Authors: Laura Hawks
He wondered why he kept asking but he wanted to help her. He wanted to know that she was safe and would survive for the additional trials she would have to cope with as time progressed. Others would come for the stone and therefore her.
Clarissa let her eyes lower under his gaze, felt her cheeks redden slightly. Working with him meant spending more time with him and there was a part of her that thrilled with the thought and another that cringed with it. She knew the more time she spent the harder it would be to be alone again when this was over. She rested her head against the wing of the chair, her legs already tucked under her form since before he came in. She looked lost in the big chair, small, uncertain. “If you please, I would appreciate your guidance.”
“Dinner is served.” He stood up and held out his hand to her. “I am sure you are hungry? We can discuss your schooling over the meal.”
She hesitated on putting her hand in his, yet the need to touch him, to feel his warm skin against hers was strong. He had shown courtesy to her, of which she appreciated. Gently she put her fingers in his, uncurled from the chair and stood. They were almost equal in height and still his presence seemed to dwarf hers. “I am hungry, thank you.” Clarissa let him lead her to the dining hall.
Mel smiled and threaded his fingers through hers as he led her to the feasting room. Once there, he pulled out her chair and motioned for the staff to begin serving them. After the drinks were poured, the judge saluted the wolf, “To safely getting out of that hellhole jungle and to finding Xon quickly.”
Clarissa smiled sweetly and held her glass out to clink with his. “May we succeed when we do meet up with Xon.” She sniffed, putting her nose lightly in the air.
“It smells divine.” She picked up her fork and started to eat. “So what do you have in mind for guiding me? Have you prepared others before?”
Mel started eating and nodded. “More than I can remember, love. I am very, very old as I think you have ascertained.” He chuckled. “I have a training room here that would give us the space and equipment we shall utilize. You are welcome to stay here while we practice.”
“Other than maybe gathering a few personal items, no one will miss me.” She immediately wondered if she should have told him that but shrugged off her apprehensions. “Thank you for the offer of your hospitality.”
He raised a brow at the former comment but made the choice to ignore it after feeling her palatable discomfort. “I will take you to get what you need or you can just ask Shara. She will provide you with everything you require.”
“I would prefer my own items please.” She took a bite of her meal, chewing thoughtfully. “This is very good.” Clarissa looked up at him as she paused in her eating. “Has Shara been with you long?”
“Seems like forever. Yes. We can get your things after dinner and whatever else you might require.”
“That will be acceptable. I will even buy you dessert for your trouble.” Clarissa frowned slightly, picking her food with her fork. “I wonder where that demon, Xon is with my stone.”
Mel took her one hand in his. “Eat, get your belongings then we will work on your abilities. He is not going anywhere.”
Her haunted eyes looked up at him, his hand still closed around hers. “What damage has he done?”
He released her hand and let her finish her food. “I don’t know, I would suggest you try to track him but we saw what happened the last time we tried that. We need to stabilize your powers first. I have my demon chasers out there and if he moves out of line, I will know about it. When you are ready, we can go get your things.”
Clarissa nodded and pushed her plate away, suddenly losing her appetite. “I am ready as soon as you are. Thank you.” She dabbed her mouth daintily with her napkin, set it on the side and sipped her drink while she waited for him to finish.
Azamel set his glass down and stood. He moved quickly to pull her chair out for her and held his hand for her to take so she could rise. “Let us be on our way then.”
Again, she was mildly surprised at his gentlemanly manners. Lightly, she placed her fingers into his hand and stood. He flashed them back to her apartment in New Orleans. She released her hand from his as she moved to the closet to grab a bag for the items she planned on taking with her. Her focus was to gather some personal effects, some additional weapons, her sword and a couple of exercise outfits. Once completed, she turned back to him.
“I am ready.” Then she stopped and thought for a moment. “Oh Wait.” Clarissa quickly jotted a note to her employers so they would not worry overtly. She grabbed the only picture she had of her family from the dresser adding it to the items already in her bag. “I am ready now.”
