The next morning came quietly, and I awoke early. I got dressed in the finest clothing I had, the clothes my sisters had given me before my departure from House De’Endar. What I didn’t know when they gave it to me was that it was magical and would adjust in size as I grew. It quickly became my favorite outfit.

As I was getting dressed, I noticed a new box sitting on my dresser, next to Vielyn’s kukri and my House De’Endar dagger, which had been returned at some point in the night. I inspected the small ivory box closely for traps. Detecting none, I held my dagger over it. The weapon imparted to me that whatever was in the box had two enchantments: one that made me immune to non-magical blades but offered no protection against magical weapons, and another that made me immune to non-magical projectiles.

Convinced the box wouldn’t harm me, I flipped the lid open to reveal a set of gold cufflinks with large sapphires in the center of each, surrounded by diamonds. They bore the symbol of the Barra D’aron. Inside the lid of the box was a note that read:

Wear these.

—D.

I shrugged and put the cufflinks on. I looked down to see my adamantine and ruby cufflinks sitting on the dresser and quickly used my knife to make another set of holes so I could wear them as well. I pulled on my silk shorts and then my fine black dress pants before donning a pair of black silk socks and then my boots.

When I had finished getting dressed, I picked up my sword belt and fastened it around my waist, adjusting the sheath for Vielyn’s kukri and my own House De’Endar dagger. Someone had switched which side each was mounted on, seemingly forgetting that I was left-handed.

Before putting on my cloak, I retrieved Antzar’s dagger and fixed it to the back of my belt, where the cloak would conceal it. I grabbed my finely crafted black cloak and clasped it around my neck before picking up my hat and dropping it on my head. I cast dancing lights and looked into my mirror to admire myself before grinning, tilting my hat to the left a bit, and dispelling the light spell.

I left my room with my head held high. I was still sore from the thrashing my brother had given me, but I wouldn’t show it—not today. As I walked through the winding halls of the Barra D’aron cave complex towards the armory, I felt a mix of anticipation and determination.

The halls were purposely made confusing to hinder any intruders or attackers. Real Barra D’aron had been through them so many times they could identify wear marks on the floor and know where they were.

When I arrived at the armory, I was surprised to see Durdrin, Vielyn, Caelnel, Rylzt, and Brudaer standing there, wearing their ceremonial black heavy plate armor. On it were medals earned both in the Barra D’aron and from various Matron Mothers.

Looking around, I noticed Durdrin had medals from all ten ruling houses, while the others had an assortment. Except for Vielyn, he had none. That didn’t surprise me, though, since his role here was one of the more closely guarded secrets. As far as anyone outside a few officers knew, Vielyn was simply a soldier and a liaison between The Barra D’aron and House De’Endar.

I approached the small gathering with a wide grin. “Five Barra D’aron in full plate armor to take on a little fifteen-year-old?” I joked. The five men all laughed, and I joined them. “Come, son, it is time for you to get ready to take command of Shadow Nine,” Durdrin said as he turned towards the door.

I followed the group into the armory and looked around in awe at all the different styles of weapons and armor. Swords and daggers of all shapes and sizes, war hammers and axes, all types of polearms, and things I did not even recognize. There were three types of armor, all bearing the Barra D’aron emblem over their hearts.

There was light armor that appeared to be made of very fine chain sandwiched between two layers of tough leather. This consisted of a full chest armor with spaulders to protect the upper arms, as well as a pair of reinforced pants with pieces of the same fine chain armor protecting vital areas on the upper legs. Then came the meticulously crafted boots designed to come up over the calf and protect the legs without hindering movement. The entire suit of armor was finely crafted and seemed to be well articulated, allowing a full range of movement while still offering as much protection as possible.

The second style of armor looked almost identical, with two key differences: heavier leather and heavier chain. In the field, this was referred to as the heavy armor, and the bigger members of the band tended to choose this.

The third set was the ceremonial plate armor that my father, brother, and teachers were wearing. It too was finely crafted but impractical for our line of work. Each soldier was issued one of the lighter armors of their choice and then a set of fine plate that they were responsible for keeping pristine. It was ceremonial, after all, and had to look good.

As I began to admire a shiny, silvery kukri with a green sheen to it, I heard Vielyn call out, “Masdrin, come with us. This stuff is for the soldiers.” He said. I looked down at myself and then at the set of light armor I had been inspecting a few moments earlier. I shrugged my shoulders and followed them as they walked up to a chest filled with gold and jewels.

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Durdrin thrust his fist into the center of the chest and dug his way to the bottom before pressing his hand flat against it. The bottom of the chest was a magical panel that, when touched by someone who was supposed to enter the next room, would open the doorway.

I stood back and gasped as I looked on in awe. The door leading into the armory from the hall slammed shut, and then the back wall began to slide apart in the middle, opening a gap wide enough for the heavily armored men to fit through.

I followed them through the opening, and if I was amazed by the soldiers' equipment, I was in shock when I entered this room.

My detect magic ability was firing, and nearly everything in the room began to glow with a magical aura. My ears started to ring as my senses became overloaded. I went into fight-or-flight mode, drawing my House De’Endar dagger as I began to swoon.

Faintly, through the ringing, I could hear Durdrin call out, “Catch him! He’s going to fall!” as my legs began to feel weak. I felt a hand grasp my wrist to keep me from swinging my blade, and another hand covered my eyes, the source of most of the disorientation.

“Turn it off!” I heard Vielyn shout. I didn’t know what was happening. “Masdrin, detect magic, stop it! Drop the damned knife!” I heard my brother say loudly. I complied, not wanting another beating. When I dropped the dagger, the ringing in my ears stopped, and with a few blinks and a shake of my head, I was able to “turn off” my ability to detect magic, something I never knew was even possible.

