Dreadlords Substitute Teacher

[Raphael the Red]

This had to be the dumbest fucking thing that the asshats at the top had ever made him do. He was a weapon of war that had single-handedly wiped out entire legions. So obviously, what was the best use of his time? Apparently, babysitting a bunch of children that were all squishy ever since the change in government. All because some proctor had spent too much time in the brothels. Well, he wasn't sure about that last part, but he was just going to assume that.

Raphael had nearly decapitated the messenger when he was told about this, but then he was promised some free reign to go have some 'fun' if he completed this assignment. All he had to do was train the initiates for the day. The only rule they gave him was that he was not allowed to kill any of them. That was fine. He would just get them to kill each other. That was how he had been trained and he had turned out perfectly fine.

Raphael was lounging underneath a tree in the large courtyard, enjoying the shade. He opened one of his eyes to get a look at all the students standing in front of him. Yep, just as he thought, a bunch of fodder by the looks of them.

"Alright, listen here shit stains. Today, you are going to be fighting each other. Pick out someone you really don't like, partner up, and then try to bash their skulls in. Get it? Got it? Good. Get moving!"

 

[Chasmine]

Lingering toward the back as she usually did when it came to sparring lessons, Chasmine surveyed the others Initiates before her with a pale gaze as their newest Instructor issued orders for the session.

Fighting? Each other? She could pass, marginally, in weapons sparring sessions now with the help of Proctor Basmarc's instruction, but Chasmine Grey wasn't a fighter. She could hardly throw a punch, let alone take one.

Oh dear.

 

[Elias]

What was this nonsense?

Where was Pallatrix? Elias had come fully prepared for one of the old Proctor's intense, structured training sessions but instead had to deal with this on-the-fly instruction? As he stood cross-armed, jaw tightly set, the Lordling set his beady eyes on the fill-in and questioned the reasoning behind his placement.

The air around Elias grew hot and heavy, and to stave his rising temper, began to look around for his usual partners as the other Initiates mingled to form pairs.

No Edric.

No Ralene.

Noel had been noticeably absent recently. Did she keel over and die on some mission?

And where was Bull? Now was good a time as any to split his skull open.

And then he settled on Chasmine, frowned, and approached the weakling. If there was no challenge to be had, then he'd take the easy way out.

"Grey," Elias snapped to her as he stomped to a standstill before her, looming over the girl, "You're with me."

 

[Delaney Lennox]

Delaney stood near Chasmine as she usually did in this class and every other one they had together. There were two people in this Academy that Delaney protected and Chasmine was one of them. They two girls had bonded early on with through their weird connection to the the otherworldly and she liked her. Chasmine and Kristen were her little birds and she would kill anyone who wished to do them harm.

Right now, it seemed like this Dreadlord substitute was going to be her target. She was all for beating the shit out of people but she was not going to let people beat the shit out of Chas. That was a big ol' nope.

Elias Sirl stomped his way to stand in front of Chas and herself. His demand that she was going to fight him cause Delaney to step forward in front of the smaller Initiate.

"Absolutely not, Elias. You need to turn yourself around and find someone closer to your size. Chasmine is not it today," Delaney was practically growling the words at Elias even as her shadows started to coalesce around her legs.

 

[Raphael the Red]

"What's all the whining about? I said pick your partners."

Raphael slowly brought himself to his feet as he casually made his way over to the three. His large stature put him clearly above the rest of them. He turned his gaze onto each of them before settling on Delaney.

"What seems to be the problem? I believe he got to the little one first."

Raphael pointed out with a grin on his face. True there was a large mismatch in size, but that made for the most fun of battles.

Around them, others were already starting to join together, but it was clear that most of the groups formed were friends and not enemies as Raphael had suggested.

Delaney Lennox Elias Chasmine

 

[Kristen Pirian]

Kristen knew what she had to do.

"I am your size, Elias," she said grimly from behind the young lord of House Sirl. There were bags under her eyes, as if she had not been sleeping well the past few days. "I shall fight you."

