“A man’s got to know his limitations,”

  - Glint Westfall, commander in the Arcan Knights

  Raziel screamed.

  Air rushed past his ears roaring so loud he barely heard himself. But a moment later Hoeru and Miles’ voices joined his. Raziel flapped his arms to no avail. All he managed to do was flail against the air which did little to slow his fall.

  Magic, Raziel thought. I can save us.

  He tried to summon up his power, to draw it in. But, though there were hundreds of feet between Basil’s skydock and the ground, the ground was rising up to meet him so fast. It took precious seconds for Raziel to hammer down the terror filling his mind and grasp at the threads of magic in the air that might be his only chance to survive.

  Time seemed to slow as the energy filled his mind. He managed to get some control of his fall, to spread his arms and legs wide so that he was falling a fraction more slowly. He had power, he just didn’t know what to do with it.

  The only thing Raziel could think to do was to fill himself with as much magic as possible and hope it gave him the strength to endure the impact. So he drew in as much magic as he could stand. Fire burst through his skin and his sense of time slowed to a crawl. He was able to pick out individual faces on the ground below, to count the tears streaming off Miles’ face as he frantically tried to keep his glasses from being carried away from his face. He watched Hoeru’s teeth and nails extend as fear forced his animal nature closer to the surface and saw a passing bird’s individual wingbeats, its wings moving like the creature was swimming through the air.

  Something hurtled past Raziel, so fast that it was a white and blue blur even to Raziel’s magic enhanced eyes. Wind slammed into him as it went by. The gust sent Raziel spiraling head over heels and he completely lost hold of what magic he’d gathered and time lurched back into normal pace. It took precious moments for him to right himself again. Too many seconds. He was scant yards from impact.

  And Hiro stood directly below him, sipping his drink. As Raziel fell to within arm’s reach of the master, Hiro plucked him out of the air by the back of his shirt. He didn’t stop Raziel cold, instead he changed the direction of Raziel’s momentum. Raziel spun upwards, completing a full arc and slowing the whole time. Hiro deposited Raziel on the ground but Raziel hadn’t lost all his momentum. He landed and rolled forward in a flopping tangle of limbs. But he wasn’t hurt.

  Hiro plucked Miles and Hoeru out of the air and set them on the ground with no more trouble than he’d had with Raziel. The effort barely ruffled his robe though they kicked up plumes of dust as they flailed.

  All three boys knelt or sat on the ground in silence breathing and shaking. Hiro took another sip of his drink. Miles screamed.

  “You could have killed us!”

  “I could kill you any time I want.”

  Hiro said it with the offhand manner of a person mentioning that it might rain later. But he wasn’t looking at Miles. Hiro’s attention was on Hoeru.

  The changling was on the ground like the rest of them. Unlike Raziel and Miles, he wasn’t shaking. He was deadly still, his legs coiled beneath him. With his dagger sharp nails and teeth extended and his mane of hair standing on end, he looked less like a human and more like a monster.

  Hiro took another sip of his drink, seemed to notice that it was near empty, and drained it.

  “If you’re going to try that, get on with it,” he said to Hoeru and then he turned and started walking down the street. Hoeru stared after him, his anger turning instantly to shock. Such utter dismissal was the last thing he’d expected.

  Raziel got shakily to his feet. He felt sick and struggled to keep his lunch down.

  “Come on,” Raziel said, holding in a burp and whatever might come up behind it. He started to follow Hiro.

  “He nearly killed us,” Miles said, his tone still incredulous.

  “He didn’t. Let’s go.”

  Raziel didn’t look back but a moment later he heard Hoeru and Miles’ steps behind him. Hiro never looked back to see if they were following.

  Hiro led them through the gentle paths that equated to streets in Kawanowari. The paths were paved only with the weight of many years of feet falling on them but they were edged by long rows of small stones.

