Page 1 of Black Onyx
Chapter one
Ithought nothing good would come from the hell that I endured, but luck is on my side for once in my life, and I find myself being shipped off to the elite training academy in the Onyx. Unfortunately, it’s still in my home realm, the Fae realm, so still too close but it’s better than being where I was. I'll take the panic attacks, the nightmares and the hatred if it means that I get to escape my Father. The Academy is nearly a week’s ride from my Father, and any distance between us is a bonus. The downside, though, is that, as the name suggests, it’s a school. I don’t want to go to school, especially to an elite training academy that trains supernatural beings from all over the many realms, that means Fae, Witches, Shifters of every kind you can imagine, Vampires, Banshees and multiple others. The only species that doesn’t attend are the Dragons; they stick to their own realm, unrest in their kingdom pushing them to retreat from the rest of the realms.
As I said I don’t relish the idea of attending school, I know everything I need to know when it comes to combat, weapons and murder, and a lot of shit I wish I didn’t know. Father made sure of that. They call it a training academy, but I’ve always thought they should just drop the pretence and call it what it really is, an academy for assassins. Of course, there are factions of the main academy that are devoted to just that but in reality, everyone that attends this school is taught how to kill in the most efficient way. They say it's so that we can police the Realms, protect the innocent Supernaturals and Humans in the Earth Realm’s case, and we do, I just can’t help but feel that we’re being trained for something more, something bigger.
I guess I’ll find out now.
I’m actually not entirely sure how my Uncle managed to convince my Father to send me here. My Father has kept an incredibly tight leash on me for my whole life. It probably has something to do with the incident, and it can’t hurt that my Uncle is a well-respected instructor at the Academy.
I don’t want to be here at the damn Black Onyx Academy, that’s for fucking sure. Even if it does give me a reprieve from my Father. I don't have a choice, not really, but I do need some sort of escape from him, even if it is just temporary. All I know for sure is that I’m going to keep my cards close to my chest like I always have because although I don’t want to be here, the alternative is going on assignments for my Father and I fucking hate doing that.
He shouldn’t even be sending me on these assignments in the first place, not until I’m twenty-five, anyway. My Father plays by his own rules though, and has been sending me out on assassination missions since I was only fifteen. Now at twenty-one, I’ve done more jobs than I care to admit, and my hands are practically streaming with blood.
My Father is an influential man, to say the least, and that is the only reason he got away with sending a fifteen-year-old out on assassination missions. Of course, no one knows that it’s me. I take precautions to make sure that I am never identified. Everyone is too afraid of the power and influence he wields, so those very select few that know what goes on behind those castle doors just turn the other cheek, pretending they’re not aware. The last person who actually tried to help me was pulled apart by wolves as my Father made me watch, and laughed, as if it was the best thing he’d ever seen. That only left my Uncle, who knows what my Father is like and has been trying to get me out of his grasp without losing his life ever since.
The fear he’s instilled in everyone who knows him, not to mention the support he has garnered through either bribes or sheer charm. That last one always infuriates me; how can people fall for the utter bullshit he spews?
Because of his vast influence, I have no choice but to obey him. Not only because I am a child in the eyes of the Fae kingdom until I reach twenty-five, but also because if I don’t, if I disobey him, the punishments I receive are far harsher than his usual ones. He always finds out; there are plenty of people who want to gain his favour and do so by reporting any wrongdoings I may make.
Straight after the incident, my Uncle came to my Father with the idea of me enrolling in the Academy. Using the excuse that it would be to hone my skills, make me a better soldier for him. We both know that there is very little the Academy could teach me, but my Uncle saw an opportunity to give me a bit of breathing room away from my Father and took it. He couldn’t get me in here straight away though, and my Father took advantage of that. I’ve done six jobs in the three months it’s taken my Uncle to get me here and get everything in order in time for the new year to start.
Excellent.
Not all of those jobs were assassinations, but not one of them was pleasant. Let's just leave it at that.
So, here I am, Black Onyx Academy, the elite of all the academies in all the many realms. It's notoriously difficult to get into and has a waitlist as long as I am tall. The fact that I got in after only a three-month wait is a testament to my Father's political pull.
