A mechanical clock gave out a disruptive ring at five in the morning. Gus rolled over in bed, arm reaching out to silence it. Another typical day of guard duty. Climbing out of bed, he grabbed his towel and made his way to the barrack washrooms.

  After a hot shower from water heated in Nocturne's boilers, Gus returned to his room to dress in his guard attire. He then made his way to the dining room for an early breakfast. As he ate, he read from a pocket book he had borrowed from the library.

  Before he knew it, he was already sitting in the briefing room right before his shift of guard duty started. As always, night watch relayed any important information to morning shift. As the night guard spoke on a funny story or two, conversing with a few of the morning guards, Gus couldn't get his mind off of new methods to conduct his icy abilities. It was all he ever dwelt on these days.

  After six hours of making rounds and standing watch, lunch rolled around at noon. Long had the days gone by that he sat with his fellow castle guards. These days, he ate in a corner of the long tables with Ester, the samurai from Ocusomer Island.

  Some days, the meals with her were quiet. Others, small talk was made. But once in a while, they shared deeper stories of their lives, slowly and subtly bonding over time. At the same time, connections and friendships he had with the guards he used to sit with decayed away in exchange.

  It didn't help especially since Gus had nearly withdrawn himself from all social aspects. Each and every day after his guarding shift was over, Gus would take off at 2 in the afternoon to walk into the woods and hone his ice element skills.

  Gus had been practicing his element consistently day after day without fail. On occasion, King Marin made time out of his busy schedule to check up on Gus and teach him a new skill or trick. It always astonished Marin how much Gus had progressed in ability since last he'd examine him.

  Corey, who at one time had been one of Gus's closest friends, stood with a few other guards as they watched Gus walk from the castle and out to the distant dormant forest.

  "There he goes again," Corey mentioned as he fixated on Gus disappearing in the distance. "Where is he going? What is he doing out in those woods all day?"

  Rudolf, the tower watchman, stood beside Corey, along with Heff and Sven, two other guards that made up a chunk of morning shift's roster.

  Heff was burly, and perhaps the largest guard the castle had. "I seen the King head out there to meet him every once in a while, too. Really makes me wonder," he spoke in a rough voice.

  "I think it's time we find out," Rudolf responded. "I have a plan. We're going to set something up tomorrow."

  The day ended, and the next came. After his regular routine, Gus once again hung up his Kingdom tabard when his shift was over. He racked his claymore, and made his way back outside and to the woods as he had each day before.

  On this particular day to the woods, Gus noticed several fresh tracks heading the same direction as his destination. At least he thought they were fresh. It was likely that since it had not snowed last night, previous tracks he had made to and from the woods had endured from days before.

  That's what he had convinced himself. It was unreasonable for it to be anything else. Gus placed his hands in his pockets as he paced to the forest with his head down, deep in thought. He was well aware of the fact that he had become entirely introverted, consumed with his own desire to grow in power, but the intensity thwarted any care to remedy the matter. He just hoped that his old friends would come to accept the change in his personality.

  That would turn out to not be the case, as he would soon find out. His fellow guards had patiently experienced Gus's change. They hoped that it was a temporary event that would end at some point, but as the months trailed on, it had only grown stronger.

  It was on this day that they would finally get to the bottom of whatever had been consuming their friend for so long. Some facet that had apparently involved the King to some extent as well.

  As Gus arrived at his usual training spot, it was then that he began to notice things were wrong. Fleets of extra footprints that he did not identify as his own wandered in areas he had not walked to.

  Instead of setting up targets and practicing skills on them as he so regularly did, Gus began to study the foreign prints, trying to understand who had been out here, and what they had done.

  This was an unfortunate matter to Rudolf, who had hidden himself well in the distance behind a boulder, hoping to catch Gus in whatever deeds he was committing out here alone. Now, Gus was following their trails, and it wouldn't be long before he would be tracked down.

  Sighing to himself, Rudolf gave a subtle signal to someone else who was hiding far in the distance behind a tree.

  At that moment, Corey removed himself from his hiding spot from a tree behind Gus.

  As Gus stared down, following the foot prints towards Rudolf's location, Corey was creeping up silently behind him, a burlap sack in hand.

  Rudolf watched closely. As Corey drew near, Gus raised his head slightly. It was likely Corey had crept close enough that his feet crunching in the snow could now be heard.

  In that split second, before Gus could turn around, Rudolf leapt from his hiding spot behind the boulder, waving his hands at Gus.

  It caught Gus off guard entirely. His face disfigured, shocked to see him out here in this isolated area.

  "...Rudolf?!" Gus yelled.

  Before another thought could happen, Corey threw the burlap bag over Gus, and pushed him to the ground.

