The Shadows

48| Dracone

I wipe my forehead, sweat dripping down my face as the hot morning sun beams down on us. I was thankful for the open field and the mountains being so far in the distance. There was always a refreshing breeze here. I take a deep sigh and look up to Damien. He smiles at me approvingly. "You've improved your stamina." He says proudly. I nod happily. His eyes shift off into the distance and I turn to look. Cynthia was casually making her way towards us. She meets us and we greet each other. I turn to Damien, a bit confused. "We'll focus on strength today and by that I mean, find your opponents strength." He shrugs, "Cynthia is a bit unpredictable." She smiles slyly, winking at me. "Get into position." Cynthia and I take a few steps back from each other and get into position. So I'm sparring Cynthia today? Interesting. We stand for a minute, but she makes no effort to come towards me. I shake my head. "Well, come on?" I yell. She shrugs, "You come at me?" She argues. I furrow my brows, taking a few steps towards her, keeping eye contact. Her hands tighten into fists and her body tenses. I run at her, moving in for a jab. She instantly counteracts me, smacking my hand away and coming at my throat with her other hand. I elbow her hand up, barely missing me and throw a punch to her side. She grunts, giving in to the pain slightly. As I go for another punch to her stomach, she reaches her foot up to my chest, kicking off of me. As I fall backwards, I see her body fly into a back aerial, landing gracefully as I am thrown backwards onto the ground. A quick glance at Damien, who is observing carefully. Cynthia stands unharmed in front of me, awaiting my next move. Then I realized it, her strength, she was an acrobat. She was strong and flexible. I think for a moment before smiling to myself. I jump up, charging at her, she bends her knees, prepping. As I approach her, she pushes off the ground into a side aerial, over my head. I slide under, ducking. In a swift movement, I reach up and grab her ankle as it floats over me, pulling her back in the direction she had come from and whipping her back into the ground. She thumps hard, startled. We both breath heavily, tired. It takes her a few moments before she regains her composure and stands up. Damien looks to me and winks.

"Very good, I'm impressed." He says, almost hiding the amount of excitement he felt for me, for Cynthia's sake. "Cynthia isn't an easy opponent." Cynthia brushes herself off and smiles. "Are we done? because I need to lay down." She rubs her head. We chuckle at her and Damien nods.

Damien turns to me as Cynthia departs. "I felt that kick." He raises an eyebrow at me. I prop my hands on my hips. "Yeah well, me too." We laugh. "This could be a serious distraction to both of us. Either one of us gets hurt and we'll feel it as well. This is a problem." He stands deep in thought. "Then we have to be untouchable." I state confidently. He shifts his gaze to me and nods. "So when's our turn to spar?" I wink at him. He turns to me, "When you're untouchable." He smirks. "Unless you feel like being... touchable?" He glides his hands down my arms as his eyes search my body from head to toe. "Is that all you think about?" I joke. He shrugs, "How can I not when you're all sweaty and hot." He says seductively.

"Ah, ahem..."

We both turn our heads to see Chris standing awkwardly waiting for us to notice him. "Chris! thanks for coming, I could really use your help." Damien says nothing, simply staring at him. He turns to me. "Cynthia will be training you in flexibility and acrobatics in the mornings from now on. Before your training with... him." He sounds unimpressed. "Sounds good." I agree. Damien leans down, kissing my forehead and walking off into the distance.

I turn to Chris, "Sorry, about that." He shrugs, "Trust me, it's an improvement." I had a hard time looking into Chris's face. A not so gentle reminder of what Damien had done to him. I suppose that was his goal, but it made me feel immense guilt. I clear my throat, "So, should we get started?"

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<-Two Hours Later->

I drag my feet into my bedroom, exhausted and sweaty after hours of training. "Ary-bear! guess what!" I flinch, not expecting a squeaky voice to pull me out of my blank mind. Braelin was laid out on my bed, reading a book. When I look up, she throws the book to the side and jumps up. "What?" I say tiredly. "Me, you and Ra are going to the capital baby!" I furrow my brows at her. "What? I doubt the boys will let us go." I state un-enthusiastically. She rolls her eyes, "I never mentioned asking for permission." She smirks. "I don't know, what do I tell Damien?" I say skeptically. "Girls night? Sleepover in my room?" She shrugs. "I hate lying to him..." I rub my face. "We'll be back before nightfall, come on, it will be fun. Meet us in the stables in thirty minutes." She runs up to me smacking my cheek with a kiss and skips off. I sigh, rubbing her wet kiss off my cheek and drag my feet into the bathroom to take a quick shower.