the left and right of the courtyard, with the pathway leading through the other end to the central section of the campus. The buildings were made from a red brick, with flag poles attached to them with both the Academy flag of a flaming phoenix, as well as the the Western Kingdoms flag of a roaring lion on a black background.

Dom made his way across the courtyard and entered the central section of the campus. Ahead of him was the main lecture halls, where his class were based today for their end of term exams. A good score would set them up for a good final grade at the end of the year. This year a good grade could get them access to a top military university, or an invitation to one of the major sects or families of the local countries that made up the Western Kingdom.

Dom reached the huge wooden doors of the lecture hall entrance and pushed his way through the crowd of students who were making their way to their classes. He looked at his watch, 8:27, he had 3 minutes before he was late.

He ran down the long corridor, past more students and rows of lockers that adorned the walls to either side, before crashing in to a student who was leaving a class.

They both tumbled to the floor in a heap, with Dom landing on top of an unsuspecting student. The student was muscular, with blonde hair and green eyes. His uniform was pristine and ironed neatly, or it had been until Dom had tumbled in to him.

"Sorry!" Dom exclaimed, quickly pushing himself up, "I'm running late!"

"Get off me now!" The student replied angrily, staring him down. "You need to get your act together Dom!"

Dom stood up and smiled, before running off down the corridor again towards his class. Almost at the door now, 8:29.

"What time do you call this Mr. Lazarus." A voice echoed from the classroom door, "your time keeping is almost as good as your fathers was. It's a shame you can't be more like your mother!"

Dom got through the classroom door and was now at the front of the class. The teacher, Mrs Granggle, also know as Mrs Gargoyle was sat at the front behind her desk. She had long grey hair, with grey eyes and a tight fitted black dress. She looked younger than she was, but the tell tale crows feet beside her eyes gave away her age. She had been a teacher at Academy 26 for over 50 years, with most of the students from prominent families parents having been taught by her themselves.

Dom looked at the class and saw it was full, except for his usual space. He could see Andrew at the back, with his normal seat available beside him. He just had to do the walk of shame of being last in again through the rest of the class.

"Being late is one thing Mr Lazarus." Mrs Gargoyle continued, "but coming as unkempt as yourself is unacceptable at our prestigious Academy. Please take a seat, and remember that if you want to succeed in further life, you should work on your punctuality and personal care."

Dom kept his head down as he walked up the stairs of the Auditorium to reach Andrew at the back. Throwing himself in the chair quickly and looking sheepishly at Andrew.

"Close one!" Andrew whispered, with a "I told you so" tone.

Dom glared at him from the corner of his eye and smiled.

"Now we are all here! Please open the first page of your work book and fill out your name, date of birth, and dorm room number." Explained Mrs Gargoyle in a loud tone. "The Exam will now begin."

Dom looked down at his desk, where a the exam paper lay, he turned the first page and entered his details.

Name: Dominic Lazarus

Date of Birth: 19th October 2475

Dorm: 217

"Ok, so that's the easy bit done" Dom thought to himself before turning the page to see the exam question.

The Fall of Riverside in the year 2470, as a Military student, how would you have approached the famous battle, giving the Western Kingdom a better result?

"Well this is a bit unfair...." Thought Dom, who caught Andrew's eye who was obviously thinking the same thing.