A river can be seen appearing from the north-west forest. It weaves its way between the hills. Beyond the forest, the entire western horizon is a mountainous region. To the east, the land has gentle slopes continuing for miles. The view is unobstructed as trees are sparsely scattered. Though everything looks familiar, the three moons in the sky are the easiest proof that this is no longer Earth.

On a clear blue sky, the mile and half wide river shimmers in the morning sunlight. The water is calm. The forest and grass are a beautiful, lush green.

To the east lies a majestic city built on a 6 square mile foundation. It is a near 80-foot drop to the riverbank from the base of the city. A necessity to protect the town from the radical shift in tides caused by the forces of nature at play.

A bridge extends from the city, stretching a little over a mile across the river. It rests on a lone tower dead in the water, housing the only gateway that connects this world to Earth.

Waiting at Tillmor Grand Station for the arrival of the transfer, four academy students engage in conversation over the unexpected news of a new student announced some days ago:

Third-year Bradley Charleston, 17 years old, and the leader of the squad. He is a warrior class that dawns a silver and golden heavy armor with a long orange cape, and anchored on his back is his weapon of choice, a broadsword.

Second-year Carrie Sosa, a 16 year old variant class witch. She prefers nothing to weigh her down, choosing a wand as her weapon, and keeping her white blouse and orange skirt uniform untainted by any form of armor.

Second-year Logan Wright, also 16 years old. He is the healer of the squad as evident from his solid black attire. Though a firm fit around his arms and upper body, he is still wearing a robe that loosens from the waist down. 

First-year Teresa Olin, a 15 year old elementalist. She can also be classified as a rogue class, choosing light armor in exchange for her uniform, and a preference for a bow that she can detach into two short blades.

With the squad waiting on the platform, Logan turns to his left to look across the bridge at the tower in the water, “I've never heard of someone transferring to the school out of the blue,” he says.

His squad captain, Bradley sighs while scratching his head

“I've been here the longest. It's the first time I've seen something like this too,” he echoes Logan.

“So, what's the deal with the transfer, cap?” Logan turns to Bradley, “Is there something we should know?”

Carrie reaches for her tablet device. She pulls up the new transfer's profile and scans through it.

“Sam Michael Holt … hm ... no new record updates,” She says as she sifts through the new student’s profile.

“Carrie, do we still not know who his backer is?” Bradley asks.

She scans her screen and tilts her head, “um … some sort of benefit charity it looks like,” Carrie tilting her head in slight confusion. “I’ve never heard of it.”

“So, a welfare student,” Logan retorts. “Do they now get special privileges to transfer to the academy whenever they want?”

“Are you throwing a fit?” Carrie asks.

A visibly irritable Logan glares at her and the temper between the squad mates begins to rise.

“Are you saying that I can’t?” he retorts. “It’s a fair question to ask how some nobody is getting special treatment to attend Roan.”

“Then you are asking the wrong people,” Carrie fires back, “how are we supposed to know?”

“Was I even asking you?” Logan snaps, “because I don’t remember telling you to give me an answer.”

“We are the only ones here!”

Bradley jumps in to get his teammates to stop squabbling, “Guys, guys … come on, huh?” he scolds them with a look.

“The transfer will be here soon. Let’s try not being like this in front of him,” he advises them.

Carrie and Logan both grumble and turn away from each other. Bradley laughs lightly under his breath, amused by the behavior of his friends. He turns to Teresa who is standing quietly minding her own.

“Tess?” he calls to her.

She does not respond, appearing as if she is distracted, but Bradley poses his question, “What’s your take on this?” he asks.

There is a feeling of dead space between the two with Teresa seemingly ignoring Bradley, and then

“... I guess I'm like everyone else here,” she says slowly as she turns to face the tower in the river.

Bradley nods in agreement. It is a strange situation for everyone that a student is transferring. It has never been done before in the entire history of the academy. In a way, Pern has a controlled society, where money and lineage hold power, and a transfer of some unknown person is sure to garner a lot of dissenting voices.

