Chapter One: The Truth

    Clarice hated testing day. While it was a necessity to ensure the Collars were working, she still didn't appreciate it. Her Collar never broke—she knew self control in her magic use and thought this was unnecessary. But, it was a requirement for all, and she was no exception to the rule. Clarice growled out a sigh, leaned against a cold, stone wall, folded her arms, and waited impatiently for her turn. Others around her were nervous, confident, and terrified. She overheard conversations of people verbally displaying their confidence in passing the test while the rest were either quiet, didn't care, or were nervously babbling on about how they will fail. Clarice didn't understand; it was just a simple means of ensuring your Collar didn't break and having all Chaos break loose. That was the purpose of this magical device: to help control your magic.

    But that didn't make it any less of a pain in the arse.

    The line shifted, stopped, and another round of waiting resumed. Clarice unbound her wavy brown from its long braid and proceeded to re-braid it over, and over, and over. Each time the line moved forward, she moved along with it, and kept her eyes on her shining locks. Clarice had inherited her father's eyes: sky blue and round with long eyelashes. Just below those eyes were cheeks spotted with freckles. Clarice had tried to bleach them out with lemon but was reprimanded by her mother for doing so. “They bring out your father's eyes,” she'd say, “Oh, I see so much of him in you.” Most children would roll their eyes at such comments, but it was an honor to Clarice. Her father, Jakobs Gatekeeper, was well renown for heroic deeds in aiding the crown. He was retired now and managed a mine rich with the titanium the Collars need to function.

    “What if it goes wrong?”

    “Jaryl, you're overreacting. It's just a test, my friend.”

    Clarice pursed her lips and eyed two men who were engaging in a very distracting conversation. The others were easy to ignore but the shaking in Jaryl's voice was grating. He looked like he hadn't slept in days; his hair was disheveled and dark circles had formed under his eyes. The shivering of his body made Clarice wonder if he took that new drug on the illegal marker that allowed one to remain awake for days.

    “Friend, relax. If you fail they will just reinforce your Collar. That's all there is to it.”

    “No, no, no,” Jaryl jabbed a finger in his companion's face and glared at him from the corner of his eyes, “You know what they really do to people like me? No, I'll tell you. They take you away and do horrid things. Yes, horrid things. I've seen it-!”

    His madness-laced words were cut off by a much needed slap to the face. Jaryl's features were locked in shock at the sudden strike.

“Contain yourself. You took it, didn't you? I should have guessed,” Clarice watched him shake his head at Jaryl's poor choices, “I won't repeat myself. You will be fine. That powder forces illusions if taken too much. You know this. Why did you-?”

“Sssh, ssshh!” Jaryl waved hands at his face and bobbed his head in Clarice's direction. Both men fixated their eyes on her.

Clarice lofted an eyebrow at the two, showing little concern that both were now glaring at her for eavesdropping, “Your friend is right, Jaryl. That wasn't the best choice you could have made. It could get you in trouble.”

“Stay out of this, Gatekeeper,” Jaryl spat, “This isn't your concern—be about your business.”

“Rather hard to do so when you two are standing next to me and talking about the consumption of an illegal drug,” She did lower her voice so she couldn't be heard by the others around her, “You aren't the sharpest daggers in the armory, are you?”

Jaryl's jaw visibly tightened as he gritted his teeth. His friend spoke next, “Gatekeeper has a point. I shouldn't have talked about this so openly. Jaryl, promise me you won't touch that substance again. It's dangerous and addictive. You've seen what it does to those who never stop.”

They fall asleep and never wake up. The body can only handle so much of that drug before it shuts down for good. Jaryl snapped his gaze away and moved along with the line. The two went quiet shortly thereafter, leaving Clarice with only her hair to entertain her.

“Next!” A woman shouted from the doorway. Jaryl would be going in to the room after this test and Clarice moved away from the wall to get a look at him. He was very nervous now but he chose to hide it verbally. Good. Now she could relax, wait for her time, finish, and go to town for some pastries. Clarice could all ready taste the buttery crust and sweet apple filling of the exotic treats the local baker excelled in. Oh, bliss. Her mouth watered at the thought.

“Next!”

Jaryl's eyes bulged open and he walked in to the room without a fuss. The door closed behind them and silence greeted their ears. Clarice half expected to hear a commotion but nothing came out. Jaryl may pass the test after all! But, she was certain he'd be fined or jailed for a few days due to illegal drug abuse. Just as she settled to a steady rhythm of braiding her hair, something went terribly wrong. The door to the room was radiating unbearable amounts of heat. Jaryl's friend looked concerned by this.

Then, the door burst open, and the Testers raced out coughing and sporting burns. Black smoke curled from the room until the door was slammed shut by a very frazzled looking woman. “His Collar broke. There's fire everywhere! The man can't control himself. We need the Enforcers here. Now!”

“What about Jaryl? Will he be okay?!”

The Tester gave Jaryl's companion a very grim look, “His magic may consume him and he'll go mad. If we get to him in time, then he will be fine. As for the rest of you,” she moved from the now hot door and motioned for everyone to go, “We will resume testing another time. All of you out. This could quickly escalate in to a serious problem for everyone. OUT!”

Clarice started to follow the crowd but then she heard it: Jaryl's cry of terror. She stopped and looked back. The smoke was starting to leak through the door. If that magic gets out of control, people could be in severe trouble, and fire like that could very well take down the Academy itself. Not just that, but Jaryl himself will be lost. Oh, curse the Gatekeeper tendency to have a desire to be heroic!

“Gatekeeper! Stop!”

Clarice didn't listen. The woman grabbed the hot doorknob, opened the door, and ran inside, making sure it was shut behind her. The fires within the room were roaring with such intensity! They licked her body, threatening to destroy her, but they didn't touch her. With a wave of her hands, the fires parted, leaving a scorched path for her to walk through. But even with her immunity to flames, she had trouble breathing in there, and began a coughing fit. The air had become so dry! Along her arms, a series of curled, blue patterns lit up: her Collar. It glowed brightly within the sea of fire. Maybe he can see her?

“Jaryl! Jaryl, where are you?!”

To her right, she heard his plea for help. Clarice's eyes narrowed in determination and she ran through the fire like it was nothing. Her clothing had been cast with a fire-resistance spell but it may wear off if she didn't hurry.