After a few moments, William extinguished the ball and followed as well. They walked over to the weapons vault. When Gabriel opened the door the group oohed and aahed at what was inside. Ancient weapons from centuries past lined the walls, but they were well taken care of and looked nearly new. There were Scottish dirks, sgian dubhs, which were small knives like the dirks, throwing knives, sword breaker daggers and other various daggers along the left wall. Sais, swords, spears, halberds, battle axes, maces, war hammers, and a chain blade took up the right wall. Whips, crossbows, and bow and arrows took up the wall around the door of the room. Gabriel named off the weapons as the others were looking. In the very back there was a display that was very interesting. Gabriel didn’t mention these in his inventory sweep. Talus caught that and looked at him skeptically.
“What?” Gabriel said.
Talus pointed to the display.
“Do you seriously have the two chakrams from the Xena series?”
Kallisto laughed at his tone.
“Sweetie, Gabriel knows us better than we know ourselves. He probably got it knowing I’d want it.” She grinned mischievously at Gabriel. He beamed back and made a sweeping motion toward the weapons. Kallisto bounced into the room excitedly, heading straight for the chakrams. Talus walked in behind her, seemingly impressed by her interest in the weapons. His eyes kept going back to the chain blade. He just couldn’t seem to keep his eyes off it.
Gabriel came up and clapped him on the shoulder. “That’s yours Talus. It has been in every life; that’s why you’re drawn to it.”
He tore his eyes from the beautiful sight to look at Gabriel.
His mouth dropped open, eyes bulging at the whip like weapon, and the sharp edges of the chain. “I didn’t cut myself up trying to use it?”
Gabriel laughed at his stunned remark.
“Only until you remember how to use it,” Gabriel chuckled, remembering him learning in the previous lifetimes. “The first life was the worst–you nearly sliced off your ear. Luckily, it was still hanging on and we were able to sew it back on. Kallisto was skittish around you for a while. She couldn’t even be in the same room with you when we put clean bandages on it. It was hilarious.”
Talus stared at Gabriel goggle-eyed. Kallisto stuck her tongue out at Gabriel and moved to a different area of the room. Gabriel pushed Talus’ mouth closed and turned his head back to look at the chain blade.
“Go ahead and pick it up, Talus. Get a feel for your old weapon.” Leaving him to it, Gabriel walked over to Kallisto, who was staring at the crossbows. She broke her gaze from them to watch Talus pick up the sword.
Grabbing the handle of the sword, he pulled it off the display. He walked past the others and back to Kallisto’s side. Kallisto smiled at him as Gabriel handed her a dainty crossbow with a pink feather on the side. Talus had a strange look on his face that made Gabriel chuckle.
“It’s a lady’s crossbow. Less bulk so she can hold it without her arms getting tired. She’ll be working with a sword, sais and a sword breaker dagger as well. Kallisto’s main weapon has always been the sword. Ramina’s weapon has always been the sais. Kalan’s always excelled with throwing knives, but he can use a sword just as well. William’s weapon is the halberd. You, Talus, have always used the chain blade, but you are also good with the bow and arrow. I prefer battle-axes and war hammers. Since this is Ephiny’s first time with us, I guess she can choose her weapon.” Gabriel turned to Ephiny to see what she had to say about it.
“I practiced with Kallisto with swords in our first life so I’ll continue that, but I believe I’d like to try a little bit of everything. Let’s just wait and see which one I pick up the fastest.” She went to the side and grabbed a sword. It was a beautiful sword; the sides of the blade were wavy and the handle was silver and had waves through it.
“That’s a flame sword; a very nice weapon, beautiful and dangerous. Just like you,” William remarked.
Gabriel was impressed that he’d even remember the names of the special swords. Ephiny smiled back and pointed the sword at him.
“Is that a challenge, my lady?” William asked.
Ephiny shrugged her shoulders, smirking, and walked toward him. He grabbed a sword from the rack beside him and backed out into the training area. He and Ephiny started practicing together. Talus was so busy watching them he didn’t realize Kallisto came up behind him until she placed the sword at his throat.
