by C T Scribe
“Well, some immortals are just duds in the fighting department. Some never fully developed their weapons. For those who aren’t combat compatible we have other uses for them of course.”
“The only reason I’m here is to become combat compatible.” Saying the words out loud made his fear real. What if he would never be strong enough to avenge her. What if he would let her die in his mind forever. Coldness swept over his body. The voice in his head grew louder mocking his weakness again. That damn voice, always choosing his most vulnerable moments to strike.
Interrupting the mental clash Tye struggles with Teach offered some advice.
“Then keep training. Every immortal must complete the proving grounds. You’ll be at a disadvantage if your weapons don’t shape up, but you still have a lot of time Tye.” The answer was simple, but the fear remained. Recognizing his worry the eggs on the desk inched closer to him pulsing with warmth. One egg on each arm embracing him. Teach looked at the unformed weapons awingly. Whatever surprised him he didn’t share with Tye before he left the class. Struggling with his thoughts, Tye let the warm pulses of his blobs subdue the menace in his mind. He let his head fill with all the good times he had with Mari. From the first day they bumped heads, she was his best friend. She was always there for him. He didn’t understand how this weapons thing worked, but he wouldn’t loose. He’d beat Marco or the entire class if he had to. Weapons or no weapons he would fight and win. With renewed determination he rose from the desk. The blobs extending themselves to hop into the double egg holder on his back. Tye looked on the map for the dragons head gym and was off.
40
Chapter 40
Deb was having a hard time, for the first time, cutting ties with a man. Her true love, Thomas, was finally back at base. For the past couple weeks they’d spent every free moment together. He told her story after story of his latest mission. It was amazing to hear the tales he told after sex as they spooned in bed. With awe she listened to the adventures of Thomas “the tall man” as he tracked and fought countless beast around the country. Each tale more entertaining than the last. To everyone else Thomas was unreadable. To everyone else he was nearly a beast himself. His intense magical aura shrouded the spaces around him. A density of sorts that filled large rooms from a mere step inside. He was hard to approach she had to admit. For her he was different. He was frighteningly transparent in his stories. He had a way of putting a funny spin on them to send her into fits of laughter. How her face ached from laughing long into these past few nights. However, mixed into the excitement and laughter lurked true fear. When he told her how he walked into a den of beast unprepared, and nearly died before he fled and escaped. Her too still heart nearly stopped all together. A nervousness she had not known since her mortal days surfaced at each bend and turn of his tales. He, more than anyone else at HQ, lived a dangerous life. Thomas was strong, but the situations he found himself in seemed to test the limits of that strength. It’s what made his leaving hard on her. It’s what led her to find a new companion when he set off for his next mission. She could never expect him to return. She could never be unprepared for his death. If she allowed herself to not fear for him, when his last day finally came she would shatter completely. HQ needed her. Her gifts helped them grow and train each new group. Her gifts sustained so many. If she did not ward her mind against his death, HQ would lose them both. The blow could easily turn the tide of the forever war against them. Then all the death and pain they’d endured over the many many years would be for nothing. His latest stories were more fearful and funny than previous missions. The emergence of a chameleon changed everything. How long would the general allow his best friend a reprieve from the field with her out there? How long until he was called away from her again. Until then she had to train her mind that he wasn’t coming back. Then there was Martin. Martin had taken her absence much worse than she imagined. He visited her cafe daily. The sight of him made her hide herself, even if she was glad to see his smile day after day. The resting bitch face she gave him was for his own good she reminded herself. He was special in his own way. His skills also helped keep this place going. She was friends with the maintenance man he replaced. She never told him, but the damage this place showed with that vacancy in maintenance nearly ruined them. The outer camouflage was so spotty new recruits were forced to guard the perimeter disguised as street gangs. Even then there had been incidents, and HQ’s location had been compromised. Thomas was not one to share. When he was home with her she gave him the grounding and peace he deserved. His nomadic life was hard on his body and spirit alike. She infused healing and parts of herself into every meal, kiss, and touch. With Martin she would take his energy. Not purposely of course, but during sex it was hard not to absorb it with her unique skills. But when she touched Thomas she could feel the brokenness of his aura. She just knew what he needed, and her abilities worked almost absent of her in restoring him. This is the one thing she could do to protect him. This was the armour she could provide to the man she loved. If Martin were to confront him, a shudder went through her at the thought. She would always choose Thomas. She would not beg him to spare Martin. She would not undermine him in front of the others. He was a legend to them. If he was confronted he could not back down. Dominance was its own power in their world. A lesson we all learned from the proving grounds. So she would keep being a bitch to him. She would keep hurting him. She just wished she could get him out of her head.
