The Mistakes Of Misfits

               My heart didn't know how to feel as I heard the crunch of Dimitri’s chest. Adrenaline still racked my body and the danger of dying was still very near from the Cerberus. I felt my body tense, forgetting my plan to fight the beast and my eyes locked on the old high mage.

         The Magistrate put her arm down towards my battle and the eyes of the Cerberus went soft. The attacks ceased and the beast's eyes turned from that fiery red to an unearthly green. The Cerberus laid still for a moment and I fell to the ground from exhaustion. I was so close to dying. I was so damn tired from trying to hold up that shield.

        I slowly stood up and the Magistrate didn't even seem to see me. She pointed to the area where the spear had been flung. “Protect your master.” She ordered the beast. The Cerberus obeyed and ran out the main gate to meet whatever force had come to attack us.

         The mages who were warriors were already running out of the gate. Chaos was unfolding as people ran in all directions. Some gathered staves and wands while others ran to join the front. I didn't bother asking what the threat was. I already knew the savages that were threatening us. Damn orcs wanted to ruin our ceremony, ruin a beautiful day of renewal and growth. It was just like those animals to attack at the worst times.

              I ran up to the stands to join the rest of the students and confirm my suspicions. I didn't fly, I needed to save any magic I could muster for if we got in a fight with the savages. I ran up to find most of the students surrounded by Dimitri. There was blood everywhere. That spear had really done a number on the old man. My heart sank. Dimitri wasn't exactly kind to me, but he was a friend of Orthis so he was one of the few mages I had a positive relationship with.

          Rylie saw me approach and wrapped her arms around me. “Thank God you're okay.” She whispered. Her grip was tight around me. Apparently she was just as scared during that fight as I was. Usually I would have made a snarky comment and tried to make a joke out of the situation, but I saw Dimitri being tended to by Orthis.

         Orthis had both hands on the wound and he was pouring healing magic into the gaping wound. I saw the spear beside them and my throat swelled. The blood had gone so deep into the spear. Dimitri was almost run through completely. Orthis had almost healed the wound but he looked… he looked fearful for his fellow high mage. “Don't you dare die on me old man!” He ordered.

           “Damn orcs.” Muttered Callisk. For once I agreed with him. The orcs were animals that we mercifully made peace with a few years ago. They had probably been planning on betraying that peace all this time. They were dishonorable bastards and I wanted to rip each one of them limb from limb for what they did to my teacher.

          Dimitri let out one more wince before I saw the wound close completely. He was going to be okay. Relief filled my body and I relaxed my shoulders a bit. Dimitri looked… tired. His legs shook for a moment as he stood. “We must help.” He said. His eyes made his way to the battle. He had a look of horror and need as he thought of the people who might be hurt.

          Orthis put a hand on Dimitri’s shoulder and shook his head. “No my friend, I must help them. You need to get these kids to safety.” His voice was calm but firm. It took a moment but Dimitri yielded to Orthis. He did not want to argue with his friend. A cascade of murmurs made their way through the initiates

        Callisk was the first person brave enough to speak. “You can't expect us to run from a few Orcs!” He protested. Callisk stood tall as he faced Orthis and I didn't know if it was because I had spent so much time with Callisk torturing me or if he was that obvious but… he was shaking. Even if he tried with all of his might to hide it.

        Orthis raised an eyebrow at Callisk. All the warmth and care he had while tending to Dimitri had drained from his body. Only the high mage of Alexandria remained. “You are our future, you will leave and stay safe. Also initiate, you will never underestimate our enemy. There is a reason we have never been able to wipe them out fully.”

        Callisk straightened his shoulders. “With all respect sir, we are no longer initiates. We can help fi-” before Callisk could finish Orthis rushed him. Orthis closed the distance within moments, air and thunder moved with him as he stopped mere inches from Callisk's face. Callisk shuttered. He expected an attack at any moment. I had never seen this kind of force from Orthis. It honestly scares me a bit.