  If one didn’t already know, it would be hard to notice that a city existed surrounding the skyport. Certainly there were enough people around for a city. There were all the crowds that living in Peritura had taught Raziel to associate with skyports but the buildings were completely absent. Besides the food tents that were in the final stages of being taken down, Raziel saw very little to suggest that anyone actually lived here. There were small bridges and gorgeous lamps that looked like dewdrops and ripe fruit but no houses, no markets, no buildings of any kind that Raziel could find.

  They walked for what seemed like a very long time along grassy paths by the tangled rivers and beneath the huge roots of trees bigger than any building Raziel had ever seen. There were people sharing the paths with them. As had been true in the arena, most were elves, with a few scattered dwarves and orcs here and there. Many were students wearing the vests in different sets of colors that Raziel assumed denoted their school. However, despite the different schools the students all held one in common.

  Each and every one of them stared at Hiro and at the three boys following behind him. Was it that strange that Hiro had decided to take them on as students? Did he have that much of a reputation?

  Gradually their path sloped more or less upward and Raziel began to see fewer and fewer people sharing the paths with them. The terrain was dominated by streams and little rivers wandering and tangling with the roots of the enormous trees like threads intertwining in a chaotic tapestry. Sometimes they would have to walk over the roots, using stairs that had been delicately carved into the wood. Other times they passed beneath roots so thick it was like stepping into a tunnel.

  It was also surprisingly hilly. At times they were nearly climbing rather than walking. Hiro showed no sign that the exercise was any different. Neither did Hoeru. But Raziel was beginning to feel it burning in his legs as he went and the tingle of pain he associated with using magic was crawling over his skin, even though he wasn’t using it at all. Raziel could hear Miles panting beside him and wanted to say something to help encourage him but every time he tried the pain flared up. He had to save his breath or stop and he wasn’t sure Hiro would wait for him.

  For a while they were only climbing, ascending a sharp rise. Beyond that, Raziel couldn’t concentrate on his surroundings. He had to save more and more of his attention for just keeping himself going. He almost didn’t notice when the school came into sight.

  It perched on the top of the tallest hill they’d yet climbed giving Raziel an excellent view of the land in every direction. What caught his eye first was a tree unlike all the others he’d seen so far. It wasn’t particularly large even by normal tree standards, let alone in comparison with the monstrous behemoths they’d passed on the way. It’s trunk was twisted and bent and it had delicate, pink and orange leaves. They were almost more like flower petals and they waved in the breeze clinging to long vines making the tree seem almost as though it were on fire. As they came to the top of the hill he saw that the tree sat on a tiny island in the middle of a small pond. Raziel briefly wondered where the water for the pond came from before something else caught his eye.

  He looked up and was shocked to find walls around him. He glanced back and saw that they had come through a gate. It was a simple white arch with brilliant blue tiles over the top extending out over the walls but there was simply no way he could have missed it. Miles was looking at the walls with his sweaty brow furrowed in confusion.

  “Where did those come from?”

  “Where did what come from?” Hoeru asked.

  “Those walls. I didn’t see them before.”

  Hoeru tilted his head in confusion.

  “Is there something wrong with your eyes?”

  “No. They’re just not changelings,” a familiar voice said from nearby. Ichiro walked out of a building that Raziel couldn’t have missed and yet, somehow, he had. It was not a tall building, but it was large, wide and long, the walls painted white as snow. It was tiled in the same blue as the gate and the shutters on the evenly spaced windows were the same blue as well. There was no way that Raziel could have missed that. Just a moment ago he’d been able to see out to the rest of the forest.

  “What does being a changeling have to do with it,” Raziel asked at the exact same time that Miles said,

  “Oh, that makes sense.”

  Raziel and Hoeru both looked from Miles to Ichiro waiting for one of them to explain.

  “Changelings interact with magic, especially aether differently from the rest of us. What’s hidden from your eyes is as plain to him as the trail beneath your feet,” Ichiro explained, his bald head shining in the fading sun. “Don’t worry, after you’ve been here a while the tree will accept you and you’ll be able to see it all normally.”

