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Emelia stretched luxuriously, arms arching above her head.

Morning, came the sleepy thought from the other side of the room.

Morning, she replied as she inhaled a big, deep breath. The air here was so differentto the air

in Hell. Fresher, sweeter, easier to inhale. Just lovely. Today it smelled of morning dew, fresh

mown grass and pancakes.

Wait a minute...PANCAKES!Both Azkadelia and Em bolted upright and looked at each other, awe on their faces.

Pancakes, Az breathed in the same tone people usually reserve for their first-born child.

Yum, Em agreed, adopting Azkadelias tone.

Lets go, Azkadelia said, jumping impulsively up and running for the door, before pausing.

Wait. Clothes first.

She raced to her bedside and picked up the torn, mud splattered, and demon gore coated

clothes shed had on yesterday.

Uh, I dont think those are wearable, Em told her.

Youre probably right, Azkadelia contemplated, head tilted to one side. She glanced around

the room. It was bare to the point of empty, with just two beds, and a set of drawers, both

made of cheap looking plywood, which didnt really fit in with the opulent middle ages feelof the rest of the building.

Em swung her legs over the edge of the bed, and shivered as her bare feet hit frigid stone.

This room neededa carpet.

Check the drawers, she said to Az, pulling her feet back up under the blanket.

Azkadelia rolled her eyes, but headed to the drawers on her tiptoes, cursing the cold floor

under her breath. Pulling the top drawer out revealed black jeans and a black leather jacket in

Azkadelias size, and there was also black combat boots and a top in a vibrant shade of

scarlet.

Upon opening the second drawer, the same outfit was revealed, except with a pale green top

instead of a red, and everything was in Emelias size.

Azkadelia scooped up Emelias clothes and lobbed them to her. Em held them up to her nose

and took a whiff.

A bit musky, she deliberated, but clean enough.

Theyve probably been inside those drawers for years, Az shrugged.

Than why are they our sizes? Em thought.

Breakfast time! Azkadelia sang and bounded out the door. A waft of pancake smelling air

billowed in after her.

Ems stomach growled hungrily. Az, wait for me! she cried, before hurrying after her

friend.

*

The way people ate their pancakes; Azkadelia thought, was an excellent judge of their

characters. Just looking at the amount, way, and toppings the aforementioned people had and

ate their aforementioned pancakes gave a glimpse into their soul. Would an evil criminal

mastermind eat chocolate chip pancakes with chocolate syrup all over the top with a dollop of

double cream? She suspected the answer to that question wasNo.

Az, for example, ate as many pancakes as she could with just butter on them. Emilia liked to

eat roughly five pancakes, and always ate them stone cold with no toppings. Ophelia liked

butter and blackberry jam on her pancakes, and she always ate as many pancakes as could fit

in her slim stomach. Aurelia seemed to like her pancakes in a neat, orderly stack; she had

maple syrup as a topping, with a handful of blueberries on top, and icing sugar sprinkledliberally over the top.

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As they sat down together at breakfast, she glanced around at the other teenage Bellators that

were stationed throughout the room.

The twins, Katie and Sienna, had identical dishes. Three pancakes apiece, with honey

drizzled over the top and a hefty amount of fruit salad.

Spying, Princess? Connors voice broke her out of her reverie. Turning around in her chair,

Azkadelia fixed her glare on him.Please, she said stiffly, dont call me that.

Connor stared at her. Well, its true.Armais practically queen. Youre her daughter.

Princess.

Shut up, Connor, Lia said, rubbing her temples like she had a headache. Azkadelia focused

in on her sharply. Her face was white as a sheet, and pinched, like she had eaten something

sour.

You kay, Aurelia? Ophelia asked. Cause, you know, you never turned up last night.

Connor stared at Aurelia in open astonishment. You were in the library all night?!?

Okay..., Az thought.

It was very important research, Lia said, voice stiff as a rod.

Care to share this incredibly important research with us? Connor said, relaxing back in hischair.

Em glared at him. For Gods sake, dont you have friends of your freaking own to hang out

with? she demanded.

Connor shifted his gaze to the airspace behind and to the right of her. Speak of the devil, he

drawled. Em glanced over her shoulder and cursed.

The twinBellators Az had noticed before were approaching.

