Max stared at the clock, willing it closer to the 13th hour. The minute hand slowly moved and the seconds ticked by. He was practically shaking with anticipation - at 1 he would train with Majestät Croman in defense.
He told himself that he would only go to the room set aside for the training at fünf bevor ein Uhr. Five before 1 o'clock.
The clock read 12:53.
Those were the most agonizing minutes Max had ever had to spend in his entire life.
12:54.
Max's eyes followed the second hand, glaring at it in an attempt to make it go faster.
12:54:37
38
39
40
41
Max sighed and got up slowly, eyes never leaving the clock face.
50
51
52
He edged his way to the door, glaring at the imposing wall fixture.
56
57
58
59
He ran through the halls, excitement taking over and a grin breaking over his face. Finally he would learn to do something useful, not just sit around with a funny-nosed, cranky tutor all day.
Plus, Max thought, maybe he could make Herr Croman not as angry. And Frau Glass would be proud of him!
He made it to the room and stopped, a bit winded. He straightened up and smoothed his hair and clothes a bit, then checked his watch. A little early, but that was better then being late.
He was about to push open the door when he stopped, remembering Frau Glass's lessons on manners. Instead, he knocked. When no reply came, he knocked again.
"You're early."
Max jumped and whirled around.
Ty Croman was directly behind and was giving him a side glance, not one of contempt, but one of studying.
Max straightened and smiled crookedly. "Well, yeah, I couldn't wait to learn under you!"
Ty smiled a bit at that, and walked past Max, opening the door and entering the dark room. With a whirl of his hand, several candles were lit, and he called back, "Perhaps you do now, but let's see how you feel at the end of the hour."
----
First he had Max draw water from a damp cloth, and he found that much more taxing than simply drawing the water from the pond. After he had successfully drawn out most of the water, Croman promptly set it on fire. Max lost concentration for a moment and the water crashed to the floor beside the flaming rag. Ty extinguished the flame and shook his head.
"It should have burned up within seconds; you didn't remove enough water."
With a shlop he removed a soaked rag from a bucket and threw it on the table.
"Again."
For the remainder of the hour, Max strained to remove all of the water from the rag, and each time, the cloth was never dry enough. Although the 6 year old boy could see only his failure, Ty did notice that each time he got slightly better.
At the end of the hour, Max was sweaty and tired, and more than ready to leave.
Ty sent him off with only a "see you tomorrow," and Max trudged back to his room to sleep.
At 3:15 or so, he was woken by an angry tutor. "You did not arrive for your lessons, boy! Down to the fields, now!"
Max miserably dragged himself through the castle and plopped down by the pond.
"Raise a ball of water into the air."
It was the same request everyday, and frankly, Max was getting tired of it. However, he did as the cranky man declared and reached into his mind once more to find the energy in the pond.
After making connection with the pure water, he felt immediately more at ease. He inhaled deeply and felt himself almost renewed as he drew on the power from the small body of water.
He raised an orb from the pond and held it aloft with mere concentration. Slowly, he opened his eyes to gaze up in wonder and the light-filled ball.
It was, if anything, even bigger than previous orbs he had conjured. Suspended above his head, Max peered into the blue depths of simpleness and calm. Overjoyed at this accomplishment after his hour of failures, he decided to try something new. Completely ignoring whatever his teacher might have been saying, he tried to mold the sphere to his whim. He sat back and furrowed his brow, concentrating with all of his might. He found the ball of water stretching into a long rope that coiled this way and that, constantly moving.
He then made one end a blob, and the other refine to a point, turning the rope into a snake. It slithered around for a while before Max was forced to acknowledge his Lehrer. Teacher.
"Max!" said the man sharply. "Stop that right now!"
No longer tired, Max turned the snake to face the man, and with narrowed eyes, hissed.
The teacher's eyes darkened. "Stop this foolishness at once, you Dummkopf!"
Max gasped and the snake reared its head. With wide eyes, Max turned to the water creation and whispered, "I'm telling Frau Glass!"
The man paled and squeaked, "No need for that, just put the snake back into the water and nothing need happen!"
Max turned back to his teacher and shrugged, shaking his head. "Sorry, me and Stripes do not take kindly to being called stupid heads. I am obligated to report you."
"How do you even know that word?" he whispered, "You named your temporary creation?"
Max frowned and looked at his snake. "Temporary? Why can't I keep him?"
The teacher sighed, glad the topics had changed. "It's not that you can't have a pet, its the fact that no orb user can keep any one thing animated for an extended period of time. Even if you were the strongest Water user known to grace his Majestät's army, you would not be able to last a whole day. Since you are still so young, its surprising you haven't felt any...yes, here we go."
Max's eyes started to droop and the energy from before was started to wear off. He saw the snake waver, and he hurriedly moved it to over the pond just in time for his concentration to break and to send it crashing back to the rest of its brethren.
"Yes," the teacher sighed, "I expected as much. It's amazing you kept it up for as long as you did seeing how tired you were when I had to go fetch you."
Max stood. "Can I leave now?" he said drearily.
The teacher smiled a bit. "Gehen, Junge." Go, boy.
Max nodded a bit and hurried to his warm and inviting bed, craving sleep. He plopped down and didn't even bother to climb under the covers. The exhausting events from the day took over and he was asleep instantaneously.
The teacher informed Frau Glass of the lesson's events and she smiled.
Everything was falling into place, and his brother was arriving within a week. Plenty of time to turn him.
YOU ARE READING
Orbs of Power
Adventure(that is a lame title but I really didn't know what else to call it...) Germany has been on lock down for twenty years. Oh, they still use all the awesome technology the rest of the world does, but no one is allowed to visit...or to leave. This mig...