  "HEY!" Gus immediately yelled out, entirely disoriented, and now surrounded in total darkness from the tight weaving of the body-sized bag. He squirmed on the ground, but his arms were unable to do much in the tight bag. Corey had successfully thrown the scrunched up bag over his head, and extended it all the way down to his feet before he had been pushed down.

  "What's going on?! Rudolf!!!" Gus continued, confused and in fear of what terrible actions were happening.

  Corey, with a huge grin on his face, had knelt down and secured Gus's ankles, withholding him from getting free from the sack.

  "Just go with it, Gus. Be cool," Corey finally spoke out, holding back a chuckle.

  "COREY?! You're there too?! Let me out of this bag NOW!" Gus hysterically demanded. "Let go of me!"

  This entire event was traumatizing to Gus. Never in his wildest dreams would he expect something like this to ever happen to him. Getting kidnapped, or even being bagged up and stolen away, was something one always heard about, but never an event expected to be experienced.

  Gus squirmed more, unrelenting and unwilling to give in to Corey's demands. He flailed so much, Corey had to finally ask Rudolf to help secure Gus from slipping free of the bag.

  "GUS! Just calm down, man! Go WITH IT!" Rudolf bargained as he tried securing Gus as well.

  Gus denied, cursing at both of them in colorful language as he threatened them. Finally, Gus had broken his ankles free from Corey's clutch, and proceeded to release a blind double kick in his direction.

  Both feet slammed into Corey's chest, sending him to the ground, doubling over in pain. At that point, Rudolf released Gus as well to aid Corey, who was moaning from the powerful hit to the ribs. The attack looked to be strong enough to possibly break them.

  Within seconds, Gus was pulling the burlap sack off of him. He found his way to his feet as the final bit of bag was pulled off of his head.

  His hair was frayed, a hysteric look of war in his eyes, like when he had battled the raiders who had attacked Heroca long ago. Without a single thought, Gus marched to Rudolf who was bent over, helping Corey up.

  Gus delivered a kick to Rudolf's back, planting him into the snow on the ground.

  Gus knelt down, fists clenched, ready to deliver a well-deserved beating.

  "Gus! Chill!" Corey pleaded, raising his hand up in a poor defense.

  Gus slapped his hand out of the way. "WHAT IS YOUR GUYS' PROBLEM?!" He demanded in hot anger, but with enough reason to not continue a physical assault.

  "We were just nabbing you for your trial!" Corey desperately explained.

  "TRIAL?!"

  "Yeah man! We weren't going to hurt you or anything!"

  "You threw a bag over me and tried kidnapping me!" Gus continued to yell at the top of his lungs. "I have no idea what the hell is going on!"

  Rudolf was now picking himself up off the ground, entirely offended by Gus's dishonorable kick to the back.

  "We told you to go with it!" Rudolf yelled back, facing Gus on his feet.

  "What trial are you talking about?!" Gus demanded, fixing his hair that had fled in every direction from being messed up in the bag.

  "The trial... to become a member of the Secret Guard Society," Rudolf confidently explained, yet in a way that sounded like he had just made that up on the spot.

  "And honestly, you're off to a terrible start," he added while helping Corey to his feet.

  All of this felt as strange to Gus as it was. He was not a gullible person, and to him, this felt more like some cruel prank than anything to be taken serious.

  "I'm not interested," Gus responded, finally beginning to calm down, but still quite aggravated.

  Corey and Rudolf looked at each other as if that was not an answer they expected.

  "...It wasn't a choice," Corey said, unsheathing his sword. "But, if you won't go with us, then we will do the ceremony here. Draw your weapon!" He declared.

  Gus gripped his hands into fists. Apparently they weren't backing off that easily.

  "I don't have my sword with me."

  "Then you fight with your fists!" Corey responded, raising his sword.

  This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

  Alright, this was ridiculous. Gus backed away, making it clear he was leaving.

  "Don't try to flee! You won't be able to," Rudolf mentioned at the sight. When he spoke the statement, several other morning shift guards began to appear from behind other trees. Heff and Sven were among them.

  After looking around, it was clear to Gus that he had been circled in. Apparently all of the guards he knew were in on this intervention. This was evolving from a terrible prank to something halfway threatening. There was no way they were being serious, right?

  "Forcefully bagging me and dragging me away is no society I want to be a part of. You guys are all stupid for that. Whatever you had been trying to accomplish, it only pissed me off. I'm really leaving. Get out of my way," Gus spoke as he turned away and began walking.

  The dozen guards had approached enough to circle him in entirely. When Gus drew near, the guards stood their ground, making it clear they had no intention of letting him through.

  The threatening voice of Corey echoed behind Gus.

  "You will fight me, and earn your place beside us once again."

