Blue flames, p.7
Blue Flames, page 7
I focus and let my cloaking down. It’s become a habit to keep it up. She’s right about not needing to hide them. “Ever since they showed up, I’ve pretty much had to hide them. So, the new silk clothes, will they hold up in training?”
“They will. Even though they’re silk, they’ve been spelled to hold unless cut with a spelled weapon. It works as a fail safe for training because if that happens, we know someone is truly trying to hurt you.” She smiles as she hangs up another outfit.
“What if we’re training with spelled weapons?” I ask and pull one of the aforementioned outfits out and begin to dress.
“Hm, I guess I can have others made. I’ll talk to the seamstress. We have other materials that will look luxurious on you. Now, let’s do a quick review of the layout of the estate while you dress.”
“Just the estate?” I ask, pulling the top over my head and wings.
“Yes, I can tell you didn’t pick up the book I asked you to read but I’m sure you’ll work on it today. After all, we’ll be going over the first chapter this afternoon once you’ve finished with training and your witchery class.”
I groan and move toward the bathroom to tie my hair back. Arminda follows. She asks me to tell her where we visited yesterday, and which floor of the estate certain rooms are on. She asks me several other questions but thankfully doesn’t push for more than the simple stuff. It’s too early for my brain to function without caffeine first.
Once satisfied with my answers, she considers the review done and sends me on my way. I walk through the halls and down the steps to the back of the estate. I take the door that leads to the garden and begin the trek to the training area. It’s situated further from the estate to accommodate the barracks there. Most of the individuals in Lucifer’s army remain there.
We didn’t go within the training area yesterday but briefly walked past it so as I enter through the gates. I’m stunned with how much it resembles a small community. There are small shops, bakeries, taverns, and more. I keep moving forward, past all the small shops, toward another stone gate at the end of the main road. I assume it’s the training area.
Passing through the stone gates, I feel an energy course through my body. It’s strange and I focus on the sensation. I realize its energy saturating the air from all the training. It’s fascinating. Unsure of where to go, I reach in for my connection to Kai. I know I may not be his favorite person but at least he’ll know where I’m supposed to go.
I let it pull me further into the compound, passing many individuals sparring on mats, running obstacle courses, and conditioning. There are large open fields reminding me of football fields, where several hellhounds of various sizes run and spar. They’re beautiful and I can’t help but feel curious about how I would look next to them.
Excitement bubbles up in me at the possibilities unfolding just from having access to this training area. I’m distracted by it as I continue to follow that pull to Kai, but I pause as his frowning face stares down at me from where I’ve bumped into his chest. We’re standing at the edge of one of the large training areas set up as an obstacle course with a small group of warriors stretching behind him.
“You’re late,” he says in greeting, and I smirk, feeling sassy.
“Is that any way to treat a lady this early?” I smile playfully and he growls.
“Don’t sass me. Here, I’m your trainer and general. You’ll do as I tell you. Do not be late tomorrow.” He turns and I move to join the group, smirking. I think I touched a nerve.
The group is made up of two males and two females. The one with blue hair and a pixie cut looks familiar but I can’t place where I would have met her. She stretches on the outside of the group but carries on an easy conversation with the others.
As if sensing my gaze, she smiles at me and waves me over. I nod in return and make my way to her.
I plop down and introduce myself. “Hi, I’m Ember.” I offer the group a small wave.
She smiles and continues to stretch. “I’m Vixie. Welcome to the group.” She turns to the others, “Hey, guys, this is Ember.”
They smile and the male furthest from us grins. He’s burly with silver hair and red eyes. “I’m Leon. Nice to meet you, Ember.”
The male next to him has orange hair and gray skin. I’m fascinated by his appearance and even more so by his neon orange eyes. “Hi, I’m Blaze. Welcome to the pack, Ember.”
Finally, the woman next to Vixie, with long burgundy-colored hair, silver eyes, and tan skin, gives me a terse nod before speaking. “I’m Charity. Welcome, Ember.”
“It’s nice to meet you all,” I say and start to stretch.
Vixie whispers to me, “So, I see you’re the fabled Lucifer’s daughter we’ve been hearing rumors about. Where have you been hiding for so long?”
I laugh lightly leaning into my stretch. “Honestly, I didn’t know I was his daughter until sometime in the last few months. I thought I was a latent shifter.”
Vixie nods. “Makes sense. I got my magic late too.”
I watch her as she sits up from her stretch and something about her tickles the back of my mind. “Do you know who your parents are?” I can’t help but ask.
She looks at me curiously and shrugs. “Yes. My father’s dead though. I didn’t know him well. My mother’s name is Zendaya. She and I don’t talk often.”
I blink as it all sinks in. Wow, this is her daughter. I can see the resemblance now. She has eyes the color of the sea. “Do you see bits of the future?”
She tilts her head to the side. “Why do you ask?”
I shrug. “Curiosity?”
She lets out a sigh and whispers even softer, “I do but not everyone here knows that. Kai does, but that’s because he knows more about me than the others. What made you ask that?”
I look around, eyeing the others, and then whisper back, “I met her, your mother. She helped me escape from Greed. I think you were there, but I didn’t see you.”
