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Chapter 20: The High Knight Selection Exams (Part 1)
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2024-10-29 19:42:56Major Dylan was once again late to the meeting he called at the bridge. Sophia was getting fairly annoyed by her mentor’s attitude. Why call a team meeting if he was going to be late every damn time?
Of course he appeared just as tensions were running high and her patience was fraying thin. He completely derailed any possible breakout of a fight between Leon and Zain by announcing he had nominated them for the High Knight selection exams.
Leon took his application eagerly and hugged their mentor until they fell on the ground. “I love you, Major Dylan!”
“Anyway,” their mentor grunted as he got up, “this exam is dangerous especially for you, young and inexperienced Knights. It’s up to each of you if you want to actually participate. If you do, take those papers to the Head Office of the Knights Association tomorrow morning.” And then their mentor was gone.
Sophia knew she was going to take the High Knight sele
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Bane of the Dragons Chapter 21: The High Knights Selection Exam (Part 2)
A huge cloud of smoke formed in the front of the room. It dispersed to reveal Commander Hades and two dozen or so High Knights in sleek, white uniform behind him. Oh dear lord! Is he going to be proctoring this exam? Sophia panicked in her mind. “Thanks for waiting. I’m Commander Hades, the examiner for the High Knight selection exam’s first test.” Sophia wanted to bash her head against something hard. So she did. There was no way this exam wasn’t going to be torture if he was in charge. For Laera’s sake, he turned a simple D-rank painting mission into a nightmare with a single question. “There will be no fighting without the permission of the examiner. Even if permission is granted, killing your opponent will not be tolerated.” Was he trying to psych them out, because if that was his goal he definitely succeeded? Every Knight in the room swallowed their saliva. Were they going to be fighting already? “Those pigs that disobey
Bane of the Dragons Chapter 22: The High Knights Selection Exam (Part 3)
Team Dylan hurried to get their scroll and pick a gate. Sophia pointed out that the best gate to pick would be one that was close to the river. The map that Major Laina had shown them depicted the river going right under the tower at the forest’s center. They would be able to follow the river to the tower and would always have a supply of water on hand. As soon as the instructor threw open the gate, the member of Team Dylan dashed through and took to the trees. Sophia was surprised how quick flying their first two days in the forest were. From what Major Laina had said, she expected to never have a moment of peace from the second they stepped through the gate. But aside from some giant ferocious wolves, a colony of blood sucking bats, a patch of deceptively innocent man eating plants, vines that tried to pull them into the ground and strangle them, a colony of venomous spiders taller than the three of them, and a pack of horses with six legs that tried to stampede th
Bane of the Dragons Chapter 23: The High Knights Selection Exam (Part 5)
Sophia jerk herself upright when she realized she had almost fallen asleep again. She and the rest of her team were currently taking cover under the upraised roots of a large tree. Her eyes fell on her two unconscious teammates. She replaced the clothes on their foreheads with new ones she soaked with water from her canteen. Leon was still unconscious from magic exhaustion. Zain had somehow managed to get bit by a poisonous snake. His face was even paler than normal, contrary to the raging fever he had. She would let them rest for another hour in hopes that Leon would come around and help her with Zain. If not, she would use the earth magic to move them closer to the tower. However, she really hoped Leon woke up soon. She didn’t think she’d be able to handle it if they were attacked while she was the only one that could fight. She was weary from keeping watch all night. “Heh, up all night?” Sophia snatched up a dagger. How did people keep snea
Bane of the Dragons Chapter 24: The High Knights Selection Exam (Part 6)
Sophia spent the fourth day of the exam catching up on sleep. Leon and Zain had been seen to and the Healing Knight said they would both be fine, so Sophia finally allowed herself to relax. When she awoke, she found both boys seated at her bedside. Apparently Major Major Dylan had repeated her summary of what happened after the second day to them. Zain, even if it seemed somewhat grudging, thanked her for saving his life. Not that she thought he would have died from that snake bite, just suffered a lot of pain until it was properly treated. Leon had congratulated her on winning the fight against the team of Knights and even robbing them of their weapons. “How exactly did you manage to take on those three Knights all by yourself, Soph?” was Leon’s first question, which he added quickly, “and what the hell happened to your hair?” Sophia subconsciously raised her hand and ran her fingers across her short hair. “I had to cut it because it got tangled in some bram
Bane of the Dragons Chapter 25: The High Knights Selection Exam (Part 7)
Sophia grinned happily when the proctor announced her as the winner. Just by looking at the watching crowd, she could tell that only her three mentors believed her capable of winning. Everyone else thought the poor little brown haired girl was going to be crushed by one of the strongest Knight left in this competition. But she had shown them. She went to the upper level to watch the rest of the preliminary matches with her team, quite glad she had gone first. Now she wouldn’t have to wait and bite her nails worrying about who she was going to be paired up with. The brunette reached her teammates. Leon tackled her in a bear hug and spun her around in circles, yelling at the top of his lungs. Major Dylan rescued her, setting her on her feet. He ruffled her hair and gave her his signature close-eyed smile that said he was proud of her. Even Zain, still mad that she had finished the second exam for him, awarded her a small smile. Sophia leaned against the railing
