Graduation

I sat in the hospital bed, a bandage of gauss wrapped around my head covering my right eye. Arella and Shaun were there with me. I placed my hand to my eye. If this were a bandana I'd look like a pirate right now. I thought. "What's the damages?" I asked. The doctor looked up from the clipboard.

"Good news and bad news, Slade." He said.

"Good news first." I replied.

"Well, the injuries aren't fatal so you're not going to die from them."

"Bad news?"

"The knife cut too deep. It didn't just scrape across the surface; it split the eye and severed the optic nerve. You'll never be able to see out that eye again." He placed the clipboard down on the side table and walked out.

I pulled my hand away from my eye and looked over toward Shaun and Arella. "It was a small price to pay." I said.

"What do you mean?" Arella asked.

"Well I defeated the Scath, brought an end to this 3,000 year conflict, and kept you from out of their grasp. In exchange for all that I lost one eye. I'd say that's a pretty good deal." I said.

"So, it's really all over?" Shaun asked.

"Actually, not quite." I said. "One Scath escaped, the Fire Scath. He's still out there."

"Oh, the one that happened to get away was the only one that would present a threat to us." Shaun sighed.

"It doesn't matter. He can't get to us now that he's the only one left. Come on, let's get out of here." I said, climbing out of the bed.

"Wait, you can't leave. The doctor ordered for you to stay in bed for another three days. Those stitches won't be ready to come out for another week." Arella protested.

"I can still walk, I have one good eye left. I don't need to stay here for any more time. Let's go." I said. And with that, we left the hospital to go back to the Masked HQ.

For the next few days I recovered. Using two powerful spells in succession of each other is a draining task and uses up a lot of energy, so I had to rest and rejuvenate. After a few days I was back to my normal strength, except for only having one eye. I had taken the bandage off and had just put on an eye patch. Now I really look like a pirate. I thought, when Shaun came to me.

"Slade, Master Shinobi wants to speak with you." Shaun said.

"Okay." I replied. I walked out of my quarters and found Master Shinobi in the hallway waiting for me. "You wanted to see me, Master?"

"Yes. Walk with me." He said. He turned and started down the hall, I caught up to him quickly and walked along side him.

Strange, I thought, I'm almost as tall as him. I didn't know I've grown that much.

"I'm getting a new apprentice, you know." Master said.

"Really?"

He nodded. "His name is Jake. He's seven years old so he'll be much like a little brother to you and Shaun."

"Is he leaving his family too?" I asked.

"No, he's an orphan. His parent abandoned him when he was born. He was put up for adoption but no one took him." Master Shinobi said.

"Sad. But he gets a new family now." I said.

"Slade, you know you may have been the best apprentice I ever had. Shaun was the first apprentice I trained and I trained him since he was six."

"But Shaun is a great fighter. I know he is."

"He is an excellent warrior, but you have advanced faster and accomplished more in your six years as a Masked then any other Masked in the history of the order since Azar himself." Shinobi said.

"It was under your supervision and training that I did, Master."

He stopped and stood by a door. "That's just the point, Slade. The time has come for you to stop being my student, and for you to be my equal." He pushed the door open and inside stood five Masked masters, the five council members. Along with them were Shaun and Arella, standing by the walls.

As I walked inside, four of the masters knelt to the ground so that only the one in the center still stood. Master Kinchi. One hand was behind his back and his other hand clutched the handle of a sword. "Kneel, Warrior Slade." He ordered. I did as I was told and he lifted up the sword. "This sword is very old. It is used for only one thing, promotion. Warrior Slade, you have advanced fast. As an apprentice you took down your first Scath, for that you were advanced to the level of warrior. As a warrior you have learned sorcery from the Old One (a feat no Masked has done since the time of Azar), trained with the True Master, discovered the hiding place of the Scath, and have brought the Scath virtually into extinction." He lifted the sword and placed it on my shoulder. "The council has decided that you are worthy of the title master." He pulled his hand out from behind his back and he held out a new suit and a mask. The mask was half black and half orange with four vertical cuts where the mouth should be and a single eye hold on the orange half. "Change into the master uniform and the promotion will be complete."

I took the uniform in my hands and went to a separate room. Inside, I removed the warrior outfit and replaced it with the master uniform. Lastly, I put the back part of the mask on first. And slowly, I clicked the front half of the mask over my face. A new rush filled my body from head to toe. An adrenalin rush. I was no longer a warrior rank; I was now a powerful master.

I stepped out of the other room and back to where the Masked council was waiting. "Welcome, Master Slade."