Shields Up

Jeremiah sat staring at the shield, focusing on it. He knew trying to program them to do what he hoped to achieve was far beyond his reach, but he decided he would try anyway.

"This may be too complex for me... how should I approach this?" he thought. Mulling it over for a minute, he snapped his fingers and started working.

First he concentrated on the shield, projecting his mind to manipulate the nature of the object. This took only an instant, as he had done it so many times before. He then envisioned in his mind different scenarios in which the shield did the same type of action or movement.

Jeremiah said the words: Defend, one meter. The shield shot into the air and hovered one meter away from him, level with his chest.

A loud bang penetrated the room as a bullet sped towards Jeremiah. The shield, as though it had a mind of its own, flew through the air at a barely traceable speed, intercepting the bullet's path a meter away from him and deflecting it.

A sudden twang announced the shot of an arrow. As it descended in a downwards arc toward Jeremiah, the shield once again moved to intercept, stopping the arrow a meter before it hit.

A javelin, thrown by a man in bulky armor, sped towards Jeremiah, aimed directly at his head. Yet again the shield moved, and a meter away from its intended target the javelin was stopped short.

Sweat dripped down his face as Jeremiah concentrated with all of his might to continue. He knew the only way he could imprint his will on the object was through repetition.

Jeremiah said the words: Defend, two feet. The shield shot into the air and hovered two feet away from him, level with his chest.

Cley frantically wiped sweat off of Jeremiah's forehead with a washcloth, but after about ten seconds the small towel was drenched.

A loud bang penetrated the room as a bullet sped towards Jeremiah. The shield, as though it had a mind of its own, flew through the air at a barely traceable speed, intercepting the bullet's path two feet away from him and deflecting it.

As Jeremiah blacked out from dehydration, the mental backlash of prematurely ending his link with the shield made him realize that all of his effort was for naught, that none of the programming had stuck to the shield. Cley, having realized what happened, looked around, hoping that someone who could help would be in the room. Seeing nobody, he took Jeremiah's lucky medallion from around his neck and rushed over to the metal shield. Banging the amulet, about half his size, against the shield, he frantically tried to make as much noise as possible to attract attention.

Lylee was speed-walking through the hallway, planning to take a short cut to her dorm. She almost reached the exit until she heard a faint banging. Her head whipped up in surprise and she looked around in confusion. "What is making that noise?" she thought as she walked around, forcing herself to listen closely, "Is it from the gymnasium?". She quickly opened the gym doors and yelled out, "W-who's there?!" Her hand curled into fists and she looked around defensively. She gasped when she found a boy unconscious on the ground and a mini golem....banging a amulet on a shield? She walked over cautiously, worried that it was a prank or something. "Excuse me...? Um..why is a boy unconscious on the ground?" she asked. She mentally face-palmed herself. What was she thinking talking to a golem? The golem probably didn't understand what she was talking about. She knelt next to the boy and put her hand on his forehead. It was slightly hot but it might have been because he just worked out. Her hand started to glow slightly and she sighed unsteadily. "Please don't mes up, please don't mess up!" she begged to herself.

Cley stopped banging Jeremiah's medallion against the shield and walked over to him. Placing the necklace in his hand, Cley closed Jeremiah's fist around it, hoping its luck would come through.

Jeremiah was walking through a large field. Growing on the field were flowers, of all imaginable colors and species, from all around the world. He paused for a moment to look around. The field stretched all the way to the horizon in every direction. The sky above was a bright blue, not too harsh on the eyes, and a few puffy clouds floated gently across the sky, asymmetrically balanced to perfection. The temperature was moderate, not too hot, not too cold, but just like he preferred it. Suddenly, he saw a person walking towards him in the distance. As the person came closer, Jeremiah recognized him and ran towards his great uncle with zeal.


Mere steps before Jeremiah reached his beloved Uncle Willis, he held out his hand and said to him "It is not your time yet. Now go- there are people waiting for you."


"What do you mean? Where am I? Who's waiting for me?" Jeremiah asked. "Uncle Willis, don't go!!! I miss you!!!" he cried as the scene faded from his view into darkness.


"Uncle Willis!!!" Jeremiah cried as he bolted up into a sitting position. Or, at least that's what he tried to yell, but his parched throat and cottonball dry mouth prevented him from really saying anything. Realizing that there was a girl kneeling next to him, he turned to her and mouthed the word water.

Lylee yelped in surprise from his sudden consciousness and fell on her bottom. She looked at Jeremiah in a mix of curiosity and confusion, still too surprised to understand what he was mouthing. After a few seconds, realization dawned on her and she instantly got up to her knees and zipped open backpack. She began to dig through it, as if she was looking for something from a dumpster. Finally, she pulled out an unopened water bottle and a proud look gleamed on her face. She handed it to Jeremiah and opened it for him. "Don't worry! It's new."

Jeremiah drank the water in small sips to prevent himself from throwing up. Cley watched cautiously from a short distance, ready to help at a moment's notice.

"Thank you very much for helping me. My name is Jeremiah. I'm an initiate here." he told the girl. He sat in silence for a moment, thinking about what he had seen.


"Was it real, or was it just a dream?" he thought to himself. "It almost seems like it was just too much to be a dream..."


Jeremiah finished the water and tried to stand up, but his legs buckled and collapsed beneath him. Cley rushed to his side, making sure he was alright.

Lylee smiled. "It's no problem. I'm Lylee, from the Spring House." She looked away from Jeremiah and glanced curiously at the mini golem. "I wonder what its name is," she thought. She focused back at Jeremiah and frowned in concern. He was trying to get up. "Be careful. You could fa-" Too late. He collapsed and his mini golem rushed to his side, obviously concerned. She smiled slightly; the scene was kind of cute to see. She looked at Jeremiah and asked, "Are you alright? Do you need to help you to the nurse's?"

"I should be fine," he said as he recovered, "but I will gladly accept your help. This is Cley, by the way." Jeremiah picked up Cley and put him on his shoulder. Not wanting to make the same mistake twice, Jeremiah extended his hand and said "By any chance would you mind helping me up? Also, my shield is just a few feet away. It's been in my family for generations. Do you think you could grab that too?"

"Damn it, I must sound like a spoiled, needy brat right now. You don't need the shield. You can come back for it later." he thought.