The Return of the Watchers (Armageddon Rising Book 1) (32 page)

                After quickly changing he stepped out to laughter, as Yelnisha had apparently set up a hidden camera that captured his bare backside from earlier, displaying the images across a holographic screen for everyone to see.                                                                                                                                             Heat rose in his face. “Two can play at that game,” he said with a determined look.                                                                                                                 “Um, I wouldn’t do it if I were you,” Tiddi replied, shaking her head. “Let her have her revenge or it won’t end for you, believe me.”               He sighed and shrugged. “Fine, whatever. All right, you’ve had your juvenile laugh. Can we move on now?”                                                         “I need to savor the moment a bit more, you understand,” Yelnisha said, wiping away the tears she cried from her laughter.                                            Tiddi handed him a pair of special shoes to wear “They’re fine, don’t worry.”
                                                                                                                             
He put them on and ignored the catcalls and hoots from the others around and gave his attention to Lykoi, who was looking impatient with Yelnisha’s antics.

              “My apologies, Lykoi. This is revenge for an incident from yesterday. I responded to Yelnisha’s attack in an inappropriate manner and she is responding in kind. Yelnisha, I apologize for my part in embarrassing you,” he said with humility.

              “Bollocks, you sure know how to rob a woman of her pleasure. All right, let’s call a truce then, eh?” she said, slapping him on the backside and causing the group to burst into laughter. He held his tongue and smiled at her. Lykoi cleared her throat to get their attention.                             “We’ve got a lot to cover today so let’s get serious now. You are pairing up into four groups of two. Your assignments are on the display. Meet me out on the field in five minutes; make sure you’ve warmed up. Dorian, you’re with me today. I think Yelnisha’s had enough fun with you for the time being. Follow me; I need to talk with you about a few things.”                 She dismissed the group and the two of them made their way out of the dressing area towards the training field.                                                         “I’ve known your father for quite some time now. He’s a good man, for an Earthling,” she said with a laugh. “Although I’ve been here so long now I’m going to have to start referring to myself as an Anidonian soon.

              “In case you were wondering, my kind are known as Kroikas. A handful of us came over from our home planet at the request of the Angels  here in Anidon. We’re not that advanced in our technology, but we make up for it with our skills in Shi mastery and manipulation. The fallen have infiltrated our home as well and I have seen first hand the effects of their crimes, so it is my honor to instruct others in the ways of combat against them and their allies.

              “Anyway, the first few exercises we are going to do involve getting familiar with one of the two forms of Shi; Melammu and Baltu. The Melammu form is a higher level of Shi and may take many years to manifest if can be done at all. Very few of us can. The Baltu form is a lower form of Shi, one that many use to enhance their corporeal form. As you may know, what we are looking at for both of us, these flesh forms, are not who, or more specifically, what, we are. These are simply avatars that house our spirits, which are our true form. That form is what you see when traveling to one of the Verdes sites or Erustian Prime, the light forms that exist in another dimension. We can access the spirit energy of that form in this dimension, as well as the one of your planet. Either form will enable one to manipulate matter, enhance physical attributes, gain extra sensory output, and perform thought transference; those are only a few of the many abilities it can confer. Yelnisha, as well as several others who were present, advised me of your spiritual awakening so I think we should go slow until I know you are comfortable with the training.
Does that sound acceptable?”                                                                                                   “Yeah, that’s fine, thanks. This is all so new to me. So much has happened in such a short amount of time it’s hard for me to take it all in. I’m beginning to feel as if the old Dorian has passed on. My identity is becoming fragmented,” he said with a concerned look.                                          Lykoi tilted her head slightly and stared into his eyes with a soft gaze. “You’ve been through quite an ordeal, as I have been told and I am sorry for that. You are not alone in your grief, however. Everyone in our group has a story similar to yours; they’ve all lost family and friends and found themselves struggling with abilities they couldn’t understand. I’m sure you were unaware that most of the beings in Anidon were born here and many have never even seen the world outside. All those in our group are like you; aside from your personal tragedies, you all were born on Earth and lived there for some time, an experience which will be of value to us.

              “It’s my job to try and make sense of everything for you as best as I can. That, as well as keeping you alive. When we go to battle this training will help us survive. You can be assured the enemy will be well trained in these arts as well, so you had best pay attention. Come, race me to the first marker.” 

Lykoi arched her back and exhaled, her Shi rising rapidly until she exploded with energy, moving 150 feet in one second! Many people on the field stopped to watch one of the fastest beings in Anidon move with amazing speed. She managed to run the quarter mile in just under seven seconds, faster than she ever allowed herself to run in front of the humans. Applause and whistles came from the spectators, as well as from many of the combatants who witnessed her skill.                                                                       “Whoa, she can really move,” Dorian said aloud.                                           “She’s probably the fastest in Anidon. I can only imagine how fast she would be in her second spirit form,” Josiah said while shaking his arms and legs to warm up.                                                                                                   “Heh, I ran about that fast when I had a bad case of arsefire; thought I wasn’t going to make it to the loo,” Simon chimed in.                             Tiddi and Xui Mei both scowled at him.                                                         “What? That's never happened to you? Tough crowd here. What you gonna do there, Dorio? Let’s have a go, see what you can do,” Simon said giving Dorian a slight slap on his upper arm.

