The Black Hellblade

Chapter 1: A Fleeting Dream

Harsh winter winds blew freezing powder against the Nightblade Temple of the Serpent. In the temple's courtyard, Trainees shivered. The young men and women stood shoulder to shoulder in thick snow up to their knees. They were bundled in fur cloaks and hoods, and their lightweight leather armor stuck uncomfortably to their bodies with nervous sweat and sleet. Cold cut the trainees to the bone, and the enormous and twisting stone walls of the Temple of the Serpent did little to keep the weather out from the training grounds.As the Trainees huffed bitter air and watched their jagged breaths turn to mist in front of them, their leader, Master Titanoboa, trudged shirtless through the tall snow. Both of his muscular arms were covered with tattoos of large blacks snakes that spanned from the tops of his shoulders down to the bottom of his hands, where the snakes' mouths opened wide bearing a set of fangs by each of Titanoboa's palms. His braided brown beard fell to his chest, and he carried...