Blazing Glory Ch. 12

With a soft squeeze, she let his hand go and followed the others as Kaiman took them to a nearby tent to rest in the elven encampment of the army. Blaze stopped in his steps and watched the beautiful succubus go. She was such a blessing in his life. Yet he still did not know much about her past. Regardless, he loved her without end.

He glanced back to observe the massive lionman he had seen within the tent standing just outside it with Kali in front of him. The catwoman's head was downcast and ears wilted as if she knew she was in trouble and in it deep. Blaze simply watched in amazement as the lionman did not strike her in punishment but swept the smaller lycan up into a tight embrace. Kali looked just as shocked before her lower lip trembled slightly with her arms returning the hug. The few exchanged a few quiet words before going their separate ways.

Blaze blinked and quickly turned away as Kali began to walk his way while wiping her eyes a bit. Much to his aggravation, this only returned his thoughts back to their situation at hand. How were they supposed to get around the massive force of Koas out there and find those generals of hers?

"Blaze," Kali spoke right behind him, startling him so much he yelped out loud in surprise. The catwoman chuckled softly before crooking her finger at him to follow her. In her other hand was two long wooden staves, much like the metal one she had carried with her when they first met. "Come follow me and indulge me for a few, alright?"

"Um sure," Blaze replied, clearly uncomfortable as he didn't know what this was about.

The catwoman gazed at him with knowing golden eyes and winked before turning about. As she walked away, Blaze followed her. They passed numerous tents and campfires until his legs began to ache. This army was incredibly large. The thought that the enemy's force was so much bigger really drove home the fear and tension he was getting from the surrounding people he passed.

Before long, they passed the line of tents into the open grass fields and lines of night sentries on guard soon after. He half expected them to challenge them as to why they were leaving, but nothing was said. The late night darkness soon enveloped him with the tall grasses only lit by the moonlight as they continued further east towards the sea.

"Where are we going?" Blaze finally asked as his curiosity was starting to drive him crazy.

"Nowhere in particular," Kali purred in amusement as she glanced back to him with that same smile. "In fact, here should be well enough far away without alarming the sentries."

He was about to ask what could alarm them on the opposite side of the alliance's forces when Kali spun about and tossed one of the staves right at him. Blaze gasped and caught the wooden pole without fumbling it too much.

"What in the name of Stavros are you doing?" He was in shock as the catwoman dropped into an aggressive stance with her weapon.

"Dio said you would have a lot of built up tension within yourself after that meeting and said I should help you work that out of your system," Kali replied matter-of-factly.

"Are you really serious about this?" Blaze asked, still in disbelief this was happening.

"Don't worry, I won't hurt you.."

CRACK!!!

Blaze's breath left his lungs in a rush as his knees buckled under the pressure. He had barely raised his staff in time to block her strike. She had moved so damn fast!

The catwoman leaned forward close enough that he could feel her breathe while her lips curling into a sly smile, "At least not much."

The pressure on his raised staff disappeared, raising his alarm instantly. Her staff was nowhere to be seen in that flash of an instant and only the whisper of air as it screamed through its motion to his left side alerted him to block there. He did just in time! The force knocked him sideways from her powerful muscles. A flash of red in his vision to his right caused him to bring his staff around to his lower right to catch her staff before it caught his right leg.

Dear gods. She was better! For the first time in a long time, true panic in the face of a clearly superior opponent gripped him. In all the tough battles he had been in, he could always have felt some small part of him tell him he could win. This time there was no such feeling as desperation told him he was going to be beaten. I will not give up, he reminded himself. This was not a life or death battle, but he still chose to take the same approach. If he lost, at least he could take it with the knowledge that he gave it his all.

Kali was breathless with the excitement that she always felt when she was in the heat of battle, that smile never leaving her lips. She attacked him without letting up as she just kept herself under killing strength. She wanted to test this Blaze for all he was worth to see if he lived up to the hype of the tales her sister had told her on the journey back to camp. So far the human had only been able to block her strikes with impressive reaction speed. Most would have already been bloodied and unconscious on the ground. Still. She wanted him to attack!

