Potential Magik

Green, blue, silver mists swirled around the great Oak trees of Shy’kia forest, a mist came up from the nearby lake and covered the ground and close by trees. Upon the moist ground sat a young woman looking out on the lake. A white mist came from the young woman’s breath and formed two miniature wolves playing with one another. She clearly had a smile on her angelic shaped face, slightly pale, red from the cold. The cold did not seem to trouble her at all. With a sudden moment, the white wolves disappeared in the air.
Sitting by the lake She could see day break come from afar. It’s light spilling across the forest embracing the forest life. Sitting cold and stiff she rubbed her bare arms to warm them up. Once the luminous light broke upon her face, color started to reappear.
The birds and animals of Shy’kia forest started to awaken, chirping for the new day’s hunt, and breakfast. Still sitting on the drying ground she looked at the sun once more before standing up on her smooth muscular legs. Thinking about breakfast and how breath taking the sunrise was, Skadi, the young woman, started off running toward the forest setting a little way off from the lake. Her stomach gave a lurch, as a tall dark haired young man jumped out of the brush, half scaring Skadi to death.
“ Hi,” he said giving her a grin “I didn’t see you at breakfast,” her black almond shaped eyes drifted up to meet his enchanting green eyes staring her down. Unaware of his talking, her mind drifted off still partially shaken up by his sudden appearance.
“Hello…Hello,” he strode before her waving his arms before her face “Are you listening to me? Skadi, hey,” he said shaking her shoulders. His voice grew louder… Skadi blinked, a bright glare shinned into her eyes.

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“Wake up!” Skadi placed her hand before her eyes to keep the glare out. “Finally, you’re awake. Come on get dressed, if we hurry we might get to class on time!”
“Get where,” asked Skadi sleepily, sitting up on an oak padded bed, removing her hand from her eyes and looked around to see, no forest but instead a clean pale green room with oak furniture and lot’s of piles of books scattered about the room.
“Get where? Oh… I can’t believe this; you of all people forgot the exams. After all the complaining you did?” the apparent male voice then changed to a more high-pitched tone defiantly copying someone. “Oh Njord these exams are going to change our lives. They are going to decide what we are going to do in the future, don’t you care?” Skadi’s tired eyes wandered over to where the voice was coming from and saw a straight haired blonde with a narrow chin. This she identified as her childhood friend Njord.
Njord was her buddy, her friend she had had since as long as she could remember, and as well as her study partner who didn’t study often. He was an artistic type of guy, it was next to impossible to find anything he couldn’t draw.
“Exams,” Skadi asked curiously
“Yes,” replied Njord “The exams, for heavens sake, don’t u remember on Thursday?”
“The exams!” Skadi shouted and jumped off the bed grabbing for her day clothes “How could I forget?” she ran into the bathroom clutching her clothes in one hand and the patched quilt in the other trying to keep it around her.
“You know.” Started Njord “I’ve never quite seen you this way before, well… the way you’re acting anyway. It’s not like you to forget an exam!” he said over a slamming bathroom door and looked at his feet. He felt a little embarrassed being in the presence of her room. Njord had always liked Skadi since he had met her, but never had enough confidence to ask her out on a date… because he knew her so long and he thought she needed some one better then him. Some one who wasn’t like a brother.
“Well, now you have,”
Njord heard the door open to see Skadi half running with her book bag over her shoulder while putting on a shoe. “Hurry, Jord or we’ll be late!”
“Look who’s talking,” he said walking into a brick hallway showing a court yard on the other side.
AET was the name of the school, meant for Advanced Educated Teens. These selected teenagers from ages 13-19 learned advanced skills way above there level. This was a large building meant to accommodate more then 5,000 students living there all year. AET had many gardens and Tech labs as well as all the advanced Technology.
Skadi gave him a glare and managed to put both her shoes on, running down the hallway, as fast as there legs would permit. As Skadi rounded a corner she collided with a short plump looking man with huge round eye magnification glasses which amplified his eyes to a very abnormal state. Dropping her book bag, Skadi helped the man up who she knew as Professor Drumlin.
