Angels and Devils IV

Lukan stood before the captains. His eyes occasionally flitted to Temerity.
"Lukan Naroiára," one of the captains said, "are you ready to make your first attempt?"
Lukan straightened up and nodded. "Yes, sir."
"Good. There will be four parts to this test. Fail one, and the test is over. Do you understand?"
"Yes, sir." Lukan glanced to Temerity again.
"Very well. You may begin."
Lukan turned towards the arena and took a deep breath. The first part was simple: just an obstacle course. Trip wire, swinging axes, balance beams--and a spinning wheel that slammed him off the course.
There was silence. Lukan groaned. It took him several moments to force himself to sit up and look at the captains.
They were whispering to each other, and Temerity looked worried. Finally, the whispering stopped, and the captains looked at him.
"Well... It was a good first attempt," one of them said. "You can try again, of course. Until then, keep working."
They stood up and filed out.
Lukan stood up slowly and walked over to Temerity. "... That was anticlimactic..."
"Don't worry about it, Luke." Temerity ruffled his hair. "I told you, no one passes their first time."
"Do people usually fail that early? ... Did you fail that early?"
Temerity sighed. "I suppose not. But it's different for everyone, you know?"
"Yeah, yeah..." Lukan looked down. "But the whole reason they brought me here was because they thought I was special. I could be studying in Thaybia right now... Instead I'm here. Disappointing people."
"Hey." Temerity poked his cheek. "You're not disappointing anyone. You just need more practice, okay?"
"Easy for you to say. You've always been good at everything." He pushed past her and ran back inside.
"Luke!" Temerity turned quickly. She started after him, then sighed. "I'll just... Give you some time, then."