The Eyes of Fate (Currently in Rewrite)

Fire and Pain

Sentinel

The Church of the Guarded Heaven Training Grounds

Oklahoma, USA

December 6th, 2019

The crowd of Knight of Justice trainees began to from a line as people left their seats in the pews. There was a clear difference between those who wanted to cut Stellan and those who didn't. Wist and Isaac were the first two in line, followed by the other men who had been leaning against the walls, who Sentinel gathered must have already been Knights. Several of the trainees eagerly jumped into line behind them, while others crept to the back of line, looking doubtful.

Father nodded at Wist, offering his knife. Wist shook his head and gleefully reached behind him, pulling out a Ka-Bar. The knife looked like it had been seldom used but poorly cared for, with several chips and nicks on an otherwise shiny and new-looking blade. He held the blade in the flames until it started smoking, then pulled it out and sliced along Stellan's right bicep, cutting deep and tracing along the edge of the muscle. When Stellan didn't make a noise, Wist stepped back to look at him, still grinning victoriously.

Stellan spit in his face.

With a roar, Wist raised the knife, clearly planning on stabbing Stellan.

"Wist!" Father roared, bringing the agent to a stop and gluing all eyes to him. "You have made your point. Do not fall for a demon's temptations just because it wears the mask of someone you know."

Wist glared at Stellan before sheathing his knife and moving off to the side. Isaac stepped up next to Father and took the offered knife before plunging it into the coals. He ignored that Stellan was glaring daggers at him, instead looking back at the other Knights and trainees with a wide smile. When he pulled the knife out and showed the red-hot blade to the crowd, the Knights cheered. He drug the knife across Stellan's thigh, slicing through his pants and deep into the meat of his leg. Stellan let out a hiss, but otherwise remained stoic.

"Your friend is pretty tough," Professor said into Sentinel's ear again. "How long do you think he will hold out before he's begging for mercy?"

"I won't beg." Stellan spoke for the first time, turning to look at Professor. His eyes still showed defiance, even as the next person slid the knife into the coals. "No point in begging for something that I know I won't get."

"Good advice, agent," Professor said as Stellan was approached again. "I think I will keep that in mind."

"Yeah, you will." Stellan smiled at him as the blade was drug across his chest. "Because when the others get here, you won't be getting any mercy from them either."

Sentinel felt Professor tense, just for a second, and couldn't help but chuckle to himself. The man was scared, and he should be. The moment of lightheartedness quickly passed, though, as the next person approached Stellan.

Stellan sat through the rest of the Knights cutting him without saying a word. His cuts oozed blood as he sat there, tense but silent, while the blade touched his stomach, both arms, and one knee. It wasn't until the first of the trainees, a younger woman who suddenly looked a lot less gung-ho than she did in line, that he spoke.

"You know what you're doing, right?" Stellan asked, staring into her eyes. "You're taking part in the murder of an innocent man. It'll stain you soul and haunt your dreams for the rest of your life."

The trainee's eyes got cloudy for a split second before they hardened with resolve. She drug the blade across his unwounded thigh, cutting his pants but only leaving a thin burn on him. Father stepped over to examine the wound and shook his head.