          “Remember boy, you are an initiate until we say so.” He looked down at Callisk and the once proud initiate looked like a child compared to the power of the high mage. Orthis smirked. “Your ceremony is not yet finished, so none of you are mages quite yet.” This time he spoke to the crowd of initiates, yet he didn't move away from Callisk. “You will go to Alexandria. You will wait for our arrival back home… understood?”

       Callisk nodded his head. Fear caused his whole body to shake. Orthis smirked. He walked back and gave one last nod to Dimitri before teleporting away to the battle. Callisk let out a sigh of relief. I had even feared for a moment for the initiate. Dimitri clapped his hands to pull our attention back to him. “You heard him, move!

        All the initiates took off running. It wasn't chaotic, we had to run in large groups like this all the time during training. Rylie and myself kept to the middle of the pack. Our breaths were heavy but we never wavered as we kept up a speedy pace. I knew any kind of weakness could be my death. I needed to be vigilant.

         We ran out of the arena and we could see the battle taking place in the distance. They battled by the main road. Blasts of magical fire clashed with blades and blood seemed to spill everywhere. That road was supposed to be our exit. Where was Dimitri leading us?

               My question was soon answered as Dimitri led us to a small rope bridge leading across a massive abyss. Across the bridge was the beautiful shining city of Alexandria. We were so close. Dimitri ushered us across. “Two at a time, any more and the bridge could fall.” We didn't dare question his order. The abyss was far too long for any of us other than Dimitri to fly across. We waited painful long moments as the first group crossed.

            A second group started to cross when I heard a blood curling battlecry behind us. I turned to see a large group of orcs charging for us from the opposite side of the arena as the battle. Damn animals were trying to pick off people who were fleeing. This battalion of thirty or so was supposed to kill any survivors. My heart dropped. We would need to fight.

        It almost seemed as if Dimitri heard our fears. He stepped in front of the group. “Keep moving. I'll deal with the vermin.” His smile was so convincing. There were about thirty of them. How the hell did he expect to survive that? I did not dare question a high mage though. Especially after what Orthis had done to Callisk. Dimitri nodded and ran off to battle the force.

       Each group crossing felt like it took an eternity. We heard battle but did not dare turn to see what happened behind us. Rylie and myself were only three groups behind the people crossing when the cry of our mentor sounded behind us. I couldn't help but turn this time. If he was hurt… I turned to see at least ten orcs dead at Dimitri's feet, but a large female orc with long brown hair had slashed Dimitri across the chest and was going for another swing to his arm.

          I couldn't stop it, couldn't contain the stupid, asinine bravery from forming in my chest. I took off running toward Dimitri. Rylie reached for me. “Varrin!” She screamed. “You're going to get yourself killed!” Her fingers barely missed my robe as I took off. I could hear her footsteps follow me. My heart beat a bit faster. I didn't want her getting into danger with me… but with her I might actually stand a chance.

          “I can't let him die.” I threw over my shoulder as she followed me. It was still stupid. I saw our teacher in the distance Dimitri tried to fight off the female orcs attempts but she cleaved right through his right arm, severing it at the shoulder. I let out a scream in both anger and horror.

         The female orc was the first one I saw. She raised an eyebrow at me and smirked, I knew that look all too well. She was underestimating me. Good, I could use that to my advantage. I ran forward and as I reached Dimitri's side I put up my hands and let out a massive gust of wind to push the norns away from us. Many of them lost their footing but the female leader kept her stance as she slid back a few feet.

           Rylie joined my side. “Your fucking crazy!” She exclaimed. There was no time to tell her how right she was though. Three orcs charged us. Rylie levitated a few feet off the ground and as her hair rose her power unleashed lightning on the first orc, sending him to the ground. I met the second with a pillar of earth. The pillar shot him into the sky away from us. I went to attack the third but the ground underneath the orc swallowed him. I turned to Rylie but it wasn't her who channeled that spell.

