Read Online Recruited Mage by David Fredric - Free Book Online

said Tain, “or you probably won’t be able to do it. They are going to watch so try and do well. Now let us follow out.” We went around the hole to the gate, the men had already disappeared. As we were walking I started to think about what Tain had said.
    What could he mean about an assessment and a change of plan? What is going to happen?
    There was no time to ponder as we were already by the building. Now was the only time I had really looked at the building. In some places it was just the ground floor with a roof but the rest had another floor. Where the men were standing it was just the ground floor but after about ten metres another floor rose and on top of that was a small flagpole with the Emperor’s emblem on. “You all have to touch the flag pole.” Tain finished.
    This is madness!
    Why? We looked at each other making sure we each had heard right.
    Why? But we must not question their orders; who kno ws what the punishments will be? I could tell by each of our expressions all four of us where thinking the same thing.
    One of the men shouted “Go!” and we ran to the nearest wall. Donal had an idea and he told us to lift him onto our shoulders. We did and he managed to get on to the thatch from the position. Then he shouted for us to lift up Oldross and Rador and I lifted him up by supporting his feet. He found it very hard to balance and I almost dropped him a few times, but eventually Donal grabbed him and pulled him up. Next I lifted Rador a bit until he was grabbed by the other two and pulled on to the roof. Then I used a nook in the wall to balance on and stretched out my hands to the others who took my hands. Together they managed to pull me up onto the roof. Once we were all up we stood and walked carefully to the next wall. We tried the same again but it was much harder as the thatch was slippery and wet from the rain. It took us a few minutes before it was my turn to jump up to them. They caught me but were almost pulled off as they pulled me up. When we were all up we walked to the flagpole. There was a small trap door on the roof, which was most likely for accessing the flagpole. We all turned to the men on the ground and purposefully showed them as we touched the flag pole so there would be no doubts if we touched  it or not. It even looked like the men were impressed. Then we had the task of getting down, which was harder than we thought it would be. We had to lower each other one by one onto the slippery thatch and then onto the ground. We were all panting by the time we got to the bottom. We looked awkwardly at the men around us. I dared to think they were impressed but then I looked over at Tain and saw that he looked a bit sad.
    Then one of the men , wearing a blue cloak, stepped forward. “Well done, you have impressed us so I, Commander Beasley, graduate you  to Advanced Training” he said.
    What? But we have only spent one day training? Rador, Oldross, and Donal looked confused and I assumed I looked the same.
    “If you are wandering why, it is because the Emperor has comma nded that before we invade the Southern Kingdoms we will clear The Free Islands. The Engineers are to play a major part in the upcoming attacks so we must advance training immediately. Now go and get your kit, we are about to leave.” We paused, not really understanding what he meant and we looked expectantly at Tain who nodded at us. We took that to mean we had to go, so we walked toward the building.
    “You think they are serious?” Donal whispered once we were out of hearing range.
    “Well they must be,” Rador whispered back.
    They have to be. Diryn?
    Yes they must be. Just do what they say and everything will be all right.
    I heard someone behind us and we turned to see Tain coming after us. We kept walking until we reached the bedroom. We climbed up to our beds and packed all our kit into the travel bags that I noticed the others had as well. Tain had come in behind us and when we had packed our bags we