Emry's Demons

Chapter 20

Chapter 20 – Sweepy

Emry

Emry held the punching bag tightly, and Riggs punched into it.

"Again!"

He punched at it again.

"Harder!"

He went at it again, letting out a roar in the process.

The big, old room smelled of sweat and dust. Damon and she were training their soldiers at the same building where they'd had their Duels a few months ago.

"You're good," she told Riggs. He was struggling to breathe and his black curls were slick with sweat.

Before her, next to another punching bug, Damon looked like the perfect combination of hopelessness and amusement, as he watched Ahron's attempts to kick it.

Emry couldn't help but let her betraying eyes run over him, just for a moment. He'd tossed his shirt aside, so he was shirtless and sweaty. His hair was ruffled and his eyes were wild.

She herself was sweaty too, and her fatigue shirt was tossed aside. She had a short, black one beneath, and now it was uncomfortably sticking to her body.

She focused on Riggs again. "You're good," she said again. "But your problem is that you throw a punch to shove, when what you really should aim for is to rattle. Look," she pushed him away a little, and then her arm shot forward as she hit the bag. It rattled with force. "You get what I mean?"

He nodded. "I'll try again."

"Don't push the bag, rattle it."

This time it was better.

He was stronger than the others, but it was also his drawback. There was no grace in his movements, no calculation.

Ahron, however, had the calculation, but too much of it. It certainly wasn't helping with his insecurity.

Suddenly, the door burst open, and one of the slayers from another team came in. "Primrose, Headley is calling for you."

"Seriously?" Damon grabbed a towel and wiped his face and hair.

The soldier shrugged. "He said it's urgent, and he said to tell you," He turned to Emry. "That it might take a few hours."

Damon cursed and looked at her. "Can you finish here?"

"Of course," she nodded, leaning against the punching bug. What other option did she have?

Behind her, Ahron collapsed on the floor. "Can we take a break? Please?"

Emry glanced back at her team. The rest, who were training with ropes and weights, looked exhausted as well. "Yes, but we're going to the armory after that. I want you guys to experiment with more weapons, it doesn't feel like you're all well suited for a knife." She eyed Ahron in particular.

When they reached the armory, she waited for them outside. "Go inside, just take what you want and step out. We'll try to improvise with your choices."

After a few minutes, they all made it back with their selected weapons. Lucy, Kalen, Anoki and Riggs stuck to their knives, but Ella came out holding a dart gun, and Ahron was holding a long cane with a sharp edge.

Emry tilted her head to the side. "Interesting."

She pulled out a little black box – the Shadoni box – and then laid it on the ground and opened it. Dark mist released and filled the air. Then, out of the fog, came out a demon – a crocodile surrounded with a blue halo.