Part 0 of Cast Out-I’m going back in time to a couple days before my last writing.

Keldur flopped back on his bed with a sigh. Boredom and frustration had been his closest friends in the monastery, creeping in over the years like the mold in the corners of his stuffy room. For all the riches of the upper city, they still wouldn't give the students adequate housing. Life was a constant cycle of work, study, and sleep. In the very little time he got in between, he drew-mostly the ocean and trees, things that he could glimpse from his sliver of a window. That at least gave him a little peace of mind. But at this moment, he didn't feel like doing anything.

Marcus had pushed him too far today. Keldur had been looking out the window at the waves, thinking about anything but The Old monk´s reading, when Marcus decided to make a fool of him. Marcus, always eager to win favor with the monks, stood and raised his hand. He smiled smugly, ¨Brother Orin, I believe Keldur was just about to explain the significance of the fifth verse.¨ The monk looked at Keldur expectantly. Keldur froze, he hadn't heard the fifth verse. Marcus sat down, staring at Keldur with fake innocence in his round eyes, cruelly smirking. Keldur stood slowly, fumbling for his notes. Finally, by pure luck he found the fifth verse and managed to scrape up some nonsense to appease the monk. Somehow, Brother Orin was satisfied with his answer, and let him sit again. Keldur glared at Marcus, his cheeks red. Marcus just raised his eyebrows and looked back at his notes.

For the rest of the day Keldur did his best to avoid Marcus, but at every turn he was there to make things worse. It didn't help that Keldur was in nearly every class that Marcus had. Marcus clearly was savoring his moment; he kept looking at Keldur with that same smug grin. To make matters worse, Keldur had been assigned kitchen duty. That meant serving food to everyone.

He stood over a huge, boiling cauldron of soup, slowly stirring it with an old wooden spoon. It had a crack along the top that would pinch you if you weren't careful, and a handle that was just slightly too small. He felt it fit nicely with how his day was going. Suddenly, Marcus's face appeared across the counter. He had an apple in his hand and was smacking on it loudly. He held out his bowl, looking at the ceiling like Keldur wasn't even there. Keldur ladled out the soup carefully. Just when he was about to pour it, Marcus moved his bowl back and looked at him. Stopping his smacking for a moment he smiled.

¨Nice save scholar boy. Don't expect such a lucky outcome next time.¨

Keldur rolled his eyes,

¨Yeah yeah, whatever.¨

Marcus held out his empty bowl again.. Keldur began to ladle out the soup but as he started pouring Marcus stepped back. The soup splattered on the marble floor. The boys in line burst into laughter.. Marcus leaned in and tilted his head,

¨Oops…¨

Keldur snapped. He flung the wooden ladle as hard as he could at Marcus. A satisfying ¨THWUNK!¨ resounded as it hit him square in the face. Marcus sprawled on the ground, howling in agony as he clutched his nose in his hands. Keldur leaned over the counter and stared straight at him, anger seething in his eyes.

“Oops, I didn't see you there,” Keldur said, his jaw clenched. The room froze in sudden silence, broken only by Marcus´s soft moaning. Somewhere, a laugh slipped out, echoing through the vaulted ceiling. Another followed. And another, until the entire room erupted in laughter. Keldur didn't laugh. His heaving chest slowed and his whit knuckles gripping the counter relaxed, leaving only anxiety behind. The realization of what he had done sank in quickly. I just hit the monk's favorite pupil! What was I thinking? He knew the consequences would be brutal. Perfectly on time, he looked up to see Brother Orin standing in the doorway with arms crossed. His piercing eyes were cold as stone and set on Keldur.

The Monastery bell had rung then. With muttering groans and nervous glances, the boys filed out past the monk. But Keldur stayed behind