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

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 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

Ronan took a hearty sip of coffee, nudged his head towards the map, then said, "If I'm not mistaken, Farrier had mentioned that this was a Norovir?"Maritza's eyes were a little less bloodshot after a few bites of fried eggs, and she said, "Yes. That's right. I've forgotten that you're as well-educated as you are keen."Ronan couldn't conceal his grin, though he wanted to remain professional. "Norovirs," he said, sliding down on the bench and getting closer to Maritza, "are blue lizard looking monsters with two long, five-fingered hands and the tail of a fat snake."Martiza wiped her mouth with a napkin and unfolded a torn page from an old tome. The monster inked beneath the page's old, scriptive text depicted a creature just as Ronan had described. Ronan scarfed down his breakfast while Maritza continued her briefing. "It would seem," she said, pointing to a series of four wells spread closely together through the several city streets on the map, "that the Norovir is travelin

With The Shroud strengthening him, Ronan flipped backwards into the air. He avoided the Norovir's slash against the upper ledge of the building, and big stones of debris crashed into the murky water beside the Norovir's wriggling blue tail. While in the air, smoke steamed from Ronan's Mark of the Butterfly as he spun his body to avoid another jet of poisonous water from the Norovir's mouth. When Ronan landed safely at the other edge of the building, he saw the people of Augustate hurrying to their own roofs, escaping the ever-rising levels of poisonous water through shouts and screams. Ronan's grip on his sword tightened. In a final passing glance, he saw a poor family of five trembling in filthy tunics on the roof of their house. They sobbed for the few belongings they had that had been lost to the acid water. Even if Ronan defeated the Norovir, what would be left for these people? The Norovir hissed a large red tongue through its black fangs, and Ronan knew he couldn't weigh