41
Chapter 41
Tye hated feeling weak. The proving grounds were only seven days away. He began sleeping in the Dragon’s Head Gym a week ago. Aside from sleep and food he trained. He made considerable progress on the weights he thought. Now using the dumbbells in the third slot, he felt much stronger. He still had no idea how much they weighed in his old world, but every cell screamed in pain with each rep he completed in this new one. He was finally able to use to bench press as well. As he pushed the weight away from his chest there was one notable change. His blobs were now human in form, and equal size and shape to him. As if mirror reflections, each muscle he gained they gained. For the past week they had been his spotters on the bench press. They had been silent faceless companions. As he climbed the mountains or ran the trails they followed him step for step. When he stumbled they picked him up. Tye knew that the weapons didn’t form up properly. He knew they wouldn’t form up in the seven days he had left, but they would help him fight. He didn’t care what the odds were he wouldn’t loose. At some point he started calling the blobs A and B. A always took his side on the left, and B preferred to stand to the right. When they sparred A was better at offensively striking, and B was better at defensive maneuvers. Tye had been to the dojo many times over the past three weeks. He learned the proper techniques for attacking, blocking, and dodging. He realized being weaponless he’d need to dodge a lot in his fight. He also practiced materializing as a method of attack. The blobs could disappear. He assumed the others weapons were the same, but when he willed them away they would absorb into his back. When he willed them to return they reemerged the same way. Allowing one or both of them to reemerge during an attack created a layered method of fighting he decided would be best. Tye and A&B practiced an assortment of kicks to best utilize the maneuver. Aside from the dojo he worked on his quickness and agility. This wasn’t the way he wanted to fight, but it was smart. In a past life scouts and coaches framed his intellect as football IQ. Knowing every positions plays on offense and defense came as easily to Tye as learning his own. Knowing how each positions work intertwined for the larger play was the only way he could visualize the game. Knowing his teammates weaknesses and strengths made calling audibles easier. Knowing the other teams scouting reports as if they were teammates of his own was another thing he just did. He didn’t try to be so thorough, he just was. After the injury Tye found himself using his IQ differently at Highbrow. The prestigious college proved a mental obstacle course for him to conquer. With the help of Mari he did just tha
t. Now as an immortal he would have to use his IQ in another way, to overcome his fighting disadvantage. He was sure the others were training, but he hadn’t seen any of them here. The gym was a bit tricky to enter with the whole get swallowed by a dragon head part. Still at each class the others seemed the same. Tye decided to wear baggy clothes to hide his progress from the others. Another mental calculation on his part.
Attending class was a challenge. Ever since the others weapons formed up Tye had somehow moved to the bottom of the food chain. He wished he was matched up against anyone but Marco. Aside from the initial day he was pointed out as having duds for blood weapons Marco hadn’t laughed at him. That made three in the class that still treated him with respect. He finally learned the names of the other two who hadn’t laughed at him that day. The large man went by George. The dark skinned woman with the double braids was named Pita. A and B stopped attending class in weapon form. Carrying them in his double egg holster for show, the two humanoid weapons reverted back to their original egg shape. He would need all the shock and surprise if he was to win. Marco, his opponent, still pretended to be asleep each class. It took some effort, but Tye could somehow tell he was faking. Not only faking, but summoning energy into his palms and releasing it. It seemed his training was more mental than Tye realized. He did recall Teach mentioning his impressive level of mana control. As Tye flanked by A&B walked into the dojo he knew he’d have to keep Marco busy if he had a chance. He didn’t want to be on the receiving end of the energy coming from his palms.
