Cryptic Wonder- the Awakening

by Wylder Willis

  Naomi nodded and they all headed back to the portal doorway. She took Denzel through the portal as she waved “goodbye” to Zeke, who waited until they were through before using the portal to take him to his own home.

  Chapter 8

  Naomi and Denzel, both washed up before supper. Naomi took the foot bath into his bathroom for the second night in a row, since she had been preoccupied with training and finding Denzel. They headed back down stairs to find Rosalee looking at them, confused.

  Naomi managed to silence her questions by holding a hand up as if to say stop. Rosalee nodded, knowing Naomi would talk about it in her own time. They sat at the table and ate roast beef sandwiches in silence. Naomi finished and placed her plate in the sink before heading into the family room to read. Denzel and Rosalee looked at her, then to each other. Rosalee shrugged and finished eating. Denzel rose from his seat grabbing his plate, and scraped off the remains of his supper into the disposal bin before placing the plate in the sink.

  He walked past Naomi as he headed upstairs to his room. Not long after he reached his room there was a knock at the door. Naomi popped her head up from behind the back of the couch as Rosalee walked over to answer the door.

  “Who would be here at this hour?” Rosalee wondered aloud.

  Naomi shrugged as she watched from the couch. Rosalee opened the door and a leopard aura with a red glow walked inside. The aura saw Naomi and sat rather regally. Naomi popped over the back of the couch and nodded for it to speak from where she stood crouched.

  It spoke with the voice of the Shadow Beast’s leader, Acacia, “Greetings young caracal. My aura is here to update you on the search. Sadly, no one so far wishes to be life partner to a former human, Droga or not. We will keep up the search and update you each day.”

  Naomi lowered her head knowing she would be updated, but did not expect it to be bad news. The leopard aura rose to its feet and walked back the way it came. Rosalee closed the door behind it and looked to Naomi, still crouched with her face towards the floor.

  Rosalee asked in a gentle voice, “Wanna talk about it cub?”

  “I was hoping he would get his life partner by now, but now I’m wondering if I did the wrong thing by allowing him to take the Brazen claw,” Naomi said lifting her gaze towards her mother.

  “You have a kind heart, but the soul of a warrior. This can make it difficult in life to know if you did good--but you did good with him. They will find a life partner, and then you will never need to see him again, if that’s what you want,” Rosalee said sweetly as she held Naomi’s hands. Naomi stood, smiling at her mother, before giving her a hug.

  Naomi said in her mother’s ear, “You always know just what to say.” Rosalee gave her a kiss before Naomi let her hands down to her sides. Naomi smiled and went to bed thankful for her kind and caring mother, who always knew just the right thing to say.

  Rosalee headed to her own room and fell asleep. The rest of the week was similar to that day, except that Denzel didn’t wander into the human world and Naomi got a second foot bath. Every so often Denzel would feel a subtle heat in his chest that would fade,but he thought little of it.

  Chapter 9

  On the morning of the sixth day, before dawn, Naomi got dressed in a simple rusty red crop top, and some black leggings, then she headed over to Denzel’s room. She rapped lightly on the door, Denzel answered on the first knock. “Come on, we are heading out early to train,” Naomi ordered. Denzel followed as they headed to the front door. He had already dressed, not wanting a pillow to the head. He wore a light brown shirt with red striping and cotton pants that matched. It was still dark out and Rosalee wasn’t awake yet. Naomi grabbed a pear and an orange before they headed out the portal doorway.

  They stepped out of the doorway and found they were on a cliff overlooking the town. Just when they stepped out of the portal door it vanished to Denzel’s surprise. Denzel asked looking at where the portal doorway had just been standing, “How do we get back?”

  Naomi smiled as she walked over to the ledge. “Some portal doorways vanish. It will return if we say a password.” She sat down at the ledge, her feet dangling over the side of the cliff as she looked out across the land. Denzel looked at her curiously before he decided to join her.

  They sat in silence for a moment before Denzel spoke. “Why are we here? I thought we were gonna do training.”

  Naomi replied still looking out over the town, “I thought we could come here while we talk.” Denzel nodded thinking she wanted to tell him something.

