Chronicles of the Blackblade 01
Chapter 1 – The Beginning
Four years earlier.
Rosanna Bloodrose entered Kyndale Keep with her mother – Amanda Bloodrose, her father - Vincent Bloodrose and full complement of guards. Born to a noble family she had lead a sheltered life thus far; being waited on hand and foot by servants of various levels she never had to do any real work and this had affected her. She had a snobby attitude and demanded attention when she wanted it, this had grew to such a large problem that even after several different types of unsuccessful discipline, her parents had no other choice to turn to; they had decided to enrol her in Kyndale’s school for young adventurers; as they knew that here, people of noble birth had no extra rights, she would not have anyone to wait on her, would soon get put in her place and shown the way the world works.
Rose was quite tall for her age, she was very close to catching her mother in size and could already tower over the midgets of Tyria, her short black hair held in place with a silver plated red hair band, her noble black dress covering her from neck to foot complete with silver jewellery around her neck – her noble status displayed openly.
Rose was escorted into the courtyard; they had entered the town and proceeded straight past the merchants quarter into the academy full, she was left with the other hopeful students while her parents went to see the master of the academy.
She looked around, the view that assaulted her eyes could not of been dreamt; around two hundred children of all shapes and sizes was amassed in the area; some big, some too small to even see, male, female. White, black or in-between, hairs of all shapes, sizes and colours, some dressed as poorly peasants while other in flowing robes or noble outfits.
As Rose looked around, she recognised a few of the other students, sons of other noble families, “good” she mumbled to herself, “they will have to do in this hellhole.” She knew why she was here; she promised herself that she would not break, she would show mother and father who was boss; she would return to them and take over as head of the family. Unbeknownst to her, she had already been singled out by three other students…..
Zelana Adrienne Lillian Argala – or as she preferred Zela; was born to a family of elementalist’s, she had been brought up knowing that she would join them someday and had been given training before being sent to Kyndale keep, she had a quick mind and open personality, she enjoyed relaxing and having fun; her kind family rubbed off on her, as such she was always happy. She was a small to medium sized girl, with shoulder length bright red hair; she was lithe but not extremely thin, not strong - but not weak either, her face was kind of cute and inviting but not necessarily beautiful, it was a good base to build on as she matured.
Zela knew what was in store for her when she arrived at Kyndale Keep – and she was well prepared for it, while not being the biggest or strongest in her family; her dexterity and speed kept her active when she wasn’t trapped inside listening to old fogies chatter about magic.
Her arrival at the keep a day earlier was close to the most spectacular – if they would have had a audience, but instead they made their entrance low brow – as much as can be said for flying in riding a pair of air elementals!
Her mentor, teacher, babysitter and guardian Markus; escorted her out of Bellasee forest where they landed; and into the keep, Zela was given a small pouch of gold to keep her going as everything else was provided, she was left alone at the gates as Markus returned home.
“Exploration time” she grinned; this is going to be fun; she took off at a brisk trot towards the merchants quarter, her short yellow dress flapping in the afternoon wind.
The merchant quarter was really just a main road leading up to the academy from the main town gate, in the middle of it a huge open area where markets could be held. Zela was disappointed, there was no market, not many shops open, and hardly anyone walking about, “I guess its to be expected.” She spoke out loud to no one in particular, not expecting anyone to hear or care she was surprised when she got a reply from behind her.
“Well that’s to be expected my dear” the women intoned in a sing-song voice “you should know that by now if …” her eyes lit up as she realized she didn’t recognize Zela “well-I-never, I-don’t-remember-seeing-you-around, you-must-be-a-new-student.” She gushed at the chance of dealing with a new student.
Mirabell had been very kind to her, after finding Zela in the open market square she had offered to show her around the town, invite her for supper, and offer her a bed to stay in for the night ready for the entrance day tomorrow, as it were Mirabell runs the kitchen in the academy. She is a young middle aged woman, bright, chirpy and happy, due to her living alone she was glad to have company, the pair mixed well and soon laughter could be heard as they walked around the town. After supper Zela decided to explore the town some more, Mirabell offered to accompany her but she declined the offer stating that she will return later to the offer of a warm bed and hot chocolate. Mirabell warned her not to stay out too late as it was beginning to get dark. Zela’s few points of interest was the academy itself, during her tour she only got as close as the academy gates, this time she intended to see more.
Unfortunately when she arrived, the gates was closed and guarded, and the walls was a bit too high to climb on, even the closest tree she could find to the wall was still too far to reach it, she climbed the tree anyway to get a better view of the courtyard; this was where she would have to go tomorrow morning, she was about to try her luck with a bit of air magic but heard voices and hid midst the leaves.
