Listinia

In a world of war, romance is never encouraged. Not in the early years, at least. When you're supposed to be learning how to not die, you can't have distractions.

My parents decided to ignore everyone's suggestions. They were together since they were thirteen, and they trained as partners. They said they wanted to see the light in this dark world.

Then when they were nineteen, my mother got pregnant. They elders didn't like this. Of course not. The rules are that ten years must be served in battle, unless you're dead or wounded to the point of being a cripple. In the event of pregnancies, the mother must immediately return to battle once she gives birth and leave her child behind in the care of those who have already been through battle.

My father thought it was wrong. He made a deal with the elders, and my mother's ten years of battle were transferred to him. She objected, but it was what he wanted and in the end she had to go along with it.

My father was good. I know he was, even though I barely got to know him. He wrote to us whenever he could, and occasionally he was able to visit, but I was always busy with training and barely got to see him. He said he was so excited to finally be able to spend time with his family when he was done. The downside was that I had to leave home once I was twenty, around the time when his twenty years were done. We would have a few months, though, and that's what he was looking forward to.

Last year, he died. The details are gruesome. When my mother found out, she just about died along with him. She hasn't gotten over it, and I'm not sure if she will. Luckily for her, she doesn't have to go back into battle. The years were transferred to my dad's name, so they were invalidated.

Right now, since Naiya and I are still living in her house, she is okay. We are provided with food because we're in training, and we hunt for extra food for Aquovia. Once Naiya and I leave for battle, Aquovia will be able to get by for a little while, but she’ll have to get a job eventually.

So what does this amount to?

A week after we received the news about my dad, my mother told me never to fall in love. Not at a young age, anyway. She said it only caused problems. But she was always a romantic, and she wanted to set up a match for me either way. I don't know where the logic is in that, but I never quite understood my mother completely.

She matched me with Equia. Equia is a girl about my age, and she's beautiful. I think Dal has a soft spot for her, but most people do. Her silver hair shines in the sunlight, and because her mother was mostly of angel blood, she has small feathered wings sprouting from her back. It gives her a sense of delicacy that makes you want to protect her. Like I said, she's beautiful. And more importantly, she's rich.

Her family is one of those few rich families in our village. Most rich families live in the bigger cities, where it's safer, but for some reason, her family decided to come to a small village in the middle of nowhere.

Poorer people, like me and my family, hate rich people. Because if you have the money, you can get out of going to war. Just pay the fees and you'll be set for life. Sure, you won't be able to defend yourself since you never had to go to training, but you can just pay people to do that for you. It seems unfair, and it kind of is, but it's necessary. The town has to pay for a person's first set of weapons, and the money for that has to come from somewhere.

This is why Equia is kind of famous. Her family is rich enough for her to pay her fees and stay safely at home, but she decided that she would fight. My mother respects her. And with Equia's money, I would never have to fall into the same problem that my parents had.

"Arden," Equia says with a smile, "You're my partner today."

"I know," I say.

"Who's this?" she says, gesturing to Listinia.

Listinia doesn't know what to say. What would she say, anyway? It's not like she remembers anything. So I say, "She's new to this town. She's going to be watching us so she can learn how things work around here." Not a lie.

"Alright," Equia says, and I can't help but stare at her pretty golden eyes. It's the feelings I hate so much fucking with me again. "So what do you want to do today?"

"I don't know. I've been trying to practice with my magic for a while, but I don't think you need help with that."

She grins. "The perks of being an angel, huh?"

"Yeah."

"What's your main element?" she asks me.

"Fire," I say. "And yours is air, right?"

"Yeah, but I think I need to practice with other things."

We head into a section of the field with small trees in it. They regenerate if any part is missing, and they usually do it within a day. I never bothered with them, but Equia suggests we try to get a fire big enough to burn them down for practice.

I take occasional glances at Listinia to make sure she's okay. She seems to be looking everywhere, extremely confused. I honestly have no idea what the elders want to do with her.

We get to training. It takes a couple of tries, but I get my first tree to burn down. Equia throws some weak fireballs at her tree and it sets a small branch on fire. I can see she gets frustrated, because the wind around us picks up a little bit. However, this helps her because it causes the fire to spread. We get the hang of it after a while. Listinia still says nothing and I find it awkward for her to stand there and do nothing, but it isn't really my problem.

"Think fast," Equia says. Using her magic to levitate a stray tree branch, she hurls it through the air at me. I have to use my bow to deflect it.

"What the hell?"

"I told you to think fast. You were supposed to shoot it and set it on fire."

"Well, try again," I say, slightly angry with myself. In the real world, there are no second chances. Also, bigger things than flimsy branches will be thrown at me.

"No second chances for you," she says, knowing exactly what I was thinking. "You're dead. Whoever you're traveling with will have to defend themselves."

"Me?" Listinia asks once Equia's eyes are on her. "What?"

"Say Arden just died. What do you do?"

"...I don't know."

"You take his weapons and use them for yourself," Equia says. "They're of no use to him anymore."

"But..."

Equia forcefully takes my bow and arrows away from me. I can see that this is a kind of game for her to play, and I have no idea how Listinia will go about this. "Better sooner than later. Don't wanna die, do you? Since you're with Arden, I can assume that you're trained in this, aren't you?"

"Trained in what?"

"Archery," Equia says, surprisingly patient. I wonder if I should say something.

"...no."

"What are you trained in?"

"Nothing."

Equia gives me a weird look, but she still doesn't say anything about it. "Well, can't hurt to try a new thing."

"I don't..."

"Think fast!" Equia levitates another branch from further out in the field. I start to panic - I'm supposed to protect this girl! Then it happens. I watch Listinia, and I see her reflexes kick in. Before I know it, she sends an arrow straight into the center of the branch. The whole thing bursts into flames.

But something is wrong. Instead of burning out, the fire burns on in midair, growing larger by the second.