Hate. Anger. Pain.

I hate it here. I hate you. I hate Niathe. I hate myself and I hate that damn Penguin!

Someone save me!

I ran until the tears became a treasured source of water for me. Sweat dried, and my hair stuck to my scalp. My clenched fists caused my nails to make red half moons in my palms.

A large bell rang and I perked up. What is that?

The woman on my heels stopped walking and called out. "Come back you lazy motherfuckers! You. Go find your supervisor or wait in the hall for her. Just get out of my sight!"

I jumped and limped away from her. The hall became a beacon of hope and freedom as I dragged my trembling body towards it. My entire body ran on the fumes of my emotions.

Cage was waiting when I got to the hall. Quill was sitting on the bench behind her when I got there. Other girls who got the easy job of working there wiped down tables, cleaned dishes, and mopped the floors.

"So? How was it?"

"..." 

"Awful. Fucking awful!"

She nods to herself like she was expecting that, and Quill giggles. Cage sits down on the bench and beckons me forward. Little legs stomp forward, and she helps me climb up the bench. When she can't quite meet my eyes due to the height difference, she settles me on the table.

"As you know. This house is dedicated to training witches. Our noble sacrifice...requires sacrifice. That was your first class of the day. All day today, I am going to personally escort you to each of your classes. When your schedule changes, I will also escort you to those classes. After that, you'll have to get used to getting there on your own."

"When is it over?"

"The day? Time is tricky here due to her influence. Just follow the others. Quill here is going to give you a temporary buff."

Quill uses her wand to write a series of complicated runes and then solidifies them with magic. Golden words that I don't understand surround me, and most of my fatigue disappears. 

I'm still hurting from the excessive exercise they made me do. I feel like I just downed a tank full of coffee.

The rest of my day was still horrible. I arrived late to the same instructor's second class of the day. She made us run. Run along the freezing blue sands of the beach while the waves slapped against us. Every other minute, she called out a name, and that person had to fly. Fly and then fall on command.

Luckily, I avoided such treatment. After that, I had to sit back and watch as they all sparred with each other.

No magic or any other influence helped them as they rained down on each other. Blow after blow until someone fell.

Those who failed to succeed against their competition trailed behind the drill sergeant and ran to the tree line next to the beach. Everyone else headed back to their dorms or to the mess hall.

Confused, I followed the line towards the hall. They were all waiting for me at a table. Food was already polished off their plates. After a quick meal that made my insides protest, I was taken to one of the caves.

"For now, you'll just watch me. Next week, you'll have your assessment, and you'll be given runes yourself." She held me close and ventured into the darkness. A room with the faint smell of sulfur was carved out of the walls.

Someone waited around the corner, and Cage ignored her. She set me down at the entrance and opened a mat. Spread out in the center of the room and surrounded by candles.

Sparks flew from her hands and fire. Fire bloomed from her. Wild, strange symbols made from fire lit up the room.

Yet somewhere deep inside, I could feel. I could feel what they were saying. It wasn't words at all.

I spent hours watching her perform her wicked dance of fire in those caves. When she was finally done, she led me back to the mess hall. We ate together, walked back to her dormitory, and got ready for bed.

Large tubs were filled with hot water boiled on the stove in the kitchen. Modesty didn't have a place here, and shame wasn't welcome. Everyone scrubbed the day's work off their skin and poured it out into the dirt when we were all done.

My days continued that way. All work and no play. Until what I assume was the weekend. Our course load is lighter on those days and filled with things that interest me.

"Today, we will be memorizing the histories of cursed objects."

The cave we were in was massive. Filled with lamps, desks, chairs, and bookshelves. Quill placed a book of her own on the chair so I could see over the desk. Her?

Hypatia's voice echoed off the walls as she taught us from scratch. "What is a cursed object?"

Quill raised her hand and answered. "An object that has been tainted by the Contagion. It may grant the user who wields it power in exchange for something. For example...The Plenty Goblet. In exchange for keeping itself full with whatever the user desires...The user must offer the blood of loved ones to the goblet."

Hypatia nodded, and her gaze landed on me momentarily. Frozen, I frowned and tried to meet her gaze. She glanced away and continued her lesson.

"Cursed Objects often appear to those who are most vulnerable to them. Sites of great famine, tragedy, catastrophe, loss, fame, or poverty. One of the first documented encounters was during the First Famine of the East. A young man..."

She tells the tale of a boy who wandered away from his village and towards a recently formed hole in the ground. He was originally looking for food. Instead, he found a sword. Stuck inside the sand. 

Scorpions surrounded him, and in a panic, he withdrew the sword from the ground. Instantly, he was imbued with great power. He cut down his enemies and took the scorpions with him to his village.

They celebrated him and his valor.

"A month from that night, he murdered his entire village with that same sword. Then he went on to kill thirteen more before he was finally stopped. A brave witch sacrificed her life to cut his arms off his body. Only then did he wake up from the dream he was in...The sword lies to its user, the more you use it. It plants paranoid thoughts in their head. Until everyone around that person becomes their enemy."

"..."

Jesus. Silence settles over the entire hall as everyone digests that story. Still...I raise my hand sheepishly. "What about the sword? Is it gone now?"

I hope I don't get in trouble for this, but I have to know. Hypatia hummed before answering me. "Yes. It is gone now. It was destroyed by a Divine Relic. The only object capable of completely erasing the object from existence."

Relics? I raised my hand again. "What's a Divine Relic?"

She crosses her arms and takes a deep breath. "Relics...Are objects imbued with divine power. That's enough for today."

Class was dismissed, and I was taken to lunch at the house. Fallon cooked today, and it showed. Boiled. She just boils everything. She doesn't even use salt or any kind of condiment.

I sipped my drink and picked at my small serving. Just eat it. Come on. I shoveled the food into my mouth and swallowed it all down. After that, I had Rune Class with Cage and finally...Potions.

"Welcome..." A very young woman with charcoal and frosty hair thrown in a half-up and down hairstyle greeted me at the entrance of the cave. 

Cage helped her out. "Eira."

Her veil was completely thrown back, and her face was made available to all. She must be pretty talented to be an instructor at her age. She smiled in greeting at me and beckoned me inside. Light silver eyes glowed with joy.

Cage waved me off, and I winced. This was one of the few classes I was going to have to attend alone.

"You can call me Madam Phiomen. I'll be..."

Phiomen? That sounds vaguely familiar. She led me inside to her classroom, which was really just a huge medicine room. Her class was also pretty small in comparison to the others. Including me, she has eleven students in attendance.

"Let's get started."