SEB sat on his new bed, feeling the soft fabric of his new robes between his fingers.

  My training begins tomorrow, huh. Looks like I’ll be in the thick of it sooner than I thought.

  If training was to start tomorrow, what was he to do in the meantime? The sun was just about to set when they arrived, but not much time had passed since. On top of that, Seb didn’t quite feel tired enough to go to bed, despite the long journey he had just undertaken. It didn’t look like there was much to do inside the Flame Division in terms of entertainment or recreational activity, and his plasma pistol and sword were already well-maintained and needed no cleaning, so it seemed all he could do was wait on the bed and let the tiredness eventually consume him.

  … Except I don’t have to stay in my room, do I? No one has explicitly told me to remain here, and there seems to be no rules or restrictions in place that prevent me from roaming freely. I’m their guest – not their prisoner.

  Seb made his mind up. He was going to explore his new surroundings – not so much as to be intrusive, but enough to get a good feel of the Flame Division as a whole. He was apparently going to be their guest for quite some time, after all.

  Leaving his pistol and sword next to the robes on the bed, he made his way out of the room and back into the corridor. As he walked he felt the gaze of the statue pierce the back of his neck; his pace anxiously quickened. Once he passed all of the bedchambers and medical wards, he emerged from the corridor into the main hall – although it had quietened in the brief time that he’d stayed in his new room. Only a handful of Mages were now observing the contraptions, and all of the people who had been training at the back of the room had retired for the evening.

  Seb decided to use this opportunity to examine some of the metal contraptions around the room, even if he had no hope of ever understanding what they did. Some experiments had pure crystals in glass boxes, glowing periodically as extreme heat was applied by a flaming nozzle. Others involved a Mage gently rolling a metal ball bearing through a small slot into a transparent, fireproof box. When the ball bearing touched a glowing rune on the box’s base – even a whisker of contact over the course of a millisecond – a pillar of flame would erupt from the rune, engulfing the sealed box in fire and melting the ball bearing instantly.

  Whenever Seb got too close to an experiment, a Mage would shoot him an accusatory glare and conceal the device with their body. After many failed attempts at getting a closer look, he gave up and moved on.

  Perhaps if I can find where Karma’s staying, she might be able to shed some light on these strange experiments.

  There was one doorway in the main hall that Seb hadn’t explored yet – the only one that didn’t lead to a corridor. Instead, this one fed a stone staircase that spiralled upwards. After climbing its many steps, Seb reached the top floor. This floor seemed to resemble an observation deck or mezzanine, since he could look down on the experimentations below from every angle. Walking alongside the inner low wall, stopping occasionally to admire the work going on beneath him, he eventually made his way around to the other side of the floor, where the stone wall was broken by an embedded, solitary wooden door.

  He wasn’t sure why, but he found himself creeping up to this door as quietly as possible.

  If not Karma’s, then this is definitely Elder Kai’s personal room by process of elimination. He’s been so kind to me … but I’m not sure how he’d react if he found me snooping outside his private quarters.

  And if it really is Karma’s room all along, she’ll suffocate me in my sleep.

  The doorknob seemed so tempting, desperate to be turned so that any doubt in his mind could be dismissed, but instead he opted for the more subtle route. Pressing his ear against the cold wooden door, he tried his hardest to discern what was happening on the other side.

  It was hard to make out exactly, but it sounded as if two people were entangled in a lukewarm debate – a man and a woman, as far as he could tell.

  “You know, Karma,” the man said, “Your accent has become incredibly uncivilised as of late. It appears you got far too comfortable in that farmer’s lifestyle of yours.”

  “Well, I was never plannin’ on comin’ back. Certainly not like this …”

  It was unmistakable now – this was Elder Kai and Karma, Seb was absolutely sure.

  “I knew you would go back to the farm, you know,” Elder Kai said. “It wasn’t a leap to assume you might return to your childhood home – you’re lucky our enemies didn’t make the same connection.”

  “I had a few unwanted visitors over the years … They didn’t get the chance to rat me out, though. I made sure of that.”

  Seb could hear someone, presumably Elder Kai, pacing around in the room.

  Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

  “You haven’t changed much at all, Karma. You may think you have, but you’re still the same girl who fought alongside us in the war. As much as you’d hate to admit it, you’d fit right back in. You would excel.”

  “Enough of that, Kai! I’m never gonna fight for The Arbiters again … You and General Videviki made damn sure of that all those years ago. I’m here for a different purpose now, and nothin’ else will change my mind.”

  “Yes, Videviki …” He trailed off, somewhat melancholy. “I can’t change the past, Karma, as much as I may want to. When you’re gripped in a terrible war, you’re bound to make terrible mistakes from time to time. I can only apologise that it affected you so dearly.”

