Coming of Age Ch. 09

"Have you been analysing me?" Nhor asked.

"Nah, Kim Sure-Foot, Langdon's second is a centaur, she gave us pointers when Da held a mini gathering with the flight and drove leaders back when I was like six." Serenity answered.

"Wolfgang asked Langdon for his pack member just to help Wolfgang out with terms and behaviours, in between talks she took an interest in the triplets training." Crystal added.

"The front hocks are more vulnerable than the hind hocks, there is a lot of power in those hind legs but when they go to get up they use their front legs to stabilise themselves." Crystal continued, "Ren can you make some fake Centaurs for me." Serenity made a couple of illusions appear, they would act how a centaur would react but nothing more.

"When you go for the hocks the easiest way to do it is to kick." Crystal said as she demonstrated the right way to kick the leg of a centaur. "Don't kick using your toes or you won't be able to get away. Use the blade of your foot. Now you try with a side kick."

****

Jay sat with a bowl of popcorn, he didn't see the point in this, so what if Temperance wanted to test her oral assignment, she didn't need to test it on all her friends. The only good thing about this was the food and that all of the triplets friends were present.

"So this is what you guys consider a good night, man I would rather be at a club." Jay complained aloud.

"Tomorrow night we are going out to reclaim our lives." Sky promised.

"Excellent!" Jay exclaimed as he popped some popcorn into his mouth.

Temperance dimmed some of the lights so that she could use some of her visual aides to help with her talk. "Ready?" she asked the group who settled, most of her friends were intensely interested in what Temperance was going to say as she had given them ideas for their own assignments.

"Okay. There is a race of beings called the Da'Vaila who live on another world called Sogol. Created by the gods to do their bidding, the Da'Vaila are spilt into three races, the Gephalim who are war mongers have wings as black as night and history has painted them as the Angels of death for their utter destruction. The S'ephalim who are the gentle messengers with wings as white as snow and which have been painted as the Arch Angels. And finally the Nephalim, neither good or bad, neither black nor white they have wings which are white interspaced with grey and are known as the warrior angels of God in human history."

"However what most people don't know is that there once was a fourth race, the Dephalim, the wingless sons and daughters of the other three races. It was the actions of one person which so enraged the gods that they nullified an entire species and this is what I am going to talk about. How the actions of one person destroyed and entire species."

Temperance gestured and a render of the destruction appeared. "This is called a render, a visual representation of the event kept in hall of Renders in Phoenix Keep. Even though the Dephalim lacked the wings of their parents they still had some of their divine powers and the gods decided to use them and peppered them throughout time at least until the early dark ages."

"I will be referring to three particular Dephalim who were all born to one keep, the Phoenix Keep, who keep extensive birth and location records. The three are Sage, Jayzus and Rah. Sage was the Second Ancient chosen by Fate, with a brilliant mind he wrote the book of Ancients from which all Ancients receive their basic learning. Jayzus was seeded as a child to a poor family during Roman rule in the middle east..."

"Wait... Professor Jackson is very religious, you can't just rock the foundations of his faith, he'll fail you." Gemma said as she realised that Temperance was treading on dangerous ground.

"If he does I'll take it up with the Dean, I have referenced and cross referenced these events in records kept by both the Phoenix keep and the Ancients, he can't refute these events." Temperance replied.

"Let her finish... it was just getting interesting," Jay complained as he threw some of his popcorn at Gemma. Gemma gave him the finger and turned her attention back to Temperance.

Temperance grinned, "Jayzus became more commonly known as Jesus, a man who spoke of freedom and brotherhood, who spoke out for the down trodden and gave them hope. Gave them something to stand for. The Romans, thinking the best way to stop his rebellion was to kill him, only they didn't know that no normal means would be fatal to a divine being. They crucified him and when they thought he was dead they let him be entombed. Three days later he rose from the dead and went back to preaching his message. Only to vanish shortly after making contact with his friends."