  “They didn’t find anyone to be your life partner yet. Unfortunately, with each day that goes by you are closer and closer to dying.”

  Denzel elbowed her gently, “We aren’t on the final day yet, we just gotta have faith. I get till the end of tomorrow.”

  Naomi shook her head, “You don’t get it! Not many Cryptics like humans; those that do like them only as lunch in some way or form. Face it, you're screwed and gonna die.” Denzel nodded as if he had already resigned himself to the sad fate.

  “Maybe we shouldn’t continue training then. It feels wrong for you to continue teaching me if I'm gonna die in less than two days, anyway,” suggested Denzel.

  “No, we continue training. You might need the skills in the next life,” Naomi teased. Denzel nodded with a smile as he looked at Naomi. Naomi got to her feet and walked a few steps from the edge of the cliff. Denzel followed her and listened as she used a password to call forth a portal doorway.

  Naomi spoke in a strange language, “Anubis ren Fenris.” A portal doorway flew down from out of nowhere and landed only a foot in front of Naomi. Naomi stepped through and Denzel followed. When they stepped back out they were in the training area with different terrain and the rack of weapons. Zeke was sitting on the bench nearby, drawing. He was wearing clothing similar to Denzel but it was redish and had black spotting similar to a leopard. Naomi smiled as she thought of what, or more accurately who , he might be drawing in his notebook. Naomi whistled a three-note tune, and Zeke looked--up a slight blush to his face.

  “How long have you been watching?” he asked as he put away his drawing book and pencil.

  Naomi grabbed her twin-bladed short sword as she teased, “Long enough to know who you were drawing.” Zeke walked to stand beside her and grabbed the spear, still blushing.

  Denzel grabbed the saber and they all walked a bit further into the field before beginning to spar. Denzel watched how close they got to the forest before he heard Zeke’s footsteps quicken. Denzel had learned to use his heightened senses to his advantage; all Cryptics after going through the Feralizer had heightened senses.

  Zeke charged Denzel, spear ready, and Denzel peeked over his shoulder before he spun around to dodge the blade. Naomi watched as she darted into the forest and up a tree. Denzel held his saber before him--blade pointed towards Zeke.

  Zeke smiled as he swung the blade of the spear towards his left. Denzel blocked, but Zeke had let go of the spear in a split second making the spear drop slightly below where Denzel had the blade of his saber. The spear blade hit Denzel in the hand instead of hitting the saber’s blade. Zeke grabbed the shaft of the spear just as it cut into Denzel’s hand.

  Denzel jerked his hand away, and the cut turned red with a drop of blood. First blood was drawn! Naomi gave Zeke a thumbs up just before Zeke swung his spear again this time in an upward angle. The blade dug into the soil and carried some towards Denzel’s face. Denzel went to block again but got a face full of dirt instead as Zeke launched the soil off the spear’s blade.

  Dezel cried out in surprise, “GAHH!” as he backed up, blinded, his blade lowered as he used his right hand to rub away the soil from his eyes. Zeke took his chance and swung the butt of the spear towards Denzel’s head. The spear butt made contact with Denzel’s head and sent him to the ground.

  The dirt out of his face, Denzel looked up to see Zeke’s spear pointed at his head. Zeke smiled before he turned his head to look towards Naomi. Naomi ha
d launched herself from the tree and was coming right at Zeke, with a smile and sword drawn.

  She landed in front of him and swung her double-bladed sword upward towards his face. As she swung the blade she bolted upright, and Zeke didn’t have time to block as he had lowered his spear when he looked to the tree she had leaped from. Naomi’s double-bladed sword struck him across the chest, lightly grazing him as Naomi had intended. Since it was a practice they made sure their weapons only scratched each other. When her blade halted in motion it was pointed at Zeke’s neck.

  “Looks like I win, Zeke,” Naomi gleamed. Zeke nodded as he knew he had no way to escape her sword.

  “We yield Naomi,” Denzel said as he saw Naomi swiftly separate her sword into two and point the other at him. Naomi wasn’t paying attention to the fight anymore as something in the desert area had caught her eye. Her blades swiftly were clicked back together and sheathed, the motion so fluid it looked like one move. The boys followed her gaze and saw a tall woman in a hoodless cloak watching them. Naomi shifted into a caracal instantly and darted up to her, seeming to recognize the woman. Zeke followed as Denzel bolted upright to catch up.