Today’s lesson was sparring. The difference being that today they would fight against shadows with weapons. The dojo master, a shadow rat, was large as a human. It showed Tye all the forms he had practiced up until now. It didn’t speak directly. The words echoed in the dojo absent of his mouth taking shape. Like the dojo master, more shadows appeared for them to attack each lesson. Slowly Tye began attacking larger and larger groups of the shadow warriors. These fights were always weaponless. He had A&B at his side fighting, but the shadows only attack with their ninja skills, as he called it. Today would be different. Today standing across from him appeared two shadows. The slender shadow took the shape of a woman with a katana clenched in her left hand. The larger Male shadow was mountainous with a long bow staff gripped in his right hand. Tye stood in his fighting stance. His lean muscles rippling on his shirtless body. A on his left, equally well built, stood a small step in front of him. B, on his right, stood a small step behind. This staggered formation was one of many attack patterns the trio had been working on. This was an attack first formation. A would start the attack with a barrage of strikes. Tye felt ready. He was prepared for a full out fight. The dojo master faded away signalling the start of training. Tye didn’t see it coming. In an instant A&B were blown back into the wall. Indentations and cracks surrounding their form. All he registered was the gust of wind around him. Well, the gust of wind and the intense pain in his gut as the female shadow sliced into his body. Day one of weapons training, he was dead in an instant.
42
Chapter 42
Chameleon- It had been a month since she did those evil deeds, yet they still bothered her dreams. The night she shifted into a man’s form was her first time using her abilities to copy a human. Her master told her how to shift. He told her how to bend her gifts to suit his needs. The mechanics were only a slight modification from the way she concealed the others. The shifting itself came easy, but she didn’t just look like the man. More than appearance she became the man. His thoughts swarmed her mind, and his desires moved her body. Before she could regain control she was meeting with the target. She felt the nervousness in the pit of her stomach. The tightness in her chest as she presented the ring to her. The arousal of her touch was something she had never before experienced. She was kissing her and groping her. She wanted her in a way she couldn’t describe. It was primal and intense. She was a missing piece of him. Although that’s how she felt with every piece of his body, she knew it was a lie. These were his feelings. The boy her master knocked out. The boy he threatened to kill if she didn’t obey. She wasn’t a bad person. She had never been a bad person, but with each chore her master gave she lost a bit of decency. Unlike the others she traveled with she was human. She couldn’t sense them the way they sensed her. The first time she tried to run they tracked her in minutes, but she couldn’t feel their presence at all. Her curse was being an instrument to evil men. Is the rope evil for being tied in a noose, or is it the man who puts the noose around the neck that’s truly evil.
When they found her she had no control over her curse. She had no idea about this dark world she would eventually dwell in. She was awake in bed that night unable to sleep when they attacked her home. The first scream came from her sisters room. The shriek sent chills through her that froze her to her core. Stuck to her sheets by invisible chains she didn’t move. The next scream was of her parents. There were no sounds of a fight. As she lay there frozen to her bed the door opened to her room. It was that night she saw her master for the first time. He was tall , and solidly built. His eyes were the most beautiful she had ever seen. Even as she watched him bite into her mother’s neck spraying dark thick blood all over her pink carpeted floors, she couldn’t look away from those eyes. As his hand grew larger around her father’s neck until the life and color drained from his face she couldn’t break eye contact. She would later learn of the pains her master underwent to cast this spell of fixation on her. Before she knew anything of beast, spells, and magic he bewitched her to himself. The moment she looked at him the spell activated in his eyes, and she was under his control. After the man fed on the blood and bones of her parents a wolf like beast dragged her sister into the room. Her body now limp from whatever they had done to her. Her brave older sister. The one she would threaten the kids at school with when they were being too mean. In the hands of this beast she was nothing. Her parents were nothing. Playthings for something truly powerful. They did more things to her sister that night in her room. Making her watch. She begged for death, but the beast refused. They kept her alive. She was their leverage. Her master told her of her gifts that night. Explained to her how he could train her to develop and use them. He gave her the option of death or servitude. The death of her sister. Her death would have been fine she thought, but this time she would protect her older sister. As he cut her arm he whispered his spell softly in her ear. Cutting his own arm with his razor sharp nail, he mixed their blood. And in that instant she could feel him inside her. She could feel his ancient strength. She could feel his violence. That night she lost her ability to disobey him. If she knew what she knows now, she’d have chosen death for them both. The time for that choice died with her free will years ago. Her master ordered her to have sex with the target, and then bring her to the bar. Her