Kasadya Hellhound Awakened

by Karen Swart

  Chapter 4

  Morning came and went with Vulcan giving us a morning filled with demons. With each one he classified he also enlightened us on their strengths and weaknesses.

  There are a lot of big scary ones we would have to face. Many of them were also hard to take down. The only way of destroying a demon was by taking its head off. The same goes for us. We might be immortal when it comes to age and health, but all of us die in the end; it was just a matter of how long you could survive.

  After lunch, the girls and I were on our way to the entertainment room, or as Nanini called it the “The Zone”. She really had a great imagination for the place. Walking up to the zone, we found Seth leaning against the wall, waiting. The moment I saw him, my heart started to pump double time.

  “Afternoon, girls,” he greeted, smiling at us, his eyes staying on me.

  “Hi,” we returned, and the two girls looked at me all smiles.

  “Nanini, would you mind if I take a walk with Kas to the front door?” he asked her, and she grinned back.

  “No, you can take your time. Lada and I are going to go kick butt at the pinball machine,” she said, and the two disappeared into the room.

  “Come, I’ll walk you,” he offered his hand. I took it without even thinking twice and started to walk with him.

  “Did you rest well?”

  “Yes, thank you, and you?”

  “To the best of my ability. Arianna and I had field work in Paris.”

  “Paris, that’s nice. So, you and Arianna are partners?” I asked, jealousy rising within me. Wow. This love thing is scary. I never was a jealous person before.

  “Yes, we have been for about seven years now,” he explained with a smile.

  “I see. How do you fit Nanini and field service into one day? Must be hectic.”

  “Yes, it is, but those who have Apprendos make the sacrifice. We learn how to cope with it. That’s why we only train in the afternoons. It gives us the opportunity to get some sleep.”

  “Ouch, doesn’t sound fair just to have, what, five hours of sleep?”

  “No, but you get used to it. A single Custos makes such a decision to give the pactum partners some time for a family. A small price to pay for the survival of the Fallen and mankind.”

  “Yeah, doesn’t sound bad if you put it like that,” I replied, stopping at the corner leading to the lobby.

  He released my hand and placed his hands on my hips, pulling me to him. “Can I make a request?” he asked, his mouth almost on mine.

  “Yes,” I answered, already breathing hard with anticipation.

  “Try to stay safe. I know it’s not really possible, but try. Seeing you hurt like yesterday makes me insane,” he said, his mouth inches from mine. I could feel his breath on my lips.

  “I’ll do my best,” I promised, and pressed my mouth to his. We kissed deeply, him placing one hand behind my neck and the other on my lower back; mine were on his chest. The kiss was so good, I melted in his arms, letting him take me away before my next punishment. After a long while we released each other.

  “Until tomorrow, Kas,” he greeted me with a last kiss. Turning around, he walked back to the zone, leaving me there breathless and staring after him until he was gone. Heavens, that guy can kiss. Turning around, I took a step into the lobby, straight into Chax’s chest. Immediately I backed away and looked up at him.

  “If you’re done playing with Seth, and ready to stop wasting my time, we can begin.” And then he shifted out. Why the hell must he always have something to say about me and Seth? It’s not like I was late. We left the grub spot early to get some rest in before training. I see it’s going to be a long day, again. I closed my eyes and used my newfound anger to shift to his garden. I found him not only jacketless, but shirtless as well, in a pair of what looked like yoga pants, waiting in the middle of the arena.

  “Today!” he yelled at me, clearly pissed again. So I quickly took off my jacket and dropped it on a small wall close by and joined him, waiting for him to do some crappy thing to me again.

  “Fetch a weapon of your choice.” He gestured to the walls. Okay, did he lose his mind completely? I just stood there looking at him.

  “I’m waiting,” he continued, looking at me with his scowling face.

  “I don’t know anything about weapons. A little help would be appreciated,” I replied gently. I didn’t want to provoke him again. Maybe if I tried this approach, it would work out better.