  “Yeah. Well, I guess the past is just the past.” Karma paused. A heavy silence hung in the air, clinging to the walls like glue. “We fixed up the farm, me ‘n’ Seb. Come back home – your real home. Leave this all behind. Ya don’t have to keep doin’ this.”

  “Your grandfather fought in this war, just as we did. Just as his grandfather before him. It is a Daybreak’s purpose to see this war to its bitter conclusion. The sooner you realise that, the sooner we can finish the fight our ancestors started.”

  What? Elder Kai is Karma’s … !

  “Don’t give me the ‘Daybreak’ family tree speech!” she snapped, “Ya lost the right to talk down to me years ago! Seb’ll be the one to help us out, Kai. I’m sure of it. Once we train him up, I’m goin’ straight back home.”

  “Yes, yes. You claim him to be the ‘Saviour’ from that blasted prophecy …” Elder Kai scoffed. “I don’t agree with this at all, you know. The boy doesn’t have any Flame ability to begin with! It’ll take years to get him to a serviceable level. Some in The Arbiters see this as a hopeless venture.”

  “But it can be done, right? Seb can be taught our ways, even if it takes a while? I sure as hell ain’t goin’ to be the one to let him down after bringin’ him all this way.”

  “Yes,” he sighed, “It is possible. If you want me to do it, then I’ll try my best. I need to start acting more like your father rather than your superior – I think I owe you that much.”

  Karma snorted. “Don’t get all soppy on me, Kai.”

  “If I may ask – why are you so sure about this boy? Why parade him through the camp as ‘The Saviour’ in the first place?”

  “I just did that to get him past Videviki’s guards. I knew y’all would kill him the moment an outsider set foot in camp otherwise.”

  “But that’s not what gave you the idea in the first place, is it?” Elder Kai asked.

  “What? What are ya tryin’ to say?

  “I can see it in your eyes, Karma. Even though you know I disagree, you seem almost certain that this boy is the true Saviour. Do you genuinely believe he’s the one The Arbiters have been searching generations for?”

  Silence.

  Well, Karma? Am I what you say I am or not?

  Seb limited his breathing to minimise the noise. The air trapped in his lungs screamed in pain.

  … Say something!

  “I think it’s possible, yeah,” she admitted. “He’s special, Kai. He has a connection to the Gods – visions that only a handful of Mages in Arbiter history have experienced. There’s somethin’ about Seb, a strength deep within him. I feel like I can believe in him. I want to believe in him, anyway.”

  “You believe him to be The Saviour, without question? There’s no doubt in your mind?”

  “Either way, he’s a valuable asset to us. I think he’ll do well, and I think ya should train him. Or tell him to his face that he’s come here for nothin’.”

  Silence, long and excruciating. Long enough for Seb to get lost in the well of his thoughts once more.

  I can’t believe it … I don’t have any Flame ability at all? When was Karma planning on telling me that I’m good for nothing?

  And was her whole ‘Saviour’ speech to General Videviki just a ruse as well?

  “Hmmm … You’ve always had your mother’s stubbornness.” Elder Kai chuckled. “I’ll train the boy, you have my word. It’ll be a slightly trickier matter, however, to convince the rest of The Arbiters that he’s earnt his place in the base … let alone that he is ‘The Saviour’ you say he is. General Videviki will demand a trial by combat every day that Seb spends here. He’s old fashioned and hopelessly incorrigible. I’ll hold off the General for as long as I can … but Seb will have to prove his worth, one way or another.”

  “He’ll prove his worth, I’m sure. Otherwise we’re all back to square one again.”

  Seb staggered away from the door, tripping over his heels as he stumbled backwards. Resting against the low stone wall that overlooked the experimentations below, he needed a few deep breaths to gather his turbulent thoughts.

  Elder Kai was Karma’s father all along … and she never mentioned it! And what was all that about ‘proving my worth’?

  Did Elder Kai speak the truth? Can I really not learn The Path of The Flame … or, at the very least, will it take me years before I see any kind of progress? Was this whole trip pointless? Did I get my hopes up about being this ‘Saviour’ for nothing?

  The questions were stacking up on one another, yet there didn’t seem to be any answers in sight.

  A sharp headache suddenly dulled any thoughts he was having, and a deep tiredness swept over him like a numbing wave. His body immediately felt weaker, more vulnerable, and his legs buckled at the knees. He needed to return to his bed as soon as possible.

  Spiralling down the staircase and hobbling past the contraptions in the main hall, he reached the end of the corridor. The statue of Flame Goddess Haiyan glowed through his tired eyes as he flung himself into his room. Slamming the door behind him, he collapsed on the bed. The world of sleep enveloped him within seconds.