Kill the Shadows

Chapter Two

Above: Katherine McNamara as Lorelai

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The Ceremony was starting, and I was nervous. There were only two people before me.

The city leader stood up.

"Today is a great and amazing day," he began, "Where young people come to learn their trade,"

It was the same speech every year. I almost knew it by heart, so I tuned out. Instead I watched the Dragon Riders.

There was a man and two women. They were dressed in practical clothes and they each wore a red cloak. They stood almost silently, though I could see them occasionally glancing at each other. Their dragons were behind the building, not in my line of sight. I tried not to feel disappointed.

You cannot be a Dragon Rider! I mentally yelled at myself.

I could feel the speech drawing to a close, so I focused on our leader.

"Now, the testers shall go into the building, and you all will go in, one at a time," the leader looked around, then back down at a paper, "We will begin in a few minutes,"

As he led the testers away, everyone started to shift in their seats. We were all nervous in a good way.

About five minutes later, the leader returned. "We will begin with Sophie Astern!"

A petite blonde girl stood up and smoothed out her lilac dress. She walked up the steps to the leader. He ushered her through a door.

I really wanted to know what was going on inside. I could hardly wait for my turn.

"Kevin Benson!" The boy next to me stood up and walked through the door.

I hated Kevin. He was a bully who went out of his way to harass everyone. I secretly hoped he got the worst job.

Time seemed to streatch out. What had taken about five minutes seemed to take an eternity.

Finally, "Lorelai Coleson!"

I stood up and hopes my legs weren't shaking too badly. I tried to look confident, but I am pretty sure that I failed.

I held my head high and tried to maintain eye contact with the leader. I saw his eyes widen, and then I smacked into the wall. I had missed the doorway by a few inches.

I looked away and quickly walked through the doorway.

•~•~•~•~•~•~

I didn't remember much if the tests. They were boring. Hold this, do that, throw this, find that. All I really remember is feeling dissapointed.

Finally, I was standing in front of the Dragon Riders. They all sat at a table. On the table was a cup and a knife. That was slightly suspicious. I wondered what the test was.

"Hello, Lorelai," the man stood up, "please, come forward."

I took a few steps forward.

The man indicated the goblet and knife, "This test is simple. You must cut your palm with this knife and let you blood drip into the goblet."

My eyes widened. "What?"

"It will be easy," he beckoned me forward.

I slowly walked up to the table. With shaking hands I picked up the dagger.

It had a red hilt with a circle on top. There were two dragon heads. The blade was long and silvery black.

I gripped it tightly, my knuckles turning white. I turned to the cup.

It was a simple grey goblet, adorned with the bones of a tiny dragon. With my free hand, I reached out and touched the bones. They felt real.

I moved my hand up so it hovered over the goblet. I set the knife edge against my skin. The blade was cold against my warm palm.

I hesitated, hoping they would stop me. They didn't.

I pulled the knife away. "I can't do this," I looked up at the man.

He looked down at me. "You have to."

I gulped and put the blade back on my palm. Closing my eyes, I slid the knife across my skin.

I could feel the sting. With a gasp, I opened my eyes and watched a stream of blood fall into the cup.

One of the women stood up and retrieved a cloth. She came over to me and cleaned my palm. She retrieved some bandages and wrapped up my hand.

She smiled. "Good job!"

The man was replacing the goblet and knife with an identical one. "You may leave now,"

The woman who had bandaged my hand led me to a door.

I thanked her and walked out the door into the sunlight, smiling.

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I absolutely hate writer's block!!
Sorry this chapter is super late. And short. I've been pretty busy.