Xander vol.1 Transmutation (24 page)

“
Care for the first blow?”
Enya offered with her hand out-stretched.

Hydra didn’t bother to
answer as she dug her foot into the ground, pivoting her wrists and
launching a round of ice spears in Enya’s direction, each one
larger than the last. Enya giggled as she danced around them, her
flames licking each one that past, until finally setting a blaze
the last, confident that it would reach an un-harmable size when it
got to her, which it barely did.

“
Another game of fire and
–“

Enya was cut off by
Hydra’s sudden appearance before her, the barrage of spears a
diversion for her to close the remainder of the distance. She
jerked back in time to miss a spiked knuckled blow to the face, but
not in time to miss the second blow to her shoulder. She winced,
quick-stepping back and swinging a flaming punch towards Hydra’s
jaw.

Hydra ducked, swooping
under her fist and jamming her own under Enya’s chin, knocking her
off her feet and onto the ground. Hydra stopped, allowing her to
collect herself on the ground. Enya, looking up at Hydra in a
momentary frantic crawl backwards, scoffed, wiping the corner of
her mouth and rising back to her feet. She gave a nod,
straightening her posture and rolling her shoulders. Again she
scoffed, snickering to herself as she re-ignited her limbs, her
eyes brightening significantly as she prepared herself for a more
serious combat – the joking manner she had approached the challenge
with long since vanishing.

“
Right then,” she
grumbled.

Hydra raised her hands,
beckoning Enya with narrowed eyes as water streamed around her
fingers.

They were upon each other.
Fire and water skittering with every move they made to strike one
another. Some hits landed, some didn’t. And with each missing
attack, their next one grew more intense, the both of them wanting
nothing more than to seriously injure the other – for whatever
motivation.

Enya was almost waiting
for some sort of declaration from Hydra, some comment of claiming
her life. That she would kill her. That she would have revenge for
her fallen comrade. But she was silent in her attacks. Almost
painfully so. It sent Enya’s playful manner to the back burner- and
made her nerves stand on edge at the tone the battle was
taking.

And somehow, it made her
rightfully aware of the situation she was in. It wasn’t until that
moment that she realized her life was truly in her own hands. For
the first time, as she narrowly dodged hit after hit, getting
closer to closer to an impact, she began to doubt herself. And in
feeling that brief moment of doubt, she let out an overgrown burst
of fire to allow herself to back away from the guardian and compose
herself.

Hydra turned her head to
shield herself, but remained standing where she was. She was only
panting slightly, while Enya’s chest heaved rather noticeably with
the growing adrenaline. She smirked, only to meet the indifferent
expression of Hydra, who remained incredibly focused. She was not
at all how she was the day in the forest – blinded by rage.
Instead, she had taken that rage, and used it to hone her vision
into precise strength.

“
You fight like you mean
to do some damage,” Enya mocked, straightening her
posture.

Still, Hydra remained
silent. Enya scoffed, frowning at the silence as her flames
traveled to her legs. Her pupils dilated as her entire body began
to ignite, her arms expanding and taking the shape of
wings.

“
To the skies then,” Enya
growled, bending her knees before taking off into a leaping flight,
her figure following the transformation of her arms until she was
airborne, feathers of flames fluttering about her.

Hydra looked up at the
phoenix, almost seeming hesitant in her choice to join her in the
air. But she was not left the make the decision on her own as Enya
exhaled a breath of fire upon her. From the cloud of flames, rose
the figure of a water drakon, charging up into the sky after her,
jaws open, claws barred as her wing swatted away a section of the
flames for her entrance through them.

Vida vs Ares

"You could just surrender,
Vida," Ares taunted, closing in on her sister, who was continuously
retreating from her attacks. "Spare yourself and the kingdom," she
offered.

Vida deflected another
bolt, stepping up onto half of the broken door in the process, her
gown trailing in front of her. She glared, her wrist flicking with
a sudden counter attack, surprising Ares with its strength. She
stopped walking to block the shot that was aimed at her chest. She
smiled as Vida abruptly decided to stand her ground.

"And have you do what with
them?" Vida asked, sending another bolt. Ares deflected, moving her
foot back. "Lead them into meaningless wars?" She sent another.
Ares took a step back.

"Oh, I assure you. This
war is not meaningless."

"If you fight for a throne
instead of the people bound to it, then you are not worthy of it,"
Vida spat in disappointment.

"If you will not fight for
your throne, then allow me to take it from you," Ares
countered.

"You'll have to kill
me."

Ares gave a harsh
laugh.

"So bet it."

Vida grimaced, her hands
coming together in somewhat of a pattern. White ribbons o ran
energy began to flow around her hands, drawing Ares' attention and
encouraging her to do the same.

"So be it," Vida solemnly
agreed as the figure of a wolf began to form out of the white
energy. The wolf stalked around Vida as its body formed, its eyes
black as it howls protectively. Ares scoffed as her hands cased
themselves in black energy. She shook her head as the wolf stood
its ground slightly in front of Vida.

"How quaint," Ares
mocked.

"Fight with me now,
Dolphus. For our kingdom -- our people -- our child."

The wolf barked in
response, flashing its fangs as Ares' energy configured into the
body of a bear. Vida scowled at the painfully familiar figure of
their mother's guardian. Ares snickered at her sister's
expression.

"Since we're being
sentimental," Ares shrugged.

Vida gave an aggravated
scream as the wolf took off towards the bear. And as they collided,
Vida went for Ares, taking the initiative in the attack. Again Ares
laughed, happily engaging her sister in combat. Their hands glowed
with hot energy as they proceeded with hand-to-hand. And even in
her weakened state, Vida was able to keep up with Ares' attacks,
almost landing some herself.