  Either Corey was not letting up on the joke, or they had truly formed some cult without Gus knowing.

  Fine. Gus would call the bluff. He turned back around, and faced Corey. At this point, Gus wondered how far this act would go.

  If it was an act.

  Gus raised his fists, a signal that he was ready to duel.

  Corey grinned, and charged at Gus with his sword raised, ready to begin battle.

  Alright, maybe he wasn't bluffing. Corey looked intent in his charge. He might actually be fighting Gus in real combat. It would be a convenient way to get back at him for the kick he had landed on Corey's chest.

  Before Corey drew close enough, Gus made some motion with his hands, and ice fabricated, beginning at the ground, and grasping Corey's legs, immediately bringing his charge to a halt. The sudden stop would normally cause him to tumble over, but the ice had locked him in place so well, that just his body leaned forward in an awkward motion.

  Everyone gasped.

  Gus gazed at them all, each guard wide eyed, some in a look of terror, others in plain surprise.

  A silent and dead still moment passed as everyone processed what they saw. A moment that lingered for what seemed like an eternity.

  Finally, Corey threw his sword down. "So that's what's been going on," he uttered in the most disappointed voice.

  "How long has the King been teaching you the ice element?!" Rudolf demanded.

  "I never asked for this," Gus commented on the entire situation.

  "Oh, you never asked to become the King's pet?! How much brown nosing have you done to earn this much of his favor?!" Rudolf responded.

  "Just drop it, Rudolf," Corey spoke.

  "No! Gus abandons all his friends and family to suck at the teat of the King in such an intimate way. So much so that he's teaching Gus his powers!"

  Gus had no idea what to say. He felt red hot in embarrassment.

  Rudolf turned back to Gus. "Tell me, what sweet words did you whisper in his ear? Oh, better yet, what forbidden deeds have you done?"

  "...I just wanted to learn an element," Gus finally managed.

  After much effort, Corey finally broke his feet free from the ice. Mobile again, he reached down and picked up his sword.

  "I hope it's been worth it, man. They say the elements corrupt people and steal their lives away. It's so obvious that it's happening to you," Corey added. "You've withdrawn from all of us."

  Gus became infuriated. "YOU TRIED TO ATTACK ME! YOU THREW A BAG OVER ME! I didn't ask for this, I didn't ask to fight you!"

  "It was all a gag, Gus. We were going to take you to a party so you could hang out with us again. But apparently that's asking for too much."

  They all began to walk away, the circle of guards broken up as they left.

  No, Gus was not going to feel bad. All the guards were in the wrong, not him. They attacked him. They assaulted him with no good reason. Maybe Gus should have considered them more lately, but he had done nothing to deserve what happened.

  The element wasn't causing him to withdraw, it was their toxic behavior and cliquey attitude.

  "You could have asked me nicely and I would have gone! THIS IS WHY I DON'T HANG OUT WITH YOU ALL! You're cruel, you all take jokes too far. AND you're judgmental," Gus yelled at the group's backs.

  "You try kidnapping me… Why don't you grow up?! I'M NOT THE ONE WITH THE PROBLEM!"

  They completely ignored him.

  Gus picked up a rock and threw it at a nearby tree in anger. Whatever goodwill he still had with his coworkers had evaporated entirely. He no longer wanted anything to do with them.

  The hours passed as Gus stayed out in the forest alone, allowing himself to ponder everything and cool down. It wasn't until the late evening that he finally entered the castle.

  He had been so upset, he didn't even bother to eat dinner. Instead, Gus marched past the main halls, and took the stairways to the upper floors of the castle. After climbing enough flights, he was on the top floor of Nocturne, the most elegant level in the whole place.

  Before he knew it, he was staring at Marin's cherrywood door, the entrance into his personal quarters.

  Marin had made it known countless times that anyone was free to talk with him when the need arose. Gus was not sure how plausible that was, because there were hundreds of denizens in the Kingdom, and it was reasonable to expect that the King would want some time alone.

  Gus just hoped he wasn't intruding on that small amount of time, but it was dire that he talk with him. He knocked on the door.

  There was no response. Gus went for a firmer knock, in the case that Marin had not heard it.

  Stepping back, Gus waited. Maybe he wasn't there. Maybe he didn't want to be disturbed. After a minute, he thought it better to talk with his King the next time they would meet.

  "Gus?"

  He turned his head. Marin was walking toward him, down the hallway.

  He just hadn't made it back to his room yet.

  "King Marin!"

  "What brings you up here? And to my door?" Marin asked.

  "I was hoping I could talk with you for a bit," Gus humbly asked.

  "Of course. Please, come in." Marin grabbed the handle to his door, and swung it open.

