Daemon Hunted

Chapter 8 — As Aggressive as You Want

I stood, finding seven others had joined the introductory class. As I approached, I picked up on the fact that Rex was deep in his martial arts persona. He welcomed each newcomer and had them state their name and experience with martial arts if they had any, his voice strong and respectful. I lost my focus on him as I saw a new woman standing near the door. If I had to guess, she was about twenty-five or twenty-six—my own age. She had dark hair dyed with a hint of maroon coloring. It hung loose and bounced off her shoulders. Her eyes were a deep hazel, nearly green, her chin a little sharp and impish. I didn’t know why she caught my eye and held it the way she did. She was cute, sure, but it was something in her stance, her determined face. I felt a little embarrassed that I hadn’t even realized the seven people had come into the dojo. I needed to work on maintaining my perception when distracted or working. But I felt safe… well safe-ish in Rex’s shop. Still, if people could sneak up on me, enemies could as well. Then again, I had been doing rows and they could put me in a strangely focused state.

I got to feel really dumb as I missed the first part of the woman’s introduction, namely her name, because I’d been too busy looking at her and in my own thoughts.

Her voice was shy, but picked up in strength as she continued, “—I recently moved here and have taken several martial arts classes over the years. My father was in the military, so he made sure I knew how to protect myself.”

“Excellent!” Rex called, “What branch?”

“He was a navy seal.”

Rex nodded, usually he would give a joke about how the marines were the best, but I honestly didn’t know which was tougher. Thankfully he’d read her comments and body language better than I had. “You said was, is he still with us?”

“No.” The girl said, eyes firm on Rex. “He died in combat.”

Rex nodded. “I’m glad you’re here. It looks like he raised a strong daughter. I’m sure he’d be proud.” Then Rex turned to the next student.

I missed most of what the next person said while I was thinking about the few words I’d heard from the girl’s story. I wondered how old she’d been when her father had passed. For all I knew it could have been years ago, but the way her voice had resonated, and the forced expression on her face as she answered Rex, it made me think it was something more recent.

I’d been an orphan. My childhood home had burned down in a freakish fire that killed both of my parents or so I’d been told. A firefighter had pulled me out and given me CPR. The report said I’d been nonresponsive for two minutes. I’d only been roughly four years old at the time and my memories were vague. I didn’t recall anything directly of the accident and only a few things from my actual childhood before that point. Some people could seemingly remember their whole upbringing in perfect detail. I had not been blessed with that ability, but then again, I also hadn’t had pictures or family members to reminisce with. Most of my memories were from being about eight years or older with various foster families and Clair—

“—Cal.”

I snapped back to the moment and realized everyone was looking at me expectantly.

“Uh, sorry.” I stammered, “What did you want?”

“Your introduction, unless your shop has some new herbs, you’re keeping all to yourself that we need to know more about first?” He said the last like it was a genuine possibility. I felt my face heat.

“Right…um, sorry. No new herbs. I was just thinking about something,” My eyes caught the girls, and I awkwardly looked away. “—I own the crystal shop down the road, Earths Bounty.” A few members of the group nodded, “I met Rex about two and a half years ago and he’s been slowly beating me into a stronger version of myself since then.” I wanted to say more, to be a little more interesting, but my mind was blank. I felt like I’d come across as a distracted loon to the newcomers, the new girl in particular. I really needed to get out more and not spend so much time stuck with Fren and my own thoughts. Talking with my tree friend really wasn’t helping my social graces.

“Alright, as I said before, Cal will be helping with training today. We’re going to go through some basics, maybe spar a little and then I can let you know what class I’m running which would best fit your ability level. We’re going to start with ten warmup laps around the gym in each direction. Line up!”

We lined up and began to jog. Rex opened a few windows, the old frames bending out at the base on hinges, much like an RV trailer’s would. The cool air felt wonderful. Then we worked on footing, with Rex strolling through the group, nudging, and instructing as appropriate. Then we worked on some light footwork, shifting forward and back in more ‘sturdy’ stances. To my dismay Rex used extra force on all my stances, knocking me over a few times with chiding comments to ‘focus and listen’ even though no amount of perfect form would stabilize me through the kind of force he was using.

“Alright, time for some fun then we’ll partner up and get to practicing,” Rex said with a clap, considering the group before him. “First, let’s see what Lana can do with Cal.”

I stepped forward, finding to both my excitement and nervousness that Lana was the girl that had so thoroughly caught my attention. I mentally told myself I needed to get the Coke for Fren before I returned home. He would be able to sense I’d been attracted to someone and the last thing I needed was his annoying questions and unsolicited advice all night. He had the ability to pick up changes in my pheromones and could at times read me like a book. I gulped. Not the time to think about hormones, pheromones, or Fren. Focus Cal, don’t be weird, I thought.

Lana stepped forward, the firm mat on the floor bunching under each of our steps as we entered a small circular ring.

“Lana, are you ready?” Rex called.

“How far do you want us to go?” She asked, her voice was calm, resonant, and I liked the tone of it.

