As Grey and May slowly walked closer, they evaluated each other, their stance, their eyes, two experienced fighters that were both close-range fighters, even if Grey said he liked his hammer range, he just preferred its abilities, I knew from experience but May was a true hand to hand fighter, so would probably win, but I hoped Grey would last at least as long as I did with Retsuko.
As they got to a few feet from each other, May reached out her right hand a bit, as though tempting him, and he matched her in turn till their wrists touched, neither flinching, waiting for the first one to act.
May then grabbed his wrist and pulls him into her punch as her leg moved to trip him, Grey, in turn, moved his head out of the way and grabbed her wrist, but was tripped up by her before he could get out of her grasp, falling onto his back as she started to fall onto him.
My dragon didn't like this position, and I didn't either but reminded her that she was already with Aaron, and it was only a sparring match.
As she landed on him, she went to punch, but again he moved his head and tried to kick her head, but he brushed her tail and she moved her head, catching his leg and putting a hand on his neck.
"Stop, while you're good, I'm better in hand to hand, so let's not press it."
I could see him give up as he tapped out, May got off him and helped him up.
"How did you do it so quickly? I didn't even last a minute it seems."
She seemed to smile and pat his shoulder. "You were too confident and got in easy reach of me, forgetting my reach is longer than yours, and that at this close, the first strike is decisive, you're too used to your hammers powers."
she holds out her hand and one of her thriving knives was tossed to her. "Knives are great for me as I like to fight up close and trick others to think I'm a weak girl..well already unarmed, and I didn't use my werewolf strength on you..I only use how much I must so that if I do more, it will completely overwhelm my opponent."
I understood what May meant and believed Grey did as well. "I think we got what you're saying May, and we can agree you are probably the best for combat talk when needed."
She walked to Dylan and put her coat back on. "I'm glad but I will be training you so that you can do it too, after all, you're an Elzax, one of the few families I look up to in terms of combat, or in another way, think I can beat your father?"
I understood what she meant and agreed, my family was renowned for their combat abilities and knowledge, and I had much to learn, but I and my dragon were happy that May was willing to help us.
"Well I guess we should start training, but how do you suggest we start with? Most of us use different kinds of weapons and have different ways to fight, only I and Dylan are kind of the same"
I nod to our swords, knowing that Grey used his Warhammer and May would use her knives, I wasn't sure about Retsuko though.
"Simple, we practice in hand to hand on the dummies then range, after that the best way to learn is sparing with our weapons, or training for your family"
It did make sense and there was nothing better to do while we waited for missions.
I go over a dummy and look at the others. "May is right, so let's start, we can take breaks when needed and you Dylan can help train Retsuko, while I also see if my parents or Grandfather can help us with other things, though I doubt my father can help as he'll be busy with the Elites."
Retsuko seemed excited and Grey seemed ok with this, but I noticed that Dylan wasn't excited to be trained by his sister, then again she can kick his ass, and training Retsuko would be a hassle but needed since, like me, we needed to understand our powers
I start to go through the motions my father and grandmother taught me, feeling May and Retsuko watching me as I close my eyes and try to find the center. My father always said it was so important, but I kept seeing flashes of the demons, and smoke coming from the mountain, our home.
I felt a hand on my shoulder and spun around, almost punching May but she had caught it. I saw her looking at me like I was doing something wrong and sighed. "What is it? I know that look."
"You're distracted and all over the place. You act like your mind is elsewhere, and not on what is in front of you, why?" Her voice was calm and unemotional, though her eyes told me she was disappointed and concerned, it reminded me of my father and annoyed me.
I tore my hand away. "Of course, I'm distracted, my home is taken over by demons and traitors, I have to lead a group of people that are supposed to be an example to others, and I'm an idol that can't make mistakes, who wouldn't be distracted!?"
I was annoyed and didn't want to hear May talk, but as I tried to walk away, she grabbed my arm and flipped me on my back, kneeling on my chest.
"Listen here princess, life is hard, things go wrong, and people betray you, get used to it, as this is only the beginning, or do you think after a week everything will be fantastic? No, life will try to break you, it will hurt you, but you must not let it, you must show others that you will press on, not perfect but damn the gods you will do your best, and that's it, so stop feeling sorry for yourself before I give you a lesson how I do Delco."