"Come on!" Kali laughed with relish in the blood rush as she danced backwards for a moment, twirling her staff about, "Falling back isn't all you can do is it? Show me what you've got!"

Her golden eyes saw the panic that had filled those eyes of his diminish with the spark of anger and determination. For the first time in this encounter she felt a sense of hesitation in attacking him and it thrilled her even further. Finally! A worthy opponent! Her lips spread into a feral smile that revealed her fangs.

"Let's DANCE!" she laughed with absolute pleasure.

Both warriors immediately exploded into action at the very same moment. Staves crashed harshly into each other with finger-numbing impacts. The moonlight lit the two shadowy figures moving rapidly about through the tall grass. Their motions were swift as their weapons spun about to become blurs and filled the air in rapid succession of cracks in the middle of the night.

Blaze breathed heavily through the exertion as his muscles screamed from the demand he was putting them through. She was the superior warrior with the staff but he refused to back down now. His fury was boiling over in the determination to win. His body was being pushed to new limits to rise to the challenge. Through the heat of the battle and exertion, he could not ignore her sensual laughter filling the air. Her smile was one of sheer ecstasy and her eyes wide with the feral look of bloodlust that borderlines madness. He was dealing with a lycan that more than hungered for battle, she completely lived for it.

Kali laughed in a near scream of pleasure as she fought with Blaze. No longer was he simply defending himself. The human was actually countering her moves with attacks of his own that often had her go on the defensive momentarily before she could counter herself. She had thought she had been alive when she had rushed the enemy line earlier today. She had been wrong! This was the rush she had been searching for in finding someone that could go toe-to-toe with her with all her speed and strength. His speed, strength, and furious eyes both terrified and thrilled her. Blaze was truly amazing after all!

Yet one thing was picking at her subconscious more and more as the intense spar battle progressed. These motions of his seemed to be familiar. The more she observed his motions and countered with her own, she realized she almost used the same technique of handling the staff. The way he swung the staff around and thrust forward with his foot planted properly at the correct angle. His countering thrust to her stomach as he sidestepped her overhead swing followed by a swift upward jab to her chin. He had been rusty at first but looked like he was coming into his own as the fight went on. This style.... This style.... Kali's golden eyes went wide with the recognition. Impossible!

It was him.....

Blaze grunted as Kali deflected his last attack with enough power to send his staff flying out of his hand. Her staff whipped around to take his feet out from underneath. His fall was cushioned by the tall grass and he blinked as the end of the staff was stopped right above his nose. He had lost. But at least he had given it his all rather than backing down and was satisfied with that. Half expecting a confident comment from the catwoman, he looked up to her and stared.

Kali stared down at him in return with wide open eyes. Her expression looked as if she had seen a ghost. When she spoke, he barely heard what she whispered.

"Richard..."

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Kali's mind flashed back to that day when she was nine years of age and had first been beaten by a group of lycan children. She had to limp home bloodied and hurt. Her mother had treated her wounds but could do nothing more than physical healing. The wounds to her heart and soul had been harsh to where she had resolved herself to run away. That next day she left saying she was going to pick berries, but that was a lie. She went further, much further than ever before. Kali was determined to never return.

It was about midday when she happened upon them. Her ears picked up the voices nearby that drove her heart into her throat and she darted behind a tree. A small young cry filled the air that sent chills down her spine. Her father's silly saying about cats and curiosity came to mind, but she found herself wanting to see what was going on. Dashing from tree to tree, she drew close enough to peek around the corner. Her golden eyes opened wide.

A small human boy sat in a small clearing in the forest rubbing his head. His lips pouted in a cute way that made her giggle slightly. Standing over him was an older man, grizzled and worn with the look of a warrior much like Dio.