  Inside, Gus got his first real look into the King's quarters. The room he stepped into had two arched windows on the back wall. In front of that, a desk with a few chairs.

  Marin walked to the chair behind the desk, then gestured for Gus to have a seat on the opposite side.

  "First time you've ever sought me out in a manner like this," Marin commented.

  Gus rubbed the back of his neck. "It's not something I'd do lightly. I know how busy you are."

  "Well, talk to me," Marin welcomed.

  "I was wondering if I could switch jobs."

  That made Marin lean forward. He placed his arms on the elegant desk. "...Really?"

  "I mean… I want to stay a guard. But I was hoping for a designation more along the lines of Ester," Gus tried.

  "As in?"

  "Well… Ester kind of has free reign on how she patrols and guards the castle. She's not stationed."

  "Ester is a powerful warrior. She isn't stationed in a normal sense because she has abilities beyond our regular guard. If a dire threat arose, she'd be on the front line to oppose it," Marin explained.

  "I'm powerful too! I feel like I'd be more useful in a position like hers!"

  "Gus, you're no stronger than our standard guard. The job is fitting for you. I don't want to see you get hurt if-"

  Gus immediately made a gesture to a vase in a corner. He froze it so hard, the inertia knocked it off its pedestal and onto the ground.

  Marin gazed over at it for a moment.

  He then finally leaned back and sighed. "...What matter has you in this state?" Marin asked calmly. "Is there something you want to tell me about? Something that happened to trigger a conversation such as this?"

  "No! I… Well…" Gus looked to the ground, contemplating whether to tell Marin about what happened to him today.

  "...No," he finally decided.

  "You're not yourself right now. I can definitely tell something has transpired that caused you great frustration."

  Gus stared into Marin's crystal blue eyes. The mask, the hood, it seemed like Gus stared into a void, and the only thing gazing back were those floating crystal eyes. Yet somehow, there was a person behind that cold presentation. A person who cared.

  It was apparent Marin had made his mind up, and Gus didn't want to see him beg. He would tell him.

  Gus rubbed his face as he thought of what words to say.

  "The um… The other guards are not happy that you've been teaching me the ice element," Gus admitted.

  Marin tapped a finger on the table in thought. "...Can you elaborate?"

  "I think they feel like I've somehow betrayed them. I made a choice between the element and their friendship, and I picked the former."

  "You can't pick both?" Marin reasonably questioned.

  "I'm gonna be honest, Marin. I really don't like them. I don't like who they are, and I feel like I've outgrown them."

  "That's not the element talking, is it?" Marin said with caution.

  "Whuh? No! I… Maybe? I don't know! They always act childish. Pull pranks, beat each other up. They also didn't like Ester, just because she's from Ocusomer. I've kind of pulled away over time," Gus explained.

  Gus was also avoiding admitting what had happened to him today. He feared that if he explained what transpired, Marin's wrath would come down in a harsher manner than he'd be comfortable with.

  He continued on. "And simply put, they're not happy with me anymore. And I'd like to distance myself from them. That's why I asked for a different position."

  Marin leaned back in the chair as he pondered Gus's words. He knew that there were more details, more vital information that Gus was avoiding. Some specific event for sure.

  But, it was Gus's choice not to share it. So Marin would respect that.

  "Would a change in shift be satisfactory? Would you like evening or night shift for guarding?"

  "Well, I definitely don't want to be awake all night. I'll take evening shift. Yeah, that's fine," Gus responded. It wasn't his ideal outcome, but it was one he could accept.

  It would at least get him away from his former friends.

  "Fine. I'll arrange that for you."

  Gus went to stand up. "Thank you."

  "You sure there's nothing else you want to tell me?" Marin tried once more.

  "No. I'll see you again during our next lesson. Though I think they'll be in the morning now," Gus smiled.

  "Perhaps your days off. I'm much busier in the morning than the afternoon," Marin responded.

  "Ah, right."

  Gus said his farewells as he began to leave.

  "Would you mind picking that vase back up?" Marin said as Gus neared the door.

  "Oh! Right! I'm so sorry!"

  Gus ran over to the corner and bent down to grab the thing. He had completely forgotten his actions, and now he felt bad about the arrogant display from earlier.

  "Listen, Gus," Marin began as Gus fixed the vase perfectly on the pedestal.

  "You are growing in strength by the day. I don't want to dismiss that. But practicing an element in a peaceful environment and actively using it in combat are two different things."

  Now Gus almost wanted to tell him how easily he froze Corey in place as he charged at him.

  "...Your time will come. I know how much you care about your element. I don't doubt for one second that in a year or two, I will be reconsidering your capabilities. Just keep at it. But please, take time for other things. There is more to life than just hurling ice bolts around."

  Gus nodded.