“Cal should be able to handle anything,” Rex said, looking me over. “But, based on your footwork, I’d say he’s in for a surprise.”

I gave him a side glance, raising an eyebrow. He thought Lana was good, that meant I could be a little more aggressive. Rex grinned, slapping me on the back as he passed. “Don’t make me and my training look bad,” he crossed his arms, turning to face us. “Take this seriously Cal.”

I was bigger than Lana. She was slender but tall for a girl, I still dwarfed her by six inches. I probably had her outweighed by a hundred pounds and I’d been practicing with Rex off and on for nearly three years. I’d also trained with Fren occasionally­—a forest ancient who had eons of fighting prowess. The creature had been the companion to ancient wizards, monks, and everything between. He didn’t like talking much about his past masters—preferring to focus on the present­—but when I gave into his incessant heckling that we train, I learned quickly. I was still far from what Fren would think of as a skilled opponent. But he was a devious master. The point was, Lana didn’t have that kind of training, and I needed to be careful not to hurt her. My enhanced Body attribute, while weak by wizarding standards, still made me more resistant to injury and able to use the full strength of my muscles, speed, and stamina than the norm.

Lana assumed a staggered stance, and I did the same.

“Feel free to go as aggressive as you want,” was what I tried to say, but I only got out, “Feel—gurk!”

Lana moved faster than I could have believed possible. She shifted past my side, placing one leg back behind mine, using her hips and momentum to press me back to trip over that same leg. That alone wouldn’t have been enough, but her right arm caught me across the throat, easily passing through my guard. I fell to the ground, but it didn’t end there. As I fell, she somehow twisted and ended the attack with one knee against my throat, my nearest arm to her locked into my side by her other leg, and her fists raised to strike my face if needed. Her eyes shown with mirth and triumph as she smiled down at me.

“Woah. That was some impressive shit,” Rex muttered, slow clapping as he walked across the room. “To be clear—I mean you Lana, not Cal. Though taking a tackle like that and staying conscious does point to him having had practice being knocked on his ass a time or two.”

Lana stood and offered me a hand. I took it and she helped me to my feet. She was strong but I saw her looking me over to make sure she hadn’t’ actually hurt me. Apparently, pride didn’t count as harm.

“Hopefully I wasn’t too hard on you,” she said, her grin slightly crooked with one dimple on the right side. She reached up, taking her hair and tying it into a ponytail with a band that was on her wrist.

“Naw,” I said. “Let’s do another round.” I knew there probably wasn’t enough time if Rex wanted to give everyone a chance, but offering it seemed like the right thing to do. I looked at Rex and he grinned. Creepily, eyes large, with a smirk plastered on his face.

“Oh yes, again! You get one more chance to prove yourself Cal.” Rex said, pointing at my chest.

I didn’t want such a defeat to be our only spar, but I was also a little hesitant. Lana was skilled, much more than I was despite all my training. I could have cheated. With a good amount of earth-focused magic, I could harden my skin, speed my reactions, make myself heavier—but no. She was fighting without all that, so I would too. Well, except for my enhanced body which I couldn’t turn off, but that hadn’t slowed her down before.

I took up position and prepared myself better, now knowing the skill level I faced in Lana. At Rex’s yell, we sparred again. This time I was ready, not relaxing in the slightest. We exchanged a few blows and just as I was starting to feel good about myself and the bout, Lana cranked up the speed. In near record time, I was face down on the mat again, Lana’s legs wrapped around me, and my head in a headlock, as she lay on my back.

“That was better,” she whispered in my ear, her breath warm against my skin. “You almost made me work for it.”

I might have enjoyed the sound of her voice, had my focus not been on my Adam's apple being crushed into my throat or the sound of my own heartbeat ringing in my head.

“That’s two!” Rex called out unhelpfully. “Lana, we have an advanced class that you appear more than ready to participate in.” He helped Lana up to her feet and handed her a schedule with several times highlighted. “That was Jujitsu at the end,” he said with a gleam in his eye. “We’re going to have fun continuing the framework you already have. Perhaps you could even help Cal out, he just joined the advanced class. He’d be much better if I could get him to attend more regularly...” He said the last with a forlorn tone, letting the words hang in the air.

I stood, slightly sheepish at my poor performance, but if her story was right, she’d been fighting since she was a child. I simply hadn’t, not in this way. Without my tricks and powers, she was a much better fighter.

“I’ll be here,” I groaned, my voice sounding hoarse. “I’ve made the goal of being more of a regular.” I really did need to commit to training more. If I came across one of the many fae creatures that were more humanoid or fast, I would be hard-pressed to survive, even with magic. That’s why smart wizards didn’t do what I did at the age I was.

We assumed positions at the side of the open floor area while Rex led the others through sparring matches. Those with no skill were spared the spar, Rex wouldn’t want anyone to get injured, and instead, he taught a few strikes to practice while the other held a foam square as a target.

I stood next to Lana, unsure what to say, but she broke the silence first.