          Callisk of all people stood there with his hands out. He knelt down and picked up Dimitri. He slung the high mage over his shoulders and it only now dawned on me that he was a lot stronger than me even physically. Was Callisk actually helping me? He had never helped anyone that I saw in all my years here. He saw my surprise and rolled his eyes. “We can talk about how awesome I am later, he's losing blood and I can't heal him with them on top of me!” His eyes were full of worry and determination.

          I smirked. “Then I'll give you time to run.” I said. I started to channel a flare spell. It wouldn't do anything physical, but it might blind them long enough to get away. I spun around and unleashed the light on the norns. Rylie and Callisk knew well enough to start running away as soon as I spun.

         The female orc had a moment of realization as she saw my spell. “Cover your eyes!” She screamed. I saw her cover her face. I let out a massive golden light that filled the vision of any who looked at me. I didn't stay to see if any others could react in time. As soon as the spell finished I took off running.

         Callisk was just as athletic as I was. Even with Dimitri on his back he was able to keep a steady pace ahead of me. Rylie fell right behind me. She hasn't fallen far but I was a lot faster than her. We all made our way to the bridge and we took the risk of crossing all together. At this point the others had crossed, it was only our lives we could gamble with now. My lungs were on fire but I didn't dare slow down a bit. If I did it may be doom for all of us. I could feel the bridge sway and strain under us as we ran and I prayed to Rasha, the god of luck, to keep this bridge sturdy. I was almost a few steps away. I will not die, I will not die. I repeated the phrase in my head over and over again.

        Rylie’s scream knocked me right out of my thoughts. “Varrin!” She screamed. The scream wasn't of worry, it was of desperation. I turned just in time to see the female orc slam Rylie's head into the bottom of the bridge. I saw Rylie's body fall limp. She seemed like she was only unconscious but my blood boiled seeing that small trickle of blood fall from her forehead.

         Anger took over my senses. Rylie was my friend. She had spent her entire life protecting me, being there on those bad nights where I had been beaten by Orthis, when I had been tormented by Callisk. She was always there, and now she was hurt. That filthy animal has hurt her! The female orc smirked with wicked delight as she held Rylie by her head. I couldn't control my body. My anger took over me and I rushed forward and slammed my fist into the orcs jaw.

       I saw red. The female orc actually reeled from my punch. She felt her jaw, making sure It was a mage who had caused it. She gave me a hungry smirk, as if I was a rabbit she was going to feed on. “Are you sure you're a mage?” She asked. She pulled out her sword as she faced me down.

       I took a step in front of Rylie. I would not let that orc touch her again. I didn't bother saying anything to the orc. There wasn't a need for words. The orc attempted to swing that sword at me but I hit the blade, sending it flying out of her hands. The blade skittered into the dark abyss below. I laid three more punches on the orcs jaw and she only seemed to laugh as I continued. We exchanged blows and I held my ground. My body felt strong, I barely felt the punches as I continued my own assault.

              “I've got her.” Yelled Callisk behind me as he picked up Rylie. “Get out of there Stormviel.” I didn't listen to him. My rage had completely taken up my being. The female orc slammed her elbow into my jaw and I retaliated with a knee to the gut. The female orc laughed.

      “I don't know what you're doing mage, but keep it up. I'm having way too much fun to stop.” She sounded excited. Like she was a child and I was just her favorite toy. I gritted my teeth and tried to attack her faster. I hoped to overwhelm her. The orc kept up with every step I made. Even with this new power she seemed to match every strike. My anger clouded my judgment as I kept trying to hit the orc.

       I was so blinded by rage I didn't even notice the bridge completely gave out from the pressure. Within a moment we were in freefall. My rage subsided for a moment. I needed to make my way to the side. I could try to fly to the wall. Try to climb the last bit, or wait for someone to come get me after I get to the edge. I saw a rope fall that once belonged to the bridge. I just needed to fly to that.

        I spoke the words and put my hands forward. I expected magic to propel me forward toward the rope… but nothing happened. Worry filled my body as I tried to summon my magic again. I didn't have the time. My head hit one of the jutting sides of the abyss before I could finish the spell and I fell into unconsciousness.