Guardian of the Sacred Fire Ch. 05-06

Chapter Five: Truth

I was shown to a room that was going to be mine. I was going to be trained by all of the Elders it seemed. The faerie would teach me magic, the dwarf hand to hand combat, the beautiful one would teach me to control my aura, the dark one would teach me how to take that control and use it as a weapon, and Adrian would teach me how to unlock my "inner beast" which he explained was my primal rage. Kind of like a person on PCP was how it was explained to me. Each one would teach me on separate days and on the two left over days I was to meditate. Felt like high school all over again. But bloodier. The first thing I was going to try and learn the next morning was hand to hand combat with the dwarf. Permaz the dwarf-or troll- whatever.

The rest of the day I walked the grounds. In my room I found everything for me. Clothes, shoes, you name it. I traded my dress for jeans and a t shirt. I had to bandage my chest. There was a large gash extending from my collar bone to between my breasts. I finally got it to stop bleeding after I took a shower and washed the hair spray and make up off of me. The shower was large and like one I always dreamed of. It was like its own little room sealed off with a glass door. It had four shower heads. Two in the side of the walls and two above. I had my own bathroom. That part rocked. The only sad part was they made Azrael and Beast leave. They could not be a part of my training. So I was here alone with a house full of otherworldly being that all seemed to hate me. Well all but Adrian. At least I hoped he didn't hate me.

I found a small cave that was in a meadow surrounded by trees. You couldn't spot it unless you were right on top of it. I found a rock and threw it inside just in case anything rattled or hissed. Just what I need, to be bitten by a snake or attacked by an animal. I heard nothing and got on my hands and knees and went into the cave. It was shallow and there was nothing inside of it. A wave of relief washed over me. I backed out of it and stood up. I brushed my knees off and looked around. I think I found a meditation spot. It was quiet and I loved being outside. And no one could find me. That was my main focus.

My eyes caught something moving in the trees. I'm a country girl, in movies you see people go into the woods and check it out. You really don't do that. The thing moving could possibly kill you. Usually if you left it alone, it would leave you alone. Usually. In this case I was wrong. A wolf came into the clearing and I slowly backed away. Do not run away from predators, they will see you as prey. I did what came to mind. I sat down and lowered my head, try to appear non threatening. I closed my eyes and let my mind wander for a second, my heart pounding in my chest as my overactive imagination got the best of me and I pictured myself wolf food.

When I lifted my head again I had to choke back a startled squeal. Adrian sat in front of me. He was staring at me with a curious expression.

"Why didn't you run?" he asked.

"I'm not as stupid as I may appear."

"I never said you were stupid, just asking why you didn't run."

"Discovery Channel." I said and smiled.

Adrian started laughing. It was a good laugh. Contagious as well as I started to laugh with him. The laughter died quickly but it still showed in his eyes.

"So how did you become an Elder?" I asked.

"I can shape shift into most animals. No one else can do that. So they made me an Elder. I'm the youngest one ever. I count it as cheating though, I didn't earn the spot. I'm only 26 and counted as the most powerful of my species just because I can shift into different animals."

"Your aura says different." I said.

"Oh? What does it say?" he asked with a smile.

"It says powerful, I can see most of the animals and they look like they are at battle with each other. It seems as though one of them wants to be king of all of them."

"Well I see you have already mastered aura reading. My question is, why aren't you doing the poor pitiful "why me" act?"

"It has to be someone right? If not me, then it would be someone else. I just accepted it. No point in pouting over it. I can't change what or who I am."

"Wise words for such a young woman." He said and I looked him in the eyes. Such a lovely green. Like pale jade.

"You are only four years older than me." I said and crossed my arms.

"Ah, but four years can make a hell of a difference."

"How the hell did you become a doctor so young?" I asked.

"I graduated high school at 15, started college at 16." He answered.

"Well that makes you incredibly smart." I said.

He stood up and I followed his lead. I looked at him now, closely. He was wearing a black on black suit and shiny black dress shoes. His face was masculine but soft around the edges. His chestnut hair fell to his shoulders in waves. He had thick lashes and eyebrows that matched his hair color. He picked a daffodil and placed it in my hair. Maybe I was looking too much into this, but wouldn't that be considered flirting?

I watched him walk away and change fluidly back into a wolf. His clothes melded with the change. He looked back at me than ran off.

I placed the daffodil on my nightstand in a glass of water. I walked over to the window and watched the sun set. I had a beautiful view of the red, gold, pinks, and purples. I watched as it turned into a dark blue until it was black. Stars glittered in the sky like diamonds and fireflies were flashing throughout the grounds. I went to the bed and lied down, already in new shorts and a spaghetti strap. It was my usual sleep attire. I wonder who shopped for me. Everything was almost an exact copy of what I had back home. They even bought a fan, which I couldn't sleep without.