Three boys came walking from around the corner not 5 metres away; they seemed to be in the middle of an argument. “Yeeaaaahh so wen we gona dou it?” the first boy said, “Great.” grumbled Zela to herself quietly “country boys never did learn how to speak properly.” “sooon as we kaan” replied the second “new seezon starts tamuuurroowww.” “weee sould git up early then” slured the third, his accent even worse then the other two, “pleenny ah nuw kids gitta be teahhed whs booss.” The other two boys laughed, they was just about to carry on with their conversation when the tree that Zela was hiding in decided that it didn’t like being climbed on, and released a loud creaking sound. “Wha was thaa” declared the first boy, looking around wildly towards the tree “ah dunnu” the third replied trying but failing to see much in the now darkening evening. “Tey sey that da tree is haaunted” the second says out loud, at that the other two looked at him with wild expressions – the tree decided that it really wanted to be left alone and gave another loud creak, together with a snap as one of the branches that Zela was standing on gave way; not enough for her to lose her grip and remain hidden. But that was it for the boys; who ran off screaming down the road, not wanting to get caught Zela quickly slid down the tree and took off at a sprint towards Mirabell’s house, not noticing the shadow in the nearby alley
“Good lord what have you been up to Zela!” bellowed Mirabell after she had opened the door; looking the girl up and down, her yellow dress was covered in dirt from the tree and ripped in a few places when the branch snapped. “Well I-“ she began – too late; she was pulled in; and quicker then she could blink, found herself naked and in the bath. The night ended quickly for Zela, after her bath she was given her hot chocolate and sent straight to bed, Mirabell refused any kind of payment and a stern look and shush stopped any other conversation of the sort.
Zela awoke before dawn; the sun straining to get past the horizon and birds waking up greeted her. On a chair besides the bed was a neatly folded bright red dress complete with red hair band and beaded necklace, it was slightly less swirly then her own dress but it looked just her size – it fit her, wonderfully, she would have to thank Mirabell sometime.
Mirabell woke with the ringing of the town’s bells, also to the wonderful smell of a cooked breakfast, upon entering the kitchen she was greeted by a freshly cooked hot breakfast complemented with freshly chopped fruits waiting for her, and a neatly written note from Zela thanking her for her hospitality, “Well that girl is just full of surprises” she spoke out loud, surprised that not every child of that age can actually write – and not as well as that either!
Zela arrived at the academy courtyard shortly after hearing the bell’s ringing, there was already new students waiting, and she took up a post on the edge of the courtyard, sitting atop a carriage eating an apple she had brought earlier with a cheerful smile and a “good morning.” She had a good view over the whole courtyard, and was on the lookout for anything interesting; this also meant that everyone else also had a clear view to her, and she wasn’t hard to spot in her red dress.
Dawn disembarked from the carriage, fully dressed in her long flowing priestess robes, her long brown hair blowing in the early morning breeze; carefully using her hand, she removed the odd strands of hair that had blow into her cute face, her bright brown eyes sparkling in the early sunlight.
She stood there admiring the view of the academy, its huge spire’s spiralling up into the blue sky, its stained glass windows sparkling in the light, this was to be her home for the next six years.
Dawn had been abandoned in Celesthem Abbey at birth. The priests there took her in and raised her, she was taught about discipline, about the gods, and the role of a priest; and as she aged, she began being included in some of the rituals.
The priests foresaw her strong connection to Dwayna and had began to teach her the healing arts handed down within their temple, with a kindness unmatched by any she was the embodiment of all that was pure and good; this same trait that made her so nice to be around, also was biggest weakness; it also didn’t help that she was extremely shy and quiet.
Dawn looked around, students was spread out in the courtyard, not knowing where she herself should stay, she looked around until her eyes locked onto a group of children also dressed in long robes, she carefully made her way around the courtyard without interfering nor touching anyone else.
Upon reaching these children she discovered they was not friendly priests, totally the opposite in-fact; snotty nosed noble’s sons at which quickly became aggressive towards her, at this open display of aggression she stationed herself close to the courtyard gate guards until otherwise needed.
A single huge ring on the town bell signalled the start of the entrance inauguration, the courtyard grew quiet as all eyes faced the entrance to the academy; three figures exited the doors and walked to the podium overlooking the courtyard.
The man on the left – a monk by his robes, stood proud and strong, his head held high, but with a look of kindness and compassion on it, completely bald and clean shaven, his muscular body bulging out at select points on his robes, he looked more the physical kind of monk, these were rare; they either are insanely strong being protected by their god, or they lived extremely short lives.
The woman on the right, dressed in stunning evening gown, her brown hair - held back by a emerald tiara, complemented the emerald green gown; if it was any lower cut, it would be something you would wear in a bedroom – something that wouldn’t even matter for activities contained within said bedroom. Her face was finely sculpted; something that even dreams would have trouble picturing, and if not for the aura of silence that was commanded by the middle man, wolf whistles would have been heard for miles.
The man in the middle, his aura radiated outwards, flooding anyone who got in its way. He demanded respect; he was one to command, one who is wise beyond his years, for the moment he commanded silence, and that is what he got.
He was dressed in a simple uniform, nothing stood out, and he seemed plain to the standard eye; none of the students in the courtyard could tell that he was anyone of importance, and their eyes would have been locked onto the woman on his right if not for the intense pressure that he emitted.
“Welcome to Kyndale Keep” he said, without yelling – yet the whole courtyard could hear his voice loud and clearly. “Most of you know the reason why you are here, and if you don’t you will soon learn. But for now the day is getting on, and there is a lot to be done. Your first task as proud students of Kyndale keep is …” he stops and rubs his chin thoughtfully. “Hmm a race.” Whispers could be heard around the courtyard at this, a race? What for? What ever could that prove?