  He looked at me for a while and then turned around. “Come.” He waved, walking to a wall full of weapons. He then removed what looked like the fork-knifes Elektra used in her movie, and turned around to give them to me. “They won’t take off a head but can be used to pin it down for you to take its head,” he explained, walking back to the middle of the arena. I followed, looking at the two things in my hand. I had no idea how to use the things, so I just stood there looking at him. He drew in a breath and moved behind me and took my hand in his. “You have to hold them like this. Make sure the heaviest part of it stays in your palm. The rest will counter itself out in your hand when you move it.”

  He was moving the fork things in my hands, spinning them, and I could feel the weight thing he was talking about. As long as the heaviest part stayed in my palm I could move them around in one hand without dropping them. “Good, now when you throw them, lock your two fingers in the grooves like this.” He moved my index and middle finger into the bending grooves that start off the fork.

  “Then take your arm back like this.” He pulled back my arm, bending it at the elbow, and then brought it forward fast. As my hand went forward I released my weapon and planted it inside a nearby tree. Wow, that felt good! Never done it before, but man, it gets your blood pumping.

  He walked over to the tree, retrieving the fork. “Good, now practice on this wooden board over here.” He motioned to a big wooden board filled with marks from weapons hitting it over and over again. He reached me and placed the fork in my hand, stepping back to give me some space.

  I started the swinging movement again, this time using both hands, and just like that I had it. I then withdrew my arm, aimed and threw it straight into the board. Moving quickly, I threw the other one and it landed almost at the same spot. Grinning, I looked at him.

  “Excellent, you handle them very well. Now, let’s get some swords to practice with,” he said, walking over to the wall. I followed, playing with the fork knives in my hands. I stopped the moment I saw him standing and waiting for me to stop playing. I handed over the weapons for him to replace them on the shelf. Keeping my eyes on him, I saw him taking down a sword that looked like a cross between a samurai and an old knight’s sword.

  “It is very effective and sharp as hell, so don’t fool around with it,” he instructed, placing it in my hands. I looked at the shining blade and smiled. It felt good in my hands, and I really liked the blade. It was shiny at the top with a darker metal at the edge. Engraved into the metal were the words In Dea Speramus, which meant “In God We Trust”. Smiling, I looked up to find him staring at me. I recomposed myself, turned around, and walked back to the middle of the arena. I stopped and turned back to see him removing a very big sword from the wall and then walking back to me.

  My heart started pounding in my chest, even worse than when I saw the shark teeth in Lotan’s mouth. He’s going to cut me into pieces today. There goes the “I’ll try my best” part I said to Seth. Crap! He came to stop in front of me, his sword hanging next to him. “Relax, Kasadya. I won’t hurt you. It’s to show you how to move and use yours. Then we will start off slowly with some sparring,” he said, smiling at me.

  Oh boy, I still don’t trust him. For the past two days I have ended up really hurt. I can’t help but feel this is so not a good idea. He then moved his sword up above his head, stopping in the air. “Look at my movements, and then repeat them with your sword.” He moved back a step, and then moved the sword slowly for me to see each movement he made with it. Bummer, I
got the warrior god with an attitude problem. What a shame. First he moved so gracefully, and then he slammed over to brutal force. I was transfixed by him and found myself looking at his chest, watching how his muscles moved with him. Shaking my head, I turned to start the movement.

  Okay, I’m going insane. Why on earth would I be looking at his freaking chest and muscles, when I just kissed a really hot guy a few moments ago? I think I need to ask Lily to withdraw stuff like this from my brain. No wait. That will be so embarrassing. Just push it down, Kas. I repeated the movement to the letter and then looked over to find him standing there, looking at my body and not my hands. My freaking body did the goose bumps again. For heaven’s sake, can’t I have one normal day, just freaking one!

  I moved out of the stance and turned to face him. He snapped out of it and looked at me. “Good, now the next move.” Again, my eyes wandered off from his hands to his freaking chest. Irritated with myself, I started to do the move before he was even finished. Trying to push my undesired reaction out of me, I did the move and even more. The next thing I knew, he was in front of me, his sword drawn to attack.

