The Mage's Choice

Prologue

Several years earlier, a dark magician waged war upon the magicians fighting to protect the people who couldn't use magic. The magician excelled at Void Magic, giving him the title that many Void Masters earned, Diableris. His name was Cole Surlern, but when he turned against the academy and the magicians, they called him the Proditor. The war was long and bloody, lasting five years. The Proditor created his army from putting void magic in a living form of any being. The Devoured, as people call them, are rage-filled puppets with the Proditor as the puppeteer.

Chapter 1

As she traveled the dimly-lit sidewalk, Tara Florence reviewed all that Aunt Patty told her about the "auditions". Patty refused to talk about the magicians and the tests that look for other young magicians that will become apprentices to the older, more experienced masters of magic. Tara knew that being picked was a huge honor, but she still didn't want to go. She knew that she was sure to be tormented there as much as she was in Malteria. The other children at her school always threw rocks at her, badgered her about her parents, and, occasionally, tried to fight her.

Many times she would end up with a vivid bruise or a black eye, and sometimes; a mild concussion, but she never fought back. The teachers considered her the perfect role-model for the younger, more mischievous students. Tara always did her best to withheld her emotions and always had proper posture and manners. The other students often whispered that she had no emotions. She didn't react to the insults and gossip whirling around her. As Tara unlocked the door of her apartment she lived in with Aunt Patty, there was no "welcome home" or "how was school." Patty was silently waiting for Tara, which was unusual for the bubbly old lady.

"I have no homework. I will pack my things for tomorrow. I'm not that hungry, so don't expect me for supper." This was met with no reply, only a silent nod of acceptance. Tara wasn't at all related to Patty Wenapyne, but Patty had been caring for Tara from when she was born. Tara never told anyone that her mother died in childbirth, or that her father was missing. Tara was given to the first mage who wanted her. That kind soul was Aunt Patty. Now Tara was going to be taken away from the only home she ever knew.

Chapter 2

"Please proceed to the buses one at a time. You will find a seat and sit with another person." Students ignored the teacher as they scramble madly to get a seat with their friends. Tara was used to the rush and noise. She always sat alone, because no-one wanted to sit by her. They would lose their reputation and be teased for months. She was used to this constant loneliness. The teachers felt bad for her but didn't sit by her either. Hours passed as the buses traveled to where the auditions were going to be held. She knew that she was capable of using magic, as she had used several times already.

Tara knew that when she got there, she was bound to be selected by one of the masters. Master Nazrat was a strict, no-nonsense teacher. Master Farkas was a kind, hardworking teacher. Master Kele wasn't very connected to his teachings, leaving all his apprentices trying to train themselves. Master Zamir was the hardest teacher to get picked by, leaving him without an apprentice several times. He was very mysterious with his way of teaching, and no-one knew anything but those who he trained. They never said anything about how they were trained, either. Tara hoped that she would be picked by Master Farkas, but knew that there wasn't a point to hoping for the teacher you get picked by. The buses finally stopped at twelve fifteen. They were at an ancient looking warehouse.

"Please gather into groups by the doors and don't forget to bring out your luggage if you bought anything. Thank you." Once more there was a mad dash to get into groups with friends and to get bags. Tara calmly went to get her suitcase and stood by herself a little way from the other students. The doors opened to let the Masters out. They were all as Aunt Patty said they looked like. Tara knew that she didn't want to do the tests, hoping if she failed, she could go home to Patty.

"Welcome to the Theurgist Evaluations!" Master Wendo squeaked. He sounded like a mouse. "Here you will be tested for any magic abilities. At the end of the tests, we will decide who will become the next apprentices at the Mage Academy." Tara stared at all of the masters coldly. She noticed that Master Zamir was staring her, and no-one else.

"So this isn't a horse camp?" One of the students from another school said in dismay. Most of the students, including ones from his school, started to laugh. The boy looked about eleven years old, blond hair, brown eyes, and was small, thin, and pale.