The room was grand; it even had chandelier and a real Persian rug. A four poster bed made out of cherry wood, actual wood. Red curtains were on each of the posts. The walls were red with gold designs painted into it. I felt like a princess in the room honestly.

Try as hard as I could I just couldn't fall asleep. The alarm clock read three a.m. when I finally decided to get up. I opened my door and looked down the hall, it seemed empty. I stepped out into the moonlit hallway and tip toed down to the stairs. The marble steps were cold on my feet, but shoes make unnecessary noise.

I poked my head around an open door and quickly flattened myself against the wall. The beautiful one was standing in front of a massive fireplace. He didn't see me. I looked again and he was still facing the fire. I tip toed slowly and almost reached the other side.

"Come in Anna, I won't harm you." He said.

"I thought I was being silent." I said apologetically.

"You were, but I didn't become and Elder for no reason. You have yet to learn to control your energy. I felt you leave your room."

"Should I apologize?"

"No child." He said. "Please sit." He said and motioned to a chair. I suddenly felt underdressed. I sat down and crossed my legs and arms.

"I have a couple of questions for you." I said.

"Ask and you will get an answer."

"First. What is your name?"

"Midael." He answered quickly.

"Second, what are you?"

"Can you not tell? I am one of the Fallen. I was once a mighty angel, leader of the celestial army, but I chose Ariella's side during the last revolution. I was cast down to Earth. Upon her death I swore that I would find the next Guardians. I would teach them to be strong and powerful. Tomorrow we will choose who your Sentinel will be. The one to watch over you and guard you until the time comes that you are needed. I have someone in mind already."

"Azrael?" I asked.

"No. He showed his worth and was the one who killed Ariella. She was beloved by all."

"But he loved her."

"Yes, he did. But he chose to kill her because she did not love him back."

"He told me she was cursed."

"He lied to you. She was never cursed. Yes I admit it was the time he was changed into a vampire; he lost control over his hunger and killed her. There was no curse, nothing of the sort. He was hungry, that was all. Azrael made it seem heroic of what he done?"

"He told me he gave up his soul to try and save her, that Uriel had complete control of him."

"Uriel was his maker. You have lots to learn. Vampires are bound to their maker until they are freed or the maker dies. You on the other hand freed his entire coven. He was a cruel master yes, but he protected them. But no, Azrael is not the hero he made himself out to be." Midael said.

I was pissed suddenly. The bastard lied to me.

"Control your anger little one." Midael said and came around and touched my shoulder.

I took in a deep breath and looked at my hands. I could see flames just underneath my skin licking at the surface. It didn't hurt at all; it did make my heart thunder in my veins.

Chapter Six: Training

The next morning I walked down the stairs tired. I knew it was my own damn fault. But it was kind of like that time when your parents tell you you're going to Disneyland and the night before you can't sleep a wink? Yeah it wasn't Disneyland but hey, I was a little excited. I got to know I was different. That I wasn't doomed to live a mundane existence like everyone else. And today would start day one.

The dwarf met me at the end of the stairs and I followed him to the grounds. An arena had been set up I guess overnight behind the mansion. Without warning he tackled me. The damn dude could hit hard for his size. He was maybe only four feet tall. I kicked him off of me and he went to tackle me again. This time I used his weight against him and ended up hurtling him a couple of feet down the field.

"Where did you learn that?" he asked in a huff.

"My real father is a marine. He taught me how to protect myself. I do know judo."

"I underestimated you." He said and actually smiled. He quickly recovered. "You will need to know more than judo." He grabbed a sword and threw it at me, and grabbed an axe for himself. He charged at me and I jumped over his head. He turned and charged again. The sword and axe clashed hard enough to ring the metal. The blow made my arms go numb. He came at me again and again until I was on the ground trying to catch my breath. We went at it until sunset. I had never been so damn tired in my life. My entire body ached.

My feet dragged as I climbed the stairs one sore muscle at a time. I finally reached my room and a tray of food was waiting for me. I scarfed most of it down in minutes. It was all of the basic food groups. But I refused the corn. I hate corn. I went to my bathroom and ran the shower. I stripped off my clothes and looked at myself in the floor length mirror. Bruises were blossoming all over. My hands were blistered and bloody. I got into the shower and relaxed. I let the hot water run over me. I planned on doing that until it ran cold, but it never did. I washed the dirt off of me and out of my hair. I climbed out of the shower and put a towel around me and in my hair. I was so damn tired. Tomorrow I would be with Adrian. I hoped like hell he would go easy on me. I walked out of the bathroom and headed to my bed. Once I hit my pillow I slept.

What seemed like five minutes later a knock came to my door. The sun was coming through my window and I groaned.

"Give me a minute." I said. I had fallen asleep in the towel and I ran to the wardrobe and got dressed as quickly as possible. I ran the brush through my now shoulder blade length hair and hopped to the door as I put my last shoe on.

Adrian stood there patiently. "Tired?" he asked.