Delaney wasn't going to like that either, Kristen would warrant. But it wasn't up to her. The Dreadlord who had replaced the Proctor for this day of training had given his instruction. Simple, curt. There was no running from it, no escaping it, not even for poor Chasmine.

But this was the essence of what it was to be a Dreadlord: to fight. Time and time again Kristen's nerves had gotten the better of her, made her an utter mockery of the title she was struggling to achieve. She was far from worthy of it. And the only way to become worthy, to earn the privilege of being called Dreadlord, to harness the power she so desired and to cast off the weakness that had seen her kidnapped was to face her fears. Endure unbelievable pain and hardship. Suffer the worst of it. And prevail.

There was a time in which Kristen would have paled before the intimidating sight of Elias.

But, then again, there was also a time in which Kristen was absolutely afraid of Edric. Not anymore.

"What say you, scion of Sirl?"

Elias Raphael the Red Delaney Lennox Chasmine

 

[Raphael the Red]

Raphael looked around at all of them before taking one last glance at Elias. "Wow, you really are hated. I'm impressed."

The large dreadlord acted like he was deep in thought but quickly looked back at them. "Alright, so here is the plan. The 'scion of Sirl' is going to fight the small one. Why? Because I want to see it. While they are doing that, the lady that speaks as she belongs in the theater can fight the girl that has only discovered the color black. Then, the winner of those two fights can fight each other. Deal? Great. This is perfect."

Raphael smiled with glee knowing that he had solved this dilemma perfectly. He turned to head back to his nice shaded spot under the tree.

"Oh and remember!" He called out to the entire class. "The more blood, the better."

Elias Delaney Lennox Kristen Pirian Chasmine

 

[Elias]

Elias' patience was shorter than daylight in winter. He'd been just a breath away from flying off the handle and taking on all of the Initiates in the yard was it not for the stand-in's nonchalant intervention.

Now flecked by splendorous slivers of amber, the Lordling's dark eyes switched between Lennox and Pirian, then settled on Chasmine.

"C'mon, then, runt," he barked, grabbed the frail girl by the collar of her shirt, and shoved her ahead. A push in her back motivated her to hurry up.

Having left the others behind, Elias took a heavy breath.

"I was just going to practice form with you, but I'm thinking otherwise now."

Suddenly, he reached out and grabbed her shoulder, "Stop." And he glanced over his own, back at Raphael's favored tree, where the man in question settled back into a restful position.

"Do you remember the Bastard's Play?" Mars Pallatrix was an expert in many schools of swordsmanship. Despite the rigorous nature of his tutelage, Elias enjoyed the old Proctor's lessons for the knowledge he imparted to the Initiates. "I'll come at you strong. Six steps in, circle behind me, and duck."

Elias let go of Chasmine's shoulder and drew his sword after four steps back. It was up to the girl whether or not she remained unscathed. She'd done the drills like the rest of them, but if she'd retained the knowledge in that scattered brain of hers or not wasn't a concern of Elias'.

"Are you ready?"

 

[Chasmine]

Chasmine had, during all of this, shrunk inwards on herself with her arms hugged around her middle. It wasn't quite shame or embarrassment that reached her face, but her usual look of wonder had vanished for something a bit more...haunted. She stopped listening once the insults started flying, applying a silent mantra in her mind to keep the negativity at bay, lest she relapse into another bought of being trapped within the spirit realm and away from her body.

Wasn't until Elias had roughly grabbed her by the shoulder to drag her off that she even realized something was happening, and she stumbled gracelessly before him with wide eyes and pale cheeks, only to rather suddenly find herself yanked back into a stop.

Her knees nearly gave out beneath her from the overwhelming wave of concern.

She stared at him with a faint frown, trying to remember the words of Protcor Basmarc about not thinking of a foe as a challenge against the odds, but merely a puzzle of strategy. Every enemy had a weakness. Every squishy body could be made to bleed.

The Bastard's Play. Chasmine blinked thoughtfully and nodded. Mars may have given up on her, but she still paid attention in class and sparring sessions. By the time Elias had walked back several paces, Chas had quietly drawn her own sword and carefully moved into a ready position. Was she ready? No.