“This looks familiar. I wonder where I’ve seen this before,” Kallisto whispered into his ear. He inclined his head to look at her and she leaned forward and kissed him. She shoved him away from her, and he whipped around to face her.
“Pick up your sword, sir, and have at thee.” Kallisto looked serious for a moment and then laughed. Talus smiled widely, dropping the chain blade. Gabriel was glad to see that he knew it was too dangerous for practice, at least against her. He grabbed another sword and they started swash-buckling. As they fought, Gabriel stood by the wall and watched, grinning whenever Ephiny got a good blow on William. Kallisto took Talus’ legs out from under him with her sword and he fell to the ground. He looked up at Kallisto as she smiled triumphantly at Gabriel. He started clapping and walked forward.
“That was very good, Kallisto, but it doesn’t count when he’s distracted. He wasn’t even paying attention at the time, but you did take advantage of the situation, which is what you need to do in battle. For practicing with Talus though, you need to fight fair. We’ll never know who’s better unless the fight is fair and has the full focus from both of you. I really want to know who’d win.” Kallisto pointed her sword at Gabriel with a fierce yet playful look on her face. Laughing, he backed up with his hands raised.
Talus stood quickly and pulled his sword up, ready to fight. The practice continued for a couple of hours.
After supper, Kallisto wanted to try the chakram. Gabriel made her put a steel guard on her hand. It wouldn’t do very well to have to reattach her hand. The first twenty times she threw it, the chakram stuck into the wall. Finally it started to come back to her, and Gabriel was very glad for the steel guard. It hit her hand with a loud clank and bounced off. She was jumping up and down holding her hand. Eventually she caught it and it excited her so much she threw it up and it stuck in the ceiling; Gabriel had to get the ladder to retrieve it. After she finally gained control of the weapon she came to Gabriel and they practiced with the electric balls again. She dodged several before conjuring one of her own. She was very quick, almost cat-like, in her movement. She flipped, jumped, bent, and twisted in different ways, dodging his throws. When she finally threw hers it caught him in the chin, knocking his head back. The current pulsed through his veins stronger than any he’d ever felt from her before. She truly was stronger than ever. Gabriel didn’t drop or scream; he just gritted his teeth as it pulsed through him. The veins in his neck and arms popped out with the strain it took to hold back even a whimper. When the pulsing stopped he let out the breath that he’d been holding in a huff and breathed normally. Kallisto stared at him wide-eyed. The others stopped practicing and watched as well. Gabriel took in a breath and smiled at Kallisto.
“I’m so sorry, Gabriel. I expected you to dodge it. I had no idea it’d actually hit you. Although it must not have been that powerful, cause you’re still standing,” Kallisto smirked.
“No, Kallisto, that was the most powerful ball you’ve ever hit me with in all our lives. And I really didn’t see it coming at all.” Gabriel closed his eyes and shook his head, grinning. “It was stupid of me. I just got too overconfident in my ability. Thank you for that humbling moment.” He turned away from the group for a moment, contemplating the new information. “William, I think I need to have another go at you.”
“Oh no, I’m not going to go up against you just so you can feel better about yourself. You can forget it, Gabriel!” William started to stalk off and Gabriel threw another low voltage ball at his hind quarters. He growled, very unimpressively compared to Gabriel’s, an
d turned to face him.
“I really just want to see if you are more powerful than you were before, like Kallisto. Whatever is different in this life isn’t just affecting Kallisto, its affecting all of us. Now attack, William, and don’t hold back anything.” Gabriel crouched, ready. He wouldn’t be caught off guard again.
William conjured a ball faster than ever and hurled it at him. He ducked and dodged, spinning and twisting almost like Kallisto. Gabriel needed to train as badly as the others. His students were starting to surpass him, because he’d gotten lazy. They trained through the evening and into the night. Eventually they were too tired to go on. William had gotten in a few good hits; nothing like Kallisto’s but more than Gabriel ever thought him capable of.