"Richard, how many times must I tell you to think ahead of your opponent when using this weapon? You are only focusing on the single motion I am making. You must think a step ahead of your attack to follow through and even another step ahead of that."

"But I'm no good with these. I much prefer swords like you have mastered," whined Richard.

"Yes, I am best with swords without a doubt," the old man agreed before raising a straight wooden staff, "but a true master is ready to use any weapon at any moment upon need. You will not always have your blades with you. Come now, we have a few more weeks to keep this training up until I promised your mother we'd return."

Richard nodded with a small frustrated sigh as he picked up his staff which had fallen beside him. He brushed the dirt off his butt and readied himself. Kali watched in amazement for the rest of the afternoon as the older man taught Richard about fighting with a staff. She had never known such a battle style existed outside of physical hand to hand combat that the lycans excelled in. After all, they had claws and teeth to use. External objects were not needed.

So fascinated was she, Kali snuck into their camp after they left to forage for some food afterwards. They had a few spare staffs and she snuck one away for herself. Away from the camp she marveled at how light and balanced it felt within her hands. That night she moved a distance from their camp and practiced everything the old man had covered. The next day and following number of days she would go back to observe before practicing that night. She grew to love how natural it felt and how it twirled about in her hands. Kali also realized she had grown fond of Richard. So very fond in fact that she finally realized she was in love with him.

Then that fateful night she would never forget, she had heard the old man earlier that day state that it was going to be their last day before they headed back home. Kali's heart was torn. She wanted to go out there to beg them to take her with them so she could be with Richard. But she was frightened of being rejected and beaten once again. That night tears stung her eyes as she practiced the lessons of the master. She didn't know what to do!

"Very good, little one," a familiar voice spoke from behind her.

Kali's fur stood on end as she hissed in surprised and fell to the ground. The old man chuckled as he stepped towards her and helped lift her to her feet with gentle hands. Her patted her back to ease her fear and smiled.

"Don't worry. I'm not here to hurt you. In fact I know you've been watching us for quite a while now," the old man said with a gruff laugh that reminded her so much of Dio. That helped calm her nerves further.

"You've got true talent, little one. It is amazing that you learned to apply so much with that level of execution just from watching. You may definitely grow to be better than Richard even."

Kali winced at the mention of his name and the old man noticed her eyes tearing up. "What's this? You've taken a strong liking to Richard? So that is why you were crying..."

The old man rested a hand on her shoulder and smiled, "I made a promise to bring him back to his mother soon. You are too young to be out here on your own and should return to your own family. I know of the village you are from because I'm an acquaintance of an old lionman there. I'll bring Richard back when he's older to see you then, okay? Until then, you keep training hard with that staff. No. Don't worry about taking it as you did. Consider it a gift then? Good."

It all seemed so surreal that he was being so kind to her. With that he gave her some of their rations and left her to rest that night. By morning when she had woken, they were already gone. It hurt. But not as much because of the old man's promise. Richard would be coming in the future and she would be there waiting for him. She decided then she belonged only to him and no other. She would practice hard to be the best and win his admiration.

The small catgirl returned later that day to her home with staff in hand to a worried and furious mother. When those other lycan children once again tried to beat her up, the small catgirl was more than ready to make them regret it!

********************

Blaze could only stare at the frozen catwoman who had him pinned with her staff to his face. He was not worried about being hurt by her but was more surprised than anything else. His four companions were the only ones here that knew his true name. They respected his wishes to protect his mother by keeping his identity secret. Tyra and Nadine never called him Richard. Rae only used it when being very serious with him and Kendra in their most intimate moments together. He had not once heard them mention his true identity to Kali since they'd met her. So how did the catwoman know at the least his first name?

Kali's golden eyes stared in pure disbelief in return to the baffled expression on the human's face beneath her. Her heart was pounding inside her chest so hard she thought it would surely burst. He had grown as much as she had but she could still see the resemblance of her childhood love. When the master had failed to come back many years later, her hope for seeing him again had diminished. But she kept that promise to herself that if Richard would not be able to have her, no one would. Kali was fine living with that.

