Page 3 of Foxes of Legend

I flicked the knife with a twitch of the wrist, only to hear the unholy squeal a moment later. I jogged forward, drawing my dagger as I tracked the sounds into the darkness.

“Agghhhh!” She clutched her goat leg where my blade pierced. “Stupid kitsune, that really hurts.”

“Then let me put you out of your misery.” I readied my blade, drawing closer to her neck.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” She scrambled backward, holding a hand out in front of her defensively. “You don’t have to do that! We can make some kind of deal!”

Demons always wanted to make deals. Anything to try and save their sorry-asses for another day out of Hell. Who could blame them?

“I don’t make deals with demons.”

Her back hit the wall and my dagger pierced her neck. She choked against the blade, slumping to one side as her blackened blood pooled beneath her.

The demon gasped for her last breaths as I pulled my blade from her, wiping it off on her furry leg. Bluish hellfire leapt over her and consumed her body until she was nothing but ash.

All of the lights came on in a series ofclunks, revealing the gates that had been hidden in the shadows nearby. A female voice came on over an intercom:

“Applicant four-fifteen, Dove Hawthorn: Fail.”

2

Dove

“Fail?” I asked aloud to the hollow female voice.

How could I have failed? That can’t be right. Not after how hard I worked. I’d done better than most of the applicants that had passed. Some couldn’t even defeat all their demons.

Glass walls lined the floor above, allowing applicants and students of Foxfire Academy to view the physical admissions exam. And they all had watched me fail, their eyes glistening with their sneers. Any spot not taken made their chances better to enter the academy.

“Any concerns may be submitted to the Academy Elder. Please exit to your left.”

A loud buzz sounded and a gate opened. I exited the testing room, feeling as though I was inside a bad dream. Dingy orange lights lit the cement hallway. I climbed the stairs from the underground arena toward the office of the Elder.

Fail. Fail.Fail. The word kept repeating.

I passed by the glass walls, where another applicant had begun his exam—three unseelie pixies flying around him, Tier I. But nobody watched him.

Everyone circled around a man with golden hair. The crowd of students laughed hysterically at whatever joke he’d told. Helooked like the type who ran the academy like a kingdom. His addictive aura compelled me to stare. He was well over six feet and he carried a golden mace that matched his hair, his square jaw smooth shaven.

He hopped on one leg, kicking it outward. Heat bloomed in my face as I realized he was doing an impression ofme.The man flung the imaginary demon several more times. He moved on to me fighting the chort, standing completely frozen, his mouth slightly ajar, his blank stare fixated on a nearby wall, getting more laughter as he dragged it out.

Mortified, I edged around, hoping to get to the Elder unnoticed. But the golden-haired man found me with ease. While my unnatural white hair didn’t help me blend into crowds, it also was a telltale sign of my lack of magic.

“Hey! There she is!” the guy yelled, causing the entire room to turn and block me in. His voice brought my attention back to him. The deep rumble like thunder putting me in a trance. His blue eyes crashed over me like ocean waves, ensnaring me with his intense presence and his striking features.

“Six and a half minutes!” a girl said, flipping her short blonde hair. “I didn’t think you’d make it past thatscaryimp.” She put her hand over her mouth and trembled in mock horror, earning a few pity laughs from those around her.

“Well, she talked to that chort for like two minutes,” a student chimed in.

“For next year's exam, if it’s an imp, just end it. Don’t let their teeth get near you,” some guy said, looking down at the blood oozing from my leg. “Maybe a longer weapon would help.”

As the other students spoke, the guy with golden hair kept his focus on me as he stepped forward, staring down at me due to his height. His lopsided smile looked kinder than his words suggested. “Too bad you didn’t get accepted. Would have made for an entertaining year.”

He held out his hand, as though to congratulate me for failing. He smelled fantastic, like fresh rainfall. I clenched my fists, keeping my feet planted firmly. Backing down or submitting would make me look weak, even if this male’s scent was ambrosia.

He drew his hand away, resting it on his golden mace. “Or not.”

“Do you ever think about anything other than getting laid, Kairos?” a guy appeared at his side. A giant. A titan. A mythical hero. Taller and bulkier than everyone else around. A good few inches taller than the golden Kairos. Brown hair swooped over his forehead, chestnut eyes roasted over me, causing heat to swell inside me. He wore a forest green sports jersey with the number twenty in gold. A sword handle rested on his hip, no blade in sight.

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