I stare up at the monstrosity of a building from the back of my carriage. I don’t know why my Father insisted on me taking his most lavish one, but I can only assume there’s some political angle at play here. There normally is. Unfortunately, the technology that the Earth realm has managed to invent rarely works here. Some of the more minor things do, like the cameras that I plan to put up in my room and the laptop that links them all, but things like cars definitely don’t. Several supernaturals have tried to bring cars or motorbikes here over the years, but either they don’t survive the portal, or the magic here messes with them, and they simply won't start.
Earth's televisions work over here, though, and some of the more tech-savvy Fae have managed to get their many subscription services over here. It always amuses me, especially the British programmes. They gained their accent and dialect from the Fae that travelled there thousands of years ago. We shared many things with not just them but all the countries on Earth.
No one is really sure why some of Earth's tech works over here and why some of it doesn’t, and frankly, I couldn’t give a fuck.
I’m stalling, and I know it. The thing is, I’m not exactly a people person. In fact, I fucking hate them. Especially people my own age, and I’m going to be surrounded by them for at least the next four years unless I manage to get myself kicked out.
I briefly consider the idea before dismissing it entirely. My Uncle pulled a lot of strings to get me in here, and I’d hate to let him down. He’s one of the few people I can actually stand to be around. Not to mention the other consequences that would accompany me getting expelled courtesy of my Father. I shudder just thinking about it and shut that thought process down immediately.
Sighing, I decide that I’d better leave the solitude of my carriage and face the Academy. I am many things, but a coward is undoubtedly not one of them. I grab my small backpack that contains the only clothes I own. Anyone who knows my Father would find that very hard to believe, considering he’s one of the richest men in this realm. I then grab the two duffle bags by my feet. These two bags contain the only possessions that I actually give a shit about. Clothes you can always buy more of but a perfectly balanced sword or throwing knives that have been made specifically for your hands? They’re much, much harder to replace.
I’m not really sure what it says about me that my most valued positions are the multitude of weapons I have in these bags, but I don’t give a shit.
As I walk towards the huge castle with its turrets and gargoyles that actually come alive when they are needed and ridiculously manicured lawns and flower beds, it occurs to me that I should probably be feeling impressed or something. I live in a castle. You’ve seen one, you’ve seen them all. I walk up to the giant stone steps that lead to the enormous wooden doors. Uncle Magnus wanted to meet me at the door but had a last-minute thing come up. It’s no skin off my back. I’m not exactly the needy type.
I push my way through the doors and take a second to study the expansive stone flooring and high ceilings.
Just as I thought, it looks like a castle.
Cautiously, I move further into the impressive room, ready to make my way to the Headmaster's office to get my schedule and, more depressingly, receive my team assignment. That’s right, not only am I going to be subjected to people on a daily basis, but I’m also going to be forced to be on the same team as them. It doesn’t sound that bad, except getting a team here means that you are stuck with the same team forever. You are bonded together by bonds that are unbreakable.
They have a spear. It was spelled centuries ago by an all-powerful fae, or maybe a god. The histories are a bit hazy on that. Anyway, anyone who joins this prestigious Academy, sense the sarcasm, has to hold this spear, and it chooses your destined team. Once the spear has declared who you belong to, you’re bound for life, and there are no take backs.
There is a lot of darkness in my past and a lot of people who are still looking for me, thanks to the shit my Father made me do. Therefore, I am not safe to be around, I work better alone anyway. This was one of the main points I argued with Magnus, but he quickly turned it around on me and made an equally good point when he said that I could just disappear when the time comes. It’s normally hard for people to separate themselves from their teams, but I highly doubt I’ll have an issue with that. I've been alone for most of my life, and I've grown to like it that way.
If people and I are a no go, then women and I are basically just hell. If I don’t stab one of them by the end of the first week, I’ll be incredibly surprised. There’s no chance of me being put with a team that has a mix of genders, which would only be mildly better. It’s not like the Centre and Bonded groups that are so incredibly rare these days. These teams are purely for warriors, enforcers, and assassins, and the teams are always either all male or all female.
Which is just bloody peachy.
I turn down a vast hallway. Magnus gave me vague directions when he let me know that he wouldn't be able to meet me, so I sort of know where I'm supposed to be going. I scan the hallway, studying it for escape routes when my steps falter.