  Raziel looked to Hoeru.

  “Did that clear up anything for you? I feel like I’m more confused than I was when he started talking.”

  Hoeru just shrugged.

  “I’ve just always assumed you humans had very bad eyes.”

  “There’s no time for that. There’s still daylight, that means that there’s still time to train,” Hiro said.

  He’d disappeared from Raziel’s view and Raziel only noticed it now that he had returned. He blinked his eyes several times, looking around. Some moments, all he saw was the tree and an empty wide hilltop. The next, the walls of the school would be there, but not as though they’d just appeared, as though he simply hadn’t been paying attention to them until that moment. And the next they would be gone again. It was making Raziel’s head hurt.

  “Ichiro,” Hiro continued. “Take Hoeru and Miles for your morning run.”

  Ichiro slowly turned his eyes to his master. It was clear that he didn’t approve and just as clear that he was conflicted about showing that.

  “Are you sure master?”

  “Of course I’m sure. If they can’t handle your warmup then they’re not going to last long.”

  “Master, shouldn’t we give them a drink first?” Ichiro asked though it sounded more like he was trying to prompt something that Hiro should’ve remembered. Hiro snapped his fingers and pointed at Ichiro.

  The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

  “Good point. Yes. Now where are the cups…”

  “I’ll get them master,” Ichiro said and walked away. Raziel watched him carefully and yet between the space of a blink, Raziel lost track of the older student.

  “It’s going to be a while until you can see that. The tree is protective of the main house,” Hiro said.

  “The tree?” Raziel asked. Hiro squinted at him and tilted his head. He pointed to the tree on the island in the center of the pond.

  “You can see that can’t you?”

  “Of course I can.”

  “Then which tree did you think I was talking about?”

  Raziel gestured at gigantic trees in every direction.

  “How should I know? Nothing you’re saying is making any sense.”

  “You’ll have to get used to that. Master Hiro does not always explain himself very well,” Ichiro said, returning from nowhere with a tray that had three cups and a small glass pitcher on it.

  “Hey! I explain myself exactly as I want to!” Hiro grumped.

  “Which is often not at all.”

  Ichiro carried the tray over to the pond surrounding the tree on its island. He used the pitcher to scoop out some of the water. When he set it back on the tray Raziel could see a few of the tree’s brilliant orange and pink leaves swirling in the water. He expected them to drift to the bottom, but they fell and rose in the water as blowing on an endless breeze.

  The senior student carefully poured the water into each of the three cups and offered them to the boys. Raziel took his and looked down into it. The water was clear as crystal save for the single leaf sitting atop the water like a lily pad.

  “Drink,” Hiro said. “So we can get on with it.”

  “Why?” Hoeru asked.

  “It’s pond water,” Raziel said, trying not to sound completely disgusted.

  Miles, who was always one to listen to authority without question, was mid-sip and choked. He nearly spit out the water and a streak of panic crossed his face as he clearly wasn’t sure if that would be too disrespectful.

  “Just drink,” Hiro said, ignoring Miles. Ichiro sighed and addressed Hoeru’s question.

  “It won’t serve much purpose beyond the ceremonial for you but for the others it will help the tree to start to see them as people who belong here, who are part of its territory. Please, drink.”

  “But it’s pond water,” Raziel said again in exactly the same tone.

  “And it’s cleaner than any water you’ve ever touched in your life. Drink or leave,” Hiro said, exasperated.

  Raziel tried not to wrinkle his nose and put the cup to his lips. He wasn’t sure if it was the water or the leaf in the water but there was a distinct smell to it. It wasn’t unpleasant, if anything it was a sweet almost tangy smell. He let the water into his mouth and had to stop himself from gasping.

