Chapter 1

The sound of metal clanging against metal rang in my ears as I exchanged blows with a demon. People began to gather around the area, but left as soon as they found out that it wasn't normal people fighting. However, a few people stayed and shouted at us, trying to get us to stop. I paused for a moment as people continued to crowd around. It became quieter as the onlookers started getting wary of shouting while we watched them.

I looked at the gathering people and scowled at them. Dismissing it, I turned back just in time for the demon's fist to connect with my jaw. There was a crunching sound as the bone broke and blood poured from the new wound. I gasped at the pain and grabbed a knife out of my wrist sheath; my jaw would heal soon enough, hopefully. Turning back, I slashed at him, blood trailing from my mouth. He dodged the shot, but the blade sliced into his forearm, going deep enough to leave a scar on a human. He cursed and drew his own blade, slashing back at me. I danced back and lifted my knife to parry off another attack. Our blades locked and the sound of scratching metal became the only noise heard in the area.

Smiling, I jammed my knee into his stomach. When he doubled over in pain, I sent a burst of power at him with my mind. He went flying across the field and landed, slamming into the trunk of a tree before hitting the ground. I walked up to him and glared at him. Leave. I don't have time for this.

Without checking to see if he complied, I turned back towards the people who had decided to stay and looked around. The effect was immediate. People left and acted as if nothing had happened. I shook my head and followed them, leaving the demon on the ground.

Once the people had cleared out, I began to shadow-walk, a vampire skill that humans often referred to as teleporting. It was actually nothing like teleporting because you didn't just appear in another place. It really involved manipulating time, something that humans couldn't do. I stepped into a shadow and sunk into the third dimension of the time stream, that of the lesser immortals. When I stepped out again, I was in another area of the realm and appeared in a dimly lit room in the fourth dimension—the realm of the mortals.

Three people were gathered in the room, lounging on a bed and chairs. They glanced at me for a minute before looking away again.

"Where were you?" The speaker was a girl that looked to be around seventeen, though it was impossible to tell. Clothed in all black, she had the appearance of a vampire with her pale skin and ebony hair, but her eyes revealed what she really was. A stormy grey that changed from light to dark without end, her eyes were those of a death hunter, or more specifically a psyche. She raised her gaze slightly and waited for an answer, careful to keep her eyes averted, as they were the key to her soul binding skills.

"Taking a walk," I replied nonchalantly. The girl nodded and turned away, smiling. I sighed and sat down on the bed. It sank down underneath my weight, providing a nice cushion. "Jason, are you finished yet?"

Jason looked up from his homework and glared at me. "What do you think?" He had the same liking for black as his sister so he too was dressed in black, but his shirt was a deep red. His hair was black as well, but unlike his sister, his eyes were the dark red of a different kind of death hunter, a blood hunter. Turning back to his homework, he began writing as fast as he could.

I shook my head and looked at the others. "Is anybody else done? I want to find Phenyx."

"The so called savior? The guardian of light and the champion of good?"

"Yeah or at least something like that. Anyway, she's not doing her job. I found a demon on my walk."

"Really? She must be getting careless. Anyway, Alex and Dawn are done," Jason said, still not looking up from his homework, but gesturing towards his sister and the other member of the group with his other hand.

"I'm not going," Dawn said. "I haven't finished the project for history."

"Alex?"

He shook his head, his spiky brown hair getting messed up. Unlike the majority of the room, he was wearing blue jeans with a grey shirt. He had no particular liking for black since he was a lycanthrope, which wasn't exactly a darker being. It was something that couldn't be seen unless you looked into his different colored eyes, one blue and the other green. "Can't. I haven't finished the history project either." He lifted up the pile that was to become his project. "Sorry, Kristin."

"That's okay, whatever. I'll go some other day. Anyway, you guys are really slow. Need help?" Alex shook his head, along with Jason.

"I'm almost done," they said, almost in unison.

"Dawn?"

The girl nodded. "Sure. I hate history anyway. Who cares about the past?"

I sat down. "You'd be surprised how many people care."

We spent the majority of the night doing homework. Finally, we finished and went to bed, Jason and Alex going back to their own dorms. The rest of the night passed in a blur. It wasn't long before the next day came, bright and early.

