But before there was a tenth, a twentieth, or even a fortieth cadet being lifted well above the ground, there was the third.
Finn Wrenner.
A doe-eyed yet bear-like cadet who'd woken up that fateful morning afraid he wouldn't even make it to the Main Auditorium because, once again, his insides felt like they were burning.
In hindsight, telling his roommate to go ahead without him had probably been foolish. Having someone around would've made getting ready and reaching the venue considerably easier.
But Finn had fought tooth and nail just to become a cadet of the Royal Military Academy.
Between convenience and the slightest possibility that someone might notice something was wrong and send him straight to the medical bay on such an important day, he'd chosen to manage on his own.
So Finn sucked it up and trudged toward the venue.
By the time he arrived, however, he found himself struggling to move forward for an entirely different reason.
Not because he was severely late.