Azamel silently watched her gather her belongings and the thoughtfulness of leaving a note.
‘Family. I had that once.’
He shook his head to clear the melancholic thought, nodded and took her hand. He transported them to her quarters within his home. “Once you are ready, meet me in the training room. Down the hall, five doors down to your left” Mel then dematerialized from her presence.
Chapter Five
She took some time to put a few of her items away. She took the picture and placed it on the nightstand by the bed. She sat on the bed and stared at it for a few minutes, lost in thought. She wished her family was still around and this was all just a nightmare she would wake up from. But alas, it was not a dream. Changing into exercise gear, she followed Mel’s instructions to the workout room and knocked as she pushed the door open. “Azamel?”
Dressed only in black pants, Mel practiced with a long wooden staff. Going through the moves, he twirled the staff around, stepping and breathing through the warm up exercises. He did not hear her enter until she spoke. As he looked up and gaped at her outfit, he missed a move and hit himself with the staff on the side of his head.
He felt his face heat at the mistake. Frowning as he rubbed his head, he motioned for her to enter.
As she stepped in, she bit her lower lip to keep from laughing at his misstep when he saw her and softly cleared her throat. Her eyes roamed his bare torso. His six-pack ripped abdominals and flexing arm muscles she saw while she watched him move enticed her to taste every bit of skin and then some rather than practice.
“Should I have brought a weapon?” her voice was unsure, hesitant. She had never worked out with someone who was not her family and certainly never one who was as distractingly delectable as this hunk standing before her.
Recovering quickly, he tossed her another wooden staff. “I have seen you fight, I know you have skills. This part of your schooling is about controlling your emotions. Anger is your biggest enemy and it seems to affect your ability to focus your powers.” Mel slammed his staff against hers. “Now attack me. Or are you afraid, little girl?”
Clarissa knew the little girl remark was an attempt to get her riled and it would not work. She remained calm, her breathing controlled as her eyes narrowed in preparation for an attack. She swung her staff, knowing he was expecting her to give a full frontal attack. She had other plans however. At the same time she swung, she dropped her knees and swept his feet out from under him, before she spun to put the end of the staff halted at his throat. “Good enough, old man?”
Mel slammed the staff away with his and rolled over, hitting her legs which sent her to the floor. He flipped up and twirled the staff. “Not by far, sweetheart! That was such a girly move! If that was a demon, you would be dead.” He stepped back and leaned on the staff, “Is that all you’ve got?”
“I doubt it. I would have taken its head off before he realized he was on the ground.” With one wrist, she spun the staff like a whirly gig. Stopping it, she embedded it onto the floor, using the leverage to kick him back, hitting him square in the chest. Dropping back to her feet and before he had a chance to recover, she scissor kicked him. By the time she landed on her feet, he had rebounded and met her attacking staff. The wood clunked as they collided and she looked into his eyes, panting slightly. “Taunting me really won’t work much.”
He parried the stick against hers and held it down while he moved to be nose to nose with her. “Is that not what you should have done when your home was attacked? Maybe if you took a few heads off instead of running like a fucking coward they would be alive today.” Mel shoved her back and twirled the staff. “Maybe we should end this now. Cowardice disgusts me.”
Her breath caught in her throat as his words hit her harder then she believed possible. Pain shot through her heart and she wanted to crumple, before fury took over and all she saw was red, hatred mingled with heartache. She swung the staff out with the speed and agility of her species, quickly. She hit his knees then his side. Her attack kept coming strong, sure but it was not enough. Even though she pushed him back, it was not enough.
She no longer saw him standing before her. She saw only a target for her anguish and despair at everything she lost, at all she would never have and it blinded her. She saw him approach her again, lifting the staff to meet hers and she swung her arm out and used her telekinesis. She pinned him to the wall, three inches off the floor. An invisible force enclosed his neck and squeezed. She swung the staff like a bat and hit him over and over again.
