Kasadya (Hellhound Awakened) (13 page)

“You must always remember this is a fallen world. I know our instincts say that we must protect our females, but they need to carry some weight in this circle,” Don said as he moved around looking at us. As a whole he motioned to us and I looked to see that he had gracefully, without our notice, herded us into a circle. Wow, this guy is good.

“Second mistake you made was attacking on your own, this is a team. You must work as a team. Think about each one’s unique abilities, two hellhounds, two vampires, a light and fire fae, an Impon and a werewolf. These are the elements of your team, now you just need to use them together as one,” he continued.

“We start with your fae; Nanini can create light bombs and fly. How can you use it? Then Dagon you are a fire fae, you can throw fire bombs just like Nanini, and you can also fly. Now let’s put the two together and see what we get. Nanini and Dagon take a stand, back to back,” he finished, and Nanini and Dagon did what he said. With their backs to each other, they faced off against Marcus and Acteon. Everyone transformed and where Nanini was pink, Dagon turned orange; both of them had a bomb ready in their hands. The werewolves surged forward but were blasted by the two bombs, sending them through the air, where they landed on their backs. I looked back at Nanini and Dagon to find them in the air floating, watching their opponents. The moment Dagon’s opponent got up, he yelled at Nanini and together they sent two bombs straight into him. He flew through the air and almost landed in a rose bush. Totally wicked!

“Good, now let’s add the two vampires. You both have impeccable speed and strength, but you can also create g-force punches. Go join the fae and we begin again,” Don said and Chax and Arianna joined Nanini and Dagon. Again they all stood back to back, transformed and were ready for the attack; this time however all four werewolves engaged. The moment the wolves started forward, Nanini and Dagon lifted into the air, sending four bombs to all of them. Then Chax and Arianna were moving so fast I couldn’t see them, just a blur of color, and the wolves were flying back onto their backs. Oh, this is getting way cool.

The wolves got up and transformed back to normal, Don looking at the small circle smiling
.
“Good, now the two hellhounds, you have a lot of elements to bring to a fight. Flight, strength, speed, but the most potent of them all are your accuracy and wings. You have dead aim and using your strong wings you can take down an enemy. Now let’s see if you can fit into the circle,” Don said, and I looked at Lada. We both joined the others, Lada next to Dagon and I next to Chax, we all transformed.

Again all four of them transformed and were storming forward. Nanini lifted up behind me and blasted the two in front of us with a light bomb, and then two fire bombs came at them as well. Chax surged forward and slammed his fist into one of them, then moved to the other. I moved in to make sure the first one stayed down. I hit him full force in the face, taking him to the ground, then the second one caught my attention. Only a step or two from me, I stretched out my wings and turned in a circle, taking out his legs from under him. He went down and Chax continued the attack on him. The one next to me started moving again, and I stood up closing my wings. A firebomb flew inches past me and hit him full force, slamming him down again.

“Stop!” Don yelled, and we all stopped in the middle of our attack. Transforming back to normal we regrouped, waiting for our final team members
.
“Good, now the Impon and werewolf. Lotan, you have a paralyzing bite and brutal strength; combine it to keep an opponent down for a deathblow. Seth, as a fellow werewolf I know you have a lot to offer, so bring it to the circle. Join them,” Don said and gestured to us. Lotan and Seth joined us, we all transformed in unison. Nice!

The wolves attacked but we started up the counterattack; bombs, wings, speed, strength and finally an almost bite. Luckily Lotan knew he had to stop or the whole training thing would be over. We went at it for the entire day, no rest, no food, and no water. By the time a Harpies scream sounded through the air to stop all training, we were totally wasted, or at least the
Apprendo’s
were. Chax and the other
Custos
looked like they’d had a little jog down the street, while sweat dripped down our heads, into our clothes.

We all walked back to the arena, taking a spot near our tree. I saw that we were not the only ones that looked like a World War II soldier. Every last one standing in the crowd had a bruise, or a cut, or both. Black eyes were starting to form on a lot of them and Arianna’s eye has reached a purple color already. Yip, we got totally wasted by a werewolf clan.

