Beast

Chapter 8

Picture above is an image of a hellhound similar to Lucia in her Beast form.

Adena suddenly woke from an impact. She sat up and rubbed her head. She had fallen on the floor.
  
"Are you always hard to wake up?!" exclaimed Lucia, annoyed. She apparently tried multiple times to shake her awake. "Now that you are awake, let us get something to eat. I am starving!"
  
Adena yawned and stretched her stiff body. She felt the handcuff slide down her arm. Lucia led her up the stairs and into a cafeteria. Beasts were sitting at round tables eating off of trays. As Adena passed, they glared and loudly jeered insults at her. She assumed Conner had told them about her. She and Lucia went into a line. Lucia piled her tray with sausage and Adena took a red apple. Lucia looked around for a table, wondering where to sit. Adena pointed at a few empty ones, but Lucia spotted Conner sitting alone. She pulled an unwilling Adena over.
  
"Hello Lucia, End soldier," Conner spat out the last two words. He had a bowl of cinnamon oatmeal in front of him.
  
Adena sat as far as she could from him. She watched Lucia eat greedily.
  
"How was the first night Conner?" asked Lucia after swallowing her food.
  
"Alright. The other Beasts were pretty nice to me," answered Conner with a puzzled tone. He turned to Adena. "How was your night in the cell?" he asked icily.
  
Adena ignored him. He sighed and continued to talk to Lucia. Adena's mind wandered to End. What were they doing now? Were they still looking for her? She wondered if Brute had been promoted. Adena gritted her teeth at the thought of his smug face seeing her handcuffed to a twelve-year-old.
  
"What are you thinking about?" asked Lucia.
  
"Nothing."
  
"Maybe she's thinking about some way to pummel you into the ground Lucia," said Conner.
  
"She could not do that. She would fall down with me," pointed out Lucia. She held up her hand with the handcuff.
  
"Good point."
  
Lucia clapped her hands together and changed the subject. "Today we shall go someplace special!" she said excitedly.
 
"We as in also me?" asked Conner.
  
"You could if you want, but I would advise you not to," answered Lucia.
  
"That just makes me even more curious.."
  
Lucia stood up and dragged Adena away from the table. Adena dropped her apple and desperately tried to grab it. Conner followed them with a smirk. They walked outside and to the bottom of a hill. Lucia mumbled something and placed her hand on the side. She walked along it until her hand pushed down a piece of stone. An archway appeared and they walked into the hill. The inside was hallow, surprising Adena. The cave floor and walls were actually metal. Wooden weapons such as swords and spears were stashed on shelves. Many of the weapons were broken into pieces. Adena stepped into the middle of a large, faded ring painted onto the ground.
  
"What is this place?" asked Conner, picking up a half of a spear. "Is this entire hill metal?"
  
Lucia studied the cave. "It was in better shape last time I had practiced in here," she said to herself.
  
"But this cave looks like no one has been in it for over fifty years," said Conner. He pointed at the rusty walls and faded ring.
  
"What's your age Mutt?" asked Adena suspiciously.
  
"Hellhound ages are completely different compared to humans. I am a twelve-year-old hellhound in human years, but I might be older than you might expect," said Lucia. "That is not why I wanted us to come here though." She unlocked the handcuffs on Adena's wrist. Then she picked out a wooden sword that wasn't in pieces. She slid a finger over it and suddenly tossed it to Adena.
  
Adena caught it yet almost dropped it in shock. "What's this for?" She looked at the entrance and saw it was closed.
  
Lucia found another sword in similar conditions. "You are quite skilled in knife throwing, but knives are not a wise choice to bring into battle," she explained. "So I have decided to teach you how to sword fight!"
  
Conner quickly yanked the wooden sword out of Adena's hand and broke the weapon into two with his knee. "No way!" he shouted.  He gave Adena a quick look of hostility before turning to Lucia. "Do you want to teach her how to kill Beasts faster?!"
  
"I never said that," said Lucia patiently.
  
"Well you want to teacher how to use a sword. What do you think she'll do with those skills? She'll escape and continue to kill more of us!"
  
"I have her under close observation so she will not be able to run off."
  
"Then why do you want to show her how to use a sword?" demanded Conner. His voice had risen with rage.
  
"I have my own reasons," answered Lucia calmly. She handed Adena her sword and walked off to find another.
  
Conner grumbled angrily as he threw the pieces of wood in his hands.
  
"Temper tantrums won't help," said Adena with amusement.
  
"You.. shut your mouth," mumbled Conner. He stomped away as Lucia came back.
  
"It is alright Conner. If she tries to escape or hurt us severely I could mess up her legs so she is incapable of walking!" said Lucia cheerfully. "Okay. You have swordsmen at End, correct? You might have seen how they hold their weapons. Some might have long and heavy swords that they must handle with two hands. The wooden swords we are using are usually lighter when metallic. So people are able to hold them with one hand. Most use their dominant hand."
  
Adena noticed Lucia was holding the wooden sword with her left hand.
  
"Now, I will show you some basic moves used with this sword."          

                   •~•~•~•
  
Adena panted with exhaustion and handed the wooden sword back to Lucia. As she placed the sword in the other girl's hand, she felt the handcuff reappear on her wrist. She sighed and wiped her forehead with her arm.
  
"That was an excellent practice. Have you been taught how to sword fight before?" asked Lucia.
  
"Maybe," replied Adena. She recalled the time when the boss had tried yet failed to get her to use a sword correctly.
  
"It was probably by someone from End. They showed her where the heart of a Beast is and the correct way to shove the sword in and kill it," said Conner cruelly. He had been sitting near the wall sulking the entire time.
  
"Now do not be like that Conner!" said Lucia brightly. She was barely worn out and was probably able to sword fight for the rest of the day. She dropped the swords and led Adena and Conner out of the metal cave. Outside, the sun was directly up above. "How about lunch?" She began to walk, but Adena stopped her.
  
Adena wanted to ask why the Beast had helped her, even though she was an enemy. She wanted to know why she treated Adena like a friend who had shown up from a long vacation. Yet she decided not to ask. She thought the Beast might not let her roam free if she got too curious. "Name's Adena," she said quickly.

Lucia's smile turned into a wide grin, and she seemed to have a new spring in her step.