  The water wasn’t just cold. It was as though it should have been ice and had stubbornly refused to solidify. It burned on his tongue and made his teeth ache. Raziel felt the freezing liquid burn its way down his throat as he swallowed. And that had only been a sip of the water. He grimaced as he steeled himself to down the rest. It burned just as much as the first sip had and left him with a headache like a spike driven in behind his eyes.

  “For the next week, until you are confirmed as students of the school, you will drink nothing else but this water,” Ichiro said, taking the cups from Miles and Hoeru. Raziel was still wincing but handed his cup to Ichiro.

  “Now, go for your run,” Hiro commanded.

  “Yes master,” Ichiro said.

  Hoeru looked like he was ready to go and, surprisingly enough, so did Miles. Raziel got to feet with them but Hiro held up a hand.

  “I told him to take Miles and Hoeru. You’re staying here, Raziel.”

  A pit formed in Raziel’s stomach, colder than the water had been.

  “But I can do it,” he said, suddenly desperate for the chance to prove it. He’d called it a warmup after all. How hard could a warmup be?

  “You’ll get your chance. For now you and I are going to have a talk. Now, sit.”

  Raziel lowered himself back to the ground. Hoeru and Miles gave him looks that dripped concern. Raziel hated it. But he said nothing. Ichiro bowed to Hiro and he and motioned for Miles and Hoeru to follow him before jogging back in the direction they had come from. Raziel waited as long as he could stand the silence, nearly a full ten seconds.

  “I can do anything they can,”

  “No you can’t. Don’t be ridiculous. But I wasn’t lying when I said you’ll get your chance.”

  Raziel ground his teeth.

  “Fine. I probably can’t do everything Hoeru can do. But I can run just fine.”

  “There are things Miles can do today that you’ll never be able to do.”

  “How do you know?”

  “Because I can do things no one else can,” Hiro said, tapping the side of his head near his eyes. “Now, why are you here?”

  Raziel blinked. He hadn’t expected the question.

  “I’m here to learn to fight.”

  “You already know how to fight. Hit the other person. It’s not that complicated.”

  Oh. Raziel thought. This is going to be one of those conversations.

  “I’m here to get better at fighting,” Raziel answered, rolling his eyes in annoyance.

  “Of course you are,” Hiro said, rolling his eyes in exactly the same way. He leaned forward and drew out his next word. “Why?”

  “Because…” Raziel said, searching now for the right way to explain it. He came up short. “Because I need to get stronger.”

  “That’s just the same answer using different words. If you can’t give me a better answer, I won’t be teaching you.”

  “What? You have to teach me!”

  “I don’t have to do anything. You want to get stronger. If you can’t convince me of why you need to get stronger then you don’t deserve my training.”

  Raziel felt his whole face tightening in irritation. A dozen answers came to his lips in rapid succession but he rejected them all and forced himself to think. It was Basil’s words that came to him then.

  “You heard what Basil said about me. I need to prove him wrong.”

  Hiro watched him carefully.

  “That’s not good enough.”

  “Not good enough?”

  “I don’t care about your pride. If you’re here to prove something to someone, prove it to me or yourself.”

  “It’s not about my pride!” Raziel said, unable to keep a bit of panic from slipping out in his voice. Hadn’t he already proved himself enough? Why was Hiro putting him through more now?

  “What is it about then?”

  “If I don’t get stronger I won’t be able to stay with my friends. I don’t know what Basil has planned for us but I know it will be dangerous. If I can’t take care of myself…”

  Raziel fell silent. He felt sick just speaking those words. Hiro waited to see if he would say more. When Raziel didn’t, Hiro spoke gently.

  “I will not teach you to hurt people just so you won’t be lonely. Tell me the real reason.”

  Raziel stared at Hiro but the master just stared back patiently. What did he mean that wasn’t the real reason? Raziel looked down, searching his heart. In his mind, Kusa’s mask, mouthless, with wide empty eyes, rose up to answer. It took Raziel a long time to find the words for that mouthless face.

