Kasadya (Hellhound Awakened) (15 page)

I looked around to see I was in Chax’s garden; the circle we practiced in was just in front of me, the wall full of weapons on my right. Well now I know who shifted me out, so I turned my head to look at him. He kept his grip on me not letting go. I transformed back and gave him a piss off look so he finally released me.

“Are you okay, Kasadya?” he asked, frowning at the same time.

“Actually no, I was in the middle of something and you shifted me out, why?”

“You were fighting a full grown fallen male, with years of experience. One that lives very close to his fallen nature, what were you thinking?”

“Hmm let me think, oh yeah now I remember. I was thinking that if he grabbed me one more time, I’ll kill him. If he said that I’m going to be his female one more time, I was going to kill him. So I pretty much was going to kill him, Chax.”

He looked at me and I could see the surprise in his eyes. Yeah, didn’t think I’d slam him back with sarcasm. I like to pick fights with full grown fallen males, which according to him, embraces the wolf part of himself; dumb nut.

“Did he touch you?”

“I believe I just said that Chax. Now take me back so I can finish this; interfering is not helping.”

Now real surprise flashed all over his face; I got the message all right. You either fight back and stand your ground, or you’re going to be very sorry afterwards. This pretty much slammed into my brain when the dream was running through it. Can’t wait for tonight’s nightmare, I’m going to go full fallen on the demon, and kick him out of my dreams, or better yet, kill him in it.

“Yes you are right, but I can’t stand by and watch my
Apprendo
get hurt by another fallen. That would not make me a good
Custos
. I understand that you wanted to defend yourself, but in this case, you would have ended up hurt or even worse.”

“The way I see it, I was winning the battle.”

“Yes, you did really well for the first few minutes. But he was playing with you, trying to incite you. The moment blood came into the picture his fallen nature surfaced; he was attacking you to kill you. Yesterday Seth had the same misfortune, training turned into a real battle, Kasadya.”

“For me it was real from the start, so I don’t see your point.”

“The point is, if Seth and I didn’t intervene, you’d be dead!”

“Oh for Pete’s sake, what was I supposed to do? Let him touch me and stuff!?”

His face turned into anger, and I could see that he was taking my point of this argument into consideration. But he bit it back and said, “That’s why you have a
Custos
. If you ever have another problem with anyone, you come to me and I will address it, do you understand?”

Oh yeah I understood, if I couldn’t take the punch I had to run crying to him and he will save me. No more, I had enough of this crap. From the moment I set foot in this place I was told I had to survive or I’ll die; well so be it. I shifted to the wall, grabbed the two swords he had me practice with and shifted back to the training grounds. My team was standing there talking to each other and didn’t notice me. I searched with my eyes and found Don and Marcus talking a few yards away. When my sight landed on Marcus something inside me kicked into place. I could feel something more, something rising up, I let it spread over me and shifted to Don and Marcus. Don turned around the moment I landed and his eyes went wide.

“Kas, wait,” he demanded, holding his hands in surrender.

“Enough! Get out of my way. NOW!” I replied, and started to move forward so fast he couldn’t stop me. I sidestepped him, and using my wing, pushed him away from us to ensure he didn’t end up in the middle of the fight. Marcus’s eyes also went wide and he shifted. I looked around and found him a few yards away
.
“What’s wrong Marcus, don’t you want to play?” I asked him, shifting to him on the last word. I could hear Chax yelling at me, but just didn’t care; this was my moment. No more will I let someone walk all over me, I had enough.

Marcus transformed and stood his ground. “Hellhound back down now, or you’ll regret it,” he said taking backward steps. I felt the air next to me move and knew someone was shifting in to stop me. The moment the air stopped, I flung my wings out sending the person flying
.

“No wolf, today regret is reserved just for you,” I responded, and I attacked him. He dodged my blades for a while, but was to slow and a hit went to his thigh. Howling he jumped away from me, his paw going to the wound
.

“Chax stop her!” he yelled to Chax; but no not this time, my dear
Custos
. Chax shifted in behind me and I flung out my wings, again sending him flying.