"Yes," she peeped, the look of harrowing trepidation fixed upon her face.

Elias was upon her with the ferocity of an attack dog on an unsuspecting intruder. She jumped at the speed with which he moved and flinched at the strength of his swings - even if he was substantially holding back for her, she did not often spar other people for how easily overcome she usually was. To her credit ... ish, Chasmine managed a block for each swing and a parry for good measure. Three, four, five. Was it five? Or six? Distracted, she yipped as his blade sliced right past her face, cutting her cheek open in the process, and twisted away from him. Her feet made the nimble circuit around his side but instead of ducking, she stumbled, and landed on her knees with a hand over her cut cheek and her sword held over her head to haplessly block at something.

 

[Delaney Lennox]

Everything happened to fast. Kristen offered to fight Elias, Raphael decided that Elias would fight Chasmine and she would fit Kristen, and then the former went off to start.

Delaney looked at Kristen and then scowled at Raphael as her tendrils started to crawl up her legs towards her arms.

Her voice was flat as she spoke to Raphael. A single word.

"No."

Kristen Pirian Raphael the Red

 

[Elias]

As Elias bore down on Chasmine with measured fury, his grace of gold coursed through every sinew of muscle and was carried by every vessel of blood and reached the very tips of his fingers and toes. By the fourth step, Elias' empty off-hand sparked with a golden flame. On the fifth, he cocked his arm back, and a shaft of starfire erupted from his palm, swirling with frenzy. And finally, with the sixth, Elias threw the spear where Chasmine had stood. The blazing spear roared past the girl as she fell to her knees, where had she been half a breath slower, the slight graze against her would have amounted to something far worse.

"No," Delaney said to Raphael.

And immediately after, the spear struck the tree above the substitute Proctor's head, splintering wood into hundreds of tiny smoldering pieces that flew all across the courtyard.

 

[Kristen Pirian]

"Too bad."

And Kristen called forth her Withering Chains, the chains bursting up from the ground around Delaney and raising up in like the myriad heads of a hydra. Then they lashed in, seeking to bind her best friend in their debilitating grasp. Not chains of true earthly metal, with a weight that bound and a solidness that restricted, no, not this precisely; the true effect of the Withering Chains came from the sapping of strength, the imposition of infirmity brought on by old age.

Did Kristen want to fight Delaney? No. But the order had been given, the test set before them, and what reticence she had against it she did not let seep into her tired expression. Kristen couldn't back down—she wouldn't let herself back down. A great many failings she had accrued in her short time at the Academy, but the worst of all had not happened on Academy grounds nor on some mission: it had been the utter embarrassment she had made of herself in front of Dreadlord Zana.

It was the most pathetic she had ever felt. And, in the wake of it, she had made a promise to herself.

Here and now, a fulfillment of it. One of many, for in the promise's keeping there would be a continuous challenge to hold true to it.

Kristen drew her mace without hesitation. Advanced on Delaney, whether or not she'd been grasped by the Withering Chains, and swung to strike her squarely in the liver, a weakpoint which a firm blow would cause for her to seize up with unbearable pain.

Delaney Lennox Raphael the Red

 

[Raphael the Red]

Raphael had made it back to his comfortable little spot beneath the tree. He thought he heard one of the bugs talking, something about a no, but that probably wasn't about him. He looked over the students for the briefest before closing his eyes and listening to the ringing of steel.

That lovely sound was interrupted by a woosh! and the next thing he knew he felt the heat, felt the prick of small projectiles poking his skin, and then his shade was gone.

Raphael slowly opened his eyes and sighed as he stood back up to his height. All the projectiles that he pierced his skin were being pushed out of his body and the small wounds were closing up. More importantly, the tree was gone. By now, many of the other groups had stopped to see the damage.

He turned his gaze onto Elias and then to Delaney, maybe the bug had been talking to him.

"Alright, everyone stop! No need to learn a lesson that is a little too advanced for some of you." He looked pointedly at Elias and Delaney.

