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Chapter 18: Shroud of Fear
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The Black Hellblade Chapter 19: Learning of Honor
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
The Black Hellblade Chapter 20: A New Trio
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
The Black Hellblade Chapter 21: The Dance of the Butterfly
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
The Black Hellblade Chapter 22: Ike's Test
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,
The Black Hellblade Chapter 23: The Novice Exams
Maritza grinned and commented, "The Novice exams begin in several minutes, and here you all are, training up to the last second."Green and black Essence glittered around Ronan and Ike, filling up the progress bars beneath their Marks of the Butterfly. A second tally etched its way onto Ike's shoulder, and the ink emblazoned on Ronan's forearm indicated that he was close to reaching his third Rank."Nice work!" Ronan exclaimed, giving Ike a hug and slapping him on the back. "The very same to you," Ike said. His muttonchops were so long they seemed as though they were straight out of an oil-painting of an old and wealthy noble. Ike bounced up and down on his freshly healed leg, shadow-boxed the air for a few punches, but then lost his balance and nearly tripped over his own two feet.Thankfully, Ronan was there to catch him by the cuff of his shirt. "Easy, friend," Ronan chuckled. "Save your energy for the exams.""He'll surely need it," Maritza said, setting her arms behind her
The Black Hellblade Chapter 24: Unleashed Beasts
Ronan's Mark of the Butterfly glowed white, and he jumped twenty feet in the air to the right. Even though he moved fast, the hairs on his arm were scorched away by the dragon's fire. Fireballs smashed into the ground where he had been, setting the ground aflame in a warm blaze. The fires grew so large they were like a wall, and they separated Ronan from Clove and Ike, who had also only narrowly dodged the dragon's attack. "Are you alright?" Clove shouted out over the crackling flames. The dragon lifted its gray nose before getting too close to the fire, then flapped its wings upwards and headed back to the sky. Smoke gushed from its nostrils as it angrily roared. "I'm okay!" Ronan shouted. "We're alright too!" Ike exclaimed. The edge of one of his long muttonchop sideburns was cindering, and Clove patted it out for him. She held his face in her hand for a moment, and Ike felt empowered. Ronan got as close to the fire as he could and explained, "The dragon is missing his left
The Black Hellblade Chapter 25: Moonlit Festivities
The celebration was epic. Clove and Ike were escorted by Elders to a private bathhouse deep inside the temple, where the two scrubbed off the thick amounts of dragon's blood from under their skin and nails. They were brought sparkling wine by the bottles, and heaps of expensive, exquisite food. Once they were clean, the two feasted in a natural hot spring outside the temple by a lush garden. Ike dangled a grape bundle over Clove's mouth, and she nibbled one grape for each of Ike's questions about herself that she answered. With the warm, refreshing waters of the hot springs around them, Clove and Ike discovered through their elated conversations that they both viewed the world quite similarly. Both wanted to use their new position as Novice to help those who had succumbed to inner-weakness, just as they had once before. If the perception of the Butterfly Nightblades were arrogant, pretentious aristocrats who hid away treasures in a big temple, then they agreed to prove themselves
The Black Hellblade Chapter 26: Trust and Love
Ronan was ushered away from Maritza the second he stepped through the door. Clove and Ike, both well into their cups, each grabbed Ronan by one of his hands and led him to a feasting table. He enjoyed a goblet of fine red wine along with a heaping plate of roasted steak and potatoes.As he bantered with drunken Trainees too intoxicated to hold a proper conversation, he exchanged the occasional glance with Maritza, who was seated at a large table overlooking the banquet. She was seated beside Lord Wallace and his slicked back black hair and cold, smug face, along with several Elders in hooded, purple cloaks. Kneeling before the table of Masters was Alfred with his hand over his chest. The leather strap securing Alfred's white mask to the back of his head slid up and down as he spoke. Whatever he was saying was making Maritza's lips curl in disgust. "Don't look so grim," Ike slurred with a laugh. He wrapped his arm around Ronan, and Ronan caught him before he toppled to the floor. F
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