  Naomi shifted back to her humanoid form as she stood before the woman who was smiling at all of them. “Greetings Naomi and Zeke,” the woman said as the three stood before her.

  “Greetings Celeste!” chimed Zeke and Naomi. Denzel covered his eyes for fear of the Gorgon ’s gaze. Naomi glanced at Denzel as she noticed he had his hand to his face. Naomi rolled her eyes as she pulled his hand down.

  “You don’t have to block your sight; a medusa’s gaze doesn’t affect Cryptics,” Naomi explained. Denzel looked at her then to Celeste in surprise. Celeste nodded agreeing with Naomi.

  Zeke asked curiously, “Celeste, I have never seen you here before; what brings you to the training field?”

  “I heard a rumor that there was a new Droga, and I wanted to see if it was true. I figured he would be here training, and it seems I was right,” Celeste answered as she looked at Denzel.

  Naomi’s ears twitched. She looked around, eager, “Is Esme with you? I bet she was curious too!”

  Celeste shook her head, “ No she isn’t as optimistic as I am. She didn’t believe the rumors, but I'm sure she will be happy to hear you were looking for her.” Naomi smiled, as she loved talking to Esme.

  Denzel asked curiously, “Who is Esme? Is she a Gorgon as well?”

  “Esme is a friend that Celeste is often seen with. She is a Kelpie. Kelpie’s always and only get a horse during the Feralizer,” Zeke explained. Denzel nodded, happy for the explanation.

  Celeste inquired, glancing at the saber at Denzel’s side, “May I test the Droga’s skill with the blade?”

  Naomi nodded and they all headed to the weapons rack in the grassy field. Naomi and Zeke put their chosen weapons away as Celeste grabbed a weapon. Her chosen weapon was a recurve bow with a quiver of seven arrows. The bow itself was made of osage orange wood, just like the shafts of the arrows. She nocked an arrow to the drawstring and strolled out into the field

  Denzel was already in position, his back to the forest and his saber drawn. Celeste stopped when she was only five yards away from him and raised her bow to fire. She pulled back the drawstring and arrow as she aimed at him. Denzel watched as he wondered how he would block the arrows.

  She released the arrow and it flew. Denzel watched as it soared towards him. She nocked another and aimed a bit higher before releasing a second arrow. Denzel swung his saber as he blocked the first arrow from hitting him in the leg, but he was too slow to block the second arrow that followed close behind. The arrow lodged into his right shoulder. Denzel cried out in pain, the force of the arrow shoving his shoulder back. Celeste nocked another arrow as she started to rush at him. Denzel yanked the arrow from his shoulder with his free hand, throwing it to the ground.

  Celeste released the third arrow as she was closing in. Denzel swung his saber with his uninjured arm to deflect the arrow to the side before it hit him. The arrow flew high into a tree once deflected, and Denzel didn’t waste a moment as he went on the offensive.

  He swung his saber upwards from the ground as Zeke had done with his spear earlier. Celeste gripped her bow at both ends as she blocked the saber. The saber bounced off the bow uselessly, making Denzel stumble backward as it flew from his hand. Celeste nocked another arrow and aimed it at him as he stumbled onto his rear end. He looked up at her with surprise. He had lost the fight, his saber landed out of reach with the hilt pointed skywards. Denzel raised his hands to show he yielded.

  Naomi chimed as she walked up to Celeste and Denzel, “Your work with a bow is always a wonder Celeste. You're the best archer in the world!” Celeste put the arrow back into the quiver on her back.

  “Quickest battle I’ve ever seen, you are a pro at the bow,” complimented Zeke as he smiled, “though Denzel needs to work on keeping his saber in hand.”

  “Thank you both very much, but I believe you are underestimating Denzel. He did very well for one that has only been training for a short time,” Celeste smiled as she helped Denzel to his feet.

  Naomi looked at Denzel with surprise at hearing Celeste’s praise. She didn’t think he had progressed much in training. Naomi inquired, “What made you think he had done very well? He let his shoulder drop just before he got hit. Plus he tried rushing you when clearly you have more

  experience, losing his sword and balance in the end.”

