SWORD ACADEMY (censored)

The Dark Royal Guard is already waiting for us when we file into the Sleep Chamber. There are eight in total, one sheath and their wielder counterpart for each corresponding spark. We were given their profiles to review in advance as a convenience meant to protect them from having to speak with us like we’re people worth their time. Classic shiny slug behaviour.

The sheaths are all standing slightly behind their wielders with their hands reaching out to touch them in some way. The leading Dark Earth Guard is holding her wielder’s hand at his side, clutching him as tightly as he clutches her. The trailing Dark Air Guard is resting a hand on his wielder’s forearm. Occasionally, the wielder lifts his hand to meet that touch, but it isn’t a constant connection. The Dark Water Guards are a little trickier to figure out because they’re constantly shifting from front to back. At the far left are Dericka and Lucius, the Dark Fire Guards. Lucius keeps trying to touch her, and she keeps batting his hand away as though he were a bug she’d rather squash.

Inside the chamber, there’s a shield dome for the witnesses to protect them from stray sparks. It looks like the barrier protecting the academy, except it’s a perfect half circle designed for total enclosure and is much thinner, allowing light, sound, and Sparklers to pass through unrestricted.

The charges are here to show their support, along with anyone else that wants to witness the execution. Frank sits next to Fiona while Keira, Maverick, and Aspen are on Luke’s right side with me on the left. Nick and Elaina are directly behind us.

Pritchett waves at me like a giddy squib from the far end. I wave back, not at all giddy but definitely as much of a squib. Nick had to POOF! him into the dome since he doesn’t sparkle. The guards hadn’t wanted him to come. I won that battle with promises of glorious violence. I was looking forward to his bare butt sullying the bench, but Elaina ruined the opportunity by bringing robes for him and Nick. I didn’t make a fuss about it because the alternative was Nick flying his jet into my back the whole time. Unlikely a joyful flight for me.

Grady’s sitting on my other side, and I’m holding his hand in solidarity of our missing charge. Only Cam and Ty will find Singularity today, I’ll choose total hibernation, and Sunny is being held at the Ward with the other shattered sparks after she went volatile in the evening. Her fire and water sparks waged a fierce battle for dominance, and she was the collateral damage. She can’t rein those narky sparks in when she’s conscious now, not even for long enough to choose between them. Unless someone’s willing to make the choice for Sunny, she might never wake up from the sedation keeping her safe.

And she’ll need blood, steady streams of sheath blood, just like all the other shattered wielders, because in her failed attempt to tame her sparks, she freaking polarized herself. She consciously broke the dam of her well and released her sparks in a contrasting stream of fire and ice destroying at least four Dormitory rooms. If the Dark Royal Guard needed any more confirmation that this Sleep Ceremony is necessary, she dang well gave it to them.

Cam is standing outside the dome, stupidly excited to be the first victim. Her unbridled joy is crapping on my last nerve. I want Cam to make her own choice, and it seems to me her path is dependent on Witley’s wants, making it a concession as opposed to an actual choice. At least when I handed over my fate to my friends and family, it was to a majority, not a single person deciding what was best for me. There were no ultimatums involved either. There was only a balanced condition that came with a fair cost. Witley is giving nothing up to get what she wants, and that imbalance is horsecrap.

When Cam and Witley press their hands together on opposite sides of the dome, I find myself reaching out for Luke. He’s built his world around similar concessions. Those tethers forged by duty nearly cut the circulation off from his heart. While those wounds are healing, they’ll leave scars. But I’ve never minded scars. I kinda sorta love those sexy slugs.

Luke gives my hand a little squeeze, and I turn to gaze into his calming blue rings with swirling white flecks. I’ll never get tired of looking at them. I know how he feels about my decision, but he’s respecting my choice and not being a controlling creep about it. I’m more than a little extra, yet never once in any of the crap we’ve been through has he ever made me feel like I’m too freaking much.

“Camden, please step forward,” the leading Dark Earth Guard quakes as the Sleep Ceremony starts.

Cam steps forward onto the cross mark etched into the floor at the chamber center.

“Have you tamed your sparks?” the leading Dark Air Guard wafts.

“Yes,” she puffs proudly.

“State your sparks for the record,” the Dark Water Guard on the left whirlpools. They’ve given up on the rotation and are standing side by side.

“Air and fire,” she gusts.

“And which spark do you choose today?” the Dark Water Guard on the right spurts.

She glances back at Witley, who’s still standing with her hand on the dome, before whirling her attention back to the guards. “I choose my air spark.”

The Dark Air Guards are clearly excited, and the sheath at the back slaps his wielder’s forearm in case he wasn’t paying attention. Except, he definitely was because he’s biting his bottom lip to keep from crying out his joy.

“Are you making this choice of your own free will?” Dericka flickers, seeming completely uninterested in her response, which is strange since the spark she’s putting to sleep is a fire spark, and that should elicit some sort of recognition from Dericka being it’s her element too.

“I am.”

“Very well,” Dericka sizzles, stepping forward with Lucius in tow. She stops in front of Cam, extends her hand, and Cam eagerly grabs it.

“Is it going to hurt?” Cam huffs.

Dericka hisses an annoyed sigh. “Yes, but it won’t hurt for long.”

Cam nods her readiness and clenches her teeth in preparation. Before I can even blink, she’s screaming and falling to her knees. Dericka hadn’t lied to her, neither about the pain nor how quickly it’d pass. In under a minute, Dericka has stepped away from Cam, and she’s hauling herself back up to a standing position.

Not that I wanted to see Cam hurting, but the fact it was over so quickly is jarring. Given the amount of time her fire spark has invested in her, and she in it, there should’ve been some resistance. But, SSST, the connection was snuffed out in less than a minute with perfect sniper precision.

Cam lets out an unsteady breath, and Dericka shoos her away back to the dome where Witley meets her with open arms.

“Are you okay?” Witley rustles.

“Yeah.” Cam huffs a sigh. “I just feel a little…empty.”

“That will pass.” Elaina places a comforting hand on her shoulder and guides them both to sit down with the rest of the group. “Your air spark will fill the empty space within a few days.”

“Tylan, please step forward,” the Dark Water Guard on the left dribbles.

Ty positions themselves on the cross mark, rolls their shoulders, and straightens their back.

“Have you tamed your sparks?” the Dark Water Guard on the right slushes.

“No,” they tremor, and there’s a hint of discomfort in their voice over it.

“It’s alright,” the trailing Dark Earth Guard vibrates. “Singularity makes that easier.”

Dericka leans forward and sneers at the guard for breaking formation. He quickly steps back in line, his counterpart reaching out to pat his arm in a gesture of comfort.

“State your sparks for the record,” the leading Dark Earth Guard quakes.

“Earth and fire,” Ty rumbles.

“And which spark do you choose today?” the leading Dark Air Guard wafts.

“I choose my earth spark,” Ty thumps.

The Earth Guards smile.

“Are you making this choice of your own free will?” Dericka repeats her question from before, even less interested in the response than the heartless slug seemed the last time, despite fire being, yet again, the spark going to sleep.

“Yes,” Ty thuds.

Dericka steps forward once more with Lucius in tow. She barely acknowledges Ty, grabbing their hand and hastily snuffing the snot out of the fire spark. Ty manages not to scream, and they stay on their feet, but their legs are shaky. When it’s done, they drag themselves back to the dome and through it, not looking any of us in the eye.

“Ainsley, please step forward,” the leading Dark Earth Guard quakes my name.

I freeze in my seat.