  “A couple months ago someone died because of me. I wasn’t strong enough then. I don’t want that to ever happen again.”

  “I see,” Hiro said, nodding. “That’s a good answer. I know how you feel. But there’s something you should understand.”

  “What?”

  Hiro leaned forward and locked eyes with Raziel.

  “No one is strong enough to keep people from dying.”

  Raziel wasn’t sure what to say to that. But fortunately it seemed that Hiro didn’t expect him to say any more. While they waited Hiro went through a few very basic exercises with Raziel, helping him stretch and keep his muscles warm in the cool evening air. Raziel was fairly sure this was just to kill time.

  It took most of an hour before Hoeru and Miles returned. By then, Raziel had a blinding headache from the way buildings would pop in and out of his vision around him but that wasn’t what had him worried. He felt exhausted already from just the light exercise Hiro was having him do.

  Hoeru came through the gate looking a little bit flushed but otherwise none the worse for wear. But Raziel knew that if it had been enough for Hoeru to show any effect, it had to have been very hard for Miles. It took Miles almost a full minute to follow them through the gate and when he did he was pale, drenched in sweat, and seemed barely able to keep his feet.

  “Ah, good. You’re back. Do it again. Take Hoeru and Raziel this time. ”

  Miles stumbled to the pond as if he hadn’t heard a word of that. His hands were shaking and he had to hold the pitcher both hands to keep from dropping it. Hiro gently took it from his hands and poured a cup for him before sitting beside him. While Miles tried to drink the all but frozen water slowly, Hiro poured him another cup and waited for him to finish before handing it to him.

  “Let’s go,” Ichiro said, putting a hand to Raziel’s shoulder and guiding him towards the gate. Hoeru followed and Raziel couldn’t help but notice that there was more than a little concern in his friend’s eyes. Whether for him or for Miles, it was hard to say. Raziel followed Ichiro as he began to jog away. Hoeru slipped up beside him and said, quietly enough that Ichiro wouldn’t be likely to hear,

  “Save your strength for the second half.”

  Raziel started to answer but thought better of it. He gave Hoeru a nod, determined to keep up, to do at least better than Miles had. All he had to do was keep up.

  The first leg of the run wasn’t so bad. They mostly went downhill. It was jarring when the slope was steep but the path was easy to follow and well maintained. All he had to do was keep moving, keep his eyes on Ichiro’s back.

  They didn’t follow the same route down towards the skyport that Hiro had brought them on. Instead they took a winding path that mostly slopped down around hills and through the trees. They passed along trails that gave stunning views of the world around them. Raziel would’ve felt like an ant standing on an anthill among such huge trees if he’d had time to consider but he couldn’t spare a second to look at them. He fell into a rhythm, his whole world became his breathing, his heartbeat, the pounding of his feet hitting the ground. But beneath that rhythm was a growing dread. It didn’t take a genius to guess what Hoeru meant by the second half.

  By the time the path evened out, sweat was pouring off of Raziel. Ichiro’s pace was merciless. He never slowed. He never sped up. He just kept moving, never looking back. Raziel wondered what Ichiro would do if he fell. Would he stop to help or just keep running and tell Hiro that Raziel couldn’t keep up?

  Finally, beside a small pond, fed by a trickle of a stream, Ichiro came to a halt. At the edge of the pond there were several rocks large enough to sit on. Ichiro lowered himself onto one. Raziel found it was hard to stop and as soon as he did, it was like all that he’d done that day caught up to him at once. His legs shook as he sat on his own rock and it was almost a full minute before he could slow his labored breathing. He was covered in sweat and the cold rapidly sank into his stiffening muscles.

  When he was finally able to look up he found Ichiro was watching him. The elf’s eyes weren’t exactly challenging but Raziel still felt a sort of pressure in his gaze.

  “What?” he asked at last.

  “You kept up well.”

  “Thanks?”