I nodded and I followed him outside. We went to the meadow where I saw him as a wolf. "How are we supposed to unlock my inner beast?" I asked.

"Like this." He said and sat down. I followed his lead and watched him. His eyes were closed and he looked like he was sleeping. I was afraid to close my eyes in fear of actually falling asleep. Instead I zoned out. It was mental sleep with your eyes open. I learned it with going through high school.

Someone cleared their throat and I snapped back to reality. Adrian was standing over me. I guess I did fall asleep. Well...shit.

"We need something to wake you up." He said.

"Coffee would be nice. And food." I answered.

"Well you didn't eat yesterday morning because too much physical exercise that quick after eating would make you throw up. Eating with you so tired right now will just make you full and more tired. Let's go for a swim." He said and helped me to my feet. I followed him through the woods for about ten minutes watching my feet so I wouldn't fall over something.

We came to a small lake or a large pond. Whatever the hell you wanted to call it. Adrian took his shirt off and my jaw dropped. I quickly composed myself and looked away as his fingers moved to his jeans. His body was tan and muscled. When I saw him in doctor scrubs I did not imagine that he had a body like that. I felt the heat rush to my face and then a splash of warm water. I looked out and watched Adrian surface.

"It's a sudden drop off from the shore." He said. "It goes about fifteen feet down, so I hope you know how to swim."

"I didn't bring a bathing suit." I said.

"Isn't a bra and panties the same thing?" he asked.

He did have a point. I always made this point to other people. Little teenage girls flaunt around in barely there bikinis and then call you a creep if you see them in their underwear. It always annoyed the hell out of me. I sighed and took off my shoes and socks first. I hesitated when it came to my jeans and shirt. I didn't have the perfect body. I wasn't toothpick skinny. I had wide hips. "Baby makin' hips" an old pervert had told me. Yeah he got a restraining order fast. I didn't have a flat stomach but I wasn't fat. I was built right to make sure of it. I had average size breasts, not small and not large. But thanks to the media I was self conscious about my body. You had to be skin and bones to be considered hot. And that, I was not.

Adrian turned as I took off my shirt and jeans. I quietly thanked him for that. I usually tried to match underwear and bras. Today I was lucky enough to find a matching red set. And no, I do not wear thongs. I like bikinis. I don't like feeling like I have something between my ass cheeks all day long. A perpetual wedgie if you will. I jumped in the water and it was surprisingly warm. Not bath water warm but I didn't freeze my ass off. And he was right. It did wake me up. I swam down as far as the air in my lungs would allow me to. I went back to the surface and took a breath of salty air. I looked around and Adrian was gone. My heart pounded. My brother would always grab my feet and pull me under. He always managed to scare me that way. With thinking about it I was prepared when a hand grasped my ankle. I took a deep breath and was pulled under. Adrian was smiling at me underwater. He pointed down and then back up. I nodded and we both surfaced. I had seen something shining in the silt at the bottom.

"What is it?" I asked.

"I don't know." He answered.

We both took a deep breath and swam to the bottom. He took my hand when it became hard for me. I'm not the best underwater swimmer in the world, I admit it. I was decent on top, but underwater I was slow as hell. His hands reached it first and he tugged. It wouldn't come lose. I grabbed the other side of it and we both lowered ourselves to the bottom and pulled. It was a silver chest. We kicked off from the bottom and swam to the surface. I mostly held on to the chest. Adrian's feet had turned into fins. So he could turn into a fish too. Lucky bastard. We broke the surface of the water and both gasped for air. I don't know why he was holding his when he could have just grown gills.

We hauled the chest to the shore and he climbed out. Thank god for boxers. I smiled, I couldn't help it. It had Beaker the Muppet on them. He was my favorite Muppet. He tried opening but most of it was rusted shut. I watched as his hands turned into bear claws and pry it open. It looked empty at first until Adrian's normal hands brought out two amulets. They were gorgeous. One was ruby and the other sapphire.

"What were those doing at the bottom of the pond?" he asked. Aha! So it was a pond.

"Maybe we should ask Midael." I said and pulled myself out of the water.

"We should dry first. Midael is anal if we track in water through the mansion. Permaz did once. He made him get on his hands and knees and clean it up alone. He had flooded the kitchen and tracked it throughout the mansion. Funny as hell watching the dwarf cuss every step of the way."

I lied on the soft grass and Adrian lay beside me. We watched clouds roll by and named the shapes. Today was ending up being perfect. Too bad I wouldn't see him again until next week. When sunset came near my stomach was growling something fierce. We dressed and walked back together with the amulets in the chest that was tucked under Adrian's arm. Our hands accidentally touched with us walking in close proximity to each other and I quickly clasped both of my hands together in front of me. He didn't seem to notice it at all. Maybe it was him being so nice, maybe it was the green eyes, hell maybe it was the Beaker boxers, but I think I was beginning to like Adrian.