Recognition blooms in her eyes. “You were one of the females he captured?”
I shake my head. “Yes and no. I was there, but I was one of the last to escape. One of the shifters was gifted to some of Greed’s generals and I made sure she got out. She’s one of my pack members.”
“Oh, so that’s the big fight that started as I was leading the group north. I wondered what was going on. Wow. Well, I’m glad you got away.”
“Alright, group, up we go. Time to train on the obstacles,” Kai says loudly, breaking up my conversation with Vixie. “Leon, you start us out. We’ll end with Ember.”
I watch as Leon stands, shaking his muscular limbs loose. He shoots me a flirtatious smile and takes off to the start of the obstacle course at a jog.
Using his speed, he runs and launches himself to the edge of the giant beam at the start. Large pendulums swing back and forth in an attempt to knock him off. They’re padded so as not to hurt too bad, but it still won’t be comfortable to be hit. He maneuvers through them easily and does a front flip off the end, landing gracefully before moving to the waterway.
Posts stick out from the water, and he jumps from one to the other while padded arrows fly at him. They must be spelled because I can’t see where they’re coming from. One gets his shoulder, but he keeps his footing and makes it to the end.
Next, he must climb up a wooden wall with a long rope, roll over the top, and sprint to the finish line. It looks relatively easy until I see someone appear out of thin air.
A massive sword lands in the dirt at the end of the wall and Leon picks it up and moves forward slowly toward the attacker. To finish, he must defeat his opponent.
The figure wears a hood, but I can tell they are watching Leon closely. The two meet with their swords crossed and battle. The clang of the swords echo around us as they spar.
Leon looks as if he’ll win until the opponent takes advantage of an opening on Leon’s right. He’s tagged with the sword but not injured. The opponent throws off their hood and a woman with purple hair, dark skin, and blue eyes smiles at him.
“Return to the line to go again, Leon,” Kai declares. “You all have to defeat Tabi in order to pass this obstacle course. Next!”
Blaze goes next followed by Charity and then Vixie. Vixie is impressive as she moves through the course. Her body is fluid, and she makes it look like a dance. I’m impressed, and she smiles at Tabi as she engages her in combat.
The two go at each other hard. Metal clangs and echoes louder than the earlier three. They spin and loop and duck as they move until eventually, Vixie tags Tabi.
“Gotcha!” Vixie cheers and Tabi bows, stepping aside. Vixie quickly climbs the wooden structure, rolls, and lands with a light thud before sprinting to the end.
Nerves hit me as I realize it’s my turn. I look at Kai who nods and I make my way to the start. The pendulums are intimidating but I remember dodging the projectiles launched at me by Zendaya and Ulric. They were much faster than any of these course items and unpredictable. All the course projectiles follow a pattern.
Smiling, I watch for the pattern. Seeing it, I launch myself forward. I move through the pendulums easily, cartwheeling off the end. I move across the water without issue as well, dodging the arrows. One comes too close, but I angle myself, balancing my weight on my left foot and shift at the last minute. I feel the wind from it ruffle the hair on my arm.
I reach Tabi and worry floods my brain and my heart rate increases. Can I compete against her? I pick up the sword, feeling its weight in my hands as I move forward. I smile and send up a thankful thought to the training Seth had me do with weapons as I meet Tabi’s sword with a sharp jolt.
I can see in her eyes that she’s impressed, and we dance around in a circle, meeting each other blow for blow. She laughs as if she’s enjoying herself and I ignore it as I focus more. She has got to have a weak spot. It’s there somewhere. I need to find it to win this.
I rotate us in the other direction and as I parry her swing, I notice a small give in her hip as she shifts her weight. That’s my spot.
I turn her again, keeping her focused on my arms and make my move. I force myself closer and as I do, I push on her hip. It causes her knee to buckle, and she drops to the ground, catching herself with the other leg.
I step back as she pulls herself up. “Well done, Ember. You’ve obviously had some training. You may pass.” Tabi ushers toward the wooden structure. I see the finish line where Vixie waits, beaming, and I quickly finish the last of the course.
Vixie slaps me playfully on the back as I pass. “Great job, girl! That was awesome. I honestly didn’t expect you to make it through.”
I frown lightly. “Thanks, I guess?”
“Let’s watch and see who makes it through next. We normally only get two chances. Those that fail get extra conditioning.”
“Oh fun. That’s good to know for future sessions.” I turn and watch as Leon begins again.
Leon looks irritated as he starts again but this time, he makes it through. Blaze and Charity do as well but barely. The three of them struggled to best Tabi. It almost looked as if Tabi felt bad for them and took it easier, but maybe not.
“Alright, everyone, let’s move over to the sparring area. We’re going to work more on using a two-handed sword. Partner up!” Kai’s voice is loud, echoing around us, and I watch as everyone goes to who I assume is their usual partner. This leaves me alone.
I follow the group as we move to the next area, and we grab swords from a huge rack of weapons. I look at Kai as everyone begins, and he lets out a heavy sigh. He moves to grab one to use himself and walks my way with a frustrated expression on his face.
I shrug as he stops before me. “Sorry. It’s not like I had any other options.”
