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 eye! I’ll run over to its right side and distract it. Then you two attack its blind spot! Aim for the soft stomach!”

“Roger that!” Clove said.

“Be careful!” Ike warned.

The three sprinted around the tall red flames and to a large open section of the Training Grounds. With a roar that knocked the Trainees off their feet, the dragon curled its wing close to its body, spun in the air, then redirected itself towards the three.

“Take your places!” Ronan shouted, standing back up. He felt black veins crawl on his forearm, but he fought them away. He was going to pass the exams on his own strength, not The Shroud’s.

“Without us, there will be death,” The Shroud whispered in his ear.

Ronan ignored this and shook the words from his head. He held his sword outwards and waved with it.

“Hey you big smelly idiot!” he shouted at the dragon, “Over here!”

The dragon’s single eye leered at Ronan. The beast changed its course towards Ronan, and Ike and Clove ran to the dragon’s other side. Steam rose from the glowing marks on both their shoulders.

On the sidelines, Maritza smirked to herself.

Ronan was a natural-born leader, just as she had expected. But she felt the tingle on her neck, and the whispers from The Shroud in her ear. She slapped a hand over her neck as if she’d been bitten by a bug, then focused on her breaths to try and withhold The Shroud.

She knew the black veins were growing out from her shoulders, though she didn’t know why.

She watched Ronan pump his arms back and forth as he ran, then muttered to herself, “What’s happening with him?”

Ronan continued to draw the dragon’s attention, and it opened its mouth towards him. Ronan smelled the rot clinging to the dragon’s teeth as more fire formed in its mouth.

“Now!” Ronan shouted.

Clove and Ike both leapt up in unison.

Steam from their markings trailed well into the sky behind them, and the two traced their swords along the scarred stomach of the dragon. Its neck curled up and it shrieked, and its large, scaly arms swatted at its belly, though were too short to reach.

Thinking quickly, Clove grabbed one of the arrows still stuck in the dragon’s stomach. She dangled by one arm as the dragon flew up higher. White wings made of Essence grew from Ike’s shoulder, and he landed beside Ronan.

“What’s she doing?” Ike asked. The two broke into a sprint.

Ronan squinted. He watched Clove jam and thrust her sword into the same spot of the dragon repeatedly. Still screaming in agony, the dragon looped in the air over Ronan and Ike, and big globs of blood fell like hail on the two.

“She’s sawing him open,” Ronan said. “The dragon is badly hurt thanks to Clove. If you and I can get it to the ground, we can land a finishing blow.”

Ike cleared his throat, tried to stand tall, then suggested, “If we both strike one of the dragon’s wings, then surely it won’t be able to fly.”

Ronan nodded and laughed. “Great idea.”

Ike smiled. “I’ll take the left and you take the right.”

“On my mark,” Ronan said, sweat streaming down his face as he ran.

“One!”

The dragon flapped its wings, and gusts of wind pushed Ronan and Ike nearly off their feet.

“Two!”

Clove continued to slice at the dragon’s stomach, and its single eye glared at and focused on Ike and Ronan.

“Three!”

Massive fireballs erupted from the dragon’s mouth, but Ike and Ronan were off the ground and high enough to avoid them. Simultaneously, the two slashed their swords against the middle of the dragon’s wings. Ronan and Ike both left a large hole in their respective wing, and in their momentum they traveled through the holes and back to the ground with a jolt to their heels.

“Jump, Clove!” Ike yelled.

She swung her body forward, formed wings of Essence, and landed roughly to the ground, twisting her ankle. Her whole body was painted crimson with the dragon’s blood, and only her pale blue eyes and white teeth stuck out amongst the dark red. Ike ran to her side, and Ronan fought more whispers from The Shroud.

“Your friends will die without us,” it said.

“Nevermind you!” Ronan shouted.

“Who are you talking to?” Clove asked, clutching her ankle. She hobbled back to her feet with Ike’s help. He shuddered from the warm dragon blood now coating him too.

“What?” Ronan asked. “Sorry, I didn’t say anything.”

Ike cocked an eyebrow.

Then the ground shook as the dragon fell in front of them, leaking even more blood from its opened stomach.

The dragon’s head was teetering and it’s tired eye shutting, but it still looked at the trio with a rage.

“This is where your friends die,” The Shroud angrily whispered to Ronan.

“Attack its eye and throat!” Clove exclaimed.

But the dragon’s fire was already leaving its mouth and heading for the trio.

“I don’t need you,” Ronan whispered back to The Shroud. His Mark of the Serpent glowed, and he held out a hand in front him. Flames barreled towards him, Ike, and Clove.

Farrier stepped forward, but Maritza grabbed him by the wrist.

“Don’t intercede,” she said. With her other hand she shifted the collar of her blouse to cover the Runes appearing on her shoulder.

Farrier whipped his head towards Maritza and said, “They’ll die!”

“No,” Maritza said with a wince. The Shroud’s Runes were burning her and demanding that she go help Ronan, but instinct told her otherwise.

“They’ll do this,” she said with a strain to her voice.

It was enough for Farrier to cross his arms and pray.

But Farrier didn’t keep his arms crossed for long.

Ronan shot fire out from his palm and his red flames from his Mark of the Serpent collided with the dragon’s fire. Embers burst out in every direction as the two beams of fire made contact, and Farrier wrapped his big arms around Maritza. He used his large back to shield her.

The Trainees watching the Novice Exams from the safety of their rooms saw a devastating light flare as the dragon and Ronan remained locked in a fight between their giant beams of fire. For one second, the dragon’s fire would move closer to Ronan, and in the other second, Ronan’s would begin to overpower the dragon’s.

Ike and Clove had managed to avoid the flames, but Clove could hardly move. Ike scooped her into his arms, and she wrapped hers around his neck.

“Bring me near the dragon’s eye!” she shouted.

Huffing, Ike did so, all while watching the two beams of fire fight back and forth. Clove yanked a dagger out from her boot, and nearly falling out of Ike’s arms, she launched the small blade with all her might at the dragon’s eye.

With a horrible sloshing noise, the dagger pierced the dragon right in its translucent yellow retina. The dragon clawed its hands into the dirt and continued its weakened blast of fire towards Ronan.

Except, Clove’s strike had given Ronan just the boost he needed.

His beam pushed past the dragon’s and smashed up into the dragon’s mouth. It’s teeth, tongue, and face were incinerated.

Only a large white skull remained attached to the dragon’s neck, and the skull fell flat against the dirt, and the dragon’s claw stopped gritting the ground.

Ike, Clove, and Ronan regrouped, breathing rapidly and wiping sweat and blood from their brows.

Then, there was only applause.

From their windows, Trainees clattered pots and pans, clapped their hands, and cheered the trio’s names.

Black, green, and blue Essence swirled around Ronan, Clove, and Ike. Clove and Ike smiled as they each received another tally under their Mark of the Butterfly.

Ronan, on the other hand, had silenced the voices of The Shroud. He watched with great pride and satisfaction as the Essence filled his progress bar on his Mark of the Serpent not only once, but twice.

The serpent in the tattoo grew longer, extending down to his wrist. Along his Mark of the Butterfly, a third tally formed. He had reached Rank 3 Serpent and Butterfly from his battle, making him the proper Rank to become a Novice.

He grinned, then took his curved sword and used its blade to peel off the jagged and large scales from the dragon.

They would make for excellent armor when it came time to fulfill his first mission as a Novice.