"But Jayzus and Sage were not the cause of their species demise, they were good influences on humanity and never claimed to be anything that they weren't. Rah on the other hand, was different, it was his actions, which destroyed their race. See he claimed to be a god, and by raising himself to a station he was never meant to have; he caused the god's wrath. His actions so inflamed the gods anger that they chose not only to take it out on Rah, but on all Dephalim, regardless of whether they were good or bad, or useful. They didn't want the idea to corrupt other Dephalim and the only way to truly do that was to wipe them out entirely. So the gods chose to de-create them, nullified their existence, it is the reason Sage and Jayzus vanished into thin air never to be seen or heard from again and since the gods decree no Dephalim has survived long after conception." As Temperance spoke paintings and renders appeared to help illustrate her presentation.

"And that was how, one person, destroyed an entire race." She finished, she turned to her friends and waited for their verdict.

Gemma clapped, "wow..."

"But... do you think it needs more, to be explained more or is it good?" Temperance asked.

"Hey... I'm no history buff but even I found that to be enlightening," Jay told her. "And the pictures rocked. Where did you get them from?"

"The hall of renders, it is a long curving hallway in Phoenix keep; it holds a visualisation of the written history, each render represents an important event, there are hundreds of them." Temperance explained.

"That would be so cool to see." Jay stated.

"I don't get how something done in ancient Egypt can affect something that takes place thousands of years later." Jasmine said.

Serenity chuckled, "It wouldn't make sense if you believe that time is linear. Time doesn't travel in a straight line, you just have to look at Thais to know that. Past-present-future, all exist at the same time. Think of time as a tightly coiled string, a circle that continuously loops back on its self." She gestured and a representation of what she was saying appeared. "constantly moving forward but staying in perfect sync with the what happened in the past. Easiest way to explain why Sage and Jayzus were affected by something that happened in the past is to draw a straight line down the coil, Ra was destroyed and the decision made that the Dephalim should be no more, all Dephalim vanished along that line regardless of where they were in earth's history."

"It all exists at the same time, it is just our conscious perception if it, which changes." Thais added.

Temperance sighed, "I guess I need to add that too then."

****

"Hey guys," Jay said as he joined them in the line for the club that Saturday night.

"Hi Jay... what took you?" Rachel asked.

"Trying to find just the right shirt, how do I look?" He asked.

"By the gods you're such a metro." Sky answered as she scratched at her arm, her healing rate had sky rocketed so Nhor had been able to do more work on her arm, spending almost three hours a night for the last week working on the intricate artwork snaking up her arm and joining the artwork running up her side.

"Yeah let's just hope we don't have a repeat of last time we went out." Jasmine said as they finally got to the front of the line. The group chuckled and silently preyed that there wasn't another vampire incident. They went through the whole process of checking ids and scanning a hand print into the system, the legal adults were given special coloured bands so that they could get alcohol, then the entire group were given VIP bands.

"Crystal?" Serenity questioned.

"No... I didn't do this," Crystal answered.

"We did," said a lady with long flowing red hair who came to stand by the bouncers.

"Hi Carmen, how have you been?" Crystal asked as Carmen gave her a brief hug in welcome.

"Good, this is compensation for the last time you were here. They snuck in, our security was lax and it put your friends in danger." Carmen replied, "Your tab is on us tonight," she added and handed out another bracelet to everyone in the group. "Have fun."

"You didn't need to do this," Crystal told Carmen.

"I know, but we've prided ourselves on creating a safe place to socialise." Carmen responded. "it is the least we can do for upsetting the triplets coming of age party."

Crystal chuckled as she realised it wasn't that long ago that Serenity was still a child.

"What's this?" Carmen said as she spotted the edge of Crystal's collar, she pulled Crystal's jacket collar aside to better examine the new piece of jewellery. "Oh shit... you're mated and to an Alpha?"

"Next Alpha," Crystal corrected.

"Wow! Who?" Carmen asked as they moved to check their coats.

"Me," Serenity said as she took off her jacket and handed it to the coat girl and received a number in return. Her fingers slid beneath her own collar and gently tried to tug it loose, growing up she had always chuckled when she saw her mother do this but now she understood. The collar was a symbol of love but it was also a reminder that she had an obligation to the pack.

Carmen's jaw dropped, "when did this happen? And why weren't we invited?"

Crystal wrapped an arm around Serenity, "it kind of happened really quickly, Amy decided that the binding ceremony she was preparing for Temperance could be turned into a double simpler than organising a second ceremony. I found out when Serenity force fed me some of her blood and I went to take out the rogues..."