"Everyone gather around." He said the order with enough force to make it clear to everyone that there was no room for disobedience, especially the girl who looked like she was about to attempt to make tomato soup out of her friend. He liked that.

Elias Delaney Lennox Chasmine Kristen Pirian

 

[Kristen Pirian]

Kristen's mace froze in mid-swing, the head of the weapon just shy of battering into Delaney's side. Her Withering Chains slithered away, snaking back into the ground wherein they promptly vanished.

A brief flash of irritation, actual irritation bordering on outright anger, that the Dreadlord had ordered them to stop right as they had begun.

And then a look of a very mild apology down to Delaney. Apology, but not regret nor guilt. Surely she would understand, Delaney would, that there was nothing personal about it, no vendetta to fulfill nor true ill-wishing on Kristen's part. It was merely the stark and cold business to which the two of them were embroiled—one of the few times Kristen had come close to experiencing the Old Way. Hence that look of irritation, of anger. She was never going to improve in the manner which was necessary if things continued on being so...

Darling. Yes. Darling. That was a good word for it.

Kristen turned, mace in hand, and walked over to Raphael, gathering around him as instructed. The lids of her eyes were half-closed, and this along with the dark bags gave lent her face a somewhat tired look.

Yet her gaze was anything but.

Raphael the Red Elias Delaney Lennox Chasmine

 

[Raphael the Red]

"Alright, so it has come to my attention that there is way too much friendship and kindness in the surrounding area. I did not realize the Academy had fallen to such a level. Thankfully, I am here to provide a helpful hand."

Raphel turned his gaze to Chasmine with a smile. "You will be fighting with me now since your other partner seems to be more interested in theater."

He then turned his gaze onto Delaney. "I want you all to realize that what I am doing is for your own good. Those of you that think you can protect your smaller friends." He motioned to Chasmine.

"Are doing them a disservice. They need a chance to grow and be strong, or they will not be able to protect themselves when you are not there...The rest of you go back to fighting, but if I think anyone is holding back then you can fight me next."

He looked to Elias and Delaney. " You two can watch." He went to the wall towards an open area and beckoned for Chasmine to follow, but he stopped and looked at Kristen. "Oh, I guess that means you too princess. Watch closely. You might learn something.

Elias Delaney Lennox Chasmine Kristen Pirian

 

[Delaney Lennox]

Delaney had stood there and let Kristen’s Withering Chains bind her. She did not struggle. She simply stared at Kristen with a small frown on her face. She would not hurt her. It was a vow she had made and it was a vow she would never break. Well…it was a vow she would not break until the shadows took over completely and eventually forced her to hurt her best friend. Delaney would be long gone by then hopefully. Kristen would be safe from her.

Delaney continued to stare at her friend as she advanced with the mace. It was fine. Kristen would take the victory, Delaney would heal, Delaney would fall a little more into the darkness.

"Alright, everyone stop!”

The weapon froze and Delaney looked down to see that it had been way to close for comfort. She saw Kristen’s anger and then the apology written across her face. Delaney said nothing as the Withering Chains let her go.

She said nothing as she walked over to where Raphael stood. Her arms crossed across her chest as she glared at the Dreadlord. She would like to fight him and show him that she was not soft. That could wait.

Raphael the Red Elias Chasmine Kristen Pirian

 

[Chasmine]

Frozen on the spot not necessarily out of fear, but out of concern of what to do next, Chasmine's eyes flickered across spaces before her view while her mind raced. Elias had only asked her to do this much - what should she do now? There was a flaming javelin flying through the air and nearby Kristen was making some major moves against Delaney. It all felt so wrong even when it was completely normal for their day to day lives at the Academy.

Who was this man?

"Alright, everyone stop! No need to learn a lesson that is a little too advanced for some of you."

"Everyone gather around."