Bane of the Dragons Chapter 26: The High Knights Selection Exam (Part 7)
Sophia knew she had a lot of work ahead of her as she prepared for the final part of the High Knights selection exam. She needed to learn more long range magic, increase her magic reserves, and keep up her training in illusionary magic and hand to hand combat. She was waiting on the platform for Major Dylan along with Leon and Zain. She still couldn’t believe all of Team Dylan had made it to the finals. Just thinking about the tournament made Sophia anxious. Leon and Zain would be fighting each other in the first round, and the intensity of their rival made her worry. One of them would have to lose, and the loser would probably be bitter. Or at least Zain would be if he was one to lose. It also made her wonder what Major Dylan would do about their training. There was no way he could train both Leon and Zain, and it would be completely unfair for him to pick one over the other. She briefly thought that he would train her, so as to not favor one boy over the other, but
Bane of the Dragons Chapter 27: The High Knights Selection Exam (Part 8)
The ten finalists of the High Knight selection exams stood in a line behind the examiner. Sophia was between her two teammates, Leon on her left and Zain on her right. Behind each contender was their sensei. Aside from the teams she didn’t know, which had one mentor between the three of them, and Asher Jean who stood between Jackson and Finn, each Knight had their own. All of Sophia’s mentors had agreed that Major Dylan should be the one to stand with her on this day. Major Laina stood behind the examiners, Leon’s uncle was behind him and Zain’s older brother accompanied him. “Thanks everyone for coming to the third and last part of the High Knights selection exam! We will now start the main tournament matches between the ten participants that made it through the preliminaries,” the Head of the Knights Association welcomed. He acknowledged the presence of the High Knights and the King’s family. Sophia thought they were nothing special. They looked like just t
Bane of the Dragons Chapter 28: The Revelation of the Grand Healer (Part 1)
Sophia had to restrain herself from biting her nails as cerulean blue eyes clashed with dark onyx eyes. Leon extended his right arm, hand clenched in a fist; Zain mimicked him. And then they bumped fists. That was when Sophia let out a sigh of relief. This was just going to be another spar between them. A match between rivals. The brunette relaxed her posture and got ready to enjoy the fourth match, wondering who would come out on top this time. The two of them had fought so many times, but the record of wins and losses was pretty even. Zain was faster than Leon. He had a better aim and could strategize, which Leon seemed incapable of. Leon, however, had numbers on his side, along with his creativity, ability to think on the fly, and his pure stubbornness. Sophia had no way of predicting who would win this fight. Her teammates put on an impressive display. Zain’s control of fire magic had gotten even better, and he had shown off some basic lightning based magics as w
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Bane of the Dragons Endnotes
Hello, everyone! This is XSkylar19. It has been a very interesting ride for me while writing Bane of the Dragons because (fun fact) this was my very first dragon genre. I know some of you probably disliked how everything turned out or how fastpaced everything happened but know that this was intentional as I couldn't drag the story on. Anyway, while this book becomes the first book for dragon genre, it certainly wasn't my first book in the fantasy genre. The Dance of Fates: Bellatrix was my first fantasy book and I had finished it last year, 2020 so if you can go over my profile, you will find its completed version. I also have a Patreon account, you can find my name "Yeirah de Dieu" and receive trivia, character reveals and bonus chapters for all my books, including "The Dance of Fates" and "Bane of the Dragons". Hopefully, I can write more dragon genre and in time, become familiar with this trope. Until then, thank you for you support
Bane of the Dragons Chapter 44: The Bane of the Dragons
The two men separated and slid to a stop in the dirt. Jackson gaveElijah a wicked grin. "Why don't you destroy me with your true power, Elijah Trueblade, or am I too strong for you?" Elijah exhaled. Jackson Evans’ abilities was obviously improved exponentially over the years as a Knight, but his confidence bordered onarrogance. This Knight failed to understand the severity of the plan Elijah had chosen because of the brainwash the Royal palace did to him.He opened his mouth to voice his thoughts but paused when he felt that familiar pulse of magic. She has returned. Jackson's gaze turned to see Sophia burst out of the bushes, determination written on her face. She didn't stop to talk, but ran to Elijah, performing hand signs as she went. She slammed her hands against Elijah's chest and searched, just like she had when returning him to human form but hoping her hands against his skinwould aid her. "Just what are you doi
Bane of the Dragons Chapter 43: The Sacrifice
If the first and second times are coincidences, and the third is a conspiracy, what the hell was it when she encountered another enemy on sight? How does one person cross paths with more and more danger within the Forbidden Forest? Sophia decided she must have a radar detection system that only picked up the word "danger". That or she was a magnet for insanity. Even without Gaea's encouragement, she had no trouble finding herself in confrontations with traitors. Sophia thought she ought to be grateful that she was too busy swinging her massive sword against two very familiar spandex-uniformed men to realize that the brown haired Knight who was probably their target was present. Her invisibility did not last long. A battle cry was heard behind her before a crash nearly blasted Sophia from her hiding place. Sophia whirled around, uttering a quick thanks to Jennifer for having her back. Then she saw Evelyn looking in their direction. In t