“Good work fallen, but we have a lot more to do before the teams are perfected. Tomorrow morning we start again, there will be no service tonight. The human world will need to bear the weight for one night. Go home and recuperate, tomorrow we will begin again,” Vulcan said, and gestured for everyone to dispatch. Some shifted immediately; some walked slowly to a friend or someone and talked for a while. Looking at everyone I felt the day’s impact sinking into my body. I was hurt, hungry, thirsty, and man do I smell like a pig. Two arms folded around my waist, and I wanted to protest but there was just not enough energy left in me to do it. So I let Seth take me into his arms, and leaned back to rest my head on his chest.

“Enjoying yourself are we?” Chax whispered into my ear, and I turned my head and looked up to make sure I wasn’t dreaming. Oh my freaking soul, it was Chax not Seth, what the hell?

“Don’t go crazy; see Seth has Nanini in his arms so I’m just lending a hand. It is my job to take care of my
Apprendo
so relax and shut up,” he explained, and picked me up. I was totally shocked to my core. Holy crap, Chax is actually carrying me to my room, in his arms, like he actually has an idea what a feeling is. This is the weirdest day so far in this place. I looked to my right to see Seth carrying Nanini, and Dagon had Lada in his arms. Seth smiled at me, and I felt a little bit better about being in Chax’s arms. Okay, it’s just a
Custos
thing, no need to go crazy.

“Looks like our
Apprendo’s
had one hell of a good day,” Dagon said, and with those words my body did a double-up on pain. Man, it feels even worse than when Chax had a go at me. This is real punishment. I just hope our fae is around to save us, if she can walk herself.

“Hold on, I’m going to shift to your room, you might feel a bit off balance,” Chax explained, and I did what he said and grabbed him around the neck. No way am I taking another fall today, had enough. The shift felt totally weird, like half of my body was trying to stay behind and the rest was trying to shift; but luckily my bed came into view
.

“Oh thank God,” I mumbled, relieved and wasted at the same time. My bed looked like a bubble bath at that moment.

Chax actually chuckled at my words. Wow, this training may just be what he needed. Never once did I see this kind of behavior from him. He placed me on my bed and backed away. Seth and Nanini shifted in next to him and then he placed her on her bed. Next were Dagon and Lada, who also ended up on her bed.

“You did well today
Apprendo’s
. Maia will be here shortly to relieve you of your pain,
vale,
” Dagon greeted and shifted out.

I turned my head from Lada to look at Nanini, and found Chax looking at me, with a very strange look. We stared at each other for a few seconds, then he shifted out not even saying good bye. Yeah, I knew it was too good to be true but that look topped my weird scale for this whole fallen thing. Why on earth did he look at me like that? Seth’s face came into view so I dropped the thought and smiled at him.

“How’s your shoulder?” I asked him, as he walked over to sit on the side of my bed.

“All healed. I told you I heal fast. You don’t need to worry about that in the future. It’s one of the werewolf benefits,” he replied, smiling at me.

“Still don’t like it,” I fired back, and he laughed at me.

“
Caveo mea cor,
” he said and kissed me softly on my mouth. Oh that feels so good, a little tender love after a day full of pain. The moment we started to deepen the kiss Maia stepped into the room, we stopped and looked at each other for a few seconds. I could see the disappointment in his eyes, and felt the same. Seth got up to face her and I was heartbroken all over again. We never get alone time in this place, or was this fallen dating? To quickly steal a kiss before something or someone messes it up. I don’t know if I can do an eternity of that, just when it gets good we have to stop.

“Salve, Maia,” Seth said to her. Unlike Chax he was always polite and a complete gentlemen.

“Good Lord, it looks like a war took place in
Exsilium
. Look at you girls,” Maia said, walking over to Nanini, placing her hands on her to start the healing.

“Yes indeed, we had a hard day of training. Take care of them Maia. Good night girls, Kas,” Seth greeted and smiled at me, shifting out a second later.

Maia fixed us up, and about half an hour later we started moving again. We bathed and then went down to the grub spot to eat and drink. The place was a total dead zone, no one talked, not one sound except the sound of knifes on the plates and chewing. We all just stuffed ourselves and made sure we had enough fluids to go with it. Afterwards, we had a long, slow walk back to our rooms where we all crashed and went into a deep sleep. I, on the other hand, had another freaking nightmare.