"Don't need to force feed you anymore," Serenity interrupted.

Crystal kissed her cheek then took off her jacket and checked it. "Yeah... I'm kind of addicted to her blood, it is the only blood I have ever craved."

Carmen clapped, "congratulations, I will have a couple of bottles of non-alcoholic champagne in your VIP room in a few minutes."

"Thanks Carmen," Crystal said and followed her mate into the club. They walked over to the same VIP room they had before which was more like a cleared piece of area with a booth and chairs, inside the space the music seemed quieter and they didn't have to yell to be heard.

In moments bottles of champagne and glasses were placed on the tables, Bastion did the honours but it was Nhor who made the speech, "to new friends and new love, may our bonds be strong." Nhor charged his glass and everyone followed sipping down the bubbly brew.

"Come on let's dance," Temperance told Bastion as she snagged his glass and put both on a table, she caught his hand and dragged him out onto the floor. Crystal was the next to drag her mate out onto the floor and eventually everyone but Nhor was out on the floor. He watched with a smile but didn't join them as he knew he would step on someone. A few other Centaurs stood on the outskirts of the floor and near the tables.

Sky broke away from the group and worked her way to the bar, she rested her arms on the bar and waited to be served.

"Wow, who did your ink?" The Centaur barman asked as he came to a stop before her, he knew art when he saw it and the artist who did her work was a master.

Sky felt a body press up against her and glanced back to see another Centaur. "My Sire, water please." Sky asked and pushed back on the body pressing against her.

"Ah come on, just being friendly," said the pushy Centaur at her back.

"Anything besides water, beautiful?" The barman asked but what he really wanted to do was hit the idiot who was pushing against the woman before him.

Sky pointed to her wrist and the free drink band, "no, just water please," she replied and felt the other male press up against her again. She turned to the man behind her, "Quit pushing up against me or you'll regret it."

"Come now, you bear the marks of a Centaur, can't you take a little Centaur attention." The man behind her said.

Sky took a deep breath, "back the fuck off..." she warned but the man at her back wouldn't quit and more male Centaurs were coming to investigate.

"Who is your Sire and Dam?" The barman asked curious, his eyes scanned her arm looking for the information then stilled as he realised the device on her forearm declared her as being related to Nhor and that he was the only person marked as her parent. The barman glanced up and saw a large older Centaur watching the unfolding scene, his arms were crossed and he watched intently but was not going to interfere until he needed to.

"My Sire is standing over there," Sky said as she pointed as she watched the barman get her water, she braced her body against the bar to keep from being pinned to it, as the pushy Centaur at her back kept nudging her.

Carmen came over to investigate the slight disturbance, but when she noticed the tattoos running up Sky's arm she backed off as this was nothing to do with her and she didn't mess with other races.

"Are you sure water is all you want?" the bartender asked.

"One moment," Sky told the bartender and turned, "I told you to fuck off, I told you to quit pushing me... what part of that don't you understand?"

The pushy Centaur turned to one of the other males jockeying for a closer position, "Hey... back off!" He told the other male.

"Why don't you all back off," Sky said firmly but it seemed to fall on deaf ears.

Stamp your independence on them, Nhor said into her mind.

Sky turned to the side and lashed out with a firm kick to the right fore hock of the pushy Centaur. He went down like a tonne of bricks, much to Sky's amusement as the other Centaurs her side of the bar backed away. Sky turned to the barman who was giving her a round of applause and a gentle smile.

"Thanks." Sky said as she took the bottle and walked around the downed Centaur who glared at her.

Crystal had been watching carefully but not interrupting, as Sky needed to make her own away amongst the Centaurs. Crystal rested her hands on her hips, "I can't take you anywhere, you just seem to attract trouble."

"Hey I think I did well, I didn't expect him to go down like that. But it made all the others back away." Sky replied.

"Yeah, they now know not to crowd you and to take no for an answer." Crystal replied and returned Sky to the VIP area.

Nhor leant down and kissed Sky's temple, good work. He told her silently.

*

They decided to call it a night shortly after two in the morning, most had things to do later in the day and they really needed to sleep in order to achieve them. They left the club in high spirits; it had been a fun night of dancing and socialising. Rachel and Jasmine had a pocket full of numbers each from the guys they had met while dancing. Sky had attracted just as much attention but the male Centaurs kept scaring them away.