The black bear roared in
pain as the wolf's jaws clamped down on its neck. It held on tight,
only releasing when it was through against the floor. The bear
stomped down on the wolf's side, causing a howl of pain in
response. It growled, reaching up to claw at the bear's face as a
counter.

"You're a fool if you
think you're going to win this, Vida. You were lucky before. For if
I cannot win the war,
she
will," Ares threatened, almost
bragging.

"You're wrong, Ares. She
will fail," Vida argued, trying to warn her. "And her blood will be
on your hands."

"She will destroy
anything
that gets in
her way!"

"She will destroy
herself
!”

Guess what?

You’re in for a
treat.

Another sneak peak! This
time of an upcoming romance,
Chambermaid
.

Enjoy!

“
What do you mean you met
Hunter?” Annie asked in a low voice the next day.

She had decided to pair up
with Penelope to get the gossip. They were making their way across
the second floor. Penelope shook head, preferring not to remember
the encounter at all. She picked up a nearby vase and began wiping
it down. Annie stood across from her, leaning against the
wall.

“
Come on, speak up,” she
insisted, crossing her arms. Penelope looked up at Annie with a
reluctant face, a slight shake of her head as she turned the large
case around in her arms.

“
Oh come on. What’d he do,
ask you to sleep with him?” Penelope’s eyes widened as she set the
vase down.

“
What?” she said,
disturbed by the assumption. Annie shrugged.

“
He did, didn’t he? It’s
not a big deal. He’s slept with tons of the maids. You should
feel-“

“
He did
not
ask me to sleep with
him!” Penelope clarified, walking past Annie to the next end table
to wipe down the lamp. She scoffed as Annie joined her.

“
And even if he did, I
wouldn’t allow it,” Penelope insisted, giving a huff. Annie
scoffed, putting her hands on her hips and standing to the side of
Penelope.

“
Come on. You wouldn’t
sleep with him? What, did he have a bag over his head when you met
him?”

A faint blush rushed to
Penelope’s cheeks as she averted her eyes. Her lips pursed as her
arms fidgeted about.

“
I was hardly focused on
looking at his face, Annie.”

“
Was he naked?”

Penelope’s blush spread as
she looked at her loosely titled acquaintance with
appall.

“
Annie,” she practically
hissed. Annie rolled her bulging eyes and shrugged, dipping her
head forward.

“
Well come on! I didn’t
tag along with you to actually
clean
. Out with it!” Annie shrilled
just under her breath, stomping her heeled foot.

Penelope sighed, shaking
her head in disapproval of the gossip that she knew was about to
happen. But at the possibility of losing the only woman who had
spoken to her, she surrendered.

“
He startled
me.”

“
How?” Annie followed up
immediately. Penelope gave a look of grief as she slowly walked
past her to the next vase on the next end table.

“
Well if you would let me
speak.”

“
You’re speaking entirely
too slow, Pen.”

“
Pen?”

“
A nickname. Do people
call you Penelope every time?” Penelope paused, considering the
question, before nodding with strained eyebrows.

“
Well … Yes.” Annie’s
brows shot up as her lip curled back, revealing her gritted
teeth.

“
Yikes. Anyway, don’t
change the subject.”

“
I wasn’t.”

“
Speak!”

“
I went into a room I
wasn’t supposed to, apparently, and he caught me. Yelled at
me.”

“
What room did you go
in?”

“
It was labeled Hank
Jerald.” Annie gave a small gasp, catching Penelope’s attention.
Her eyes searched her face in question, somehow alarmed by the
slight intake of air. “What?”

“
The brother,” Annie
breathed.

“
Brother?”

“
Hunter’s older brother,
Hank.” Penelope was silent, not really seeing why that would
justify his behavior towards him. “Hunter looks up to him, though
he’d never let Hank know that. He takes care of that room himself.
What were you doing in
there
?” Penelope gave an innocent
shrug.

“
I was going to clean
it.”

“
Did you touch anything?”
Penelope was silent. Annie grinned. “You did. What did you touch?”
Penelope looked up from her head tilted position, her eyes slightly
resentful at the amount of fun Annie was having with interrogating
her. She turned away, leaving the vase and moving on.

“
I’m not talking about
this anymore. You’re going to stand there and tell me how much
trouble I’m in for doing my job. Well I won’t-“

“
Penelope?” came the
curious voice of Bentley.

Penelope turned back
around, cut off from her small rant. Her eyes, a deer caught in the
headlights. She wanted to take a breath of relief when seeing
Bentley, but the stern look on his face kept her from doing so. She
glanced at Annie, who had her brows high, just as curious as to why
she was being called.

“
Yes?” There was a slight
pause in his response.

“
The young master would
like to see you.” Penelope’s heart skipped a beat, her hand
threatening to drop the rag it held.

“
The … Young master?” she
asked, with hope that Bentley had been mistaken. But her heart sank
upon hearing the word, “Yes”.

“
He’s waiting for you in
his study. Asked me to send for you.”

Penelope’s eyes went to
Annie again, now pleading, as if she would be able to help her
escape the requested meeting. Annie’s lips were pursed. Apologetic,
almost. “Allow me to escort you,” Bentley said, turning his body
slightly and gesturing down the hall he had come from. Penelope’s
eyes fluttered as she felt her body chill.

“
Very well,” she managed
to say, stepping towards him. She extended her hand to Annie,
giving her the rag as she moved past her. Annie squeezed it,
turning to watch her go.