Trust: Page 1

Forester woke us up that morning with loud metallic clanging. I emerged from my room in my pajamas, while he marched around clanging cymbals.

"Rise and shine apprentices, it's time to learn!"

Despite it being 3:50 am, he still had us trudge outside, in the near darkness, in the clothes we were wearing to bed.

"Tell me this, padawans, do you know why students are not allowed to leave their guild house during their training?"

Mika raised her hand excitedly. Forester rolled his eyes.

"Put your hand down, it was a rhetorical question."

She lowered her hand dejectedly.

"It is because you all are at the stage where you have the least control over your abilities. You've learned dozens of new spells, but you lack the experience to control them. You are a danger to yourselves and others. When you left the boundary, you put everyone around you at risk."

He looked at each of us, and we wilted under his gaze.

"So today, you will build your control."

He waved his hand, and a small mountain of gray sand appeared.

"There are exactly 37 different shades of gray sand present here, you will sort them into individual piles. You will not learn anything else until you have finished. Get started."

Wordlessly, we sat in a loose circle around the pile, while Forester sat in a rocking chair reading a book. Despite no one talking, I could feel the anger from my peers. Even with Greater Telekinesis, the task was still practically impossible.

Beyond that, the glares from the others were pretty distracting. Mika scowled and flicked a few grains of sand at me. I ignored her.

After over 4 hours, we hadn't really made any progress. We just couldn't tell the different shades apart. The day meandered on, and other than water, food, and the occasional bathroom break, we all just sat there moving the sand.

When the sun finally set, around 6, Forester let us all go inside.

"Rest up, we'll be doing this tomorrow."

Groans all around, and more glares at me.
Lexi followed me into my room and sat on my bed as I lay down.

"Well, that sucked."

"Yeah."

"It's not your fault, you know."

I scoffed.

"Of course it's my fault."

She sighed and kissed me on the cheek.

"No, it's not, but I'm too tired to convince you. Just remember, we all agreed to go with you."

She closed the door behind her, leaving me to my thoughts. I don't know how long I spent there, waiting for sleep, but it never came.

Some hours later, I got out of bed. My room felt claustrophobic. I wandered out to the back porch, and let the chilled night air fill my lungs. I sat on one of the chairs, just watching my breath freeze in the air.

"Hey, Lucas."

I turned to see Samara sitting in the other chair.

"Hey, Samara."

"I'm not intruding on your brooding, am I?"

"No, you're fine."

"Cool. So, how are things with Lexi?"

"Good, but you already knew that."

"I did."

I sighed.

"What am I gonna do? We'll never be able to do this."

"You're going to figure it out. You're smart, Lucas, just gotta think outside the box."

She sighed and then told me to get up.

I sat there for a few more moments, then I stood up and followed her over to the pile of gray sand.

"How are you going to separate it?"

"I can't, it's impossible."

I grabbed a handful and let it slip through my fingers. It was smooth, like desert sand. Some grains were darker, almost black, some were lighter, but most were just... gray.
Slightly different shades of gray.

"Lucas, you turned a block of steel into a fine mist, you can do this."

"But it's not the same! I didn't use a spell for that, I was just really angry and then it just... happened... Wait, you don't mean..."

"It's called wild magic. No spells, just the pure manifestation of your will. I didn't give you that, Lucas. You were born with it. Inside of you, there is, and has always been a spark. A tiny flame waiting to be released. That is why I chose you. With access to my power and the spark of wild magic, you could become the most powerful mage ever. You can do this, Lucas. You just have to believe."

I sat down, staring daggers at the stupid heap. Just a pile of sand, and yet it had driven a wedge between me and my friends and halted our education. I felt that foreign heat building in my chest. This time, I made a conscious effort to withhold it. I didn't try to cast any spell, I just drew the power into myself.

As the magic built up inside of me, I imagined the grains of sand sorting themselves into 37 differently colored piles. I wasn't sure how much time had passed, but at some point, I heard a loud crash behind me.

I turned to see Forester holding 1 cymbal, the other clattering around on the ground. Behind him were the rest of them. I realized I was still in my PJs. I scrambled to my feet, wondering how it was already morning.

I realized they weren't actually looking at me. I turned to see what they were looking at. It was a grid of little piles of sand. I had done it. I had sorted the sand. I looked back at them with a somewhat cocky smirk. I started towards them. But after one step, my legs gave out from under me, and I collapsed.