Our alarm slammed on at 6:30 in the morning, waking us with the insufferable wailing that was supposed to be a soft buzz. Dawn groaned and jammed off the clock with her hand. We laid in bed for a while in silence, cramming in as much sleeping time as our schedule would allow. After what felt like a minute but was actually five minutes, I got out of bed, wondering why they made school so early. I walked over to Dawn and nudged her, still groggy.

"Get up. You do this every day. Is it that hard just to wake up?" I demanded, irritable myself.

She sat up and did her best to glare at me without causing any substantial damage. "Shut up and leave me alone. It's not my fault we have to get up so early, so stop being an idiot." Giving me one last scowl, she got up and trudged into the bathroom. I heard the shower turn on and the sound of the curtain being drawn. Sighing, I went to my drawer and pulled out a new pair of clothes. As I waited for Dawn to finish in the shower, I made my bed and organized my homework. I crammed my stuff into my backpack, trying to keep it in some kind of order, but failing to.

"Why don't you use your locker?" Dawn asked, as she exited the bathroom a few minutes later, watching me shove stuff into the black backpack. "It makes carrying things a lot easier. And plus, it makes your backpack a lot lighter too." She looked at me and then shook her head. "Never mind. I doubt the weight is of any matter to you anyway."

"You're one to talk." I made my way into the bathroom, rubbing my eyes. The warm water was soothing and I almost fell asleep again, but Dawn's voice penetrated through my mind before I could.

Hurry up. We're going to be late if you don't get a move on it. Her mind voice was dry from being tired. Giving up the chance to soak in the shower, I shut off the water and dressed quickly. As I left the bathroom, I dragged a comb through my black hair and watched as Dawn made her bed.

"Are you done yet?" she asked for no particular reason as she could see that I was obviously not done.

"Are you being stupid on purpose?" I asked back as I put my shoes on. I got my stuff and opened the door. "Okay, let's go."

Jason and Alex were already in the hallway, waiting. They looked at us with weary eyes and began down the hall. "What took so long? I know it takes longer for girls to get ready and all, but we were outside for nearly ten minutes," Alex complained as we followed them. He seemed about to fall asleep again. When we gave no answer, he sighed.

We made our way down the stairs and finally out of the building. The sun was just rising, but it bothered my eyes nonetheless. My flesh was beginning to feel uncomfortable under the rays of light as well. I squinted and gestured to the others. "Hurry up. Stupid sunlight is beginning to burn my eyes." They nodded and followed me as I ran through the courtyard of our school. When we reached the main building, we walked in and sat among the students who were waiting for the classrooms to be unlocked. All over the walls were posters praising our school, Valkarye.

Valkarye was a school for the gifted beings and the lesser immortals. They had regular classes like normal high schools, but it also had extra classes for our kind. We were trained to fight and to use any powers that we had, meaning, our school day was much longer than the usual one for humans, so we had to live in dorms provided by the school. It was like a boarding school, except that the school days were longer and more unique. It also made school a little closer to a hell on earth, but not quite.

At 7:00, the bell finally rang and the classrooms were unlocked. We filed into our homeroom class and sat down. Other kids came in after us, looking just as dead as we felt. Ms. Gabriel, our homeroom teacher and also the necromancy teacher, came into the class and began to take role. The students were quiet, too tired to be loud. When she was done, Ms. Gabriel told us about the testing for seniors that was to take place today. The whole class groaned as she described how classes would be cut short so that we would be able to take the test at the end of the day.

The test was for everyone who had turned eighteen or was turning eighteen this year. For vampires, it was for whoever was supposed to be eighteen. We were tested because, due to the fact that the mortal and lesser immortal realms had been mixed, the population was growing at an alarming rate and not everyone could finish school. So if we passed the test, we would be able to move on to a higher school or join a defense group, which Dawn, Jason, Alex and I had already done for part time pay.

"You will be taking the tests according to your skills. While testing, time will be slower so do not worry if things seem abnormal. You will be given materials for any written or spell tests so you won't need to bring anything into the testing rooms. Spoken tests will be taken separately if you have any abilities that require them. Lastly, during the combat testing, you will be going in pairs. You will be allowed no more than three weapons, which will be given to you when you get there. However, there will not be any machinery or bows. This is strictly up close fighting only. Any questions?" Ms. Gabriel looked around the room and called on a girl.