master had ordered worse things. She was now eighteen. For the first few years he ordered her to kill his victims. Night after night he would kidnap them. Night after night he would order her to kill them in various ways as it pleased him. She became numb to the deaths. Her boneyard growing daily burying her innocence. She was not a human anymore. To put it simply she was his instrument of murder. As her powers developed she could hide them from others. Her master and his unit used her ability to massacre hundreds. Each time she lost more of herself. At times she became intoxicated from the killing. Parts of her master that squirmed inside her made her enjoy the killing. The target was sport for her that night. After the apartment she could feel something inside her breaking. With each step closer to the bar the blood lust inside her grew. When the time came she would have killed the girl with or without the order. The pretty girl who loved the pretty boy. A happiness she would never know. Seeing other people live happy lives pissed her off. The fire in her veins erupted from the joy of others. They didn’t deserve it. She wished the boy hadn’t come back for her. She wanted to shift into his girl, and have her way with him. She felt the love he had for her. She wanted to feel him giving that stolen love just on
e time. But the tall cloaked man appeared, and ruined her plans. She had seen him before. He had walked into a den she was concealing, but somehow he survived. He couldn’t be human, but she didn’t know what else he could be. Her master seldom told her any information. He simply corrupted her soul day after day. This night was no different as he threw the man to the ground. Both legs broken, he could barely move. He flailed his arms trying to drag his body for the door in vain. Her master issued the command, “kill.” Her dagger slid familiarly across his neck spilling his life to the floor. As a reward tonight he would let her see her sister. A beast brought the cage into the room. Her sisters cage. Her master lifted the sheet as he had done many times. Her naked sister curled in a ball as always. He issued another command, “don’t move.” Her body was once again frozen. Her eyelids itched but refused to shut. Her master pulled the older girl from the cage and began to pleasure himself as he had done many times. After he was satisfied he gave the girl over to his unit, so they could have a turn. Unable to cry, she watched. Every night she watched. Commanded not to hate her master, no matter what he does. Every night she must watch, and hate the world instead.
43
Chapter 43
Class was held in a different location today. The glass timer finally emptied on their period of training, and all the new recruits gathered at the proving grounds. This place, a right of passage for all immortals, brimmed with onlookers today. Each class had its share of spectators, but today’s crowd easily outnumbered the more recent proving grounds matches. There were several new recruits of notice today. First the boy Marco, who rumors say has incredible control over his aura even before the turn. He also has the rare double weapon. Next there was the twins. Although the matches were fought separately, there was no rule against incidental fire into another match. Some of the more sinister onlookers were hoping for some twin foul play. Finally there was the trainer, as the Smith’s started calling him, Tye. Tye who was also a wielder of double weapons was strongly built. The rumor however is that his weapons never formed up. That was unfortunate since he is already matched against Marco. Sure to lose is the rumor circulating HQ, but many are still intrigued to see how he’ll go down swinging. Not to mention the staggering odds at the bookies. The Smith’s have taken a liking to the new recruit, and many knowing his weapon problem have already begun designs for more traditional weaponry. A large part of the crowd were indeed smith’s looking to see if any new recruits were fit to wield their weapons. Thomas was here solely to watch Tye. The boy he brought in had already embarrassed him for having duds of weapons, but he couldn’t count him out of the fight. Deb, the full figured woman accompanying him, had given him progress reports on the boy since he began his training at The Dragon’s Head Gym. Thomas was truly surprised a new recruit would be granted access to that gym. It wasn’t the type of room that opened itself to anyone. In fact many of the inhabitants of HQ didn’t know of its existence. Thomas had spent decades training in that place. For a long while it was his true home. During the years he refused missions he basically lived in the Dragon’s Head Gym. Deb in her reports told him the boy had been squatting there save meals and mandatory classes. It seems on multiple days he’d passed out so thoroughly from training the kitchen had been alerted to send emergency recovery rations. The boy may be weaponless, but he certainly wasn’t defenseless. Thomas couldn’t help the grin from forming as he sized up his recruit. The proving grounds would be held in typical fashion with the class pairing off for individual battles. All the battles would be in the same field, and overlap often occurred. In fact knowing how best to use the overlap had won many recruits their own fights over the years. Finally, the class took to the field as Teach explained to them the rules. As the group dispersed across the field Tye and Marco were placed in the center with Teach standing close by. It seemed even he sensed this fight would be something special. Teach pointed to Thomas, the infamous tall man, and he rose for the other reason he came. He was to signal the start of the fighting. Raising his gun he let off a loud bang, and sat back down to enjoy the show.