  Celeste explained with a smile as she collected the arrows. “That is true, but he didn’t back down; he took to the challenge and faced it head-on. He has heart and that is what matters; the rest will figure itself out.”

  Naomi shrugged as she knew Celeste had a point, but she didn’t want to acknowledge that Denzel had done better than she had originally thought. Celeste put the bow and quiver away before she waved goodbye to Naomi, Denzel, and Zeke. They waved back, glad she had visited before they started training again.

  They practiced a bit more, focusing on his transformations and battle stances. Whenever Denzel messed up Naomi would smack him on the head with the sheath of her swords. He got smacked a lot as his stance wasn’t very good, and he was constantly dropping his guard on his right or dropping his left shoulder.

  Luckily, Denzel had almost mastered transformation, so he managed to avoid getting smacked as he practiced that. The only part of transformation he had trouble with was doing it while he was moving, but eventually he managed to do it at least while he was walking. Naomi showed off by doing it at a sprint, and Denzel wondered if it was easier for Cryptic-born to transform or if it was just because his wild form was so rare.

  Chapter 10

  The sun began to set as Naomi, in caracal form, launched from a tree up into the air. Denzel was blinded by the sun as he tried to watch her. He quickly dropped his gaze and used a paw to rub at his eyes--he was also in his wild form--as they hurt from the sun. Naomi angled herself downwards as she got ready to land. She tackled Denzel, landing on his furry back and shoulder, forcing him to flip over.

  Zeke watched with a smile as Naomi looked over to him smiling as well. Zeke’s smile widened when he saw how silly her large canines made her smile seem.

  “Pretty sure she wants to take out my shoulder, Zeke,” Denzel said, still pinned to the ground. Zeke shrugged with a smile as he was just glad he hadn’t been on the receiving end of Naomi’s pounce.

  Naomi teased as she got off of Denzel, “Wouldn’t take it out if you tried to block it for once. You should have blocked me at least once.”

  Zeke piped in, seeing Denzel get off the ground, “She has a point. I mean she’s taken you down with the same move seven times now.”

  “Thank you, Zeke, for reminding me. You're very helpful,” Denzel said sarcastically.

  “Lets try one more time before we go home, Denzel,” Naomi suggested.

  Denzel just shook his head as he transformed into his humanoid form. Zeke shrugged as he put his spear back on
the weapons rack. Naomi transformed to her humanoid form, seeing that they were ready to go home.

  Zeke hugged Naomi “good-bye,” and high fived Denzel before he used the portal doorway to head home. Naomi and Denzel then did the same heading to their own home, where Rosalee probably had supper waiting.

  Rosalee greeted them happily as they quickly headed upstairs to wash up before supper. Supper smelled like corn mac and chicken.

  Denzel had finally gotten used to being shoeless, though he wasn’t sure about weapons training, since the Humans and Cryptics were in a time of peace. He thought that if Humans knew about it, then they might get mad and pick a fight with the Cryptics. He kept those thoughts to himself, though, as he ate supper and went to bed. Naomi--like usual--read a bit before she went to bed. Rosalee went to bed at about the same time as Denzel for once.

  The morning of the seventh day, the last day for Denzel if he didn’t get a life mate, finally came. Naomi and Denzel were summoned via the same leopard aura that Naomi had been getting reports from for the past week. Naomi pulled Denzel out of his bed by the foot, his back thudding as it landed on the floor.

  “Come on, let's get a move on. The leaders don’t like to wait,” Naomi said as she kicked him in the lower back.

  “I’m calling abuse on your tail,” Denzel groaned as he got off the floor.

  Naomi walked out and got ready to head out as fast as she could. Denzel did the same, although a bit slower. Naomi dressed in a grey shirt with an image of black claw marks on the back and jeans. Denzel wore a dark brown, native american style shirt with green, tiger stripe decorations and pants similar in color without design. They headed out, grabbing a peach and a pear as they left.

  They quickly reached the front entrance of the meeting hall where the leaders were waiting. They darted down the hall, sliding to a stop at a set of heavy wooden doors with guards at either side of the doors. Naomi asked as she straightened herself out, “How long have they been waiting?”