"What if you're not a fighter?" a girl asked.

"You mean, what if you're a healer," Ms. Gabriel corrected, "because everyone except healers are expected to take the combat testing, with or without extra fighting talents. If you do have other fighting talents, like, for example, you're a vampire, then the testing situation will be changed to fit you, but other than that, there will be no changes."

I grumbled as she said this. "I have to take a harder test?" I whispered to Alex, who was sitting next to me.

He nodded. "Sucks for you. Then again, so do I."

The topic changed to different possibilities and what to do in those situations. Just before homeroom was over, Ms. Gabriel told us that we needed to choose our combat partners before the test. We left, listening to others finding partners among their friends.

"I'm assuming that you two are going together?" I asked Jason and Dawn.

"Well, having the bond helps so yeah, I guess," Jason replied, a mischievous glint in his eyes.

I nodded, understanding. Jason and Dawn were bonded so their blood and souls were linked. That was why one of Dawn's eyes had a tint of red to it and Jason had one eye that was darker than the other.

"So you want to go with me?" I asked Alex. "Your test is going to be changed anyway, so it won't really matter that they're going to make it harder thanks to me. Plus, you're really good."

He gave me a look that made it seem like he was going to refuse and then smiled. "Sure."

I glared at him. "I hate it when you do that. It's makes me feel like you hate me," I complained. "Anyway, when's your scheduled time?"

"Nine thirty."

Dawn tugged on my arm. "Fine. She'll meet you then."

He nodded and headed off with Jason. I turned to Dawn, who dragged me all the way to the door of our next class, sprinting. "What's the idea?" I gasped as soon as I could talk again.

Dawn took a quick glance at me before yanking me into the room. She wouldn't let go until I sat down, so I sat on a stool and waited for an answer. "Well, you do know that they make you fight against each other, don't you?"

I stared at her. "They do?"

"Yeah."

"Then how will you and Jason manage? You'll be hurting yourselves when you hurt each other, won't you?"

"Not exactly. They nullify all bonds during the tests."

"Oh. But wouldn't you rather not fight your brother?" I was beginning to get confused.

"Well, yeah, but there aren't any other seniors that are death hunters so we really don't have any choice. And, if we were to go with other people, the bond would drag whoever was not fighting into the battle right in the middle anyway, which would not be good. We'd probably be accused of cheating if that happened."

"But I thought that they nullify the bonds."

"They do. It's just that blood bonds are really strong and we've had our bond for nearly fifteen years, so that'd be kind of hard to annul."

"Why didn't Jason tell me?"

Dawn rolled her eyes at me like I was a five year old. "Are you thinking? You're not supposed to know. They put you against your friends to see if you are disabled by the fact that you have to fight someone you know and like, at least, it's supposed to."

"Oh, but then Alex will have an advantage. He can change into a werewolf, can't he?"

"No. It's combat only."

"Are you sure?" When she nodded, I asked, "How do you know all of this stuff?"

"I bound the principal's daughter's soul when I was little. I was suspended for it, but I learned a lot of random information," she confessed, showing no sign of regret or embarrassment.

"Uh huh," I said, still trying to piece the parts together. After a few minutes, I gave up. "Anyway, when are you going?"

"Right after you. Ten o'clock."

There was a pause and then a loud banging as our teacher entered and slammed on her desk to get the students to quiet down.

"We'll wait for you then, since we all have the writing tests afterward," I said quietly and Dawn nodded. "We can watch each other, right?" She nodded again and whispered back, "But you're not allowed to talk or do anything if you're within thirty feet of the testing area."

Our English teacher banged on his desk again and the room quieted down. "Alright guys. Quiet." When the class was silent, he continued, "Nothing is planned for today so it'll be a work day. I suggest you study for the tests, but no fighting in here. Got it?"

"Yes, Mr. Stelinger."

"Good." Mr. Stelinger turned away and began to do his work. The class cheered up at the thought of a free day and sound erupted in the room again. Dawn and I spent the period talking about random things and studying for the tests.

