Grace and Choice- Tane's Story (part 2)

 Four weeks after that, the drafting began. My father and brother were sent to serve in the army that consisted of both Hynix and Elsan men, wellborns, and various other creatures fit to fight against the angels. The war only last a few years, but it felt like centuries to me, who had to stay home with my mother and younger sister. I was going to be drafted when I turned sixteen, but the leader of our village wouldn't allow it, and hid me and a few others away when members of the Elsan military came to round up new soldiers.
     "Even the bravest of warriors as young as you have a slim chance in coming out of this battle alive," he'd told us as we huddled under the sanctuary, "There are far greater destinies for you children than dying in a war against angels."
      It was in the year after that the angels surrendered and the war finally ended. We were told that, frozen in stone, the angels wouldn't be a threat to us. It wasn't until a few months after that they started the 'awakening'.
     "The angels can become amazing allies for us," the Elsan military generals said when they told our village the news, "If we wake them at a slow pace, they might begin to trust us and we might begin to trust them."
     "Trust angels?" My brother had muttered from beside me, "Impossible."
Silently, I agreed with him. From what I'd seen, I knew the angels could never be our allies.
     The school I attended stopped teaching regular academics and we began to learn how to wake angels from their sleep. From the spell that the mage Airon cast, only the sons of the warriors in that war could wake angels, so my class was relatively small. It was just me and two other boys whose fathers were able to fight in the war. The lessons were simple and, in my mind, completely pointless, and I longed to learn important things in the classroom beside ours. Despite our protests, the Elsan military made it a priority that we continued in our small class. I didn't care much, until one day my father came to me and told me that I was to be transferred to Elsa with the rest of the Hynix wakers. He told me that my mother already knew, but commanded me not to tell my brother and sister. He feared that my brother would do something rash if he found out. I nodded simply, but still, I did not understand why I had to go. The military had enough boys already. Even so, two weeks later, I said goodbye to my mother and father, then went to see my siblings. I hugged my sister, which is not an odd thing, because I hugged her quite often then, but this time she seemed to notice something was wrong, and looked up at me quietly when I pulled away. Then it was my brother's turn. I stood in front of him a bit awkwardly before holding out my hand to him. He stared at it for a moment before gripping it and pulling me to him. "I know," he whispered in my ear. I pulled away, stunned. Was I that obvious?
     "Don't worry," he said, "You won't be going alone." He tossed me a small smile, and only later did I learn that he had joined the Elsan army. During a recess at the new school I began to attend in Elsa, I went to the military barracks that resided not far from the academy and found him.
     "Why did you join?!" I asked in a hushed whisper so no one around would here. "You hate the Elsans and what they believe, so why agree to become one of them?"
He smiled at me and said, "We protect the Wakers, so now I know I can protect you."
And he did. Until my mother fell ill four months ago, and he went back to Hynix to help my father and sister take care of her.
It's been two years since the end of the war, and every since then, I've been training to become a Waker. I'm nineteen now, and I've almost finished my training. All I have left is the final exam. And what do I do for this?
    I have to use my gained knowledge to wake an angel.