  “It’s the second time you’ve outdone my expectations today. That doesn’t happen often.”

  Raziel didn’t know what to say to that but it did make him feel a little better.

  Far too soon, Ichiro stood. Raziel got to his feet as well, already feeling the stiffness in his legs building. He wasn’t sure if he had to resist shaking from the cold or if his muscles were simply spent. Hoeru watched him. The changeling wasn’t hiding it. Raziel could be grateful for that at least. It was worse when people tried to pretend they weren’t concerned. And Raziel wasn’t certain that Hoeru didn’t have a reason to be worried. It seemed like Raziel’s heart had barely slowed despite the rest. That didn’t seem right. But there wasn’t anything Raziel could do about it either. He certainly wasn’t about to ask for help or a longer break.

  Ichiro didn’t go back the way they came like Raziel expected. But before long he did start going along paths that lead up more than down.

  Hoeru kept close. Raziel knew why. He was afraid that Raziel would fall. It made Raziel all the more determined not to.

  Ichiro didn’t change his pace at all to accommodate the incline. Going down had been hard, going up was a true horror. His legs burned, his breath came in gasps, and every second he seemed to get heavier and heavier. But Ichiro didn’t stop. And Hoeru was right behind him. Raziel forced himself step after step after step and kept up. He knew he should stop, should ask for a break, but part of him was certain Miles hadn’t and Raziel refused to be the first. He wasn’t that weak. He couldn’t be.

  And so they ran. They ran and ran. They ran until there was nothing in the world but momentum and agony. And Raziel kept the pace while, with each moment, he felt himself seeming to grow crystalline, fragile, and the way forward becoming narrower and narrower. One wrong step, one moment of imbalance, and he would hit the ground. He wanted to beg for a second break but he knew that if they took one he wouldn’t be able to start this pace again. His only choice was to maintain it.

  The world closed in around him. It wasn’t just Raziel’s focus. Darkness crept in at the edges of his vision but there was nothing Raziel could do to stop that. He just kept what sight he had left on Ichiro’s back.

  Raziel nearly ran into Ichiro when the elf finally stopped. Raziel had almost forgotten he had to stop as well, had nearly forgotten how to stop. When he did, he found that he wanted to collapse. But he couldn’t quite figure out how to do more than sway. Someone pressed a cup into his hand and Raziel forgot that he couldn’t guzzle the water from the pond. He poured it down like he’d seen some sky sailors do with their drinks in Peritura and the pain brought him back to his senses as much as the drink.

  He hit the ground. Taking a drink had literally been enough to knock him off his feet. His legs felt like jelly and just holding his head up was nearly more than he could handle.

  “Alright. I’m keeping Hoeru this time. Take Raz and Miles and do it again.”

  Raziel thought he heard his neck creak as he stared at Hiro. Ichiro, Miles, and Hoeru were doing the same. The darkness of evening was creeping in all around them, shadows lengthening, reaching out for Raziel.

  “Master, are you sure about that?” Ichiro asked.

  “Of course I’m sure. I wouldn’t have told you to do it otherwise.”

  “Master, I’m not sure-“

  “I can do it,” Raziel wheezed. Ichiro gave him a look that had doubt written all over it but that just drove Raziel up, first to one knee and, after a moment’s break, all the way up to his feet. He wobbled but he still stayed up.

  “I can do it,” he repeated.

  Miles and Hoeru both looked like they wanted to stop him. But he looked at them and neither of them were willing to meet his eyes.

  “See? He’s good to go. Get going,” Hiro said.

  Ichiro was still hesitant but he moved towards the gate. Raziel followed, Miles close behind. Raziel thought that Ichiro might be taking it just a hair slower than he did before and he was grateful for it.

  In the end it didn’t matter. Raziel fell and couldn’t get his feet back under him before they made it to the first rest stop. Ichiro had to give him a piggyback ride back to the school while Raziel wished he’d just died the entire way back.