ROLEPLAY

One by one, the officer called us aside from the group. By the time it was my turn, one of the other two candidates had been eliminated. The officer asked me to stand at attention. Then he asked me three questions. The first was to recall the legionnaires' battle cry. This one was easy. I'd already shouted this when I played legionnaires with my wooden soldiers. Cal i selak! Strength and glory! a rallying cry invented by the legions' founder, the late Ufo. The second question was just as simple. What were the four pillars of the Empire? Even a fool could have answered that: Honor, Truth, Justice, Discipline. I wondered how it was possible that a guy could have failed with such simple questions. The last question had to be a tough one. And it was. The officer then asked me what was the most important pillar in my eyes, justifying myself. I must confess I was taken aback. One pillar more important than another? I thought they were all equal, that one couldn't exist without the others. What could be the most important pillar for a legionnaire? Discipline? While I pondered, the officer waited. He didn't seem in a hurry to hear an answer. I thought back to what he'd told me on my arrival in Thesos, and decided to be bold.
I replied:
"All of them! All pillars are equal, none is more valuable to me. Because favoring one pillar can unbalance the foundations of the Empire."
He looked at me and smiled, then said:
"That's an interesting point of view, although I know one who would disagree."
He told me to join the other successful applicant at the foot of the fortress. What was the purpose of this question? The other applicant, whose name was Herpios, thought that if you were sure enough of your answer, you'd succeed. That it tests assertiveness in some way.

The officer congratulated us on passing the three tests of the legionnaire's rite. He threw a beige suit of armor at our feet and ordered us to get dressed. The armor was heavy and worn. It was the first time I'd ever put on such armor. Then, at his command, we climbed to the top of the fortress stairs. Waiting for us at the top of the stairs was a fyros with a burned face and a horrible hole in the middle of his forehead. His armor was black but gleaming, and on his back he carried an axe of fire even blacker than his armor. I'd never seen Azazor before, the leader of the Fyros legions. He's an akenakos from Thesos, so you hardly ever see him in Pyr. He scared me, I must admit. I was even more scared of him than I was of the ocyx in the forbidden canyon. His blue eyes stared at both of us, shifting from one to the other as if he were judging us. I was dreading a final test. Azazor told us to take a step towards him, which we did. Then he told us, in a loud voice that would wake the inhabitants of Thesos who were asleep at this late hour:
"Malos, you have passed the three tests of the Legionnaire's Rite. Before I present you with the Legions' insignia, you must answer ney to each of my questions."
Then, in an even louder voice, he said:
"Do you accept to be part of the Fyros Legions?"
We tried to say ney as loud as he did. But on the second question, he raised his voice even higher:
"Do you agree to defend the Empire, sharükos and the four pillars, at the risk of your life?"
We also answered ney by trying to outdo him in shouting. But it was hopeless, with each of the other two questions he still seemed to have room to raise his voice in intensity.
"Do you accept to fight with Force in their midst for the Glory of the Empire?"
We shouted ney at the top of our lungs.
"Do you agree to always speak in Truth with other legionnaires?"
Ney, we screamed ney like never before. My throat hurt. I thought I saw a slight smile on his charred face. Then he walked over to us and pinned the coat of arms of the Fyros legions to our breastplates. A beautiful blazon depicting a flame on a yellow and red background. He then ordered us to join the other legionnaires at the bottom of the fortress. As we descended, I noticed some fifty legionnaires waiting for us, lined up at attention.

We then set off at night on a ritual hunt for ploderos somewhere not far from Thesos. When we arrived at the hunting ground, the officer who had supervised our rite turned to us and told us to fetch a dozen barrels of shooki liqueur from the barman's, who was still open despite the hour, and bring them back to the hunting ground. I would later learn that for the next month, this would be one of the many jobs for the "ditalos", as they call the newcomers. At the end of the month, when a new legionnaires' rite took place and we had passed the fyros citizenship rite, we would become authentic legionnaires, but for now, we had to go through it. It was a sort of hazing. We went to bed very late, sleeping in the barracks for the first time. Well, for ditalos like us, on the dormitory floor outside the door.

I had an hour's leave today, so I took the opportunity to write you this letter. We'll have a new one in a week. I'll tell you about our first week of training in a later letter. Right now, I have to go scrub the latrines.

I can't wait to see you again, sis. We'll have a day's leave at the end of the month, once we've become glados, full-fledged legionnaires. You'll be proud when you see me in the red armor of the legionnaires. And we'll visit Mom's grave.

Aby, your beloved brother