Chapter 9

I don’t know why all of a sudden I get them, never had a problem before I came here, but now it’s almost every night.

My face was in the grass again and someone was pressing me down, then the words I heard earlier were said into my ear. “Maybe you’ll do better in a bed, hellhound.” But it wasn’t the same voice this was someone else. Struggling, I tried to get him off but with no luck; unlike before my move to the side didn’t work. Then I felt a hand on the inside of my thigh. Holy crap, I was naked; how the hell did that happen! The hand slowly moved upwards, and the guy whispered, “You’ll be my greatest treasure yet.” At that I went into insane valley. I transformed and pushed out my wings, pushing him off my back.

I jumped up to look at the guy and the moment his face came into view, I turned and started running. Oh my freaking soul, it was the demon again, the same freaking one! I ran as fast as I could but he shifted in front of me and grabbed me, taking me down to the ground. My wings trapped beneath my body I wasn’t going anywhere. “So many surprises, you will be worth it,” he said, and leaned down to kiss me. Frightened to death about what is about to happen I struggled and screamed
.

I heard the words, “Wake up Kas!” and grabbed onto them, taking me from the dream. My eyes flew open and Lada’s face came into view, my hand traveling to my cheek. It was burning like hell; did she just whack me? I looked at her, the question on the tip of my tongue.

“Sorry, I had no choice you wouldn’t wake up,” Lada explained, and I could see it took her a while to make that decision.

“Na, don’t worry you saved me from another nightmare,” I replied, and lay back on my pillow. Man, I need to get something to keep this guy out of my dreams. Why on earth is he there in the first place?

“You need to talk to someone about these dreams you’re having, maybe Mia can help?” Lada said, looking at me with concern.

“Yeah, I’ll talk to her when I get the chance; it’s not priority at the moment, I replied, my eyes drifting to Nanini who was still fast asleep.

“Your screaming didn’t wake her; I think she really had a bad day yesterday. You go get finished in the bathroom and I’ll wake her up,” Lada said and got up and walked over to Nanini.

I took a deep breath and got up. Lada’s right, I need to speak to Maia about these nightmares, maybe she can do something to block him out of my dreams. Hopefully then I’ll get some peaceful sleep in. I walked to the closet and got out a pair of jeans, a purple t-shirt I always loved, and my track shoes. My denim jacket was the choice for the day. Next time I see my dad I’m asking for new clothes, these ones don’t seem to fit in here anymore. I took my shower and got dressed, then walked back to the room to find Nanini buzzing around again
.
“Good morning, sleep well?” I asked her, trying to keep my eyes on her, but she was totally over the place.

“Yip, never slept that good in my whole life. Had a fabulous dream to top it off,” she replied, grinning and jumping at the same time. Well at least someone in this room gets good dreams.

“So you guys ready for hell again?” Lada asked, getting out her clothes to take her wake up bath.

“Oh yeah, it’s tough, but man I really get drained in the process. Absolutely love to feel all wasted,” Nanini answered, brushing her long blonde hair so hard I found myself bracing for the pain it must be going through.

“Nanini, you need help girl! Sick isn’t the word for you,” Lada said, and got up and walked into the bathroom, closing the door behind her.

I walked over to the mirror and got out my brush. Standing next to Nanini I started the process of brushing out my own mane. My dark brown hair was reaching the point where I need to cut it again. When it gets too long I can’t keep it under control. After a while my arms started to pain from the effort of getting it into a pony; failing badly, I let go and it dropped to my back again.

“I need to get my hands on a pair of scissors,” I complained, and looked at myself in the mirror. Not only do I still feel tired but I also looked tired, even old.

“No way Kas, the length is just perfect. You just need to find your way with it when you fix it up for the day. Look at what I do then try and follow it,” Nanini replied, and I turned to look at her, but it was pretty difficult. She was moving her hands so fast I almost couldn’t see.

When she was done and it was in a fancy pony twist she looked at me. “Did you see?”