She withdrew the wooden staff and looked down to it as her mind raced with the realization that not only was he before her now, but that he was Nadine's life mate. Her sister had slept with him countless times. Jealousy fired up within her instantly with such searing fierceness that she almost screamed at the top of her lungs right there. Instead, her eyes narrowed down at the quiet human beneath her before she tossed the staff away.

Reaching down, the catwoman grabbed a fistful of his shirt and yanked him up to his feet. "Follow me," she growled threateningly.

Blaze stood there in amazement as he had watched Nadine's sister go through such a myriad of emotions before powerfully pulling him up to his feet. The catwoman's fist clenched his shirt in an iron grip that trembled violently. Her growl sent chills down his spine. Why was Kali so angry with him all of a sudden? She had a look of complete fury in those eyes. The catwoman turned from him and began walking through the grass to the east, tail swaying behind her stiffly.

"But... camp is back that way," he managed to say.

A backwards glance at him with an animalistic growl that sounded very tiger-like made him hop to it right after her! There was no way he was going to be heading back to camp at the moment at least. After a few minutes of silence had passed in following her, the other question he had was nagging enough at him to force him to ask.

"How do you know who I am?"

Kali glanced back at him with those intense eyes before they seemed to soften a little. "I guess you could say we shared a common teacher."

"Teacher?" Blaze whispered before looking to her in shock, "You knew my master?"

"You can say that I did in a way," she spoke as she looked back ahead. "I watched the two of you in secret when I was younger. That is how I learned to fight with the staff... But enough talk, Richard! We are almost there."

Blaze obeyed the firm order from the catwoman as he wondered where 'there' was supposed to be. Why hadn't his master told him about Kali? It was no use asking now since the old man was long gone. The breaking of silence drew him away from his thoughts to where he began to hear the unmistakable lapping of waves along a beach shoreline.

Stepping around a rock formation jutting upwards through the tall grasslands, he stepped out onto the open sand of moonlit beach. Other sounds became much clearer that drew him on edge because they sounded like the cries of people. His eyes adjusted further to the light around and saw few figures along the beach separated by wide margins.

"Where are we?" he asked nervously, unsure if these were the enemy or not.

"A beach of no name," Kali answered with her back to him still, "but important to many from our army."

"How is it important?" he asked as he relaxed his tension.

"Members of our forces have started coming to this beach for privacy. The brutality of war and hatred in the killing force many to seek out comfort and tender affection. Many have met and have the same desire to share at least one more moment of that feeling, knowing this night could be their last."

Blaze looked around him again with realization now. Those cries were the sounds of joy and pleasure in one.

"Why bring me here?" he finally asked.

The catwoman didn't move or say anything for a moment before she walked forward with a wave for him to follow once again. Human and lycan walked together down the beach in silence as they came across couples oblivious to their presence.

Kali was a raging storm of emotions as she walked forward with the sand giving slightly beneath her feet. She had calmed a little more by the time as she reached the beach with him. Her mind still reeled from the jealousy that her older sister had taken him many times before she could even see him once. The firm resolution to bringing him here for her intended goal began to crumble as she became gradually nervous about the plan now.

A chill ran down her spine as she worried about him rejecting her. She could tolerate the other lycans shunning her. But now that she finally had the gods apparently drop her life's only love into her lap, she was terrified of him not wanting her now. She was a virgin and inexperienced with sex. She had quietly spied on a few couples from afar from time to time in her home village but never had she even felt the penis of a male. What if she was so inexperienced she failed to please him as Nadine did? Or that she could not arouse him and bring him the utmost pleasure? It would shatter her completely!

The catwoman drew to a stop in her walk when the silence. Her ears twitched as she did not hear his footsteps following her anymore. She turned around to see the human staring off to the ocean in thought. Had she dragged this on too long? Was this the moment where she had to act or lose the chance forever.