The Princess of the Moon

Chapter 12

I grunted out in pain as I was thrown against the wall to the back of the house that I had been staying in. Dark spots flashed before my eyes as my back hit the wall hard, and I groaned.

It had been a week of not being able to see my father, or anyone, except for Kala and sometimes Zën. I missed my father and the people that I had become close to, wondering how they were doing and hoping that they weren't missing me as much as I was missing them.

"Better, but not strong enough to face them," Kala said from where she was lounging around in a tree. Her eyes were closed, and she stared at me with half-closed eyes. She flicked her tail and looked rather annoyed that this creature had been beating me over and over again, even though I had said that I knew how to fight. "Again."

I grunted and stood, ignoring the pain in my back. I shook my head and take a deep breath before going back into the circle, starting another fight.

The creature sneered, and I frowned while it started to stalk around me. It flicked its tail and growled, trying to see what my weakness was. The creature knew those weaknesses that I had, and I had a feeling that it was looking for more as we continued with this battle.

I took a deep breath and watched the beast, breathing in and out. My whole body was relaxed, as I watched the creature move around me. I wasn't really wanting to fight, but I knew that I had to until Kala said that it was ok for me to stop.

The creature roared and lunged at me, and I ducked and rolled out of its way before I stood. It turned around quickly and attacked me with its tail, but I managed to get away from it with a second left to spare.

"Good, but not good enough," Kala said, and I rolled my eyes, annoyed. "You have to be faster than that. They will be able to kill you if you aren't fast enough."

"I know," I all but growled out. I caught the tail when the thing whipped it at me again and tried to stay in my spot as it pushed me back. I took a deep breath and pulled at the tail, trying to see if I couldn't move the beast.

However, like always, I wasn't strong enough to move it and ended outside the circle again, being tossed into another wall.

I groaned and closed my eyes as I fought through the pain. Beads of sweat appeared on my head as I tried to stand but wasn't able to.

"Get up," Kala said.

"Give me a minute," I growled out, digging my hands into the dirt. "Can we be done for today?" I asked, hating that I was begging. I closed my eyes and was panting. All I wanted to do was find Zën, knowing full well that he was nearby.

"And why?" Kala asked, sounding jealous. "Going to find Zën?"

"Yes," I replied, knowing full well that I wouldn't be able to lie to her. I knew that she would know where I went having this... bond between us. "I don't know why you are jealous." I finally stood up and wiped my forehead, staring at the beast that Kala had conquered up for me.

"I do-"

"Well, I don't understand why you are pushing me to fight these things when I haven't seen them in my whole entire life," I snapped, finally letting my frustration show. I glared at her, feeling useless. I was surprised that the thing hadn't attacked me yet when all of my attention was on this Familiar that was "bonded" with me.

"You said that you know how to fight," Kala said. "Did you lie to me?"

"You know that I didn't lie, Kala," I said, feeling rather betrayed and hurt that she would say that. "I do know how to fight, but all I know how to fight are Humans. I don't know how to fight these creatures, and yet, you make me fight them. You don't let me practice anything else, and I'm going to need to do other stuff to learn and grow stronger, aren't I?"

"You need to get stronger with your fighting first before I let you do anything else. That is going to help you more than whatever you and Zën do."

"That's what you think," I said. Taking a deep breath, I stepped out of the ring, forfeiting the battle.

The beast growled and disappeared as Kala stood up on the branch and glared at me. "What. Did. You. Do?!" she all but snarled at me.

"I forfeited the battle," I replied. "I am done for today. I want to do something else, so I am going to do something else."

"And, like what? What do you practice with that bird brain that is so much better than what I have planned?"

"Anything," I replied. "But, the main thing we work on is building trust, something that you and I should be working on, but it doesn't happen."

"Well, why didn't you say that you wanted to get to know me?" Kala asked, lying down. "It would be so much easier than reading your mind."

"But, you can read my mind," I replied, looking at her as if she was stupid. "It's why you made me fight in that downpour."

"No, you just said it out loud but forgot," she replied.

I shook my head and moved a hand across my face, feeling exhausted. "Ok, do you want to know what I think? I think that your training sessions suck. It doesn't help me in any way. And I think you have not taught anyone before."

She raised an eyebrow but stayed silent as if she was waiting on me to continue.

"I want to work on stuff that I am confident with and can do. I want to train and build up to stuff that I am not confident with and gain that confidence that I deserve, that I need, not getting thrown into something like the way you threw me into this."

She didn't reply but blinked.

Again, I shook my head and sighed. "I am done training with you for today," I said, letting my exhaustion show. "I don't want to do this anymore, so please come up with something that I could feel proud of when I have completed the workout and not exhausted and defeated. I am tired of feeling like that."

"I will think about it," she said. "Go and enjoy your time with Zën, even though I am not sure he does anything productive for you. Leave me to rest and not worry about you and your problems."

I opened my mouth to retort but closed my mouth without saying anything. I knew that it wasn't worth it, so I wasn't even going to try.

I shook my head and walked away, going in the direction that I knew Zën was in.

Hopefully, he wouldn't be an asshole today, but I knew that he would be. He just loved to annoy more when I was in one of my "moods" because it was funny to him.

It was not funny to me.