2 Catch a few more Z's before the story begins

Just one more week until summer break.

Fyren lay in his bed face up. It was a raging ninety-five degrees fahrenheit outside, but inside was a nice, regulated seventy-two.

He turned to his clock, 6:57 a.m. it read. Three minutes before my alarm, nice.

Sighing, he turned over to try and get at least another minute of rest. Little did he know someone had tampered with his clock radio.

The noise of radio chatter woke him up. It was the news channel. Fyren groaned and reminded himself once again to turn the station to something with music.

Would he actually remember, let alone do it?

Probably not.

"And this week, another terrorist attack has rocked the Magic Association, this time it was the Order of Britamak."

He heaved himself out of bed at the words of the radio and turned to turn off his alarm. Wait, was he seeing things? It was 7:40!

What happened to my alarm? I knew I set it for seven!

Fyren was the type of cautious person to set multiple alarms in the morning, just to make sure he wasn't late for school. He even set one for when he had to leave just for extra assurance that he wasn't late. This time, he had an idea who the perpetrator was.

His room became a whirlwind as he scrambled to get dressed (of course he put his leg through the wrong pant-leg and his shirt was inside-out, why wouldn't that happen when he was going to be late?).

Alright! Another day of school, another day closer to my dream of being a magician!… is what everyone else is thinking, I'm sure.

Ah yes, the five realms. Lands where magic is ubiquitous, except for one realm but we don't talk about that. Years ago, Lance brought the gift of magic to the five realms. He and his gift were loved by many and refused by many. Since then, magic orders have sprung up here and there and everywhere. These magic orders all answer to the head of the magic association, the line of Lance's successors: the Shah.

Exiting his room, he looked at the huge clock on the wall of the boys' dorm lobby. He spent a split second trying to decipher the analog time before resorting to his watch.

It's 7:50, I think I have time for a drink.

He stopped by the vending machine, entered money, and pushed the coordinates for a can of Fizzy, a brand of sparkling water.

The can fell off the shelf and rolled through an opening. Fyren took it and made sure to lightly tap the sides so he didn't get a carbonated surprise when he opened it.

The halls were mostly empty since the first bell had already rang at 7:55. Fyren ran through them fast enough to get to class on time, but slow enough to enjoy his drink.

He stepped into first period just as the second bell rang. Safe!

Making his way to his seat, Fyren gave a brief glare to the culprit of his morning endeavor.

She grinned in return, her ice-blue eyes glittering.

Probably his only close friend in the school, Melfis Ur was either admired or envied. Noted for her incredible athleticism and insanely high screening score, she had a polarizing personality that you loved or hated along with her talent.

"So, you were almost late today. Then your precious life long streak of being on time is still intact," she said still grinning.

"No thanks to you."

"It's not like it matters, since you're so smart and all."

"Sure, you know the only way I'll pass the exam is with the written test."

"Well, good thing your knowledge isn't as average as the rest of you."

A glance from the teacher told Fyren to wrap up the conversation, "Gee, thanks a lot, I feel so confident now."

"No prob."

What a great way to start the day, with History.

For a lot of people, this was their wake up period, Fyren included. But while he was trying to get his mind awake and pay attention, Melfis used it as an extension of nighttime for sleeping.

After Mr. Pischer's lecture, he called his class to attention.

"Alright class, you all probably know that the Magic Exam preliminaries are this weekend, it will be our school (the Order of Lance school) and several other schools in our district, so I need you to fill out these forms to turn in by tomorrow. And by my shiny, bald scalp if you have the nerve to turn it in late!"

Mr. Pischer was the type of teacher who would put off important things to the last minute.

Fyren woke up his table-mate and self-proclaimed roommate with a flick to the forehead before Mr. Pischer could come over and smack her on the head with his clipboard.

"Huh? What's this?" She said rubbing her head.

"Magic Exam form."

"When's it due?"

"Tomorrow."

"Guess I'll do it tomorrow then," She went back to sleep.

Melfis only caught a couple minutes more of slumber before the bell rang, signaling it was time for P.E., the highlight of Melfis' day if pizza wasn't on the menu for lunch.

The first thing anyone saw when entering the gym was the legendary Mr. Alnald. Standing at 6'2″ Mr. Alnald was absolutely shredded, jacked, ripped, cut, and any other word along those lines.

That's all anyone really needs to know about Mr. Alnald.

"Attention, students!" Everyone scurried to line up lest they incur the wrath of Mr. Alnald, "As a man has to overcome whatever life throws at him, you all will have to do the same."

"Obstacle course?" Someone asked.

"Yep, sounds like an obstacle course."

A resounding agreement rose from the rest of the students who had learned how to decipher Mr. Alnald's vernacular. That and they saw the obstacle course which Mr. Alnald had taken the liberty to construct himself.

Everyone knew the drill, make it through the obstacle course without using any kind of magic and make sure to do it under seven minutes or else everyone has to run three laps around the gym.

Luckily, that day everyone made it in time with Melfis putting up an unprecedented two minute performance, leagues better than Fyren, who made it with two seconds to spare.

When they had all finished, Mr. Alnald strode over to where Fyren and Melfis were sitting. He stared at Melfis and then stared at Fyren, possibly the most efficient way someone could say: "I want to talk to you, not you."

Fyren waited for Melfis, bouncing his right leg while sitting on a bench.

The bell rang and Melfis walked with Fyren to their next class.

"So, what did Mr. Alnald say?"

Melfis took a deep breath before exhaling, "He told me it would be fine if I didn't take the exam preliminaries."