The evening sun bathed the emerald hills in gold, hundreds of sheep grazed lazily beneath the open sky.A young man sat atop a weathered boulder, and a wooden staff rested across his shoulders.His dark hair danced in the breeze, and his sharp blue eyes wandered toward the distant mountains.This was Armand, and he was seventeen years old.He was weak, and he was powerless, and he was considered a disappointment.In the Kingdom of Valoria, every child awakened an elemental affinity before their fifteenth birthday, and they received Fire, Water, Earth, or Air — one of the four blessings granted by the Dragon Gods.Everyone awakened, but Armand did not.He had no magic, and he had no strength, and he had no future.To his father, he was little more than an extra mouth to feed, and to his four older brothers, he was a joke.While his brothers trained from sunrise to sunset with swords in their hands, Armand spent his days herding sheep.It was a lonely life, and it was a miserable life.

The gates of Ring towered above Armand like a mountain of stone, for two armored guards stood beneath the archway stopping every traveler who entered the Capital.Armand swallowed, yet he had made it this far.He couldn't fail now, so when one of the guards lowered his spear he forced himself to stand tall."State your name and business," the guard ordered, but Armand's heart pounded.He had no invitation, nor did he have papers, and he owned no coin.He had no reason to be allowed inside, yet then an idea came to him."My name is Armand," he said confidently, and "I'm delivering a message to my older brother.""He serves with the Red Keep," he added, "but he has been expecting me since yesterday."The guards exchanged glances, and "Your brother's name?" one asked.Armand hesitated for the briefest moment, for he said, "Darius."It was the most common soldier's name he could think of, so the older guard scratched his beard."Hmph," he muttered, "there are enough Dariuses in the Red Ke

The first thing Armand heard was shouting."Laziness is the first step toward death!"His eyes snapped open, and the cold stone ceiling of the underground barracks came into focus, lit only by rows of flickering lanterns hanging from iron hooks. Dozens of wooden bunk beds stretched across the enormous chamber, and every one was occupied by sleepy recruits rubbing the exhaustion from their eyes.Heavy footsteps echoed through the room as Commander William marched between the rows like a storm given human form."If I have to wake you myself, then you've already failed!" His booming voice shook the walls, and several recruits scrambled out of bed so quickly that they stumbled onto the floor.Armand pushed himself upright and looked around.This wasn't the palace, and it wasn't the comfortable guest chamber where he had fallen asleep after the royal banquet.This... this was the Red Keep.His dream.Right beside him, Colin was still fast asleep, hugging his blanket with a peaceful smile,

By the time the evening bell echoed through the Red Keep, every recruit felt as though their bodies were about to fall apart.Commander William had shown no mercy. They had run until their legs burned, practiced swordsmanship until their hands blistered, fired arrows until their shoulders ached, and sparred until they could barely lift their weapons.When training was finally dismissed, the recruits poured into the dining hall like a flood. The smell of fresh bread and hot vegetable soup filled the air, and Armand, Colin, Samwell, and Podric found an empty table near the corner.The four boys attacked their meals in silence, and for nearly a minute the only sounds were spoons scraping bowls and bread being torn apart.Finally, Podric looked across the table and dipped a piece of bread into his soup. "So... what element are you?"Armand stopped eating. Colin and Samwell looked up as well."We've seen you fight," Samwell said. "But none of us can figure it out. You don't use fire. You d

A sharp pounding inside his skull dragged Armand out of sleep."...Ugh."He groaned and held his head. It felt as though someone had struck him with a hammer.Slowly, he opened his eyes. Sunlight poured through a nearby window, and he realized he wasn't in the underground barracks. He wasn't even in the hunting camp. He was lying in a soft bed inside a room he had never seen before.He blinked several times. "...Where am I?"As he sat up, the blanket slipped from his body, and he froze. He wasn't wearing any clothes. His face immediately turned crimson."My clothes!"He spotted them lying neatly folded on the floor beside the bed, and without wasting another second he hurriedly dressed himself, muttering under his breath. "What happened last night...?"He remembered George, the drinking contest, his first mug of ale... after that, nothing.Once he was fully dressed, he hurried downstairs. The common room of the inn was far quieter than the night before, and only a handful of recruits