Breaking Free

Training

Conan walks off to the nearest mat and starts to shift. I swallow hard follow after him. By the time we the mat he’s fully phased and turns to look at me.

“Don’t worry. I’ll go easy on you.” He says his lips pulling over his teeth in a wolfish smirk.

That snaps me out of it. I might not be the best, but I certainly know my stuff. My mother had taught me what she could while she was with us, the rest I learned on my own. With nothing but free time being locked away from the public, I filled it with learning. From researching fighting techniques, to applying them on dummies, I spend most of my life training for this. I smirk back at him and lower into a combat crouch.

He raises a furry eyebrow at me shocked at my lack of response. He slowly starts to circle in a crouch of his own. I match his movements and watch him carefully. He’s much bigger than I am. I will have to use his momentum against him. After a couple passes he realizes that I’m not going to attack first. I see his muscles coil in preparation to strike. He lunges at my left and I roll to the right. I slide right under his arm and throw out one of my own to trip him. He stumbles but rights himself quickly.

“Slippery aren’t you?” He asks me.

I smirk back and motion him forward with my fingers.

“Why don’t you come and find out?” I tease him.

He lunges for me again and manages to land a hook to my stomach. I’m winded but I can’t stop or he will quickly overpower me. I respond with a high kick of my own hitting him in the ribs. I spin out of reach for another swing coming my way, then I manage to doge his following kick. We’re both breathing heavy. Swinging and missing is tiring. While he catches his breath I sneak in another kick, this one hits his head. The impact knocks him back. He grows in frustration and lunges at me again. This time I’m too slow. He wraps his right arm around my neck, exposing that side of his ribs. I rear back my elbow before he locks his hold and I throw it into his ribs. He grunts and his grip loosens enough that I can duck out of it. I spin as I move and throw my leg to collide with his. His momentum is still moving forward from lunging at me and I catch him in his hocks. He buckles forward and I realize my error. Knocking him down like this means he’ll fall right on me. I try to roll out of his way but he’s falling too fast. When he lands we are check to chest. The impact is hard and I gasp under his weight. He quickly props himself on his forearms but is too out of breath to do much more. We are both breathing heavy trying to recover from the situation. My head is swimming, a wonderful burning sensation ignites inside me everywhere we make contact. My body is heating up and I find myself staring in his eyes while breathing heavy. He breaks the spell by laughing loudly and rolling off me into his back. He’s still laughing when I catch my breath and I find myself joining him. I sit up and look around and my laughter trails off when I see the others staring at us. I can’t help but wonder how long they have been watching.

Conan snaps me out of my embarrassment by speaking.

“I haven’t been put on the ground like that in a long time. I’m impressed Ava.” He says grinning, still chuckling. “I don’t think I’ve ever had a spar end like that either” he said with another short laugh.

I smile at him and laugh at myself. It was a rookie mistake. I’d never been in a real right before this. All the training dummies in the world don’t compare to a live opponent.

“Can we go again?” I ask him, eager to learn more.

An hour or so later we call it quits. I’m sore and hungry enough to eat a whole pig. We are on our way to the mess hall for breakfast. It’s only late morning, the day is quite young, but I feel closer to Conan than I would’ve thought possible. I suppose trading fighting techniques will do that to you.

“So Ava, I told you about myself already” Conan starts. “What about you? What’s your story?” He asks.

I quickly mull over how much I can tell him. It’s only been a day here. I might have made some progress with Conan, but no one else will trust me yet. I decide half truths are the best course of action, easier to remember that way.

“My mother was a human from Benwick, as you know. I don’t know much about my father’s past.” I say and realize just how true that is. “My parents met each other right before the war. They fell in love quickly. Knowing what you told me earlier, I guess she must’ve smelled wonderful to him. I don’t know how that pull works for a human, but she left her village with him nonetheless. Mother wound up as an important warrior in the war. After her parents were killed in a werewolf attack, she fiercely aligned herself to the human warriors. I came into the picture when the conflict was ending. To my mother I was a gift. I was an unplanned accident by my father. He never wanted kids, I can understand why now. He wanted my mother to be happy though, so she won out. He really was a much better man when she was around. We were both in the dark about who he was. She never actually found out. She died before I started transforming for the first time. My transformation is the only reason I even found out myself. I can’t help but wonder how she’d see me now if she knew.” I tell him. I swallow thickly and pause to think of how to proceed. My story took an emotional turn. I decide to reign it back in.

“My mother taught we what she could about fighting. The world was new and uncertain those first few years and she wanted me prepared. I was just a child though, and was only able to do so much. After she died I really threw myself into it. Living in Ankaren Ridge meant plenty of old dummies were around. The ones the royal guard had trained with. I used those as an outlet to help control myself for a time. I blamed my father for her death from a young age, which is still true. My father changed over the years and he angered the wrong people and my mother was killed in the process. If I thought he was distant before, I never had a bond at all with him after that. He was just there taking his pain out on me day after day. He was having a harder time hiding himself from the humans, losing my mother caused that. I had no desire to hide what I was but living where we did taught me why I had too. The mind doesn’t tolerate supernatural beings in his city. I still chose to go to the woods, let the beast out, and run when I got too upset, which was dangerous considering where we lived. By the time I was a teen he couldn’t stand me and the feeling was mutual. We got in an argument on my birthday and I lost control. I ran out of the house for the woods but people saw me before I could make it. Quickly the guard started changing me, I had to lose them in the woods, I’m lucky I made it out unscathed. Then… well you know the rest.” I finish.

I wasn’t completely truthful, I don’t know if I can afford to be. Things seem to be going well but I’ve only really interacted with him today. The others at the training grounds wound up warming up to me. Some smiled at me as I left. Others still kept to themselves.

“Thank you for telling me so much. I know that was a lot to share with someone you don’t know. I appreciate you telling me, it gives me a better understanding of who you are and how you would up here.” He says to me.

“Of course. I am thankful to be here. This is the type of place I always belonged. Living among the humans never jived with me.” I tell him.”

“Understandably. The way of life is so different from creature to creature.” He says.

We arrive at the mess hall in silence. He opens the wooden door and I follow him inside. I see a buffet laid out for people to grab from and wooden tables and chairs are half full already. I recognize some faces from the training grounds, others are unfamiliar. Conan heads to the buffet and I follow him. There’s plenty of delicious smelling eggs and bacon. There’s some dark bread sliced up as well. I grab a scoop full of eggs, 4 pieces of bacon and a slice of bread. I don’t want to take more than necessary. Conan heads toward the table with Leah and the others. I feel anxious. I don’t want to keep following his around like a lost puppy but I don’t know anyone else here. I take a few deep breaths and steel myself to follow him over there. Everyone else has been welcoming enough, right?