Chapter 2

They walked through the temple in silence, more members of their training group had joined, but none of them spoke as they arrived at the center of the temple. The High council stood before them, looking at them expectantly as their teachers filed in and waited. June saw her favorite mentor standing among them, Salir Kundi. The Mage training was a simple process in theory, Students who had the ability to perform Magik would come to the temple at the age of 12, and for two years trained in a classroom setting, from there they were broken into small groups of three, those three would train together under different instructors for 4 years until the final day selection. It was one of the most important days in their training, once their weapon had been assembled they would be assigned to a permanent mentor to oversee the rest of their training. Grand Mage Offee began to speak, her words flowed like silk across the crowd, "Greetings teachers, and students. Today You will be chosen by your stone, The power stones we have brought to this very temple for eons have been a source of strength for the mage's sword. Today a stone will choose you, if one does not, your training will stop and you will never become a full mage. The stone chooses you, but no two selections are ever the same. You may enter the selection room one at a time, and your life forever changed for it. Good luck to all, and we cannot wait to see what stones pick you." As her speech came to a close June clenched her right hand tight onto her left wrist. She looked to her left to see Oba paralyzed with stress. To her right Liam smiled, "how is he always so confident?" she thought to herself, and waited for her name to be called. One by one a student entered the room, she knew the stones and what they meant. Arc stones, belonged to warriors. their swords lazer swords a brilliant blue, crackling with electricity and intensity, just like the mage who wields it. Solar stones, a brilliant yellow, the sign of a pure mage, and the color the Grand mage had in hers, sheathed in her scabbard. Void stones, the most elusive and mysterious, a purple color, it's true values unknown for many said a mage with a purple sword is more likely to practice Dark Magik than any other. Fire stones, passionate and protective, pure white hot swords come from it. Nature stones, green in color, and belonging to those most in tune with themselves. The stone chooses the mage, that means it sees the qualities in them, the mage not even know they have them. "Liam Proditor!" rang through the room snapping June out of her thoughts. He turned to her and Oba and smiled giving a thumbs up before walking into the selection room. June breathed deeply trying calm herself down. several minutes seemed to pass as she held her eyes closed. "Obanulia Kanir!" June felt her friend leave her side, and now truly felt alone as she waited. She focused her mind on calming thoughts, like the sound of a hover bike over a lake, the sound of her friends saying her name. "June Sippal!" yes her name, calmly by her friends, "June Sippal you are up!" her eyes snapped open her name was actually being called, she moved her shaking legs forward hoping she looked more confident than she felt and ignored some of the disapproving looks other students gave her. She entered the the room and sat down on the floor across from the grand mage. She smiled at June her emerald green eyes soothing June's rapidly beating heart. She unfilled a cloth revealing a collection of small blank plain looking rocks, "Which one calls to you?" she asked. June's heart sunk, none of them seemed paricularly Magikal, she lifted her hand and held them over them, "I...." June said, and the Grand Mage's smile began to turn into a frown. "Do none of the stone's speak to you?" For a brief second, one of the stone's seemed to change, June wasn't sure but she thought it glowed. "Um.." June focused her eyes on that stone and held her hand above it. "Yes, one does. this one." she announced and wrapped her fingers around the stone that she thought had glowed. Immediately it began to glow a beautiful blue glow, a static charge traced along her hand, but did not harm her and she audibly gasped in surprise. The grand mage's smile returned, "I can assume the stone has already given you your first lesson, in all things miss Sippal, you must be decisive." June nodded smiling at her words and clutched the glowing stone to her chest. "I will, thank you."