“It’s 'Dorian', not 'Dorio' you doofus!” Tiddi shouted, her fists clenched, looking perturbed.                                                                                                   “All right, then, no need to get your knickers in a twist, tiddlywinks.” He snapped his towel on her behind, then proceeded to run as fast as he could towards Lykoi. Josiah and Dorian both shook their heads as Tiddi gave chase.                                                                                                  
“What are you waiting for?”
Lykoi asked, her voice telepathically entering his mind.                                                                                                                
“Sorry, these kids are distracting me. Be there in a moment,”
he replied in kind, unsure if she had heard his words. Taking a deep breath and exhaling, he began to focus his Shi on his legs, though it was difficult to concentrate given the ruckus the group was making around him. He let out some of his spirit energy and could feel his legs becoming weightless as the energy filled
his body. Several combatants off in the distance stopped what they were doing and took notice, as did everyone in the group.                                                                                                                                             Electricity charged the air as his Shi climbed. Dorian’s vision improved dramatically and he could make out Lykoi’s face as if she were right next to him. Leaning down he exhaled and thrust his body forward with incredible speed. As he started rushing towards her the ground gave way beneath his feet. Large slabs of sod went flying behind him as each step became more unstable until he lost balance, crashing in a fashion that resembled a meteorite trail. Laughter erupted across the field at the spectacle. Yelnisha was rolling on the ground, tears in her eyes, along with Simon, Josiah and many others who had witnessed his epic landing. Lycoi stood stoically, her eyes widened with an expression that changed from ease to apprehension.                                                                                                                 Dorian got up and began brushing off the grass and dirt embedded in his hair and just about everywhere else. Yelnisha ran over to him, her cackle barely contained with each step.                                                                       “Oh my, ahahahaha, did you- ahahahaha, I can’t breathe!” she chortled as giggles and gasps of air fought for priority. Dorian shook his head. The others ran over to where they were standing as Lykoi slowly walked towards the group.                                                                                                   “Oh, man, that was a spectacular wipeout! Look at the trail, it’s got to be ten meters long!” Simon shouted with excitement.                                           “Look more like twelve,” Xui Mei replied.                                                        Emma silently shook her head with a contemptuous look on her face.                                                                                                                                            Lycoi arrived just as Dorian was feeling thoroughly embarrassed.               “What did I do wrong?” he asked Lykoi.                                                         She shot an angry glare to the group that was standing around. “I thought I gave all of you assignments. Why are you standing here? This is no time for fooling around! Get to work!” she shouted, slightly baring her teeth. Everyone’s laughter immediately ceased and they quickly paired up as the field repair robots set to work at replacing the destroyed section of grass around them. She turned her attention towards Dorian, who was feeling a bit intimidated by her growl at the group.                                                         “What happened, you ask? That is a very good question. It seems you generated far more force than the ground could handle. Your shoes did not have sufficient friction to allow you to travel at that rate of speed over this surface,” she said, carefully choosing her words. “I think I will have you watch the others for today. I need to speak with someone, excuse me,” she replied, turning to leave.              

“I'm sorry Lykoi. I didn’t mean- I apologize if I upset you,” he said, feeling that he had embarrassed her as well.                                                        Stopping in her tracks, she turned towards him with a soft look on her face. “You have nothing to be embarrassed about, Dorian, nothing whatsoever. I am sorry to run out on you like this, but I need to get some answers before we can proceed. I hope you understand.”                                           She turned and ran towards the exit while the group watched from a distance. He walked over towards Yelnisha, who was overseeing the training of the four pairs.                                                                                                   “You must have really cheesed her off for her to leave like that,” Yelnisha said. Dorian looked a bit dejected.                                                         “Simon, lift your leg higher you flat footed wanker!” she shouted.              Simon, in turn, proceeded to give her the two finger salute in response. “I keep telling him and he never listens,” she sighed. “So you’re back with me then eh? Great! Let’s start by teaching you some basic hand to hand moves. Now we're going to take it easy okay, so we won't use any Shi for this, right?” she said, one eye one Dorian, the other watching the others.

“Sure, whatever you say, Yelnisha. Hopefully I don't embarrass myself too much,” he said, looking over at the area where he had fallen.              “Great. Put up your hands like this,” she replied, holding his hands in hers and placing them in proper position. “Now turn you body sideways to expose less of it. Good. Like that. Now, I'm going to rush at you with my right arm and you defend by pushing it aside and step in to attack my exposed right side,” she said.
S
he moved in slowly, demonstrating her maneuver.                                                                                                                               They went back and forth for some time, switching between defender and attacker. By the end of the day they had worked up quite a sweat and Dorian seemed to be catching his stride. Yelnisha was pleased with his progress.                                                                                                                “Not bad there              for a newbie. We'll have to work on your Irish to make you a proper man. All in good time. Care to fetch a pint?” she asked, wiping off the sweat with her towel.                                                                                    “Sure, why not, I could use something to help me relax,” he replied. She gave him a flirty smile. “Careful, now, a girl might end up misunderstanding what you meant there.”                                                                      “I need to get cleaned up first, meet you outside in fifteen then?” he said with a smirk.                                                                                                                “Sounds like a da-, ah plan,” she replied.