(Disqualified…) Heimer's voice rang in the mind of Leo.
All who were marked were fifteen in total, Leo included.
They were six girls and nine boys, all looking to be in their late teens.
Leo walked out of the line slowly, he was dazed.
Hopes of his short-lived dream crumbled for unknown reasons.
He was down, he now had nowhere to go; no home, no family, no one to turn to.
Nearly tearing up, he was now past the last line.
The walk to the gate was a long one, physically and mentally.
Slowly joining up with the other marked ones.
The gate was still ways to go.
"Why were we disqualified?
I didn't even break any rules, or any that I know of." Leo was starting to drown in thought.
With each passing step it got harder to accept his fate.
As they walked there wasn't any chatter between them.
Two horses passed by them, the riders were holding lit lamps.
"How nice, wish they'd get us horses like those." A boy's voice said from the group of marked ones.
His voice sounded brash and deep.
"Yeah as if, like you aren't tired of horse riding already.
I know you'll ask dad for another when we get home." Another male voice replied, almost as deep as the other.
They sounded very alike.
They both crackled.
This was the only interaction between anyone of the marked ones, before reaching the gate.
As they walked towards the gate, the torches mounted to the wall illuminated the large doors.
Upon setting foot in the range of the light, the gates were opened by the guards who stood by the gate.
Before them were two wagons, presumably to take them back to their places of residence.
Leo took a deep breath and went into one of the wagons with seven other marked ones.
They departed, his wagon was behind the other.
-
They had been moving along the walls of the military base for a while now, it wasn't long before they started to notice something weird.
"(The one controlling this wagon is a commander, even the other.
Doesn't it seem strange to you?)" whispers emerged from the wagon.
It was the brash voiced boy from earlier.
"(Might it be because we're of noble blood)" Another whispered.
It was the one that replied earlier as well.
"(That can't be it, can it?
The military is famous for not caring about status.
So it's unlikely)" The brash boy said.
"Can you all be quiet?" The voice of the one leading the wagon said.
The voice was that of Ricia's.
Their ramblings ceased.
"They're nobles?
No nobles had been sent out yet…
As that boy said earlier...something feels weird about this." Leo tried to fathom the situation.
"Let me try this…
I hope it works" Leo closed his eyes.
He felt the aether in his body, and remembered the sensation of channeling it to his fists.
This time, it was his eyes he had planned to infuse it in.
"Since that dream…
I've felt that energy flowing throw me in paths.
It feels pure." He focused as he channeled the aether into his eyes.
It had indeed worked.
He could now see the night clearly; not nearly as clear as day but enough to see.
Leo took a look at the faces of the four in front of him.
The girl with short reddish-brown hair, whom sat there with her hair rested upon her knees.
The two boys with very short blonde hair, both of whom looked nearly identical; they were the ones who were conversing a short while ago.
The other boy seated closest to the commander, he had curly short black hair, and two lines on his cheeks–
"?!" It startled Leo.
It seemed as if he and the boy had locked eyes for a brief instance.
He turned his head away.
"Did he just…no it couldn't be.
But I've confirmed my hunch, they are all nobles.
And there's even a royal." Leo put his head on his knees, and looked to his right, trying to see the three beside him.
He couldn't see their faces, but he could take a guess as to what their social hierarchy was.
Their attires looked to be of high quality, so he could take a guess from there.
"Then, are those in the other wagons…" He was trying to piece things together.
Though he had minimal information , he had a feeling they were all nobles as well.
That led him to wonder;
"Where are they taking us to…"
The moon reflected on Leo's aether filled eyes as the journey resumed.
–
The sounds of horse legs, and wheels moving on the soil was all that Leo and the others could hear.
Their journey wasn't particularly bumpy since the horses weren't sprinting, it was still anything but comfortable.
It had been nearly an hour, yet the wagons took no left turns, only staying at the path beside the millitary base's walls.
They headed northwards.
The disqualified recruits boarding both wagons were on the edge.
Now another gate was revealed on the wall, it was smaller than the former by a lot.
It looked to have been unused for a long time, and was also locked.
Both commanders left their respective wagons with their lamps in hand.
Ricia pulled out a key she had pocketed, and used it on the lock mechanism on the door.
"Ren" She called to the attention of the other commander.
He nodded, and they both pushed the seperate halves of the gate.
"Did she just say Ren?...
If he's here then there's nothing to fe-
[Leo shook his head]
But still, it's nice to have a familiar face.
And if things go wrong I have this." He looked at his fists.
The two commanders walked the the horses in, with the wagons attached.
After they had gotten in, they locked the gate from the inside.
They did this by lodging a long wooden piece on the floor through the two handles on each half of the gate.
They got back on the horses and rode straight to the mountains.