When The Sky Bleeds ✔️

Chapter 15

As the days stretched on, the weather turned warmer, bearing down on us and mirroring the growing stress among the recruits. The Hunters and Crusaders had yet to return from their mission, a grueling trek on foot that left us all anxious for their safe return. Meanwhile, the second trial loomed ever closer. For many of us, this meant being confined to training with Master Aloysius. Every day, I prayed for my dormant abilities to awaken, hoping for alternate means of defense beyond my limited training. Master Aloysius finally revealed that the upcoming trial would be our first proper battle against demons, sending a wave of nausea through my gut.

We would be thrust into the heart of nature, forced to hunt down these creatures for days on end. It was a daunting prospect, one that made me question whether I was truly cut out for this life as a Hunter.

Master Aloysius had us up at dawn, the sun barely cresting over the horizon as he led us out of the barracks and into the surrounding wilderness in preparation for the second trial.

Each of us had been bestowed with a watch from the engineering faction, a sleek and futuristic device that clung to our wrists like an unbreakable bond. Once activated, it became a permanent fixture, unable to be removed until we returned from the mission. As we stepped out beyond the base's safety borders, we were back in the material world.

With a simple press of a button on the watch, we would enter through the veil into the spiritual world, becoming invisible to ordinary people and vulnerable to the touch of demons. The use of this button for protection against demonic attacks was strictly prohibited and closely monitored by the Council. We were only allowed to lower the veil when embarking on a journey to seek out demons. Any other use was strictly prohibited. Only in rare and dire circumstances were we given permission to tamper with the boundary between worlds.

The humid morning air was a harsh reminder of the unyielding nature waiting to swallow us whole. On that first day, we learned more than any session that the training ground could have ever taught us. We learned to read signs of demons in the wild, traces of their hellfire scorched into the earth, or claw marks gouged into tree bark. We learned to move silently, blend into shadows, and strike when least expected. But most importantly, we learned to understand our own fears. Night fell quickly. Master Aloysius gathered us around a small fire to debrief. His eyes held a strange glint under the fire's wavering glow, vanity, determination, or some mysterious cocktail of both; I couldn't tell. "The most dangerous adversary is not the demon you face," he began in his low, gravelly voice, staring intently into each pair of eyes before him. "But your own mind succumbing to fear."

I looked around the fire with a burning envy in my eyes. A few other recruits had gained their abilities and their guardians. Nala, whose bed sat on the left side of mine in the dorm, had developed the uncanny ability to conjure up spheres. Her magnificent falcon, Aragorn, boasted an array of rich brown and white feathers. His colors perfectly complimented Nala'swarm mixed complexion and her wild, curly brown locks. Aragorn was a formidable creature, large enough to carry off a human if desired. Thomas, unfortunately, had also received a guardian, a blue-eyed cheetah named Jabari. I could only hope that this fierce predator could communicate some sense to him. Even Declan, with his unrivaled skills as a technopath who could bend and control machines to his will, had been paired with a guardian - a small but mighty mouse named Germaine. At first unhappy with his diminutive companion, Declan soon discovered Germaine's true worth as they quickly became an inseparable team in the engineering faction.

Beneath the canvas of a star-studded sky, I watched some of my fellow recruits. Nala, her eyes reflecting the rippling glow of the fire as she stared at Aragorn perched on a nearby boulder. Thomas was locked in some silent communion with Jabari, whose sleek coat glistened in the half-light. Lily leaned against Indra, who tentatively licked her massive paws. I yearned for my dormant abilities to awaken, to be given a partner to guide me through this treacherous world we were training to navigate.