Pale lips parting to let the air free from her lungs, Chas carefully pushed herself up from the ground. The slash across her face bled freely and deep scarlet slowly dribbled its way down her cheek and neck, pooling in the material of her grey shirt. It hurt, but she'd become rather accustomed to pain over the years and it did not hurt enough to keep her from following direct orders. Sword still in hand, she quietly made her way over and stood in her usual place toward the back where she hoped against hope that he would have forgotten about her by now.

"You will be fighting with me now since your other partner seems to be more interested in theater."

He was looking right at her and the other Initiates standing in her way parted to give Raphael a clean line of sight. Chasmine did not return his smile and instead stood there in terribly uncomfortable silence. He was speaking about her, using her as an example of what not to do. The buzzing sound of his voice droned in through her ears and over the portion of her mind where she kept the dark memories securely locked away.

Chas visibly twitched, distant gaze refocusing as he gestured at her to follow. If it were at all possible, the pale Initiate grew even paler. She did as told and followed at distance, stopping well enough away to be out of his reach and range of blade, though she had no idea what his powers of magic enabled him to do.

"Will I require my sword, Sir?" the question was a quiet one.

 

[Elias]

With Mars Pallatrix's unexpected absence and the events unfolding due to the loosely structured "lesson," Elias' afternoon was going to waste.

When called, the Lordling hadn't moved a step from his spot. Only after Chasmine obliged Raphael and stepped forward did he move next to Delaney and Kristen.

Everyone in the yard shared a singular thought: they were about to witness a bloodbath.

"Who even is he?" Subtlety finding itself defenestrated, Elias brashly commented to the two young women, "Pallatrix must have finally gone and keeled over and died if this was all they could gather for us! What a joke!"

Elias slapped Kristen on the back, "Right? Isn't this laughable?"

 

[Kristen Pirian]

It was good that Raphael selected Chasmine for his demonstration. He had spoken the naked truth, hadn't he? She needed it. She needed the chance to grow and be strong, and Delaney needed to back off. Chas needed the dawn of realization: to realize that she was pathetic and that it was only by some misbegotten miracle that she'd survived the old Academy and that she needed to change, and quick, or...

...she needed to realize that Edric had been right about her. Edric, of all people, the most yellow-bellied Initiate of them all. But his truth stood irrespective to his own dilapidated character, and in that Kristen would give him his due.

Poor Chasmine. Just like the Darling Daughter, wasn't she? Simply out of place.

Kristen rocked forward slightly when Elias clapped her on the back. She glanced over at him.

And said coolly, "Before the day is done, I will fight you."

Raphael the Red Chasmine Delaney Lennox Elias

 

[Elias]

"So you have learned something from this place! Even if it's just how to bark. Like a stray dog." Elias turned away from her, facing forward, the corners of his mouth quirking up in a wry smirk.

Well, wasn't that something! Kristen knew how to bare her fangs at her betters. Perhaps, somewhere along the pitiful line she called her life, something happened that had instilled her with superficial, inflated confidence. Just as well. Elias would have no qualms in reminding the young woman of the insurmountable precipice she faced.

"Good attitude—top marks, Pirian. I'll humor you, then. After this..." Unable to find a word to do the scene before them justice, Elias merely waved his hand at it, "...is over."

 

[Raphael the Red]

Raphael chuckled at the small girl and nodded. "Yes, I believe you will...Ready?"

Raphael's skin turned a shade of red as he increased his blood flow and his muscles strained as veins appeared over his body. A red sword appeared in his hand, but smaller than his preferred size.

He looked back at the other students to make sure they were watching, and once he was satisfied he turned back to Chasmine. When she held the sword out and seemed ready enough, he shot forward with incredible speed. His speed and strength were top-notch as he sent a flurry of combos at her.

Those who were quick on the uptake might recognize that he was copying the Bastard's Play, but increasing the speed and strength of the movements to the max. Each swing of his sword brought with it a strong gust of wind that students could feel.

However, if it would seem he was getting close to killing Chasmine then he would stop at the last moment.

Chasmine Elias Kristen Pirian Delaney Lennox

 

[Chasmine]

As ready as she would ever be. To her credit, she was no more terrified of fighting this man that she was of any other student or Proctor. At the end of the day, everyone was better than her and everyone stood a very high chance of winning in a duel against Chasmine Grey. Her only objective: stay alive.