The first to sit down was Sienna. Az recognized Sienna purely because of her scent roasted

vanilla, caramel, cinnamon, lavender, and sandalwoodshe was really identical to her sister.

The other twinKatiesmelled of rosewater, musk, and citrus.

Hi, she smiled at theParticularum Bellators. Im Katie. Its lovely to meet you.

Her twin snorted. Ignore every single word my twin says, Sienna told them. She lies.

So, its notlovely to meet us? Emelia asked sweetly

No I mean, yesI mean...oh, God, I give up. Sienna sighed. Ive gotta go. See you

later. She jetted off.

That was weird, Connor commented.

Katie seemed uncomfortable as she shifted in unease. Azkadelia could practically smell the

damp metallic scent of her discomfort as she rose from her chair. I should go, too, she

murmured, before running away at a pace that wouldve left an Olympic sprinter in the dust.

That, Connor said, was also weird. I dont know why theyre acting like that, he added to

the girls. Normally, theyre nicer. Especially to other girls. In case you havent realised,

there is rather a shortage of females around here.Yeah, I can see that, Opal commented as she surveyed the Dining Hall.

Az joined her in her people watching, and saw they were right. The crowd was easily

divisibleabout seven eighths guys, one eighth girls.

Why so few girls? Em queried of Connor.

Girls are usually healers, not warriors, Connor said. This is the training facility for

warriors. Theres a test to see what you would be best atand only a few girls are chosen to

fight.

What other jobs are there? Aurelia wondered aloud.

Connor seemed to be thinking hard for a moment. Um, Warrior, Healer, Tracker, Safety,

Spell Worker, Apprentice, Scribe, Apprentice. A Warrior is, well, a warrior. Theyre trained

to fight, kill, maim, defend, all that. Usually its just tradition I dont think theres been awar for yearsbut, lately, Ive been hearing whispers of a battle coming. Hopefully Ill be

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able to fight in it, if it does come. A Healer, also a pretty obvious title. They heal. Im pretty

sure the training base for that one is in Europe. Trackers train in the Amazon, believe it or not

I think its to make it more challenging. A Safety is like a safe house operator. If aBellator

is in trouble, and near a Safety, the Safety is bound by oath to help them in any way they can,

including and up to sacrificing their own lives.

Em whistled. Pretty heavy stuff.Connor ignored her. Spell Worker is the title given to aBellatorwho doesnt have a

particular gift and just has base control over several aspects of the three basic types of

Bellatorpowerdefensive, offensive, and healing. They set up wards of protection, perform

rites of healing, curse enemies with acne, that sort of thing.

Opal snorted inelegantly while drinking orange juice and inhaled half through her nose.

Connor continued to talk while handing her a napkin.

A Spell Workers Apprentice is basically a Spell Worker in training. They follow the Spell

Workers around all day and try to gain some golden nuggets of knowledge from being

theyre personal slaves. Spell Workers are found at every base, but the training base for that

one is in Vegas, Im pretty sure. Scribes are like librarians, sort of. They record history, and

teach it. An Apprentice Scribe is like an assistant librarian. I think their training base issomewhere in Australia.

How do you choose what you want to be? Aurelia asked; intrigued.

Connor levelled a gaze at her. You dont,he said in a voice as cool as winter frost. On the

first day

of trainingwhich is today, I might add; you guys arrived right on timethe olderBellators

get you to demonstrate your powers, and then they decide which group you would fit into

best, depending on your skill set.

A crackly announcement came through what was obviously an ancientspeaker system.

Ophelia, Emelia, Aurelia, Azkadelia, Connor, Zara, Katie, Sienna, Daniel, Leon, please go

to the lawn out back.

Azkadelia jumped and glanced around, looking for the speaker. The Dining Hall looked like

the rest of the mansionopulent and vaguely medieval, tapestries against the walls. Except

in this room, the modern greeted the ancient in a head-spinning time-warp fusion. Long,

shiny tables of surgical steel, and cutlery and plates to match.

What, are we getting detention? Em asked, amused.

Connor didnt smile. Were being called to the lawn for testing. He gestured in front of

him.

Ladies first? Azkadelia asked him snippily.

Prexactly, Connor said. Also, Im kind of nervous. It would be better if you could go

first.

Az rolled her eyes but walked in front of him.Thanks, Princess.

Az felt tempted to slap him, but instead satisfied herself with thinking, After the test I will set

your pants on fire.