Talus, Kalan, and Ramina did well in learning their powers with the electric balls. Gabriel had everyone attack him at once, and received several hits. He looked like William after their session earlier. He never got knocked out, but Kallisto’s shots definitely made him dizzy. Gabriel had his at the lowest setting so as not to do too much damage, but the others, not knowing their powers well enough, varied in the degree of their hits. Kallisto didn’t seem to know how to back hers down, even though it wasn’t as high as she could take it. William didn’t seem to know how to pump his up, and the others were all over the place. Ephiny was familiar with how it worked but she still had problems with it. She might’ve known everything about being a werewolf but she lacked talent in energy balls. Gabriel had finally had enough and sent them off to train however they wanted.
They never figured out who the winner was between Talus and Kallisto. They just ended up getting too tired to fight any more. They all went to bed exhausted, and fell asleep as soon as they lay down. Gabriel trailed slowly back to his room checking on everyone one last time before he went down for the night. Everyone was sleeping soundly. Once he lay his head down he was out, without so much as a dream. He slept soundly that night as well.
Chapter 10
The sound of beautiful violin music woke Kallisto from her sleep. Wanting to find out where the song was coming from, she climbed out of bed with one last look at her loving gentleman who never did more than kiss her, much to her dismay. Kallisto grinned at the thought and walked into the restroom to get on more appropriate clothing. She had been so exhausted she’d fallen asleep still wearing her clothes from yesterday, and so had Talus.
She changed into a pair of clean jeans and another shirt with one long sleeve and no sleeve on the other side. Even though they were all comfortable together and they knew that the tattoo’s were symbolic and part of their destiny, she just couldn’t get out of the habit of covering it up.
She rushed out to the hall and down the stairs. The music was coming from a room behind the stairs. It sounded so wonderful she just had to see who was playing it, but when she stepped into the room, she didn’t see anyone. She scanned the room again and stopped in surprise, with her gaze focused on the most beautiful instrument she’d ever seen in her life. The violin was a work of art, royal blue instead of brown and engraved with Celtic markings. Light pouring through the window cast a glow on the instrument, highlighting the intricate designs. She didn’t know if they were words, symbols, or just meaningless carvings, but they caught her eye and she couldn’t look away.
The music enticed her and she stepped forward to the violin. The soft music in the background continued without faltering. As she reached for the beautiful violin, a new song played.
Out of the corner of her eye, Kallisto spotted a silhouette of a woman. Kallisto turned to face her and she became more defined, and Kallisto could see that she was playing the violin. It was as though she was standing right in front of Kallisto. Kallisto recognized her as the enchantress from her dream, and she smiled brightly at Kallisto as though she remembered her, too. She shone as though she had an inner light emanating from her. With a tilt of her head, she gestured toward the violin.
Taking her cue, Kallisto picked up the stringed instrument and placed it under her chin, poising the bow over it. She’d never played a violin in her life, but with the enchantress signaling for Kallisto to play with her, she needed to try. When Kallisto began to strum the strings, the music flowed from somewhere deep within her, as if it was another memory waiting to be reawakened. The notes mixed with the enchantress’ in a beautiful melody, and they played as one. Soon, the enchantress stopped and left Kallisto to play on her own. The enchantress walked around Kallisto as she played and ran her hand across Kallisto’s shoulders as she went behind her. Kallisto felt a waterfall of power crash into her, but her playing never faltered during the transfer; if anything it became even more beautiful.
The enchantress moved to be in front of Kallisto, raised her violin, and they played together once again. The music grew faster, but the notes came easily. As Kallisto played, more silhouettes started to flow around them and the room seemed to change. She could see people dancing. Their clothing was from the old land, like the clothing she’d seen them wear in their first life. It was fascinating, watching them dance to the music. She noticed Gabriel in the corner playing a grand piano that had been sitting in the corner. More instruments joined in to play with them, as if there was a ball going on and they were a part of the entertainment. Kallisto felt weightless as she played, almost as though she was floating, so light and free. The light in the room turned blue and grew brighter and brighter until she couldn’t see the people dancing, but she still played until…
Kallisto’s eyes flew open at the sound of a sharp gasp. She was levitating so close to the ceiling that she could reach out and touch it. As she panicked the floor sped toward her and she landed without getting hurt. She was more in shock than anything.
