Blackflame (Cradle, #3)

by Will Wight

With a new family at his side, Jai Long marched to destroy his old one.

Ik hes supposed to be the person we dont root for, but omg found family?!

message for us. You just want to sweep that away?” “As I’ve said before, I’m very good with a broom.” He overrode Yerin’s objections by raising his voice and simply talking over her.

Lowkey.... Wait nvm nvm nothing is lowkey in life. Highhkey, Eithan's pissing me off. He's cocky and that annoys me so much.

Eithan had been sure he was winning the game, right up until his opponents swept the cards off the table and stabbed him.

Nothing like being stabbed during a card game.

“Dance of the Dragon of Emptiness,”

DBZ reference? ATLA reference?!

Eithan brushed that away with a gesture. “There will be no forgiveness. To the blood pits with you!” Gesha trembled on her knees, and Lindon laughed awkwardly. “Why are you laughing?” Eithan asked blankly. “I said, take her to the blood pits!” Two Highgolds appeared from the crowd, dragging a struggling Fisher Gesha away. “Let this be a lesson to you, Lindon,” Eithan went on. “The second anyone disrespects you for any reason? Blood pits. Blood pits are the cornerstone of good rule.”

Oh that's....

Then, Jai Daishou’s pants vanished. He stood shivering in his underwear as all the Truegold elders pointed and laughed. When he tried to run away, his childhood teacher stepped out from behind a nearby building and told him it was his turn to present his project to the whole class. But he didn’t have a presentation, he had never prepared one, so he was forced to stand in front of his peers and stammer out some nonsense words as everyone continued to laugh at him. Abruptly he forced himself awake, panting and sweating. He saw all his Truegolds dead and Eithan Arelius holding a blade to his throat. He sighed in relief. “All things considered,” Jai Daishou said, “this could have been much worse.”

Death is better than being pantsed?

The dragon advances. The dragon destroys. The dragon conquers. “Fits like a good boot,” Yerin said, but Lindon had noticed more at the bottom. He brushed dust aside. “There’s more writing…a lot more.” Beneath the third line were more sayings in the ancient script. The dragon is respected. The dragon is cool. People like the dragon. “That’s really what it says?” Yerin asked. “It’s the best translation I can come up with. And there’s still more.” The dragon isn’t scared. The dragon wins all the time. The dragon could beat you up. The dragon left his ex-girlfriend, not the other way around, and she’s a liar so you shouldn’t trust anything she says about it anyway.

The dragon is a pathetic boyfriend.

“First thing, that name’s growing on me.” Yerin chewed on her lip as she thought. “Yeah. Fierce Burning Outer Robe. I like it, I think it’ll stick.” “All right, Fierce Burning Outer Robe it is!” Lindon ignited the Fierce Burning Outer Robe and dove into combat.

Lindon drop that name right now.

“I am to have authority over their training?” Cassias asked. “If you would like the authority to decide between making the course slightly more difficult than usual or truly sadistic, then yes,” Eithan said. “Good.” Cassias immediately cranked the course up to Truly Sadistic. The screams of the two children rising from the training course were nothing compared to Cassias’ manic laughter. “Dance, my puppets!” he cried. “Dance!”

Truly Sadistic.

Lindon looked at the simulation showing him the Blackflame Path. It really was perfect for him. But he wanted another one. “Path of the Broken Star,” Lindon said firmly. Eithan hesitated. It looked like he was about to pull some kind of key out of his outer robe. “Are you…are you sure you don’t want Blackflame?” “Nope, Path of the Broken Star. You told me I could choose, and that’s the one I want.” “Well, I—hm.” “What? Can you not do it?” “No, no, we can do it, I just…I had this whole presentation prepared, I already had a subordinate of mine make preparations. I was going to introduce you to a turtle…” “A turtle?” “Are you sure you don’t want the Path of Black Flame?” “Broken Star.” “Okay, fine.” Eithan sighed and tucked the key back into his pocket. “Fortunately, I know another turtle.” “There’s a turtle for this Path, too?” “Oh, Lindon, Lindon, Lindon. There’s a turtle for every Path.”

There's a turtle for every path?!?