When the next bell rang, we split up and hurried to our next class. Dawn had psyche training and I had time manipulation, classes that we could not do together. I ran across the field to get to my next class as it was on the other side. For probably the hundredth time this year, I wondered why they didn't allow shadow-walking on school campus; after all, I was going to my time manipulation class anyway. Nonetheless, I continued running until I reached my next class, stepping in right as the bell rang.

Time manipulation was much the same as the English. I spent the class period studying, relieved when the bell finally rang. The rest of the day was basically the same, except for at 9:00 when they began to call people over the intercom to start the combat testing. All of the seniors didn't have any more classes for the day, so they just sat around on campus. When it was 9:30, the voice on the intercom called out in a mechanical voice. "Alex Shultz, please go to the combat testing area with your partner. Alex Shultz, please go to the combat testing area with your partner."

I looked at him and nodded. We all left, Jason and Dawn deciding that they might as well watch how our test went to get ready for their own.

The combat area was huge with all sorts of weapons on racks in front of the area. There were pillars around the area to show the boundaries with a barrier surrounding them to keep the time change within the area only. We walked to the judges there and waited. After a moment, one of the judges came up to give us directions.

"Alex?"

He nodded.

"Who's your partner?"

"Kristin. She's a vampire." It was my turn to nod.

"Okay." He made a note on a paper and continued. "Here's what's going to happen? Are you listening?"

We nodded again.

"You will receive three weapons of your choice. If you choose small weapons like daggers, you will receive a set of twelve or six with a larger one. Also, you will have no armor, so choose weapons that you can defend yourself with. You will be able to test which ones fit your grip best so don't worry. After that, you will enter the testing area. Time will be slowed at that point and the barrier will be strengthened." He looked at me. "You will feel a slight pang, but do not do anything or you will alter the time change. After that, you will be given a few minutes to get ready and then you will start. You will be fighting against each other so be prepared." He paused as if checking to see if we were surprised. When neither of us gave any sign of incredibility, he continued, looking satisfied. "Our weather mage will be changing the light and dark areas to see how you manage in different circumstances, but the light should not burn. However, it may be slightly uncomfortable. The test will last fifteen minutes in the outside time, which will be about thirty minutes inside the barrier. You will be fighting three rounds, each one with a different weapon. Understand?"

One last nod was given and then we were sent to get our weapons. The racks had every weapon imaginable. There were items from swords and daggers to whips and claws. We looked through all of the weapons before splitting up and choosing our three. I had no idea what weapons Alex would choose as I had only seen him fight with a sword and daggers or with his own claws when he changed into a wolf. With that in mind, I chose a rapier that was long and slender and had an ebony hilt. I hefted it and admired the blade, which seemed to have been folded a million times over. Satisfied, I moved on. I chose a seven-foot long leather whip for my second weapon and my last weapon was a set of six daggers that were seven inches long with a matching knife that was twelve inches.

When I was finished, I returned to the front of the area and set down the weapons. Alex was already there. He had chosen a pair of metal claws, a set of two double-edged swords, and a series of six throwing axes with a knife that had a ragged edge on one side. I sighed when I saw his choices. He was one of those fighters who preferred to have a weapon on both sides. Shaking my head, I waited.

We were directed into the center of the arena and given one of our weapons at random, the judge from before choosing for us. I received the whip and Alex got the throwing axe and knife set. We stood there for a moment while the other judges finished the time change. I felt a ripple in the time stream and braced myself. They were transporting us to a loophole in time. When it was over, I felt a little nauseous, but the feeling was gone as fast as it had come. The barrier was strengthened and a new judge passed into the arena.

To loosen my muscles, I snapped the whip a few times before waiting again. Alex was tossing the axes into the air, grinning as they hit the ground in a circular pattern around the knife, which he had jammed into the ground. When he was finished with that, he switched to practicing a few moves with the knife. Finally, he too was finished.

"Alright guys. Ready?"

I took a breath and nodded, watching Alex do the same. At our nods, clouds formed overhead and the arena became half shrouded in darkness. I took long, deep breaths and calmed myself down.

"You will be given ten minutes in this dimension to finish the first round. When time is up, or one of you is down, we will give you your new weapons and you will start the next round. Any wounds will be healed before the next round begins so no one will have a disadvantage. Okay?" He paused and walked out of the area. "You have ten minutes. Begin."

With that, the test started and the battle was on.