"Stupid male Centaurs," Sky muttered. Nhor chuckled and rested a hand on her back.

"This is Flight land; once you are back on pack land you'll see there is a difference with how Centaurs will treat you." He explained.

The group split in two, one group started heading back to the dorms while the other headed back to the house, they didn't get very far when they were surrounded by a half a dozen male centaurs led by the one Sky had downed.

"What do you want?" Sky snapped, "didn't I make myself understood earlier that I didn't want your attention."

"You fought dirty, you attacked my legs," the pushy Centaur declared. There was the sound of hooves as yet another Centaur came up; joining Sky's group this time, the barman crossed his arms.

"What are you doing?" The barman asked, he had seen the group of younger stallions follow Sky's group out and had decided to follow, young stallions were high strung and didn't know when to quit.

"She attacked my legs..." the pushy centaur repeated.

"Yes... and... you stand almost four feet taller than her and weigh hundreds of pounds more, she doesn't have four legs so she can't buck, how do you think she can defend herself? What we consider normal tactics she can't use. Ask the Lead Stallion he'll tell you that she is allowed to use those tactics as it equals the playing field."

"Yeah well the Lead Stallion isn't here." The pushy Centaur said.

"We are guests here," Serenity said, "we are all members of Wolf Haven pack..."

"I don't care where you hale from," The pushy Centaur snapped. "I demand restitution for the humiliation she dealt me."

"You humiliated yourself, you and your friends need to go before I call the Lead Stallion," the barman said firmly.

"This doesn't involve you." The pushy Centaur said angrily.

"Well I am making myself involved, there is a difference between friendly interest and outright harassment. Now go back to your stables before I call the Lead Stallion," the barman said having already put the call out for help, as he knew these idiots wouldn't leave without causing trouble.

"We don't fear him," the pushy Centaur declared but the others were already getting nervous. The Lead Stallion wasn't someone to cross, ever.

"Stupid thing to say," the barman answered. "You can be cast out for that."

"Curtis is an old fool, someone should challenge him." The pushy Centaur said with false bravado.

"If you want to challenge me then do it," said a deeper more authoritative voice, as yet another Centaur moved almost silently into the scene. Others came from the shadows making almost as little noise as the Lead Stallion. Curtis was as tall as Nhor and as deeply muscled across his chest, the horse half of him was deeply muscled and covered in a deep chestnut coloured hair. "Now let's find out what is going on here, Khayal?" Curtis said addressing the barman.

"I was working the bar when the girl," he nodded to Sky, "broke away from her group to get a drink."

Curtis held up his hand and studied Sky for a moment then the group, "Nhor, long time no see."

Nhor bowed his head, "Curtis... how is the tattoo I did?"

"Good, a little faded, mind if I come to get a touch up?" Curtis asked and got a nod from Nhor, "I take it the girl is your fosterling..."

"My daughter, I officially adopted her." Nhor corrected respectfully.

Curtis nodded and turned back to Khayal, "continue."

"So I saw her tattoos and showed friendly interest, just a little teasing nothing much, she was good about it until Mr Bold over there wouldn't back off even after being told a few times. So she kicked his right fore-hock and he went down. I thought it was all over with until I watched him and his group follow Nhor's group. I chose to come and make sure nothing bad happened."

"She used dirty tactics," the pushy Centaur declared.

Curtis turned to him, "And just how was she meant to buck? She has two legs, she is allowed to use 'dirty' tactics, it is the only way she can even the odds. You should have backed off when she told you to, just because she is a Centaur it does not give you the right to harass her." The lead stallion said firmly, "now... I heard the last few bits... I am an old fool?"

The pushy Centaur went a little pale, he suddenly realised he was in deep shit.

Curtis watched the young man, "get him off my lands. I want him gone in two hours." His men nodded and used their bodies to direct the foolish Centaur away. "The rest of you better be gone or you'll follow him," he said as his eyes roamed over the other young stallions before he turned to Nhor. The stallions bolted the moment Curtis had turned away from them. Curtis grinned as he heard the retreating hooves. "I'll warn the stallions to be respectful to your daughter. But I doubt any of them will want to be downed like that."