Bane of the Dragons Chapter 42: The King of the Dragons
Sophia stopped when she heard the sounds of battle begin. Her heart pounded a mile a minute and her hands shook with adrenaline. Jackson was one of the strongest Knights in the Knight Association. He was not just a High Knight for no reason, which meant both were strong opponents for each other. It was a lot take in at once, but she should be used to outrageous surprises. Sophia shook her head to rid her mind of those thoughts. The question was, what should she do? No one would believe her story of magic, a dragon, and two men who were beyond comprehension. “Sophia!” she heard Caiden’s voice calling out to her. She looked on and saw Caiden, Jennifer and Zac running towards her. “Guys, what are you—” She heard it before she actually heard Jennifer shout. “DRAGONS!” The roar followed and it bursts through the huge trees, knocking down huge trunks not even the earth magic could take down. A large dragon appeared before them. The t
Bane of the Dragons Chapter 41: The Traitor
Elijah stared at Sophia as she put a hand on her right chest, his dark eyes glistening despite keeping his emotions in check. She slowly stood and unzipped her top blouse. Elijah opened his mouth to ask what she was doing but when she ripped the right collar of her shirt to the side, he couldn’t let any word out of his mouth. A large scar was etched just above her breast, some parts of it were covered by her bralette, but a large part of the scar was still visible. Images of his weapon embedded into her heart flooded her mind and he looked away. “Is… Is this why I got the scar?” Elijah looked back at her. Sophia dropped her hands to her side and his dark eyes caught her brown ones. “Yes.” Sophia dropped to her knees on the fake ground as she stared at Elijah’s feet. When she asked her mother about the scar, her mother would say this was done by one of the dragon’s talons. She never heard any of her parents say she was not their true daughter. Did they
Bane of the Dragons Chapter 40: The Long Lost Love
IT WAS a beautiful day, with birds chirping in the forest trees as they trekked the jungle. Huge trees surrounded them and the sun was barely peeking through the green leaves that shaded them from its heat. The air was colder than outside the Forbidden Forest.Sophia stopped in front of a cave’s mouth, looking up at its high roof before she turned around. Behind her stood Caiden, Zac, and Jennifer. The three nodded at her, telling her that they will be with her until the end.She took a deep breath before she turned back and gazed at the dark inner part of the cave. She’s back…Elijah…She began to walk further into the cave. Somehow, despite being away for several months, the cave’s pathway was still familiar to her. The tunnel was still the same dark tunnel she took before and as she emerged into the other side, her body felt the familiar heat that came from its source. She glanced at the part where the lake was still the
Bane of the Dragons Chapter 39: Confession (Part 2)
"What do you mean by that?" Caiden asked. Sophia shook her head. “It was just a thought that bothered me for a long time.” “You mean when you came back.” She nodded and took a deep breath. “Look, there’s something I wanted to tell you. But I don’t want you to tell anybody.” Caiden furrowed his eyebrows as he stepped towards her. “If it involves a life threatening secret then I can’t promise that.” When Sophia was going to protest, he waved his hand and leaned against the banister. “Your life is more valuable than any secret you have, Soph. You can’t expect any of us to leave you alone. So if you are going to tell me what’s in your mind,” he turned to her with a serious expression, “you have to trust me that I will stand with you.” Sophia bit her lip again as she blinked her eyes numerous times, preventing the tears that are threatening to fall. She sniffed and wiped her unshed tears before she took a deep breath. “When you, Zac, and Jennifer l
Bane of the Dragons Chapter 38: Confession
Sophia sat at the dinner table next to Caiden. Normally, she had no problems eating with the Mournflames. However, tonight each one of them was fidgeting. While typical for Altea, the woman was incapable of staying still, displays of nervousness and unease were unheard for Caiden and Andre. It made her uncomfortable and she wanted nothing more than to flee to her room and meditate for a couple more hours. Altea spoke first. “Sophia dear, you know Andre and I consider you to be our own daughter. I’ve always wanted one.” Sophia nodded, uncertain where Caiden’s mother was going with this daughter talk. It made Sophia wonder why she had agreed to marry someone as lazy as Andre who was just as bad if not worse than Caiden. “Well, Andre and I have been discussing, Caiden too, it was his idea,” she added as her son cleared his throat pointedly, “we would like to make it official.” The brunette looked at each Mournflame in turn. Even though she had heard what
Bane of the Dragons Chapter 37: Missions
Life took on a pattern. She was training day in and day out all day every day, except for when she went on missions. The majority of her missions were with Jackson and Caiden, but about ten percent of them occurred with other High Knights and sometimes from the Palace Knights. The only thing odd about her new routine was her missions with Caiden and Jackson. High Knight teams were fixed like amateur Knight teams. Members for a mission were decided on what skills were needed to complete. Often times you found yourself working with someone you don’t know. But that wasn’t the case with Sophia, Jackson, and Caiden. Ninety percent of their missions were done together. Her training with Helena had increased by an insane degree. She was learning how to think on her feet and could successfully avoid most of her supervisor’s attacks. And just when she thought she had reached the end and it couldn’t get any harder, Helena increased the power behind her attacks, her speed, and
