"Turn around, Ronan," Maritza instructed, "and relax. It'll be hard for Farrier's magic to make the marking if you're tense." Ronan turned around and dropped his arms by his side. Farrier set two burly hands on Ronan's shoulders. "Do you feel the Essence flowing through you?" Farrier asked. He prepared to imbue Ronan with the Mark of the Butterfly. Ronan fixed his attention on the feeling at his fingertips. His forearm still burned from casting the white flames, though the black veins had retreated, and only Alfred had noticed them. "I think I can feel the Essence," Ronan mumbled. Farrier belted out a big laugh that startled Ronan. "Look around you boy!" Farrier exclaimed.A stream of black wisps circled around Ronan's body. Similarly, Essence the same cobalt color as Alfred's eyes wrapped around the arrogant, smiling Nightblade. The Trainees watching gasped and whispered about Ronan's black Essence, diverting any attention away from Alfred's achievements and only to Ronan
Ronan slept for two days and was awoken by the sweet sound of Maritza's voice. His eyes slowly opened and he saw Maritza pacing back and forth, speaking with Farrier, who stroked the perfect middle part in his red hair. Maritza said, "It's clear he can use The Shroud System, but that doesn't explain why his Mark of the Butterfly connected with his Mark of the Serpent. The wings grew on his snake's neck."Farrier laughed and waved a hand. "It's probably just some weird Serpent trait. There's no way for us to know for sure.""Only a few Nightblades have ever even gotten more than one marking," Maritza added with a cut to her tone. She stood over Ronan and leaned forward, and he almost thought he was dreaming once more. He wanted her to reach her lips even closer to his, but instead he only smelled the scent of fresh blueberries on her breath when she whispered, "What if he's been chosen by The Shroud, not me?"Ronan groaned and moved slightly in the hospital ward bed. The two Ma
Alfred and his gang all slashed at Ronan from different angles, but Ronan felt magic flow to the soles of his leather boots. He leapt up and into a backflip, then landed on his feet. He was far enough away to ready his sword out in front of him, and the Mark of the Butterfly attached to his serpent glowed a strong black. Ronan understood that he may be outnumbered, but that he had an advantage; serpent magic cast fire and was offensive, whereas the butterfly magic allowed him to jump great heights and make himself lighter, making it the perfect magic for defensive maneuvers. The gang sneered and Alfred held his sword outwards, leading the women into a charge. Freya took Ronan's right and Clove took his left. Suddenly Runes appeared along Ronan's arm, extending farther up than they had ever before to his bicep. The many voices of The Shroud whispered, "Every successful Nightblade must follow The Way of the Myrmidon— to be a swordmaster capable of holding one's own against multip
Strands of pink sunlight began to appear on the Training Grounds. Alfred, Freya, and Clove all moaned as they nursed their wounds independently. Black Essence filled the progress bar beneath Ronan's Mark of the Butterfly, and it filled almost to completion, as his Serpent marking had while slashing the dummies. With a little more experience, he would be a Rank 2 Serpent and Butterfly in no time, unlocking more fire and speed and weight manipulation magic. "What in The Heavens is happening out here?" asked Angelina, the hospital ward nurse who had once tended to Ronan. She raced out into the Training Grounds with her curly blonde hair tied neatly behind her head. She was wearing a pink silk night dress that fell right above her knees, along with white linen shoes and a warm, sage green robe. Unlike the other Butterfly Nightblades Ronan had seen, Angelina had no problem dirtying her clothes. She knelt in the dirt by the wounded Trainees, and gave them all medical aid. Angelina ripp
By the time Ronan had dragged his feet to the dining hall, Trainees were already chowing down. Big vats of steaming eggs, sausages, bacon, and biscuits lined the wall near the plates and utensils, and Butterfly Trainees formed a single-file to get their fill.At the sight of Ronan, the clamor in the hall stopped, and somebody dropped their plate to the floor. After a second of hushed whispers and dirty looks, a fit man with shining red hair hurled a buttered biscuit at Ronan.Ronan barely needed to lift his face to pinpoint the biscuit's location. He swiped it out of the air before it pelted his head. Two more biscuits and a sausage were chucked at him, but Ronan snagged these out of the air too while proceeding to the line to get his food. "Who knows where The Black Snake will slither to next!" a woman murmured in his ear from behind. A man who had just got his tray of food approached Ronan then sneered, "A creature that crawls on the ground doesn't belong around those with wi
Although Freya and Alfred were long gone, Ronan leaned in close to listen to Clove."The Novice exams are coming up," she said, slicing a sausage, "and Alfred and Freya intended on sabotaging any chance you had at passing."Ronan looked at her puzzled. "What're the Novice exams?""Oh," Clove said, adjusting in her seat. Ronan could tell her bandaged leg was bothering her, and he felt bad for inflicting the wound. "The Novice exams are how you put your Ranks to good use. I guess maybe things worked differently with the Serpents. But once you hold the title or Novice, you're able to accept missions to hunt monsters and help people in the city."Ronan nodded, feeling a surge of energy strike him. He attacked his own breakfast. "Sounds like a rite of passage."Clove held out a forkful of eggs, sipped at her coffee, and replied, "Exactly right."In that moment, Ronan noticed that beneath the once pretentious and arrogant facade, Clove really was quite cute. Her pale blue eyes reminded
Ronan scrambled out of his bed and to the Hellblade. "Where the hell did this come from?" he muttered to himself while looking at the Hellblade. Had somebody placed it in his room while he was sleeping? Ronan slid the curved sword from its sheath and backed into the corner of the room. He stood beside the Hellblade and asked, "Is anyone there?" Ronan searched through the dark for any movement. In the Hellblade's faint glow and the few strips of sunlight peeking through his window, he saw that he was alone. "I'm losing it," he muttered, and he sheathed the curved sword. The Hellblade slipped from its place on the sill and fell to the stone floor with a clank, then vanished. "What in the—"Then the rooster crowing above the temple's stables woke Ronan from his sleep. It was significantly brighter out, and the sky was a crisp orange. Wavy pink clouds cascaded slowly in the sky. "Did I dream the whole thing?" Ronan asked, rubbing his eyes. Beside his bed, only the curved swo
Ike limped up to the wall and took a deep breath. He looked behind him at Ronan. "I don't think I can do it." Ike rubbed his leg that had only recently been taken out of the cast. Ronan and Clove ran beside him. Alfred rolled his eyes. "This lot is so weak.""They're pathetic," Freya scoffed. "Don't be afraid, Ike," Clove said. She forced a smile but was concerned for him. It's not that she didn't believe he could do it, it was that she could hardly handle the idea of Ike getting hurt once more. "I've got no idea how to make such a jump," Ike confessed. His muttonchops blew in the breeze. Ronan put both his hands on Ike's shoulders and rubbed away the knots. "Loosen up," Ronan said. "Don't focus on the jump, focus on the bell. And when you need to make the wings, breath out and envision yourself landing safely."Maritza couldn't have given better advice herself. Ronan continued to remind her of herself. He had an incredible understanding of his abilities, and an intense,