Winning had never been one of her priorities.

Taking up her guarded stance, she needn't even blink before the stranger was upon her. Faster than Elias, stronger, too if only for the fact that Eli had held back for her. She knew the Bastard's Play well enough by now to block each strike, but every block produced an adrenalin-inducing shock that traveled the length of her sword and up her arms, into her core.

It knocked her off her stance, and by the final strike her old, refurbished sword shattered upon contact with his. The blade struck through and sliced deep into her flesh, sinking down to the bone of her leg.

Chas crumpled on the spot, "I yield!"

 

[Kristen Pirian]

I'll humor you, then. After this...is over.

"It won't be long," Kristen said.

And she was right. Of course she was. Everyone knew what was going to happen, and it did. Kristen did not expect her fight with Elias to go on for much longer, no. That as well was very true. But there was a key difference.

Kristen wanted it. And Chasmine did not. She pitied the girl, for she truly did not belong here. She never did. Chasmine had the gift of magic, but what good was it? Who could she possibly save? This was not a failing of her character, no. It was merely evidence that fate had been cruel and placed upon her a responsibility that she could not bear.

That was the difference. Will.

More changes had to come with the Republic. This had to happen. The old way had produced many powerful Dreadlords, made the Dreadlords as a whole the most formidable force of mages in the known world, but it was also a horribly inept system. The Academy of the Republic, of this new age, had to be made more exclusive. It had to keep the Chasmines and the Edrics and the Charons out. Everyone with the gift ought to have the choice, like Kristen had. The Academy shouldn't waste its time on those whose lot it was to be the protected, not the protectors; nor on the cowards, but instead lift up those who were brave of heart; nor on the demented, for they like Isbrand always fell to villainy or madness in the end.

The Academy should only be for those who were good enough for it. For those who earned the right to be there.

With what weight Kristen could possibly muster in the future, on part of House Pirian and through other political means, she would seen it done. This she resolved.

But that was a fight far in the future.

For now, it was her burden to witness this tragedy before her, and to know how perilously close she had come to being the very same.

Raphael the Red Elias Chasmine Delaney Lennox

 

[Elias]

The critiques Elias had of Kristen were numerous. At least she'd been correct, that the spar indeed won't be long. And it wasn't. But who would have guessed wrongly about that? Chasmine was not meant for this place. Those who had made a home of the Academy alongside her would all have said the same.

Yet she'd outlasted several of her betters. Some would attribute that to dumb luck, but Elias would counter that one needed some modicum of skill to capitalize on good fortune.

He also didn't know Chasmine well.

"Ooh," Elias winced and sucked air in through his teeth as Raphael's sword slashed cleanly through Chasmine's thigh, "That's a bad one."

 

[Raphael the Red]

Raphael pulled back with his sword and slammed the blade down, just next to the small girl's head. He had a look of disgust on his face.

"First, did you really think I wouldn't recognize the Bastard's Play? I went to the Academy too, ya dimwit."

He then spun around and focused his attention on the rest of the class. He raised his voice, but his look of disgust remained now focusing on them.

"First lesson. the main reason this girl lost. She gave up. When faced with overwhelming power normal people tend to give up. That is how the vast majority of soldiers get killed when facing Dreadlords...We are not normal people! We are disgusting and horrifying weapons of Vel Anir. We fight until we can't fight anymore. It doesn't have to be pretty, heroic, or even honorable. When you fight, even against all odds, I want to see you struggle. I want to see you claw and scratch your way forward. I want to see the look in your eye as you revert back to your most animalistic instincts!"

Raph stopped long enough to let his words sink in and to look over the group. Some would handle this speech well and others would still run. Those would be the ones that died first. He didn't care. His job was to make them into weapons. To forge goods swords, there was bound to be a few rejects.

"You may all stop when you are dead. Understood?!"

Chasmine Kristen Pirian Elias Delaney Lennox