I moved again, swiping with my left arm; he dodged it but didn’t see my right arm coming in for the blow; my blade ended up in his side, halfway to his heart. As my blade pierced him he howled and froze. I stopped the attack and looked him in his eyes. Shocked and in pain he looked back at me
.
“What’s wrong wolf, not beautiful anymore? Still want me as a trophy?” I taunted him, his eyes growing wide with fear
.

“Kasadya stop!” Chax yelled, and shifted in next to Marcus. His hand went to my blade to stop it from going in. Pissed off I looked at him
.

“Is this not what you wanted me to be? What, still not strong enough according to you?” I asked him and at the same time I felt someone shift in behind me. The air stopped and the person grabbed my wings before I could fling them out.

“Kas, please stop, this is not the way,” Seth said from behind me. I turned my eyes on Marcus.

“Kasadya, Seth is right. This is not honorable. Stop this,” Chax went on. Marcus transformed back to normal, my blade still inside him, and I could see that it hurt him way more than the blade going in.

“You touch me again wolf, and you’ll be looking at your headless body a few steps away, do you get me?” I said into his face. In pain he shook his head, his eyes closing because the movement brought on more pain.

Satisfied he got the message I quickly withdrew the blade and took a step back, Chax removing his hand just in time. Marcus slumped to the ground and Chax followed, lifting up his shirt and looking at the damage; one clean cut where the blade went in, and a lot of blood coming out from it
.

“Kas give me your swords,” Seth said from my left side, and I complied without taking my eyes off Marcus and Chax. He took them from me and moved away. Chax looked up at me with confusion in his eyes. Yeah, you wanted a warrior, and at the same time wanted a little girl to come running to you for help; well I fixed it, no more little girl.

“Kasadya, go back to my house, I’ll be there shortly. Seth, go fetch Maia, it’s very deep,” Chax said to Seth and I, without taking his eyes from mine. The air moved and Seth shifted out. Pissed off I turned around and looked at the others. When my eyes met them they took a step back, fear in their faces. I stopped and took in the picture. Why on earth would they do that, what, is this the first time they saw a girl win a fight or something?

Feeling warm liquid on my hand, I looked down to see it was covered with Marcus’ blood; then realization hit me. No wonder they are afraid, look at what I did. In my tantrum to prove myself, I became the very thing I was supposed to hunt. Enraged and disgusted with myself, I shifted out without looking at them again; the look on their faces trapped in my mind. What have I done?!

Chapter 10

I didn’t shift to Chax’s place; I was not in a mood for one of his lectures at the moment. Instead I shifted to the fountain he found me at the other night. I knew he would find me here eventually, but until then, I had some time alone.

I looked around to make sure that alone was the case, and luckily no one else was around. I’m sure they were probably training at the house. I walked over to the bench near the fountain where I was sitting the other night, and planted my butt there looking at the water again.

How could I have been so stupid, I attacked another fallen armed and he wasn’t? Then I went even further and jammed my blade into his chest, almost piercing his heart? I know we can’t die like that, but I bet it still hurts like hell, what was I thinking?

Yeah sure the guy pissed me off, but was it enough to do that to him? No, I don’t think so. Chax was right, I should have left this for him to sort out, but no, I had to use my freaking stupid brain. Man, the looks on Nanini and Lada’s face was breaking my heart. Not only did I turn into a monster; I may have lost my friends in the process.

My first and only friends to add to it! I’m a walking disaster, no wonder my mom hates me. OMG what is my mom going to do when she hears about this? She will eat me alive this time, oh and my dad, he will be so disappointed in me.
“I know my
Filiola
will make me proud,” were his words and look what I did. Oh no, I totally messed up everything! Crap, why can’t I listen for a change and think like a normal person?

I sat there for hours thinking about everything. Soon my view of the water started to fade as the sun went down, and darkness took its place. The whole time I was sitting here, I mentally punched myself over and over again
.
“Stupid girl,” I could hear my mom say. “Oh no baby,” I could hear my dad say, and I could picture his face with those words. I let him down, didn’t make him proud; instead I made a disgrace of myself. The air shifted behind me and I knew that Chax has finally found me. I heard his feet hit the ground and just kept my head down.

