text: [Themes: fantasy, fantasy, romance]
  
  While feeling tempted to show this peasant his place, you aren't that rash. If put to the test you figure you would have a high chance of winning in this fight. However, you don't think he got that muscular from sitting around doing nothing, and since this is an academy where people are being taught how to fight, so you assume he has more experience than you as well. Of course you were taught by the General himself, Morden, so despite the person's goading you push past him and continue up the stairs.
  
  On your way past him he grips your forearm and speaks, "Hey, don't leave when I'm talking to you!"
  
  He has a strong grip, but since you know how to get out of such a simple hold, you easily twist out and continue up the stairs.
  
  You hear a string of profanity and calls for you to come back, but for whatever reason he doesn't come after you, so you continue to ignore him. It hadn't really occurred to you that there might some people that are jealous of you. Especially since you have no idea why they think you're blessed by the Creator. Certainly the mark on your back is indicative to the Creator's wings, but you're fairly certain that the Creator didn't just come down from paradise and bestow upon you the powers to govern his people on this world. No, you're fairly certain that this isn't the Creator's doing, and even more so when you remember your dream.
  
  In the back of your mind things were already starting to make sense, but you didn't want to believe it. Somehow that man in the King's Forest was able to obtain power beyond your comprehension. Maybe he got it from the Creator, but regardless of where you are fairly certain that those years spent in the King's Forest were not normal. You thought it was odd when the guards couldn't relocate the cabin, but you always chalked it up to your superior tracking skills. Well at least until you learned enough to know that you were no where near as good at tracking as the royal guards.
  
  You cast your thoughts to the very first 'dream.' If you recall correctly then you were actually confronting the man about his purpose in being in those woods. He'd mentioned about how he knew that day would come, and how sad he was.
  
  You reach the Academy's armory, and you resolve to figure out what happened later. soon enough they find you a sword that's suited to your size and fighting style, and you leave with your mind still centered on weapons. You get the vague feeling that you were meaning to do something, but before you realize what it was, Headmaster Rallas shows up at the end of the hallway.
  
  He's wearing the same grey and black material from before, but this time he has more of the stuff gathered together in his arms. You remember the other student you met, and realize that the Headmaster was holding some kind of student uniform.
  
  "I'm sorry. I meant to give this to you before, but my attention was elsewhere." He shoves the grey and black uniform into your arms before reaching into a pocket and pulling out a key.
  
  "This is for your room. We made sure to give you the best of the best."
  
  "That's une-" you begin, but the headmaster interrupts you.
  
  "Nonsense. The son of the Grand Priest deserves the very best."
  
  You hesitate before grasping the Gold plated key. Despite the unfortunate meeting in the hallway, you decide that you might very well get used to living here. "Yes sir."
  
  A few weeks pass, and the first battle happens. A messenger leaves you a letter from your father detailing what happened. It was mostly just the Knights testing the Dellandian army. It wasn't some crazy battle of massive proportions, but rather, it was a skirmish that didn't even contain a hundred men in total. While it wasn't the greatest battle, the Knights managed to beat the army with a combination of skill (from the individuals), and strategy. (from the different leaders) You find out that Morden is leading the charge against the corrupt royalty, and that in terms of skill, the Knights heavily outclass the army of Dellandia. You hope that superior strategy and skill will be enough, for the Dellandian army has the advantage in numbers.
  
  Aside from that, the only important thing happening is the new term start for the Academy. No new dreams of the Man and Alessa happen leaving you with a relatively bored few weeks. You don't see the pretentious student from before, so you ended up spending most of your time staying fit and practicing your swordplay. You're in an almost feverish state, and your father and your friends only serve to make that fever go. Whether the mark you received was from the Creator or not, you feel your place is beside your father championing the cause of the Holy Kingdom.
  
  Occasionally you go to the library hoping to find information regarding this mark, and while there are a lot of history about what the Blessed Ones are, the texts never go into the differences between the Blessed Ones and other people. You're always left wondering if the mark is simply there to notify your enemies of whom to kill.
  
  Thus, your thoughts are everywhere when you attend your first class at the Academy. The Headmaster had your schedule delivered to you earlier week with a note attached.
  
  It read, "Erron, enclosed is your schedule of the coming term. Seeing as how you were taught by the best while in Vailum, we've decided to put you in classes closer to your skill level. You will be surrounded by peer s who are older than you, and may even be jealous of you and your position. Heed them not, for your position demands that you be above everyone else. You are held in a higher regard because of your blessing, so do not stoop down to the level of those who oppose you. Sincerely, Headmaster Rallas.
  
  You take a deep breath and clear your head. The open doorway seems almost ominous in nature, but when you finally step through it, the classroom beyond leaves you astounded. Mostly because you've never really seen so many kids in the same location. The majority of the students are male, but you do see several girls around the room too. You do not see the teacher, so when you enter the room you try to sneak along the wall to an empty wooden desk.
  
  Alas, Your endeavor fails. It only takes a few seconds for someone to recognize you as the Grand Priest's son, so a fairly large group forms around you.
  
  "Are you Erron?"
  
  "Can I see your mark?"
  
  and
  
  "Where'd you get that jawline?" are only a few of the questions you hear.
  
  You do your best to answer the questions, but luckily for you, the teacher steps into the room and tells everyone to go to their seats.
  
  The teacher Introduces himself as Sir Kakanos, and he barely takes anytime before diving into the lesson. Your first class is history, and it ends up going fairly smoothly. Well at least for you. The rest of the class seem distracted by your presence, as if you're some kind of exotic animal. It's only when the student you met before walks through the doorway that the classes' attention turns away from you.
  