"No, Drew Paterson, this isn't horse camp." Master Zamir growled. His voice cut through the laughter, killing it. No-one uttered a sound.

"It's time for the first test!" Master Farkas cried. "Kelda Academy, please follow me." Tara's school was first up, and she was nervous. She never showed it of course, but she was nervous nonetheless. The room they were brought to had desks that had a piece of paper on it. Everyone went to choose a desk that was close to their friends. Tara was in the front row.

"I want you to make the paper in front of you float in the air." Master Farkas said, no humor to be found in his voice. Tara had levitated objects before to practice her abilities. Her paper was high in the air within seconds without the slightest wobble. "Tara Florence, you may collect your paper and join me in the front of the room, as well as anyone else who can do as I asked." Tara let her paper fall into her hand and walked to Master Farkas. She kept her face blank, as other students began to join them. When the majority of the students had walked to the front of the room, Master Farkas had the last of the students join the others, and took them to the second test.

Master Kele greeted them, squeaking, "This is the second test. Here, you will try to use earth magic to keep yourselves from falling of logs." He pointed at four piles of logs as he spoke. They were stacked to make people fall off without getting hurt. The students ran to a pile and got in a line, while Tara walked over to the most dangerously stacked one. No-one was waiting in a line there. She called on the earth to help her get to the top of the pile. The ground under her feet rumbled, and vines of dirt rocketed to the top, and smaller strands connected them. She climbed the earthen ladder to the platform on top. A few made it to the top. Master Kele called, "Those of you who make it to the top, you may join each other in the center of the room." Tara began the long climb down. When she reached the middle of the room, nobody came near her or congratulated her. Tara was used to this. When most of the students came to the middle, Master Kele took them to the final test. Master Zamir greeted them.

"This is the last test to see if you are to become an apprentice. Here, we will test your knowledge of magic." Most of the students looked blankly at him, waiting for an explanation they'd never get. As students traveled into a room, most of them gasped at the walls and floors. There were gems lighting up the room. Tara knew this was an illusion, and that they were still in the warehouse. Master Zamir looked around at the students trying to pull a gem out of the wall. His eyes fell on Tara, who was standing with rare signs of expression. She was bored. Bored of all the students, tests, with everything that had to do with magic. Master Zamir let the illusion fall away. All of the kids looked confused. Master Zamir nodded at Tara, who watched him silently. She knew she passed the test.

Chapter 3

As the final school shuffled out of the building, the masters followed them. Master Kele spoke, "We have spoken, and we decided who will be our apprentices. Thirty-seven of you are to become apprentices" As the student murmured, Master Kele called out the names of his new apprentices. The selected students they shuffled down into a group by Master Kele.

Master Farkas began his list of names. As the new apprentices join him, Master Wendo called out his students. His students grumbled and groaned as they shuffled to him.

Master Zamir stepped forward to speak. "Since there is an uneven number of you, and it is our custom to take twelve, I will only take one apprentice. Tara Florence." This was met with roars of outrage. Tara quietly slipped from behind someone and went to stand by her new teacher with her head bowed. "Quiet down! This is our choice. Begin to collect your things. Those of you who haven't been chosen should go to the buses." Master Farkas roared above the noise. As the kids not chosen walked to the buses, Tara retrieved her things from their hiding place in the bushes. She didn't know what to think. She knew that a rare thing had happened, for good or bad not yet known. "I see you've fetched your things. Good." Master Zamir had sneaked up behind her. "Thank you for choosing me. It is an honor to be your apprentice." The words were not rehearsed, but they came easily to Tara. "We will see about that," Zamir replied.