“He's kind of cute though,” Carrie compliments Sam’s picture.

“Feh, he's probably just a weakling,” Logan grumbles, “Everyone is going to forget about him in no time.”

“Whatever the case, I was hoping for a warrior class at least,” Bradley notes his wishes, “we didn't get many of those this year. Bummer.”

A series of light flashes appear from within the tower and draws the attention of the squad.

“It looks like the gate is opening. Straighten up and try not to scare the newbie junior.” Bradley instructs his team, and they all line up in attention.

The transit car bursts out of the tunnel opening in a flash, reducing its speed as it approaches the platform. The wheels lower and attach to the tracks creating the screeching noise of a train coming to a complete stop.

Carrie cracks a smile while watching the scene.

“Did I ever tell you how much I hate going through the gate. I feel like throwing up every time,” she says.

“Gross,” Logan with a quick reply.

“You get used to it after a few jumps, so it’s not too bad,” Bradley responds. “But I guess for newcomers … some do strugg-” Bradley stops mid-sentence as he senses danger approaching.

He slowly reaches for his broadsword on his back unsure where the danger is coming from.

His actions confuse everyone else.

“Cap?” a puzzled Logan calls out.

“GET DOWN!!” Bradley shouts

[[ BOOOMM!!! ]]

The instant the passenger car comes to a complete stop, it explodes.

Dust and debris fill the air and consume everything in reach. Security and fire alarms are triggered and screams and shouts from nearby people can be heard.

Teresa & Logan are crouching in defensive stances, shielding themselves from the dust all around. Logan’s quickness allowed him to invoke a protective barrier to shield himself and Teresa from the blast. Carrie is on the ground with her hands over her head and Bradley kneeling above her. Bradley has his broadsword driven into the ground, acting as a shield for the both of them.

“Oh my gosh! Where did that come from?!” Carrie cries.

“Tess, are you okay?!” Logan checks on his teammate.

“Y-yeah!” she replies, coughing out the dust choking her.

“Damn it!” Bradley howls in frustration.

[[ BOOMM!! ]]

Another explosion. Another wave of heat, dust and debris blasts the students.

“What the hell is going?!” Logan shouts.

Bradley gets up and pulls his sword from the ground. He turns to the direction of the passenger car,

“Guys stay down!” he orders his team before unleashing a powerful swing.

The force from the swing scatters the dust and small debris away, clearing the site so the team can see around them.

Broken pieces of the passenger car are laying everywhere. The trans-dimensional car is on fire with a huge chunk of it blown clean off. The explosion also pushed the car off the tracks and caused severe damage on the platform.

“Oh my god,” Bradley mutters under his breath in shock.

Carrie, Logan, and Teresa are slow to get up. Once on their feet, they draw their weapons alongside Bradley and take battle stances.

“We're being attacked, so stay alert!” Bradley orders his team.

“By whom?!” Logan reacts. “The newbie?!”

“… I don't know yet …” a puzzled Bradley responds.

All 4 students stare at the destroyed car in anticipation. They are cautious not to approach the wreckage even though in the back of their minds, they are thinking of the transfer student.

After a few seconds, debris starts moving inside the car. A bloody and bruised Sam Holt slowly emerges from the rubble, forcing his way out.

“What the-” the team gasps.

Sam is covered in ash. His clothes torn and burnt, and smoke emitting from his body. Every breath he takes is a gasp for air. He tries to take a step but is unable to maintain his balance, falls, and rolls onto the platform.

“W-what is this?” Bradley reacts, trying to make sense of the scene. 'Is he an enemy? A victim? What's going on?'. He does not want to make any hasty decisions, but he needs to make a call soon.

Sam struggles onto his hands and knees, coughing up blood and gasping for air. Teresa, standing to the right of Bradley, looks at him from the corner of her eye. She can tell that Bradley will not make a call anytime soon.

“He's hurt!” Teresa says and rushes to tend to the injured Sam.

To the surprise of Bradley, Teresa hangs up her bow and rushes to tend to the injured Sam.

