Hope (Knights of Av'lor - Book 1)

Chapter 10

To say Kathryn was nervous would be a gross understatement. Hal and she were about to enter a selection process against numerous candidates from another world that spoke a completely different language. Rielle and Nikton remained by their sides to offer as interpreters.

They had to endure one month of magic class and weapons drills. The knight leading the magic class was a tall, lean man with gray wings and dull gray armor. Like most of the knights, he never took off his helmet. They even wore their helmets during meals using a small flap to gain access to their mouths. It was like talking to a pot with eyes.

"My name is Jakara. I'll be your Assessor in the realm of magic. Did I give you permission to speak?" he demanded of their translators in a stern voice.

"We're the translators for these two candidates. They're from Earth and don't speak the common tongue," Rielle declared with some annoyance.

Kathryn knew Lord Alextor had told everyone of their presence, but Assessor Jakara chose to single them out anyway. The bug up his ass must have crawled in there and died.

"Oh, yes, I forgot the Earthlings would be in my class," he said the word Earthlings with undisguised malice. "As I was saying, I'll be your Assessor in the realm of magic. You'll be required to perform ten simple spells by the end of the training. If you're unable to perform these spells, you won't make it into the Knighthood. The spells are as follows: fire, ice, water, levitation of objects, fire shield, ice shield, water shield, deflection, teleportation of objects, and holding. All of these spells are simple, and honestly, not very effective. They're simply a test to see if you're capable of working with the spells and pronouncing the syllables of the magic language.

"If the Goddess recognizes your skill, then you should have no problem performing these spells. The speaking of the incantation is a plea to the Goddess to allow you to cast the spell. This is why you need to make sure you pronounce it correctly. You'll find the books under your cots. After today, you'll need to have them with you for this assessment every day. If you fail to bring them, then there's no assessment for you that day and no opportunity to make up the time."

He spent the next hour going through some of the spells and explaining the proper pronunciation. Kathryn's mind wandered back to Jakob and whether or not his gift would allow her to remember the spells. She had tried to take French in high school, but could never seem to memorize the list of words each week. Failing French didn't have the same impact as failing this would. The magic should be the easy part; it was the sword that worried her.

Their weapons assessment took place in a small courtyard. They lined up and waited until the Assessor arrived.

"If our Assessor is Sir Lanclor, I'm going to hurt you," Hal said to her under his breath with almost humor.

"Oh, yeah, I remember now. Something about turning tail and running if he came at you with a sword," she said with a smile.

He scowled. "Maybe you aren't afraid of having some seven-foot guy in armor come at you with a sword, but we sane people tend to want to avoid that situation."

Sir Lanclor wasn't really seven feet, maybe 6'5", but his wings added almost another foot.

"Good morning, candidates. My name is Sir Lanclor and I'll be your Assessor in the realm of battle. We don't expect you to be able to go out and fight Daemons after this assessment, but simply to have a basic knowledge of swordsmanship and be able to identify various foes.

"We'll meet four times per week. Half of our meetings will deal with drilling, while the other half will involve the discussion of specific foes—what they look like, what their weaknesses and strengths are, and in which area of Av'lor you'll find them. You'll pass this assessment if you're physically able to complete the drills and answer various questions about specific foes.