His Breath of Fire

Chapter Twenty

    We started off the training session with some warm up laps, and even Robert and Easton joined in.  The only ones not participating are the elderly and the pregnant she-wolves, which is understandable.

    The dark aura surrounding Mara hasn’t left even though she decided to stick around despite her feelings toward me.  I’m going to have to keep an eye on her to make sure she isn’t up to anything fishy.

    After the warm up, Robert has the group split off into groups of two or more to work on sparing, while he and Easton walk around to make comments or corrections towards their stance or strategy.

    Soon, those groups are separated once more, which I’ve come to see, by strengths.  Trackers, strategists, defense, and offense as well as runners and brute strength were filed into groups.  “From here, we will take each group that has the opposite strength, and help each other to grow in areas we aren’t as strong in, and vice versa.  The goal is to become better acquainted with your pack, knowing how they fight, where they fail, to be able to then better ensure the victory for us in the end.  Begin.”

    The groups worked together harmoniously, making Robert and Easton very pleased.  After about an hour of working like that, Robert called me over to him.  “How are you going to train the pack?”

    “Well, I’m going to go over how to fight dragons, strengths, weaknesses, etcetera.  After that, I’ll be casting spells to show them other species, my mother and I going over how to handle and defeat those, but only to subdue.  We don’t want any more blood on our hands than necessary.”

    Robert clapped, and everyone’s attention jumped to him.  “Come over here now, and sit down.  Bren and Kaida are going to go through the different species and explain how to best fight against them.  We want to emphasize that we don’t want to kill unless absolutely necessary, so please learn how to subdue.”

    My mother and I stepped forward, all eyes on us.  We shared a look, and I shifted into my dragon form to its full height so they can understand fully what they are going up against.  “The size you see is how dragons are normally.  Bren, earlier, did a smaller shift, however not all dragons can change the size of their bodies.

    “As you can see, a dragon’s main weapon is their claws.  Watch out for them.  Also, there are spikes along their back, making it harder for an enemy to grab them, and sometimes their tail can be spiked, creating another weapon.  There are more spikes on each leg so that in case the need arises, they can use those to get out of sticky situations.”

    My mother created a ball of fire in the palm of her hand, gradually growing the size of the flame until she deemed big enough, and then threw it at me.  The flame sizzled out as it touched my scales, and I didn’t even flinch at the attack.

    “Dragon scales are immune to fire, seeing as that is one of their abilities as well.  We won’t demonstrate Bren’s fire breathing at the moment.  Their scales are also impervious to swords, arrows, and silver.  Meaning the only thing that can cut a dragon’s hide is another dragon’s claws, seeing as they’re sharper than anything else we know of.”

    “It seems like they’re pretty indestructible,” someone called out, interrupting my mother.

    “One would think, from what I’ve just told you.  However, there is one spot, under the belly, that the scales are more spread out, making it the spot that can be penetrated by a weapon.  One thing you must keep in mind is that you must hit the heart, or else the dragon’s healing abilities will kick in and you’re done for.

    “Another weak spot is the dragon’s wings,” I spread my wings out so they could get the full effect of my wingspan.  “Dragon’s wings are thick at first glance, however they are thinner than scales, making it easier to disable them.  A well placed blow to the joints on the wing will make it so the dragon cannot fly until they are healed.  It’s not a permanent offense, however it may save someone’s life.  Any questions?”

    The crowd shook their heads, and my mother motioned for me to shift back.  Complying with her, I shift back to my human skin.  “Most dragons have the ability to manipulate the elements, so be wary of that.  Bren here can control fire, water, and air, while most dragons can only control one—typically fire.”

    “There are other shifter species out there, like foxes and bears which are commonly known throughout the supernatural community.  As you know, foxes are known for their trickery.  They possess the ability to cast spells and illusions, and the only way to break them is to say you know it’s a trick.  However, you must also believe it before the illusion is officially broken,” I continue, giving my mother a break.  “Defeating a fox is similar to defeating a wolf, especially since their shifter form is typically smaller than that of a wolf.” I quickly cast an illusion of two foxes, one with white fur and one with red, reminiscent of their fur colors.

    “Bear shifters aren’t known to have any magical abilities other than those known to wolves: enhanced hearing, eyesight, and strength, as well as healing.  A bear’s weight and height are both a blessing and a curse when it comes to fighting.  Being crushed by a bear or hit will cause damage or even death, however because of their size they are slower.  Their hide is thick, so you must make sure every attack counts, because their tempers are even shorter than wolves.”

    “Contrary to popular belief, vampires can walk out in the daylight—and no, they don’t sparkle,” I roll my eyes at the teenage girls who perk up at the reference to Twilight. “However you can tell when a vampire is close by because they tend to smell like decaying flesh, which is different from a rogue’s scent.  Their speed is faster than most shifters, and their bites can do different things depending on their intent.”

    “For example,” my mother interrupts, “if their intent isn’t to kill you, they can paralyze you until they deem fit.  If their purpose is to drink your blood, you will be compelled to give up more, and hope they don’t bleed you dry.  Their bite can be very s****l as well.  Lastly, they can kill you with their bite, adding their venom into your system, paralyzing you until it stops your heart.  There is a reason wolves and vamps don’t mix, and that is because typically there is no other intent behind their bite besides death.

    “There are two certain ways to kill a vampire, which include stabbing them in their heart or decapitating them.  Fire is also a good way to make sure they stay dead.  Some ways to immobilize them is to cut off a limb, or to bite them.  Your werewolf venom will slow down their speed and make them very sluggish, like they are drugged.”

    “I’m sure you’re familiar with witches and warlocks, seeing as you’ve worked with witches in the past.  We’ll keep this briefing short.  They are only as powerful as their magic.  The stronger the magic, the stronger the witch or warlock.  But their biggest weakness is that their anatomy is that of a human’s.  Meaning any way you hurt them, it will immobilize them, same with killing them.”

    The rest of the day went by with my mother and I informing the pack of other species—fairies, elves, and mermaids—going over their strengths and weaknesses, what the easiest way to defeat them is and where they could render the fighter immobile.  The pack seemed to soak up the information like a sponge, and they didn’t seem to have too many questions seeing as my mother and I tried to be as descriptive as possible.

    I just hope that revealing this information won’t come back to bite us in the butt later.