Professor Drumlin taught Skadi’s biological and technological science class. He was very short and plump with dark short hair and a very charming attitude.
Right beside her Njord skidded to a halt.
“Umm… sorry Professor, we are in a bit of a hurry!”
“As I can see,” said Drumlin pushing his glasses further up his nose “Well you better be getting to it! Exams are about to start!”
Skadi and Njord took off down the narrow hallway again leaving the chuckling professor behind. The end of the out side hallway grew larger as they ran forward until they came to two very large heavy oak doors which Njord hurriedly pushed open without hesitation. Skadi ran inside and sat down at her assigned seat, Njord followed suit.
“You’re late,” said a sinister sounding voice coming from the dark corner. “I expected better performance from you Skadi, but Njord good timing you’re here almost two minutes early.”
Skadi was a straight A student and made the AET honor roll every year and always punctual, now Njord on the other hand was always late for every thing except if it had to do with art. He was such an artistic type of guy…
“Now as I was saying before these two hooligans barged in, the exams will be going on this whole week… So if you miss a day you can make it up there’s no getting away with not taking it.” The professor took some papers off his desk and handed them to Njord and Skadi. Njord looked down at his papers and frowned, he whispered to Skadi
“I’m not very good at Astronomy and Interstellar travel!”
“Just do your best,” she replied in a hushed voice.
“You may begin,” boomed a deep echoing voice
Around the classroom heads of students went down and the only thing you could here were scribbling of pens and moans of students who had not studied. Including Njord. Professor Arkadium passed the room in between desks making all the students uneasy. Skadi had her head down moving her pen scribbling rather fast.
Two minutes went by, then four, then six, and then eight by the time it was twelve minutes Skadi put down her pen and skimmed the questions over to see if she missed any. She glanced at Njord who was sitting at her right. It looked like he was sketching a picture. In a quite voice Skadi thought she would dare to whisper to him.
“Psst… Njord what are you doing?”
“Just sketching” he replied drawing a rather good hawk
“Are you done?”
“You got to be kidding Skadi; I’m stuck on problem twenty-five!”
“What, there’s fifty questions on the test you would get a, a,” she started to scribble down numbers on a piece of scratch paper. “You would get an F maybe a D if you’re lucky! Just skip number twenty-five and go to the next!”
Another five minutes went by. Njord finished his drawing and started to work on his exam again while Skadi dosed off.

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The sun rose steadily in shades of yellow, orange, red, and pale pink. Its bright rays creeping threw the forest like a Spider. As the sun shinned brightly on a small cottage dew drops fell from the ceiling to the floor on a straw pallet with an awful smell of smoke and charcoal. A fire burned constant flicking its red and yellow tong at the log being thrown into it by an old man with graying hair and a narrow face. He carefully picked up some branches and threw them in making the fire spit. He stretched pulling his arm over his head and went over to a wooden chair were he took out his carving knife and started carving a piece of wood. He looked at the floor were a sleeping brown haired girl lay snuggled up in a ball.

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“Time,” yelled a voice “Pens down!” Skadi woke up with a Jolt and looked up to see a black haired, six foot two tall sinister looking professor standing over her looking down at her test paper. His clean-shaven face giving her an evil grin as he collected her papers and strode off. A bell rang and students ran out the door. Skadi slowly bent down and picked up her book bag and strung it over her shoulder and started for the door. Njord hurried and scrambled up his supplies and went after her.
“Skadi! Wait,” he called after her “What’s up with you lately? Sleeping in class and being late!”
“Nothing… I just keep…nothing you’ll think it’s stupid!” she yelled at him and started to pick up the pace.
“Wait Skadi,” Njord shouted grabbing her arm “I’m worried about you!” Skadi gave him a quick piercing glare and then looked down at her shoes. “I’m sorry Skadi,” he replied giving her a tight hug. “Why don’t I take you to your next class?”
“No,” Skadi said in a sob “If you walk with me you’ll be late for class!”