“I am not a coward!” with each sentence came a swing that contacted with his body. “I tried to help. I didn’t know how!
I am not a coward!
” Finally she collapsed into a heap on the floor, releasing him and let him drop.
Mel gasped for breath as she relinquished the pressure from his neck. He forgot how strong she was as she battered his body giving him a full reminder. Her face contorted as rage bled from every pore. When her fury was spent and she fell on her knees, he breathed hard and swallowed past the soreness in his throat. He moved slowly to where she was on the ground and nudged her over with his foot. Calling on all his reserves to keep his face impassive even though he ached for her sorrow, he looked upon her with no sympathy in his hardened gaze. “That is what will get you killed. Now get up.”
Clarissa snarled at his coldness to her pain. She stood and kneed him in the groin. “You would be dead now, Bastard.”
He grabbed his crotch as she kneed him hard.
“Fuck!”
She pushed his bent over pained body away from her then kicked him hard in the gut to watch him bounce off the wall. “I have killed many and I am still here!” She swished her arm to the side and threw him to the other side of the room, crashing again into the wall.
“You wanted me pissed?” She shimmied her breasts. “Well come and get it you damn asshole.” Again, she flung her arm out using her telekinesis and threw him to the other side of the room. “I am just getting warmed up, you imbecilic asinine, pathetic excuse of a man!”
She went on a rampage and literally tore into his body as her emotions completely took over. He decided he had enough of this and shielded himself from any more of her blows. An invisible wall came up between them and blocked any further attack. It gave him a few seconds to recover before he threw a hand out that blasted her flat on her back and pinned her down. He walked over slowly as the ache in his groin was still very prominent and looked down on her captured, squirming form.
“Stop! Listen!” He held a hand over her. Slowly his fist closed increasing the pressure on her to remain still. “You hit me because I allowed it. Never delude yourself that there are not beings out there that could not kill you with but a thought. Fighting helps you to focus, keep your body honed and keeps away most of your attackers. That is
all
it does. Your skills lie in the powers that are unique to you. They are what will give you the edge over almost every other being. That will be your survival. Your biggest weakness is your inability to control your rage and concentrate on your powers. You can hide your agony, your shame, your fury as much as you want to. There are some of us out there that can see it no matter how well you keep it hidden. Some of those do not have your best interest at heart and they will use that against you. They can only use it if they see how it affects you and how it lets you lose sight of your gifts.” He sighed, let the pressure drop and held out a hand. “I did not want to do that and I have no malicious intent, yet it was very easy for me to rile you. Can you imagine if it was someone else and they fought back?”
She knocked his hand away. “Do not touch me you
horrific beast!
”
Clarissa rolled away from him, got up and backed away, her body ached painfully from his throw but she refused to give in to him one iota. “You want to prove I am a fly to you, end it now. You want to use my pain against me, here is your chance. If there is something out there that can kill me with a thought what the hell good is it if I learn to fight better? And my
best
interest at heart? You are so full of it! You are a stagnant douche bag of green slimy testicle warts! You
allowed
me to hit you? Gee, how fucking generous of you! My powers are unique to me? Well, let me alert the newspapers on that revelation. Now here is one for you. My powers are mostly passive,
Moron!
I would have thought you would have realized that by now!”
He dropped his hand and refused to be angry at her. “Very colorful, Clarissa, the purpose of this was to get you to manage your emotions enough to release and control those abilities. Once you achieved that, you would not have to fight beings such as I, you would have the tools to avoid them or annihilate them.” He gave her a small nod. “I thought you were ready, I was mistaken.” Mel walked out the room without so much as a backwards glance.
Furious, Clarissa tilted her head back and screamed in fury. Her telekinesis powers built, causing the weapons to embed into the walls of the room as room shook and shimmied. It made it feel as if an earthquake struck the training facility and reverberated throughout the abode. After several minutes, her power surge faded and she slid to her knees, her face in her hands, exhausted, weak, thoroughly worn out. She felt too feeble to stand much less do anything else.
