Shade of Darkness

Chapter 4

Alyna and Caedmon’s long metal staffs clashed together in an ear-ringing clamor. They then pushed away from each other. She knew he was a lot stronger than this and could do her a lot more damage than a gentle nudge. Whatever culture he had come from had taught him not to harm a female or those physically weaker. But with that mentality, he wouldn’t survive New Earth to do whatever it was he was here to do.

AShe charged at him mercilessly, all kicks and elbows. In no time, she had pushed him up against the wall of the martial arts practice room.

“That’s enough,” Caedmon said.

She swung another punch to the right of his face. He caught her hand midair.

She used her other hand to form a g*n, pointed it at his head, and made the sound of a g*n firing. Then she released him. “Don’t talk when you fight, and don’t quit before the opponent is totally incapacitated.”

“It was only practice.”

She smiled at him. “You’re lucky it was,” she said. She wondered which features he took from his father and which from his mother. The face looking at her now was sinfully handsome with striking gray eyes and a killer smile. He had been topless during practice, and she had to admit that the toned muscles of his upper body were easy on the eye.

He had told her that where he came from, creatures were human-like with angelic features. All the citizens were virtuous and beautiful. He had a lot of human in him, however, and he considered himself to be a bit on the ugly side.

She rolled her eyes inwardly. If that’s ugly, she thought, I’ll take it in a heartbeat.

If that’s ugly I’ll take it in a heartbeat.“Alyna!”

“Huh?” She gave herself a mental slap.

“Are you sure about our agreement regarding the Scorpio key?”

“The Scorpio key used to be the most important matter for Amaraq. Why would I agree to anything without being absolutely sure?”

“Why is it no longer important?”

“I never had a spiritual bond with it. For me, it’s an artifact. Pukak knew that. He knew I didn’t follow the spiritual path. He wanted me to be the leader, so I suppose he respected my opinion. Amaraq is an organization that protects people. My priority is to ensure we do well as an organization. I don’t believe that worshiping the Scorpio key—and dealing with any baggage that comes with it—helps with that.”

“So by agreeing to let me take it to my universe, you’re freeing yourself of a burden?”

She threw her arms in the air. “It has a mutual benefit, doesn’t it? I thought you wanted the Scorpio key.”

He chuckled. “I do. But it’s not just me who wants it. The entire multiverse wants it. I think you’re giving it to me too easily and don’t appreciate its importance. It could put you in danger.”

“Me?”

“You’re a good fighter. But—”

“Yes, yes, both the Scorpio key and the spirit of Amaraq are larger than life. Pukak said that his whole life. See what it got him in the end? I don’t operate at the metaphysical level the way he did. We were in a car crash. My parents died. He dragged me out of that mess, fed me, and trained me—”

“I take it you mean he brought you up and respected that you didn’t share his spiritual beliefs. But Alyna, he hoped you’d come to terms with the spiritual practice of Amaraq one day and protect the key.”

“Did he tell you that before he died?”

“No, but I know what my parents expect of me. Pukak isn’t your father, but I can see he had some influence on you.”

“You don’t know me, Caedmon.”

“Don’t get angry. All I’m saying is that when you come to terms with Pukak’s death and want to talk more about the key, I’ll be more than happy to do that. I can explain to you how it’s safer with us in Eudaiz than here. Of course I want the key, but I don’t want to take advantage of the situation when you’re not totally informed.”

“Well, I’m not that naive. I thought we had a deal.”

He chuckled. “Yes, indeed. I’ll stay and help you carry out the Summoning smoothly as part of the deal. But I’ve got to tell you, the old leaders of Amaraq aren’t going to cooperate. They’ll cause you a lot of trouble before you can even deal with the outsiders like Ethesus.”

“How do you know all this?”

He smiled. “Let’s say that in Eudaiz, my rank is quite senior, and I’m in charge of a lot of combat situations where I need to deal with complicated creatures, both inside and outside of our group. I’m used to it. I consider humans and mages to be pretty much the same as the creatures I used to handle.”

“What exactly do you do?”

“What you don’t know won’t hurt you.”

He turned to put the staff away. She watched his bare back as he turned. His skin glowed a golden shade, and if she wasn’t mistaken, she saw fur appear on its surface. Then his body was haloed in a glowing, shimmering light, and the golden fur disappeared.

He turned back and saw the look on her face. “What’s wrong, Alyna?”

“You … just …”

He chuckled. “You saw a glow?”

She nodded cautiously.

“Don’t worry. I have an internal healing mechanism that helps me heal any injuries in my body—as long as I do the right thing by it. I felt a bit uneasy just now, so I turned the mechanism on briefly. That’s why you saw the light.”

She nodded. He hadn’t seen the golden fur. He hadn’t figured out she had asked Teacher to turn him into something even she didn’t know. Unsure of whether he could read minds, she asked, “You know what I’m thinking?”

“I’m not a mind reader if that’s what you’re thinking. My mother has that talent, but unfortunately, I don’t.” He grinned at her. “Are you thinking about something you don’t want me to know?”

She shrugged. “I am. I’m trying to figure out how to turn you into a lion with golden fur. I know you weren’t born a lion, but maybe if you were bitten by a were-lion …”

He laughed. “You have a wild imagination, Alyna. If I were bitten by a paranormal creature, I’d put a bullet in my head before they could turn me.” He looked at her. “You look disappointed.”

“Why would I be disappointed that you’re not turning into a furry animal? I have this feline here to rub.” She reached out and pulled Lazi, who had just sauntered into the room, over to her. She stroked his back. The cat purred loudly and tilted his head up for her to scratch.

“If you want to experience the fur of paranormal creatures, I’ll introduce you to Uncle Lorcan. He can shift into a magnificent blue fox. I’ve seen it.”

“You have a shapeshifter in your family?”

“We’re not blood-related. But we’re like family. As I said, I don’t mind paranormal creatures. I just don’t want to be one.” He rubbed his wrist. “Speaking of Lorcan, I’ll need to ask him to get me a new wrist unit. Are you sure mine was in the lake? Because if it’s lying loose somewhere in the temple, I’ll need to get it back as soon as possible.”

Alyna shuddered. She remembered shoving the broken wrist unit under the rug with her foot to hide it before Caedmon recovered from being turned into a paranormal creature at her request. She didn’t know how he would take the changes she had imposed on him. Whether it had saved his life or not didn’t matter. She hadn’t asked his permission.

He would obviously object to being turned. She’d need some time to figure out how best to let him know what had happened. She was sure it would cause friction in their relationship. But for now, she could deal with only one thing at a time. And Amaraq and the Summoning were her top priorities. She decided to play it by ear.

“When we pulled you from the lake, I didn’t see the wrist unit. I only noticed because I streamed the light into your hands before you turned into an ice block.”

He shrugged. “I don’t care to swim to the bottom of that lake anytime soon. Apart from you, who has access to the temple?”

“The current leader is the only one with access.”

He nodded. “Then I’ll consider it to be relatively safe for now.”

“The temple is safe, but it’s not invulnerable. I told you our number one enemy is Ethesus. They always want to get inside the temple. If you help me control Ethesus, when the Summoning is over, the Scorpio key is yours. It’s only fair.”

He grinned. “Deal!”

“It’s late. I’ll let you rest. We’ll have quite a lot to do tomorrow.”

He nodded and smiled at her. “Thanks for the training.”

“I’m not sure you need it.”

“It never hurts to learn new things.”

She nodded a goodbye and scurried upstairs, hurrying into her room.