Tara woke up as they were pulling up to the side of a mountain cliff. The bus drive there was long and boring. She got out with the other apprentices, wiping the sleep from her eyes. The cliff had a door carved into the side, probably leading the academy. Farkas put his arm next to the door, whispering. The door opened. Farkas showed a wrist guard with different stones added to it. "You will all receive a wristband like mine. You will be earning the gems by complete various tasks." Farkas went through the door, and the rest followed. The hallway was just like the illusion Master Zamir showed them at the auditions. The others were still cooing over the gems, but Tara wasn't impressed. As they traveled down they came to a huge cave. There were several doors and passages leading if various places that she assumed they would learn later. "This is the cafeteria. We will split into our selected groups." Tara wandered over to Zamir, angry glares following her as she went. As usual. She followed Master Zamir down one of the hallways, making sure she won't get lost. He stopped suddenly, pointing at a door. "Your living space is in here." She noted that it was the twelve door down. He gestured to go inside. She stepped inside and gazed at what seemed to be a living room. There were thirteen other doors. "There are twelve bedrooms, but you won't have any roommates. The end door is the restroom. I'll leave you to settle down." She chose the room farthest from the hallway as she could get. She finished unpacking and saw a wristband was waiting on the counter for her along with a note. It said good luck.

Chapter 4

Minutes after Tara woke up an alarm blared. Knocking was coming from the hallway door. When she answered, Zamir came in. "Good morning. Our practice will be outside since the weathers nice. After breakfast, meet me at the lake." He left when he finished speaking. She hurried down the hall, wondering if this was how her new teacher always acted. Breakfast was some kind of leafy green, but different looking leaves each had their own flavor. Tara knew she should ask someone where the lake was, but nobody wanted to talk to her. She went looking for it herself, and once finding it, was very late. She could tell by Zamir's face he wasn't very happy. They spent the morning learning about different types of magic and how to use them efficiently. He was slightly impressed with how she used the sticky soil to climb the logs. Zamir had her practice everything basic that she knew, which was almost everything. "I see that you are quite skilled at magic. I will teach you how to fight and defend yourself from enemies since you know the basics." Zamir had given a compliment. Tara didn't know much from Patty, but she knew that compliments from him were rarer than diamonds. He stood up, her following the suite. He went through various techniques for defense and offense. They spared carefully until it was time for supper. She ended up having bruises by the time she went to bed. Several weeks of following this routine proved that Tara was ready for the first joined trial that happened every month to see how far the apprentices have come from being the nervous wrecks that first came to the academy. Nobody knew what the joined trials were like. "Let the trial begin!" Master Wendo shouted. There was a loud grinding noise, and some creatures began to attack. One went for her but was soon buried under a mountain of stone. The remaining two were picking off the other teams, which were panicking. Tara called to fire magic to flamethrower one of them while someone threw a boulder at the other one. She looked around calmly while the apprentices merged into their own groups. The masters joined their apprentices and led them to their next lessons. Tara wondered if they talked about it with each other later. Master Zamir led her back to the lake to start their next lesson but left her to practice on her own as he was needed by one of the other masters. Tara was well ahead of the rest of the apprentices, so began to practice transforming stones into other things. Two older boys walked by her, having a heated argument. Tara watched them go past and silently followed them. She had nothing better to do. They stopped in a clearing. "She's nothing but a show-off! I could have handled those things myself." It was the taller boy, Jace Pamir. "You should be happy that she helped you, dude. You couldn't use your magic, you were so scared." The smaller one, Drew Richard. "She's a freak, and you know it. Why else would Zamir choose her?" Jace countered. Tara knew they were talking about her. "It's considered impolite to talk about someone behind their back." She stepped forward, the shadows clinging to her. Both boys gasped with fear and shock. She was used to it. "What are you doing here? Other than eavesdropping." Jace growled. She knew he hated her but she kept her face blank. "I have nothing better to do than take a hike through the woods. It's not my fault if your yelling caught my attention." She walked forward, trying not to lose her composure. "You wouldn't believe the time's people have started nasty rumors about me. You never had that happen, have you? I wouldn't expect so, you being the popular kid." Jace laughed at her, saying, "Of course people don't make fun of me. They pay for it if they do! Unlike you, I have both of my parents." She froze, trying to stop the rage building in her. She crossed her arms over her chest, balling her fists tighter and tighter until her nails were cutting into her palms. Jace pressed on, seeing her hesitate. "The only reason Zamir chose you as his apprentice is because he didn't want to burden the other masters with you. Because that's all you are, a burden." Tara snapped, calling for wind magic to hold him in the air as she screamed at him. "It's not my fault! Just because your parents are alive and mine aren't doesn't give you the right to hurt me! I hate feeling like a freak! It's not my fault!" She regained her composure, trying her best to stop herself from shaking. She gently let him down, not wanting to hurt either one of them anymore. Then, when he softly touched the ground, she took off, running in the other direction as fast as she could. She kept running until she couldn't hear either of them calling after her. She stopped by a stream and sat down, tears joining the currents in the water. She cried for as long as she dared, trying not to be heard. She looked at the darkening sky, knowing it was dangerous to/ be out after dark, because the Devoured lived in the woods. She scaled one of the trees by the stream, hoping they couldn't climb. She fell into an uneasy sleep.