  Sir Kakanos looks away from the class when he walks in, and gestures for the guy to sit. "It's nice of you to join us Mr. Rallas." The Headmaster's son, you take note of that.
  
  'Mr. Rallas' walks to the seat designated, but takes a specific moment to look at you and stare you down. He doesn't have the same astonished and contempt filled expression as he did before. Rather it's blank, and you realize, with a start, that this guy wasn't just some brute filled with anger. No, if he had that much control over his emotions to begin with, then he was much smarter than you previously thought. If you allowed yourself to be angered back when you first met you might have been outclassed.
  
  The class ends soon after that interruption, and you head to your next class. It turns out similarly, with the exception of the Headmaster's son actually being to his class on time.
  
  Science, Numbers, Battle Tactics, and Reading pass by fairly quickly and before long you're standing in a field outside the academy. Of all the classes you have, this is probably the one you look forward to the most. Advanced Combat. The teacher is a female Knight by the name of Sarrin. She's quite young. If you weren't her student, you might consider her beautiful. She quickly pairs off each the students there to "see what each of you can do."
  
  You're paired with a stocky fellow named David, and you start to spar with the wooden practice swords. It doesn't take you very long at all to best him, but David decides that he wants more. You happily oblige, for you haven't had a real opponent in a while. However, it soon becomes very clear that despite his two year advantage of age, you are the better fighter.
  
  "Erron. Pair up Ashyr." You hear Miss Sarrin tell you, and before you can ask who she means, you see her pointing at the Headmaster's son.
  
  You mutter a quick "Yes ma'am" and head over to your new opponent. Unlike your previous opponent, Ashyr stands a few inches taller than you. His hazel eyes regard you calmly, and he holds his practice sword carefully, lightly, as if the sword was his lover. The thought amused you, and you allowed a small smile to light up your features.
  
  You ready your practice sword for battle. The space between you is filled with tension, and you start circling each other. For a fraction of a second you see his eyes shift to the contempt filled ones you first saw, but you don't have time to think about it, for Ashyr lunges. You react immediately by parrying, then you follow up with a counterattack of your own. He defends against just as easily as you did against him, and the both of you enter into a trance of sorts. Neither of you gain ground against each other, and each and every one of your strikes is parried or otherwise defended against.
  
  Soon enough you realize that this battle will be decided through endurance. The first person to slack off in their attacks, the first person to make a mistake, they will be the one to lose. You continue the fighting for a few moments longer before you realize that it would be you to make the mistake. While Ashyr showed hints of strain, he didn't look anywhere close to as tired as you were. You have to strike now while you still have the energy to do so.
  
  Throughout the fight, many different tactics have been employed. Given this, there are only a few things you think work. You haven't tried overwhelming him with power, so you might be able to take your opponent by surprise. The same principle applies to forcing him to grapple with you. If you get close enough you may be able to catch him off guard by tackling him to the ground. Of course, you could always wait for Ashyr to mess up. Maybe he feels more tired than he looks.
  
  In any case you feel yourself beginning to tire, so you need to make a decision now.
  
  > tackle him
  Going on either pure attack or pure defense would be expected, you decide. You need something entirely unprecedented. Something that''ll surprise him so thoroughly he won't know what to do.
  
  With a sudden turn of luck you parry a blow, and Ashyr decides not to pursue attacking you. Instead you start circling each other again. You're grateful for the time to rest before you begin your attack, but Ashyr doesn't seem to be thinking at all about his energy. Instead his eyes are focused on you with a puzzled look in his eyes. You guess no one has ever lasted this long against him.
  
  By now the sun's heat has your body beginning to wear down, and your fatigue must show, for Ashyr smiles a triumphant smile. Immediately afterwards, he surges forward with an overhead slash.
  
  But you're ready for it. When he gets close enough you get low and charge him. The impact of you hitting him stops him from continuing his swing downward, however, you aren't able to fully tackle him. The result of your attempt leaves you bear hugging his stomach. Ashyr reacts quickly and switches the hold on his sword so he can stab downward. You see what he's doing out of your peripheral vision, and you realize what's about to happen.
  
  You disentangle yourself from him just as he starts to bring his sword down at you. The hit, originally aimed at your back, hits the top of your spinal cord due to your attempt to dodge, and you black out.
  
  You wake up approximately a day later. The white of the infirmary hurts your eyes, but not as much as your pride hurts. You could accept losing, but losing in such a pathetic way was disappointing.
  
  You reach you hand to cover a sudden yawn, but your hand doesn't move. You try to bring it up once again, but still, it doesn't move. You start attempting to move every possible limb, but your body doesn't obey you. The only things that you can move are your facial appendages.
  
  You start shouting for someone, and soon enough a nurse comes to see you followed by Headmaster Rallas. They go into a lengthy explanation of what happened to you. That explanation ends with them saying that you are paralyzed from neck up. You end up going into shock, and you realize that you won't ever be able to do anything you want ever again.
  
  You enter a limbo like state where nothing really matters to you. Even letters from your father seem to have lost their meaning.
  
  Months pass and your thoughts are filled with regret and despair. If only you had gone with your father, or if only you had won that fight...if only. Those thoughts consume your entire being until there's nothing you can do, but think about what ifs. Life in this state leaves you wishing to be dead. You push those thoughts off, but when there's nothing else to do but think, then that becomes a burden too.
  
  One day you finally decide to do it. Maybe the Creator will forgive you for being a failure as a Blessed One.
  
  Well, if that's all I could do in a fight, then maybe I am a hero. I saved everyone from watching me fail as the Chosen Hero of the Holy Kingdom.
  
  With that thought you end your existence in Dellandia.