Free The Last of the Sages (Sage Trilogy, Book 1) by Julius St. Clair Page B

exclaimed as his stomach roared. He ran quickly through the Academy entrance, oblivious to the thoughtful stare Arimus gave…
     
    He didn’t make it to lunch, and he had been so close too. The cafeteria door, just beyond the east stairs, had a sign posted in bold black letters:
    Sorry latecomers. The Cafeteria is closed. If you took this long to arrive, you probably need to lose some weight anyways. Love, Kyran.
    James decided that Kyran was starting to get on his last nerves.
    He’s probably just mad because he’s the lunch lady . James laughed internally, envisioning Kyran with a hairnet, his dark clothes masked by a white apron, trying to look cool while serving chicken fingers and tater tots.
    “What’s so funny?” Kyran asked curiously as James’s throat closed up. He hadn’t heard Kyran sneak up from behind. He unwillingly thought about the sword that probably lay under Kyran’s coat. “You wouldn’t be laughing at my expense, would you?”
    James stood motionless.
    “What is it? Cat got your tongue?”
    James tried his very best not to smirk as he thought about Arimus’s quip yesterday.
    “I can see you still don’t grasp the extent of what you’ve gotten yourself into,” Kyran muttered. “How serious…this Academy is.”
    James found a bit of courage and turned around.
    “None of the other recruits take it seriously,” he said, thinking of last night’s game. “Why should I?”
    “At least half of the recruits will be dead within the month.”
    He said it with such surety, such conviction, that James knew Kyran believed his words. And with the way he spoke them, James also knew it would do him well to heed them. James stared at Kyran accusingly, wondering if he would have something to do with the deaths of so many.
    “What do you mean by that statement? ‘They’ll be dead.’”
    “I see no need to repeat myself. They are naïve. They’re having too much fun while they forget their purpose. Their ignorance will cut their lives short.”
    “And what about me? Why do you feel the need to tell me and not all of us?”
    “You were late and happened to be here. I was locking up. Don’t think you’re anything special.”
    “That’s a horrible thing to say.”
    “Why? You’ll probably be the first to die out of all of them. You play too much,” Kyran stated ominously as he turned around and strolled off, hands thrust into his pockets as his trench coat glided with his every footstep. James grabbed the note off the cafeteria door.
    “And what’s with the creepy notes?!”
    Kyran disappeared into the shadows as he always did and James threw the note down in disgust. Continuing down the hall, he was suddenly aware that Arimus had never told him which room was his.
    Maybe it’s labeled , he thought as he heard laughs and excited giggles coming from further down the hall. Apparently, the cafeteria was conveniently placed next to the dorms. It didn’t completely solve his room problem but at least he was on the right track.
    James looked at every door he passed by, noticing that they were all blank. He began to get discouraged but fortunately, when he made it to the end of the hall, there was a tiny note with his name inscribed in cursive attached to the last door. Grateful it wasn’t from Kyran, James opened the door to what would become his new residence. He was surprised to see how small it was.
    Boasting the same gray color as the lobby and having nothing but a bed, a small desk, and a chair, the downgrade from what he was used to was shocking to James. Shrugging his shoulders nonchalantly, he plopped down on the bed and closed his eyes, wondering what new tests awaited him the next day. But then he found himself thinking of Kyran’s words. What exactly did he mean when he said half of the students would die within a month? Was the training really that hard, or would they be journeying outside the Kingdom? It could be fun leaving home and seeing how other people lived for a change.