Chapter 5

Crunch, crunch. Tara opened her eyes, listening to the sound of leaves being stepped on. She bolted wide awake, thinking someone from the academy might find her. She scrambled up higher in the tree, careful not to make a sound. Crunch, crunch. The footsteps were getting closer. Tara held her breath as survival instincts kicked in. Suddenly, a figure stepped into the clearing. It was hard to tell what it was because of all the autumn leaves in the way, but she could make out a black cloak and something shiny. "I know you're here. There's no point in hiding." A man's voice, unknown to her. It was slightly muffled, as if his face was covered by a mask. A silver mask. In a flash, Tara knew who was standing below her, looking for her. The Proditor. She knew that she couldn't hide forever, so she attacked. A wave of dirt knocked him of his feet as she dropped out of her hiding spot, and ran. A growling noise stopped her dead in her tracks. Devoured padded out from the bushes herded her back to the clearing. He was waiting, already back on his feet. Tara tried to attack again, but her magic didn't work. She was scared. "That was rather impressive. I wasn't expecting an attack." The amber eyes behind the mask scrutinized her. Tara wasn't sure what she should do, or what he would do to her. "I apologize if I frightened you. I didn't mean to, I just wanted to talk." He went on, "I get rather lonely, and the Devoured don't talk much, really." Tara was confused. Was he trying to distract her, or was he serious? "H-how did you find me?" She hated herself for stuttering like a fool. She knew that she couldn't seem frightened by him. "My spy has been watching you for months. You're quite the little magician, aren't you?" A spy? Tara felt sick at the thought that someone's been spying on her. She thrust her hands deep into her pockets, glaring at him. "It's a shame people don't treat you the way they should. You could be a fine magician one day, if you so choose." He sounded upset. Tara growled, "I'm used to being treated that way. I prefer it to dying, thanks." Tara surprised at herself as she continued. "The masters say that you kill people for fun. If that's true, why aren't I dead?" There was no humor in her voice. This was a serious question. "As I said before. I wanted someone to talk to. Nobody ever wants to talk to people like us, so I thought we'd talk." Tara didn't like that answer. She figured when he was done chatting, she would be a blackened corpse on the ground. She swallowed and said, "Ok, let's talk." "What do you want to know?" The question surprised Tara. She figured that the Proditor wanted to know about the academy. "The masters refuse to teach about the past. They destroyed all the books with the Mage Wars in them. What happened that they don't want us to know?" Tara was always curious about the war. She wanted to know more, but the masters refused to tell her anything. "When the war began, there were thousands of magicians and apprentices. There were more masters than there were stars. Their Diableris was a young woman. She was your mother's sister, I believe. Her counterweight was your father. My counterweight was my old master, Zoltire Prince. He was the only master who thought I was right. She and I were deep in battle, trying to defeat the other. Her counterweight was injured. She decided to protect him instead of herself. I still hate myself for their deaths, despite what your precious masters told you. I'm not a monster." This sounded very genuine to her ears. It would explain what happened to her dad. But she was still curious. "Why do you wear the mask?" He chuckled, as if he knew she would ask more questions. "I don't need it, but it's useful. If I'm busy, Zoltire will put it on and act like me." It made sense. She waited patiently for him to ask his questions. They sat like that for a few minutes until he asked, "Who are some of your year mates?" She felt uncomfortable answering. "I don't know them."