He grunts. “I know. Get into position. You’ve had more training than I expected.”
I smile. “I’ll take that as a compliment. So, are you going to be stuffy while we spar?”
He moves forward to engage me and I meet his swing. I sense he’s holding back. Curious.
“I’m not stuffy. Focused is a better word.”
“You are stuffy or is asshole a better word? You could at least try to be nice.”
“When have I not been nice? I haven’t spoken to you much until now.”
“Exactly. Your reaction to who I am is not typical.”
His hits increase in strength, and I know I’m edging in on sensitive territory.
“I was surprised. What else did you expect?”
“That was surprise? You were pissed!” Frustration surges and my magic amps my strength up. My hits are harder, and Kai’s face becomes stern.
“I wasn’t pissed. I don’t know you well enough to follow through with the connection. I don’t agree that when one finds a mate, they should just accept it.” He pushes back against me harder and our speed increases.
I feel power surge through our connection, and I can feel he’s angry. My skin heats and I feel my hellhound surface.
“I see. You’re pissed because you feel like you weren’t given a choice. Newsflash, that’s how mates work.” I sweep a leg out and he jumps, avoiding it and circles around me.
His voice is deeper and his eyes glow as he moves back in. “Don’t preach to me about mates. I’ve seen enough people pair off over the years. I’m not some young pup.”
He jabs toward my side where I previously had an injury that was life threatening. Thanks to Zeke’s blood though I healed with some extra rest.
I cartwheel and sail over his sword. I land and swing my leg out, knocking him to the ground and quickly move to pin him with my sword resting under his chin. He reacts quickly and rolls away, spinning and swinging his sword up at me. I spin and block, growling as I do. It pisses me off that I couldn’t get him to yield.
His swings and thrusts increase even more in speed and tempo and I see his eyes glow bright. I block as best as I can but I’m no match to the years of training he’s had. Eventually, my arms buckle and, in an effort to protect myself, I roll away as the sword falls. Kai pauses with his blade at my chin.
“We’re done here,” he says with finality in his voice. His chest heaves in frustration and fatigue and I know my body mirrors his. I also can’t deny the heat pooling between my legs. That was fucking hot even if he’s mad. Wow.
Claps sound off around us and I glance up to see a crowd has gathered to watch us. It’s not like we were trying to put on a show. Kai moves his sword away from me and doesn’t offer me a hand up. I push myself up from the ground and dust myself off.
“Move to conditioning, group. We’ll finish there for the day and meet again in the morning.” He glares at me and then turns it on the rest of the group.
I roll my eyes as Kai walks away from me and I move toward Vixie who is starting push-ups. I drop down next to her and do the same.
“So that was impressive. I’ve never seen anyone take Kai on like that. He also seemed angry,” Vixie says, keeping a steady pace.
“So, he’s not always uptight?” I lift a brow doing my own push-ups slowly.
“Yes and no. That was different. He’s not usually that moody. Maybe Charity quit giving him some, and he’s ticked because of that. They’ve had an on-again off-again thing for a while.” Vixie pauses to catch her breath and shrugs.
My heart drops and I feel nauseous. “Do they still have a thing?” I stop doing push-ups and watch Charity as she’s doing burpees across the way.
“Like I said, I don’t know. Let’s go knock out our laps. Kai’s not worth trying to get with. He’ll never settle.” Vixie pushes from the ground.
I follow, pushing up slower. “Noted.”
We finish our conditioning and get dismissed for the day. I pause to think about where I’m to go next and remember that I’m to meet someone for training on witchcraft.
I let out a heavy sigh as I make my way back up toward the estate house. My body feels drained, and I can only hope that there will be some food waiting for me in this next session. If not, I’m going to have to start carrying a bag of it around with me.
I walk through the halls and up the stairs to a small room that Arminda pointed out. The door is closed so I knock and listen intently.
“Come on in, Ember,” a musical voice responds.
I push the door open and take in the miniature library that’s the witch’s office. An older woman with dark skin, long gray hair, and silver eyes sits at the back of the room. She has on a long dress and books rest before her as if she’s been reading.
“Hello, dear.” She stands from her large oak desk. “I’m Minerva. Welcome to your first lesson in witchcraft.”
“Hi, it’s a pleasure to meet you.” I smile and move forward. She pulls me into a hug as I reach out to shake her hand.
“Have a seat there. We’ll begin with some breathing exercises and then I’ll give you some reading material. We won’t do much today but go over the book. We’ll begin working spells later. I want to be sure you can focus your mind first for the task. Many struggle with that.”
“Oh, you mean like meditation focus? I can do that.”
“Good. You will show me. If I approve of your focus, we may try some simple spells. Let’s get started.”
§
Hours later, after a long and overwhelming day, I drop onto my bed and pull out my compact mirror to call my family. I go through the visualization process and smile as all their faces pop through.
“Hey! I’m so glad to see you guys! How are things?”
My sisters smile up at me and Tansy looks mischievous as she says, “Things are going well. Guess who found their mate early?”
Winnie blushes a scarlet color and my parents roll their eyes. I’m a bit surprised but fate works weirdly.