  He swung his sword, and I countered it with mine. Adrenalin spiking, we went at it full force, me handling the whole thing like I had been doing it for years. I watched his face and he watched mine. I caught his movements from the corner of my eyes and then countered them. A few blocks and jabs later, he started to smile at me, and that made me even madder.

  Our battle lasted for what seemed like hours, and we gave each other hell the entire time. We stopped when the orange and purple horizon made it difficult to see each other’s swords. We stood there breathing hard and just watching each other without a word. After we recovered enough to breathe correctly he walked over to me, taking the sword from my hands, his eyes never leaving mine. “Good work, Kasadya. You have a natural talent for weapons,” he complimented as he turned around and walked over to the wall, placing the swords back on their places.

  I just stood there, still pissed at him and myself. Why on earth do I do this to myself? I have a really hot guy kissing me into obviation, and then I can’t keep my eyes of the ass teaching me. Fury pounding through me, I shifted back to my room without even a thanks or good-bye. Lada and Nanini jumped from my shift, totally taken by surprise.

  “Hell, Kas! You’ll give me a heart attack!” Lada yelled and grabbed her chest.

  “Sorry,” I replied, and went straight for my closet, grabbed some clothes and stormed into the bathroom. I undressed and went into the shower. Standing there, I let the water run down my face. The whole time I had conflicting thoughts from the great kiss Seth and I shared, to the great sparring session I just completed with Chax. Frustrated, I finished my shower and got dressed. I stood in front of the mirror looking at myself. Why would I feel so good about my session with Chax? Is it because we finally shared something without any bad after effects?

  I needed to clear my thoughts and get my head on straight again. So I decided to break a house rule and shifted out, landing in the middle of the busy main street of Exsilium. I walked down the street, still thinking about everything. When I had my bearings back again, I saw that I was far away from the main street and in a street filled with houses and apartment buildings. “Stuff it,” I said, and just kept on walking.

  After an hour or so, I stopped and took in my surroundings. I was in some park, no one in site. Oh, yeah, I forgot they are all out in the field serving, or in the normal world raising their children. I went over to sit on a bench near a fountain, and looked at the water splashing in the moonlight. After a while, I forgot about my whole world of chaotic thoughts.

  The air around me stirred and I knew someone was shifting in close by. I closed my eyes and hoped it wasn’t someone looking for me. “Vulcan notified me that you shifted out the house without permission,” Chax said from behind me. Oh, just great.

  “Yeah, I needed some space,” I replied, still looking at the water moving in the moonlight.

  “You are not allowed to shift out of the house without permission.”

  “Yeah, got that part the first time, so sue me,” I threw back. He just remained silent for a while. Go pick on someone else! But, like always, he just had to go on.

  “Come, you need to return,” he continued and walked to block my view of the water.

  “I am capable of shifting on my own, as you can see. I don’t need your help. I’ll go back on my own,” I said with a sneer, my eyes going to the ground. I didn’t need another relapse of this afternoon.

  “Now, Kasadya,” he demanded, and moved so quickly I didn’t even have a chance of dodging him. The moment he touched me he shifted us to the lobby in The Hellhouse. Enraged with him, I ripped my arm out of his grip, turned around, and started walking. I hit the stairs and the next moment I was pushed into the wall, Chax blocking me in again.

  “Let go of me! I’m back, aren’t I?”

  “You need to get your attitude adjusted. You think this world will be gracious with you? No, it won’t. Obey the rules, understand?”

  “Yeah, now let me go,” I said, pissed off, looking him straight in his eyes. He looked back at me with the same seething look and then released me. Stepping back, he shifted out. I couldn’t even go somewhere on my own without his ass showing up and spoiling everything. I continued up the stairs into the hall. Walking to our room, I noticed that everyone had already retired for the night. So I silently walked in our room, got my PJ’s on, and got in the bed. Sleep only came about two hours later, but at least it did.