"What are the studies like with Master Zamir? I've never met him before." The questions unnerved her. "Master Zamir is a just teacher. He's thorough with training me." When she said this, the masters emerged from the bushes around them. Quickly, the Proditor was holding Tara like he was going to hurt her. He had a knife across her neck and held her arm in a hold behind her back where her thumb was touching her shoulder-blade. "Come any closer and she dies." Under his breath, he whispered, "I won't hurt you, I promise. This is so you don't get punished for talking to me." She felt better knowing he was helping her. "Cole Surlern, hand over the apprentice." Master Farkas was standing a few feet away, looking at her. "What will happen if I do? Would you attack me in front of her?" Tara hoped they wouldn't, but questioned herself. What side am I on? "It's what we swore to do. No matter the cost." She gazed at the faces of the masters, willing her thoughts not to be true. They were. All she could see in their faces was hatred and malice. She could feel the power in the air as they reached for their magic. Zamir was nowhere to be found to stop them. He wouldn't know they killed her. She reached for her own magic and, without moving, threw out a wall of thick fire. Quickly, she raked her arm away and transformed two stones into withered husks. One for her, and one for the Proditor. She drew her wall into a circle, closing them off from the masters. "You need to leave, now." She hissed at him. He stared at her. "What about you?" She didn't answer but transformed the rocks back to its original form. He hesitated, then nodded. Tara let the fire slowly fade, from the back first. He took off, vanishing into the darkest part of the forest.

Chapter 6

Tara turned before the fire died out. Master Farkas rushed past her, looking at the transformed stone. She worried that it didn't look real enough. "What happened?" Farkas didn't look at her as he asked.

"I was scared, so I used fire magic to get him away from me." It wasn't a full lie. She was scared, and she did use magic to get him away. Farkas turned to her and put his hand on her shoulder.

He began the long way back to the academy with the others following. Tara hated them all. A Devoured wolf crossed paths with them. Tara looked at it and raised her hand. A black smoke shot from her fingertips. It enveloped the Devoured wolf, hiding it from view. The smoke cleared away, and the wolf was gone. Tara knew she was the academy's new Diableris. She felt sick. She reached the academy door by sunset. Heading to her room she locked the hallway door. She fell asleep on the couch. Sleep wasn't easy and was filled with endless nightmares of her being attacked by the masters. Tara was heading to breakfast when Jace walked up to her.

"I'm sorry for what happened the other day. I don't know that you would run off." Tara looked at him, expecting a sneer. He looked like he'd been crying.

"I got out of hand. It's not your fault. I should've watched my temper." Jace looked at her in disbelief.

"You got out of hand? I was being a complete jerk! I should get the right of being out of hand." Tara laughed, knowing he was trying to be funny. Maybe he wasn't so bad after all.

"Um, c-can you help me practice my magic later?" He seemed pretty embarrassed asking this.

"Sure. I don't mind. Where do you want to meet?" Jace didn't answer the question. They filled their trays and sat at his table. Nobody said a word until Jace cracked a joke. The rest of breakfast was full of talking and laughter. When it was over, Tara hurried to the lakeside. Master Zamir was already waiting for her, a small grin on his face.

"Well, you're full of surprises, that's for sure. I hear you're the new Diableris. Well, I suppose we should find you a counterweight. First, though, we're going to finish practice." He was teaching Tara to control water. By the end of the session, she was soaked to the bone. After she dried and changed, Zamir and her headed to the auditorium.

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