I was shocked and winded, only able to listen to her, but my dragon didn't like how she talked to us at all. I tried to throw her off but suddenly felt her get far stronger as her eyes seemed to glow. "Don't try it, princess, I'm not as weak as you think, and I'd rather not hurt you by giving you a lesson."
I sigh and don't resist, even my dragon knew that resisting would only hurt us, as May felt like our father right now, and we didn't doubt she could kick our ass at this range.
She got off us after a moment and sighed, it seemed like she didn't like doing this, even though she readily did. "I don't want to hurt you, but you need to focus and not let things distract you, I will help but you need to have conviction, or you'll get nowhere, so ask what you're really fighting for."
I look at her and sigh at myself, hearing the same thing my father told me countless times before. As I was about to respond I heard someone clearing their throat and looked to see one of the servants, waiting for us. May got off me and I got up.
"Yes? I suppose there is an order for us."
"Yes miss Sendria, the Draconis wishes to see all of you" she kept her bed down and left after telling us, not waiting for a response as normal from a message my father gives.
I look to the others and nod, dusting off and making sure I look ok, since it was all of us, it meant it might be a mission or such and was at least something official. We headed off to his office, taking at least a few minutes to get to it. A royal guard standing outside saw us and nodded before knocking and announcing us.
"Miss Sendria and her party are here."
My father spoke through the door. "Let them in."
The guard opens the door and ushers us in.
I went in and saw that there were chairs for all of us, so I sat in the one directly in front of my father, the rest sitting around. Dylan and his sister to my right as Grey sat on my left.
My father looked at a few documents before he looked up, seeming to assess us.
"Seems you all had a bit to talk and assess each other's skill, so this mission will be hopefully a safe test. We know it's demons, we know which lord they serve based on the ones we captured, so we want to check on an old resident of the kingdom to see where they stand, that is what you will do is see if they are against us, only the Grand Archmage could stand against them."
I understood who my father meant since it was a topic many talked about in the courts as a demon living in our kingdom, especially one that powerful, was very strange, but there had never been a problem as they lived in the dark woods and kept other demons out of there so we could hunt them down easier.
But the dark woods itself was dangerous to go through, even for a trained soldier if you went to the wrong area.
"Father, will it be only us? And do we know if demons have tried to settle the dark wood's again?"
"It's sir or sir Draconis, we are discussing a mission. You five are the only ones.
The demons who seem afraid to enter which is understandable as they are still disorganized outside the capital.
I sigh and nod, it at least was no more dangerous than normal, and Dylan could take us to close with his teleportation.
" Very well, we will prepare then head out shortly. Is there a time limit?"
"Not yet, but we wish for you to be back within a month at the most for any future missions, and report everything you see."
I nod, feeling more comfortable, as everything seemed like it was simple, but I would need to inform Retsuko and May about the woods as we prepared.
I stand up and bow before leaving, my father returning to his paperwork as the others follow.
"What Are the dark Wood's? Is It Scary?" Retsuko asked with the same curiosity she seemed to always have, but her lightheadedness and carefree attitude helped.
"It used to be the main location for dark dragons before it was contaminated and made more dangerous. There's a poison in the air that weakens you and makes you ease prey, then there are the hallucinations. There is a spell to help with the poison, but the hallucinations are still a problem. I don't think you'll be affected, Retsuko as they are both magically done by the environment, for Dylan it's weaker, but the rest of us need the poison protection spell."
I look back to see the others nodding, May seeming concerned but Dylan put a hand on her shoulder, seeming to know what had her concerned. I continue to the training room, knowing the spell, and just need to put it on a few amulets for us.
I heard May speak up. "What are hallucinations normally?"
"Whatever affects you the most..I went there once for my training, and well..it hurt a bit but it's been years since then, so I'm not sure what I'll see now. some see their parents, lovers, those close to them, and it depends on your willpower how real it seems."
This didn't seem to comfort her but I wasn't going to avoid it, as the dark forest was dangerous if unprepared, well more so.
As we got to the training room I went for the amulets, grabbing four, debated on a fifth then remembered that magic was pointless with retsuko so we only needed four. I went to the enchanting table as I started to place the spell, hoping that things would go well. most creatures we could handle, and the only real danger was the hallucinations and the poison. We can make it..I hope.