“And ruin my perfect attendance record?” he said in a full-hearted laugh. “I think escorting my best friend is more important.” He gave her another hug and they started to walk down the hallway again.
Periods two, three, and four went very quickly, although Skadi’s thoughts were only concentrating on one thing, the dreams that she had been having lately, running late Skadi had to run to her next class, aviation and piloting with professor Jtop a new professor arriving from the GCR military force. Most students heard that he was a LT. In the space forces. Only arriving before the bell rang, Professor Jtop looked up from under his hovercraft and whipped some sweat from his face only smearing it with mechanical fluid.
“Hello there,” he said getting out from under the hovercraft and brushing his brown semi long hair out of his eyes. “I’m Professor Jtop, do you know if you’re the last student to come?”
Skadi only shrugged and sat down at her seat.
“Ah well…I guess I can take attendance now.”
The piloting room was very big especially because there were hovercrafts in it as well as heavy machinery. Off to the left side of the class room there was another little room with at least one hundred seats. All the students flowed into the smaller room and sat down at there designated seat.
“Now,” Jtop said picking up a data pad and pen. “I am going to call your names and I want you to wave at me when I call on you so I can remember you names better. Mara T., Samuel R., Jonathan W., Sega L., Sarah M…” He called all the students one by one smiling at all of them in return. “Now,” he called “Before beginning on our study’s I believe that I should tell you a little about me. I’ve been getting a lot of questions lately. My name is Daniel John Thopman and I am twenty-three years old, and if you believe it or not I graduated here about six years ago. During my 6th year here, a recruiter from the GCR came to this school and recruited over 2,000 students including me. I believe you are all well aware of the war we were losing at that time do you not?”
There was a shrug of shoulders like no one knew what he was talking about.
“Well then,” he said looking very disturbed “I was not expecting to teach a history class but then we all must learn some time or another.” A hand shot up in the air from one of the middle rows.
“Yes, “said Jtop optimistically waiting for a brief summary on the war.
A flaming red haired youthful looking boy with black eyes started to speak. “I heard that it was not really a war but just a dispute.” All the other students gained interest and turned to look at him.
“Ahh, at first it was only a dispute for about twenty-four hours or so, but then it became a full heated battle of blood shed, soon called the Battle of Annihilation.” All the students looked at him again tensing up, unaware that there was a war. Another brave student shot there hand up in the air, “I thought that that battle was just a Myth.”
“No, it was no myth, I have scars to prove it, but right now I can’t get that much in depth. I have a class to teach.” Before he knew it another hand went up in the air. “Last question,” he announced and pointed at Skadi to speak
“Why are you here Professor Jtop? Shouldn’t you be in the GCR forces still, at the battle front?” her curiosity was breaking lose.
“Hmm, yes actually I still am in the space forces. But I had to do a favor for a friend and take time to teach his class while he was away. I am also here on some other business concerning travel with some of my troops but right now I have a class to teach. If you will all be so kind as to follow me to the mech room.”
Professor Jtop and the students made there way out of the small room and into the bigger mech lab.
The 5th hour went very fast with concentrating on operating machinery and importing computer programs into the main frame. Lunch was Skadi’s next hour, she always meet up with Njord along that path.
A little more then halfway there the corridor intersected with one of the schools huge doors going to the outside. Skadi looked out on the large outside lawn there set two bit sleek black GCR hovercrafts. Along side of the crafts sat twenty young soldiers all dressed in black leather uniforms, as were all the men in the GCR. They were playing cards, laughing at stupid jokes, and some even perched up against the hull sleeping in the warm sunny weather. Set off from the others were a crowd of twelve young men playing hackie sack, passing the black and red object back and forth skillfully keeping it off the ground.
“Skadi! There you are!” said Njord running up “We better get going if we want to eat some lunch,” with anxiety taking over he said “Come on Skadi, not again!” Skadi stood there absent minded and fell over almost hitting the ground. Luckily Njord caught her before she hit. He laid her on the paved floor and yelled
“Some one, get a physician!” he put his finger on her neck checking for a pulse.