“What the heck was that?!?” she shouted as she picked herself up off the floor. She looked to the doorway where Talus, Ramina, Kalan, and William stood with shocked looks on their faces. Chuckling came from behind her and she spun around so fast she slipped, but arms caught her before she had the chance to fall. Gabriel held her in his arms for a second, steadying her, then he stepped back.
“That, Kallisto, would be the work of your mother.” Gabriel smiled mischievously. Kallisto’s eyes widened.
“My mother was the queen, Lilith of Lycanth, the wife of my father, King Nicolas the Second. How could my mother have anything to do with this? She wasn’t magical in any way… and why on earth do I remember their names now when I didn’t know them before?” Kallisto stopped ranting, but several thoughts kept running through her mind as she thought of Gabriel’s words. If Lilith wasn’t magical then why would she have any powers? Nicolas wasn’t magical either. They both knew that Kalan and Kallisto could read thoughts and tell truth from lies, and they never seemed surprised. Yet they didn’t have any power, nothing that would’ve been transferred to the twins. Gabriel watched as the knowledge donned on Kallisto. Kalan walked in beside her and grabbed her hand, staring at Gabriel.
“The enchantress is our mother? How? Why?” Kalan shook his head and then looked at Kallisto.
“Slow down.” Gabriel put his hands up and took a deep breath. “Kallisto, you remember their names now, because your memories are progressing. You’re right; Lilith and Nicolas didn’t have any power.” Gabriel paused again and held a breath for a moment, putting his hands back down. “Nicolas had an affair. It worked out rather well in hindsight, because Lilith was pregnant around the same time but lost the child during birth. Nicolas took you both from the enchantress and made it seem as though you were Lilith’s. She even believed that you were hers, until your powers started to manifest themselves. After that happened there was no doubt to anyone who was close to you that you weren’t theirs, but to outsiders you were just the royal children. The enchantress wanted you to have your birthright, so she accepted the payoff Nicolas offered for her to go away. She would’ve done it without taking the money, but Nicolas insisted, so she left and you never knew her. However, the enchantress watched over you from afar. I could smell her w
hen she was near, and I never questioned the blood you shared. You both smelled so much like her that I never thought anything about it until Nicolas placed me in charge of your safety. He never knew that the enchantress visited you in the night. She, too, placed me in charge of your safety, but apparently they both overestimated my ability when they gave me the job.” Gabriel’s voice thickened with sorrow and regret.
“You’ve taken care of us to the best of your ability. When we died, you didn’t have the powers you have now. You’ve said many times how, when you meet up with the witch and warlock, it will be different. Our parents had faith in you, Gabriel, and so do I, so don’t talk down about yourself, ever. Is that understood?” Kallisto had walked forward without realizing it, and was so close to Gabriel that she’d have been in his face if it hadn’t been for the height difference. He chuckled at her aggression.
“Yes, your highness, it’s perfectly understood. It won’t happen again.” Gabriel caressed her chin with his knuckle. “You are more like your mother than I realized.” He chuckled again and turned away.
“Wait… Gabriel, what did she do to me?” Kallisto asked, confused. He turned back to her, with a look of suspicion.
“What do you mean? I didn’t realize she did anything to you. Explain.” Gabriel crossed his arms. Kallisto gulped down some air noisily before answering the question.
“She touched my shoulders and I felt power crash into me. It wasn’t like the river flow of power that I’ve felt before; it was more like a waterfall crashing down onto me. There was so much power. I felt stronger when it happened, and then after I felt lighter and more free. There’s nothing wrong with that, is there?” Kallisto said carefully. She couldn’t understand his anger.
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