As I caught my breath, I felt the hand release my wrist, and as I relaxed, Vielyn removed his hand from my eyes. I looked around slowly.

“What just happened?” I asked as I looked up at my teachers, father, and brother.

“Almost everything in here is magically enchanted, and we’re able to detect magic. Then you drew your knife, which identifies magic, and your senses were overloaded as your brain tried to detect all the magic items and your blade tried to tell you what the items near you did,” Vielyn explained. “You need to focus on a small area before you try to detect magic or identify it with your dagger.” He added. I nodded my head and took a deep breath as I looked around.

Durdrin stepped towards me and rested his hand on my shoulder. “Before we continue, it’s time for your initiation,” he said firmly. I nodded, and suddenly I was grabbed by Vielyn, Caelnel, Rylzt, and Brudaer, who restrained my arms and legs.

“I’m sorry, son, this is gonna hurt…” Durdrin said as he produced a long syringe from a pouch on his belt. He held it up for me to see and, with a solemn face, grabbed me by the hair. “Do not struggle; it will be much worse,” he said calmly.

I steadied myself and gave Durdrin an affirmative nod. “Do it!” I said firmly.

My father grasped my hair tightly and tilted my head back and to the side, exposing the right side of my jaw and my neck. I grunted, feeling my shoulders tense up as he plunged the needle into the side of my head between my lower jaw and right ear. He pressed down on the plunger and then quickly withdrew the needle.

“That wasn’t so bad,” I said as I looked at Durdrin.

“Wait for it,” he replied as he put the syringe away.

I noticed that the other four had not released their grip on me. Suddenly, I felt a burning in my neck that spread to the rest of my body. Every muscle began to spasm, and suddenly, what seemed like thousands of voices were flooding my ears.

The sound wasn’t nearly as bad as the pain shooting from my jaw all the way to my toes, though. It felt as though I had been injected with a strong acid, and my entire body felt as though it were on fire. Then, almost as quickly as it came on, the pain subsided, though the noise didn’t. As my body relaxed, the four drow restraining me released their grip and let me stand on my own.

I shook my head, trying to make sense of all the voices. Durdrin must have noticed I was struggling because he snapped his fingers in my face to get my attention, and when I looked up at him, he smacked me across the right side of my face. It rung my bell a little, but it also silenced the voices.

“Can you hear me?” he asked.

I smiled as I nodded my head. “Yes, Father, what was that?” I asked.

“That was your communication implant. It’s a magical device that will allow you to communicate with the rest of high command as well as your team of Shadow Knights,” he replied. “We all have one. It’s how we are able to coordinate and relay information so quickly,” he added.

“How does it work?” I asked curiously. This sounded like a great idea, even if it was one of the more painful things I’d gone through, at least recently.

“It’s rather intuitive, actually. You just think about who you’d like to speak to and speak, no matter how quietly,” Durdrin answered.

I grinned and thought about my dear friend Rylzt. “Perhaps tonight I’ll give you a kiss on your forehead as you sleep,” I said without barely a sound.

“Hey! You stay the hell out of my room, you little prick!” Rylzt barked out loud, and everyone else laughed.

“See? You figured it out already!” I heard Vielyn say, though it seemed to come through my right ear. I smirked wide as things began to sort themselves out.

“Can I have another one?” I asked out loud as I looked to Durdrin.

“What?” he replied incredulously. “What do you mean, another one?” he asked.

“I’d like one on the left side too, to balance the sound,” I said. Durdrin raised an eyebrow and shrugged.

“Hold him,” he ordered, and Vielyn, Caelnel, Brudaer, and Rylzt all grabbed me again. Durdrin grabbed my hair once again and tilted my head back, exposing the left side of my jaw and neck. He produced a fresh syringe and held it up.

“Are you sure?” he asked.

“Do it!” I said firmly.

Again, he stabbed me in the neck, and a few moments later I was convulsing while every nerve in my body felt like it was on fire. This time, though, there was no jumble of voices and noise. When the pain subsided and my body relaxed again, everyone released their grip on me.

“You see, Durdrin? He’s a tough son of a bitch. I’ve never seen anyone ask for a second communicator before,” Vielyn said proudly. Durdrin nodded in agreement.

“Okay, son, take one of those backpacks over there and fill it with whatever you feel you may need,” Durdrin said, pointing across the room. “In here, you’ll find anything you could possibly need, from various currencies and metals to magical trinkets that will help you on your journeys,” he said, waving his hands around the Barra D’aron treasure room.

“Help yourself. Fill your pack with nothing but gold coins if you think that will help you, but just know, you’re going to be sent on long, dangerous missions. You want things to make your trips easier. You’ll be venturing into places with toxic gases and dangerous creatures. You’ll fight everything from Drow nobles to surface elves,” Durdrin explained matter-of-factly.

My eyes went wide. “Surface elves?!” I asked. I’d never seen a surface elf before.

Durdrin nodded. “And everything you could imagine in between. So, prepare wisely, son,” he said with a smile.

I nodded. “This might take me some time,” I said as I looked around the room.

“Take all the time you need. Let us know when you’re finished; we will meet you at the barracks. Son, you now have free roam of my compound. I hope you won’t make me regret it,” he said sternly.

I looked up to my father and smiled. I stood at attention and then saluted him, bringing the middle finger of my left hand to my eyebrow with my palm out and all four fingers and one thumb lined up parallel in what we called a knife-hand salute.

He smiled back at me and returned the salute. “See you in the barracks. Make sure you have all you’ll need before you leave here because you and the rest of Nine will be sent on your first mission. You’ll be going to the market to pick up the payment for a job we did. I’ll fill you in on the details when the time comes.” I nodded at him and then dropped my arm back to my side.