“Kasadya,” he whispered, walking slowly to stand in front of me. I kept my eyes on the ground, too embarrassed to look at him. He was right. I was a little girl throwing tantrums all over the place, and deadly ones at that.

“You have to come with me, the council awaits,” he went on, and at those words I looked up at him. His face said it all. Not only was I in big freaking trouble, but also he was disappointed in me, and I already know Mom and Dad are too. No way would this not reach them, most likely they already turned their backs on me; to leave me to my fate, a well-deserved fate.

Tears started to form in my eyes, and I knew that if I kept looking at him it would turn into a waterfall. I returned my face to the ground and stood up, holding out my hand. “
I won’t cry
,” I kept telling myself, trying to take what was coming with some dignity. Face it like a man they always say. He took my hand and we shifted. The next thing that came into my view was a tiled floor with small patterns on them. Chax let go of my hand and walked away, leaving me to my fate. Don’t blame him, if I were in his shoes, I’d walk away and never look back.

“Kasadya Levourne, step forward,” a guy said. I took a deep breath and lifted my head, taking in the room.

I was in some sort of court like room. In front of me sat Vulcan, another male, a female, and Chax. To my left were my mom and dad. Dad looked at me with sad eyes and Mom didn’t even bother to look at me. No surprise there, now I really was not worth the effort. To my right stood Astin and Dontalion. Astin’s face was neutral and Don looked at me, also with sad face. Okay, so this is not going to be fun, I get it. Bracing myself for the impact, I took a few steps and stood in the middle looking up at them.

Chax didn’t even look at me; he kept his eyes on the bench in front of him. Vulcan finally looked at me, anger in his face but at least he was looking at me. I stood there ready to face my mistake. In a fallen life you grow up very fast, or at least I did.

“In your absence we have discussed the incident that took place today, we took in everyone’s testimony in what lead to it and also what happened. Do you wish to say something before we make our final decision?” the other guy asked.

What could I say? Everything they most likely heard was the truth. I earned a punishment for doing this, so suck it up and take it
.
“No,” I replied, and kept my eyes on him. No use trying to look at someone else, they’re either mad or disappointed in me.

“Then it is final. In the charge of disobeying your
Custos’s
direct order to refrain from violence, and to the charge of attacking and injuring a fellow fallen, we find you guilty. Your punishment will begin immediately,” he said, and looked at my mom and dad. I kept my eyes on him
. “
As the
Apprendo’s
parents do you agree?” he asked my parents, and my heart sank down into my stomach.

A short silence followed then my mom answered, “As her parents, we agree.” I felt a tear fall down my cheek. Yeah, that’s my mom. Hell, no matter what I’ll never make her proud so this is not a surprise at all, but my dad agreeing that hurt a lot, but I deserve it. I sucked back my tears and kept my eyes on him.

“Kasadya Levourne, you will remain in solitary confinement for one month, you will only be allowed to see
Dominus
Custos
Chax and Vulcan. You will not be allowed to interact with any of the other
Apprendo’s
living in the house. You will only be allowed to use the facilities within the house after they have used them. As for your training, you will not be allowed to continue training with the teams. However,
Dominus
Custos
Chax’s request was considered and you will therefore be escorted to and from his house for training until your month is over.

“When your month is over, we will consider new testimonies about your behavior and hope to find an improvement. If there is none you will continue with your confinement until you shape up,” the guy said, and at the last word he looked at Vulcan, who stood up and walked towards me. I kept my eyes on the guy who just ended my life for a month, maybe even more.

Vulcan came to stand in front of me. “Come,” he said and walked past me. I took one final look at Chax who still wasn’t looking at me. I have a feeling “brutal” is not the word for my next few days of training.

So I turned around, my eyes catching my mom and dad as I turned to walk behind Vulcan. My dad looked at me sadness in his eyes, but my mom didn’t even give me that honor. No, she just kept her eyes on the bench where Chax and the others sat. One hell of a mother, hey? I turned my eyes from them and followed Vulcan, my throat burning from the tears I was trying to suppress.