“Tess, wait!” Logan calls out to stop her.

“No, he'll die!” she replies.

Logan begins to look around in confusion as well.

“Okay, so who the hell is attacking us?!” he asks.

Carrie takes off after Teresa to help out the severely injured Sam.

“Logan come on!” she calls for the only [Healer] in the team.

Hesitant, Logan looks at Bradley for confirmation. The captain signals him to go and he rushes over to the others. Bradley remains behind to observe the area, looking for any other signs of danger. He pans around takes note of Teresa and the transfer on their knees exchanging words. Carrie and Logan also in discussion about something.

“Hey! You need to lay down so we can help you!” Teresa says to Sam.

The transfer is not listening to a word being said to him and is just mumbling numbers in a daze.

“.. and … forty-four … Thousand …. times ...”

“Sam! I don't know what that's about, but we need to get you treated,” Carrie also tries to reason with the injured Sam.

They are reluctant to try and touch the injured Sam so as to not worsen his pain. Bradley arrives to see his teammates having difficulties talking to the new transfer.

“What's going on?” he asks.

“He seems to be unconscious, but he's rambling off numbers.” Teresa replies.

Bradley takes a moment to think. He then looks at Logan,

“Can you heal him?”

Logan looks up at Bradley and shakes his head, “this is beyond me,” he admits after assessing Sam’s injuries. “Is bad enough that he’s not complying with us, he's constant movements will work against my healing magic since he needs to be at rest. Plus, I’m not confident I can fix all this.”

Bradley sighs. “Just do what you can for now,” he says, “I’ve already notified the center, so someone will be here soon.”

Logan nods and asks his teammates to keep Sam from moving too much.

A spell book appears just above the back of Logan’s head. It automatically opens to the corresponding page for a healing spell and he begins his chant. The book begins to emit green light and figures can be seen encircling it.

Teresa tries to reason with a lethargic Sam. “Sam, listen to me. You are losing a lot of blood. I can help you. Let me help you!” she pleads desperately.

“… six ...teen ...mill … million …”

“Sam, you need to stay still, alright?” Carrie tries too.

It appears as if Sam is unaware of his surroundings and continues to mumble numbers. His breathing is heavy, and he occasionally coughs up blood. Teresa, who has been trying to carefully lead Sam to lay down, decides to be a bit more aggressive, and tries to nestle him down with force.

The moment she places her hands on Sam, his right hand clamps around her neck.

“Ack!” Teresa gags and grabs on to Sam’s arm to try and pull it away.

“Teresa!” Carrie cries.

“Hey, what are you doing?!” Logan yells.

The four students are taken by surprise. Bradley quickly latches onto Sam's arm to pull it away from Teresa's neck, but Sam tightens his grip. Teresa taps Bradley's hand and shakes her head, signaling to the other three that she can manage.

Sam lifts his head. His black hair soaked in blood, covering half his face. He gives Teresa an intense glare.

“You … huff ... are … my … haa en-enemy?” he says slowly, struggling to speak.

“N-no. I argh …  I am a f-friend!” Teresa replies.

For a moment, Sam is silent with his death glare still locked on Teresa who is not looking away. The other students remain alert. Logan had been interrupted by Sam's sudden act of aggression and is watching.

“huff...You are … huff … tr- try’n to … huff … kill … me,” Sam stammers.

“I’m – trying … to save you,” Teresa replies with an unwavering devotion to her claim.

Sam loosens his grip around Teresa's neck convinced by her words. His head immediately drops, and he vomits out more blood.

“Sam?” Teresa calls to him.

With his hand now rested on her shoulder, Sam gathers what little strength left to lift his head up once more. The expression on his face stuns Teresa speechless. It fades away as Sam quickly loses consciousness. His body slumps forward. Slowly and steadily, Sam flops to the ground.

Teresa remains frozen in silence realizing that Sam is no longer in her field of vision, slowly turns her head slightly to the bottom-right and sees him lying lifeless on the ground.

“...”