Chapter 3.
Resza faced the recruits. They all sat at tables in one of the unused rooms of Shadow Rath Castle. She pulled off her glove, showing the dragon tattoo upon her palm. "This is the physical mark of a Dark Knight. All Human Dark Knights have it when they finish their training. This is the mark of Darkness. It gives us our strength at the cost of our sanity and lifeforce."
The Mark seemed to grow darker for a moment and then tendrils wrapped around Resza's hand, forming a deadly-looking gauntlet. She examined it with a bored look before the gauntlet seemed to melt away back into the tattoo. "You may ask, 'Why would anyone take the Darkness willingly?' It's because of it's power. If you can control the Darkness within you then you can defeat anyone in your way, even a God...in theory."
She led the recruits back out to the training grounds after an hour of class work. "I want you to pair up. Whomever you choose, that will be your partner."
"Until when?" A recruit asked.
"When you know by the twitch of their hand they're going to strike and how they're going to strike the enemy."
Seeing the look of confusion among them, Resza sighed. "Hand me those swords."
She tossed one of the blunted training swords to Trentis. The two stepped into the sparring ring. They bowed, both laughing at some inside joke before the fight began. Through the flurry of kicks and blows, it looked as though the two were dancing as one advanced and the other dodged back. After some time they stopped. "Until you know them inside and out, until you can do that with your partner, then you will train with them. I want all of you to know each other as well as Trentis and I do."
As they watched the recruits pair off and begin training, a messenger came to them. "General Resza, Cichol requires your presence in the throne room immediately."
"Did he say what it was for?"
"A mission, milady."
Resza smiled at Trentis and kissed his cheek. "Excellent. Take care of the squishies while I'm gone, alright?"
"Your wish is my command."
Resza and the messenger walked to the throne room in silence. "Yeah, my lord?" Resza called out as she entered.
The God of the Fomors sat on the throne. His white wings draped to the floor. "There has been sightings of Paladins in Shadow Realm Taillteann. You'll take your recruits and destroy the intruders."
"But," Resza said. "They're hardly trained for actual combat."
"The scouts tell me the Paladins are low rank. They would be perfect to see who can actually bloody their blade without remorse."
"But…"
"That is all I require of you. The Paladins will remained tracked. Go tomorrow and destroy them."
Resza gave a shallow bow, turned on her heel, and left. Letting the recruits, who were only around ten or so, kill so soon? Was Cichol really that desperate? Resza thought. Her thoughts turned toward her first son. Riuyuki was such a peaceful boy. He tried to protect Resza from Morrighan, but it had cost him his life. Kyo had died at the Goddess's hands, too. Both her first husband and her first child had died at Morrighan's hands.
Her hand went to her stomach as she paused in her stride. "If anyone harms you I will destroy them. I promise, child."