Mel kept walking down the hall towards the hearth in the main room. He ignored the sounds of destruction that came from the chamber she was in. He knew she needed to vent her anger, hurt and to approach her now would only make matters worse. It was times like these that the judge detested what he was and what he did.
The guardian was an innocent and one of those whom he was honor bound to protect. Her pain was necessary for her growth but it was not pleasant to hear nor was it something he relished putting her through. He sat down in front of the fire, stretched his achingly sore muscles and waited for the tempest to calm.
It seemed like an eternity that she stayed within the destroyed area but she knew from her were-wolf powers it was only thirty minutes. She was extremely abashed. She acted like a two year old throwing a temper tantrum. Slowly, on shaky knees, she climbed to her feet and tried to stop her head from spinning. Grabbing at the wall, she paused to steady herself. She slowly made her way to that hideously cold, eerie room with the fireplace to find Azamel there.
Not wanting him to know how weak she felt, she hesitated, straightened her outfit, lifted her head high and strode into the room despite her legs desire to fold under her. She figured she was pale but there was nothing she could do about that and thanks to the dancing lights of the fire, maybe it would not be so noticeable. “I guess I own you an apology. I should have not acted so immature.”
Azamel looked up at her. He could not help notice her condition and the pride with which she held herself. He turned back to the blaze within the hearth, quiet for a few moments. “I want you to get the stone back and learn your powers.” He added very softly, “And not hurt inside anymore.”
Clarissa frowned as Mel looked away from her and spoke so quietly. She lowered her head in shame. “I would like all of that too. I know you should not even be bothered with me considering the way I behaved.” She took a softly sighing breath. She backed up slowly as she made her way back towards the room he assigned her.
Mel materialized directly in front of her to prevent her from walking away. “I was a total dick and I am sorry. Your true enemies will not be as considerate and they
will
kill you.” He could tell she doubted him and he reached forward to grab her shoulders. “
Look at me! You can do this! You are stronger than you think!
You survived more than many could endure and you are still loyal to your calling. Don’t ever think pain does not cripple us all at one time or other.”
Clarissa gazed up into his blue eyes. “I know every creature suffers heartache of one sort or another. I do my best but as you have shown me it is not enough. I do not know how to put it aside or use it either. I do not understand.”
He kept his hands on her shoulders. “Close your eyes and breathe slowly in and out. Concentrate on regulating your breath. All you hear is the sound of your heartbeat. Now open your eyes while still only hearing your own body. Nothing else matters, no sound, no object, nothing. You have to be quiet inside. When you can achieve that calmness and peace in the midst of any battle, you will succeed.”
“This is kind of like I do for Tai Chi and Ninjutsu. Center myself and call for a calm.
This
I can do.” She closed her eyes and meditated, listening to her heartbeat as she breathed in and out slowly.
“Good, now see your home. It is burning, they are screaming for you to help, the death blows fall and the blood runs in the streets. They call you! Clarissa, help us! Why? Why are you running? No, don’t leave us.” He saw her waver and her eyes flickered. Mel gripped her shoulder harder and spoke calmly. “Focus!”
A tear slid down her cheek from her closed lids. She tried to breath, to clear her mind, yet she saw her brother Johann, telling her to take his new red Ducati and escape. He wanted her to save herself, while he distracted their attackers. Big brother to the end, he would do everything possible to see her survive. She softly whispered his name, “Johann.”
Briefly Mel closed his eyes against the anguish she felt as it washed through him with their connection. He wished he could take all this away but if she did not deal with it and learn, she would be killed. He lifted one hand and wiped the tear from her cheek. “I know it is hard to do this. Breathe and see it play out as if you were watching a movie. You are not emotionally involved. You are an outsider gazing at the scene.”