• The morning bells rang out, loud and clear in the pale spring morning. Winter’s chill still hung in the air as the fiery, golden sun slowly rose out of the east. Getting up from his bed, #523 awoke for another grueling day The Rylainnan Institution for Future Aspects to The Crown of Tör Roýausse. More commonly known as l’Académie
    No, I am not #523, I am Luc, he thought. Lucas what though, his name was listed as Lucas Justin Page, but how sad is it that he was left on the doorstep of his ‘parents’, then shipped off to the Academy all because of his sixteenth birthday.
    He remembered his Mother’s pleading with his father not to go through with it, how she begged on her hands and knees to keep Lucas with them. That was the day he found out the truth.
    In all their yelling and screaming, his father blurted out, “What do you care? He’s not even our son!”
    That night Luc ran away. For three days, he lived in the Centaire Woods living on deer meat and berries when his ‘father’ found him, the father caught him by his hair and screeched into his ear, “This is how you repay us! This is how you threat us after we took you in and raised you as our own!”
    With a knife at Luc’s throat he said, “I should kill you now. But that wouldn’t suffice, not at all.” After that, it had all gone downhill.
    He had been shipped off to the depressing, dank barracks of the Academy, forced into the dull, grueling life of a grunt. Sure, he was advanced in all of his classes, but that didn’t help his social life.
    Weeks ago, Luc made his mind up; he was going to escape.
    The sergeant walked in, he strode across the room overlooking the sixteen year olds in their identical camouflage uniforms, all saluting to their superior.
    “At ease,” he commanded.
    The boys stopped saluting, but still stood as straight as boards, mindlessly staring into oblivion.
    “Today we have a treat for you grunts,” the sergeant continued, “We’re going into Gallia, into the Old Forest.”
    “Sergeant Vadas, are you crazy!?!”
    Everyone turned toward the other end of the room.
    Sergeant Vadas marched over to the grunt.
    “Are you questioning my decision,” he asked the boy his voice rattling with the suppressed emotions.
    “Well no sir…”
    “Are you questioning me,” the sergeant bellowed, the full wrath of his anger, made all the grunts flinch. That was, everyone except Luc and Tymoteusz Roth.
    Tym was Luc’s only friend at this insane ‘institution’.
    Regaining his composition, Sergeant Vadas addressed the entire barrack.
    “Just for that,” he announced, “the exercise becomes an Alle Raus Krieg.”
    That was a shock to everyone; an Alle Raus Kreig was an all out war, an hour’s battle between everyone to see who was weak, to see who could survive.
    They all grabbed their equipment and weaponry and marched to the caravan wagons.
    To their deaths more like it, how cruel this sergeant was. Sure, these grunts heard the rumors, rumors that if they moved to Private, that the Sergeants weren’t as mean, that they only put the toughest at the Grunt level to weed out the losers.
    They traveled swiftly to the Old Forest. Everyone then formed their ranks.
    Sergeant Vadas then stood before them, content that he didn’t have to fight in the rain and only had to stand there and watch as his pathetic ‘students’ kill each other one at a time.
    “So, now,” the Sergeant said addressing the entire brigade, “You all know the rules, kill anyone that comes in your way, the borders have been marked, and remember, if I don’t like what I see I extend this Alle Raus Kreig another hour. You stat when I shoot this gun.” He held up silver pistol. “So I suggest that you run and get some cover.”
    The grunts scattered, everyone knew the ‘official’ rules, and the ‘unofficial’ ones too: kill the people that you don’t trust, play dirty, and anything goes.
    Tym and Luc took refuge in a huge low-lying willow that was right on the water’s edge, Luc planning to pick people off with his gun, Tym with his arrows.
    “You know the plan right,” Tym asked, he knew what they were going to do, pick off people before they could even get close enough to spot them.
    But that question had another meaning too. They had planned it all out; about six weeks ago, Luc had decided to escape and Tym had agreed. Their plan had been that on the next remote mission that they were going to escape, by any means necessary. Everyone knew that today was a remote mission. So, before the Sergeant had walked in, they had packed their bags. Although in Alle Raus Kreig, you always pack you thing so that if you die, you items can be disposed of with your body.
    But still, at the climax of the battle, when everyone’s attention was one something else they were going to make a run for it.
    The pre-battle anticipation was rising In Luc’s stomach. How was this battle going to turn out? Would he live long enough to escape, would Tym?
    The gunshot sounded, a flare went high into the air. At first, nothing happened; then blood-curling battle cries pieced the silence, soon followed by the clash of swords, the swoosh of arrows, and the frightening cries of a dying comrades.
    The battle had begun…