“Students, it is almost time for your final test. If you pass, you all will finally become Somberblood Assassins. If you fail… Well, you don’t want that,” the instructor announced morbidly. He slid out of the room, gently closing the door behind him.

Nasira sighed. Her teacher creeped her out, just like everyone else at this guild.

Nasira pulled out one of her daggers and stared at her reflection in it. She was a dark elf, a race that hailed from the country of Mazel. Her skin was colored royal purple, her short hair was silver, and her eyes were the color of rubies. Those were all regular dark elf features. Looking at herself, she began to think about her time at the guild. The guild was all she knew, for she was raised up her whole life, sixteen years, in Somberblood guild. She wished she could have known her parents, but she knew that could never happen. 

Nasira didn’t know how she was arrived at the guild, whether it was kidnapping, the murder of her parents, or being given over to the guild by her parents. She wasn’t supposed to know; the guild’s academy existed as a way to raise children up to be cold-hearted assassins with no emotion. Yet, Nasira was different. The guild’s brainwashing hadn’t worked on her. She didn’t want to kill anyone. She would have tried to leave the guild, but she wasn’t allowed to. If she told anyone she wanted to leave, she would likely be killed in an instant. Even if she was able to get away, many of the Somberblood assassins were the best in the world. She would be hunted down within a week.

“What do you think the exam will be?” Nasira’s best friend, Roni, asked her.

Roni, a Hestan, was crazily murderous like everyone else at the guild, but she seemed to actually care for Nasira. Roni actually had a heart. If Nasira was ever hurt or had an issue, Roni was there to help her. 

“I have no idea,” Nasira answered, turning to Roni. 

Roni sat back in her chair. “Whatever it is, I’m just ready to get it over with and start killing.”

Nasira shifted in her chair uncomfortably. “Yeah,” she lied.

Soon, their instructor came back into the classroom. 

“I will call you pairs of you out at a time for the final exam. Once we get to the exam location, I will explain the exam to you,” he stated. “First, Nasira and Roni.”

Nasira and Roni walked with him to the location of the exam. It was the training room. Candles dimly lit the room, revealing the weapon racks that lined the walls and the training dummies spread around the room. 

“So,” their instructor began, “I need both of you to stand at different sides of the room and face each other.”

The two girls followed his instructions.

“This exam is not to test your combat or stealth abilities, everyone has already proven themselves there. This exam is to test your willpower. This exam will test if you actually have what it takes to be an assassin. So, I want you both to fight. The one still alive passes the exam. Begin.”

Nasira stood rigid. She couldn’t believe what she just heard. She had to kill Roni? She could probably force herself to kill someone she didn’t know, but she didn’t think she could murder her friend. 

Roni, however, seemed to think differently. When Nasira looked in her eyes, she looked like a completely different person. Bloodlust filled her eyes as she drew her daggers and slowly approached Nasira. 

“You’re lucky, Nasira,” Roni spat. “You get to be my first kill.”

Nasira began shaking. She tried to draw her daggers, but her hands wouldn’t grip the handle. She knew that the guild was awful, but she didn’t know it was THIS awful. 

“Don’t worry, I’ll make it quick,” Roni said as she started running toward Nasira. 

When Roni approached her and slashed, Nasira’s instincts kicked in. She rolled away and started running to the other side of the room. 

However, Roni quickly sheathed one of her daggers, reached in a pouch she wore around her waist, and threw out a throwing knife.

The knife struck Nasira in the back of her thigh, causing her to fall to the ground. She squealed in pain as she pulled the knife out.

She turned over, but she couldn’t get up. Her leg wouldn’t let her stand.

Almost in an instant, Roni stood over her, daggers poised to strike. As Roni slashed them toward Nasira’s throat, Nasira raised her arms to guard.

This was it, she was going to die.

Nasira expected to feel the cold metal to cut into her neck, but she didn’t feel anything at all. She brought her hands down and looked at Roni.

A longsword formed of what appeared to be blood was sticking through Roni’s chest. She dropped to the ground dead. The sword lost its form and became blood puddled on the ground.

Nasira felt as though all of her insides were about to explode.

Her instructor clapped. “Wow, I was sure Roni was gonna slice you up in only a minute. How long have you been hiding that rare blood magic? I’m surprised.” 

Nasira couldn’t take her emotions anymore. Her vision blurred, her breathing quickened to an unhealthy amount, and soon she blacked out.

Nasira woke up in a cold sweat and a pit in her stomach. It was a dream. This was a recurring dream of her past she had often. She suffered the dream every night she performed a successful assassination.