The Witch and the Dragon Ch. 11

Alluna shivered, and then took a deep breath.

Zak's anxiety level shot higher when she opened her eyes and they glowed as bright as Devon's. The lights around them dimmed and her power churned around them like wind.

Alluna slowly opened her hands revealing a gold ball of flame.

Zak stared at it for a few seconds before it extinguished itself.

He didn't need Seth to tell him that she didn't concentrate enough. Her power leaked out of her like a faulty airlock and she drew from external sources instead of concentrating first on what she had within her.

"Not bad," Seth said with a nod. He looked at Zak. "She's teachable." He looked back at Alluna. "I'm not pyro and have a hard time controlling fire, Zak has some ability with it, but no one can control fire like Remien." Seth rolled his eyes. "Unfortunately he's engaged at the moment. Devon has forbidden me to disturb hum and Rowie, so in the meanwhile, you can take a seat there with Angel and watch us train a bit."

Alluna nodded, but looked askance at Zak.

He smiled and cupped her face, pressing his nose against hers. "We use holographic swords and spar with each other or images projected by the training programs."

"Do you always use swords?"

"Almost always. Weapons are sometimes used to intimidate those that haven't developed their powers, but when in combat with another like us, only swords are useful. So far we've never had to unsheathe a sword to battle another humanoid...just devils."

Her eyes widened. "You've battled devils?"

Zak nodded.

"Zak let's get moving," Seth reminded him.

With a sigh, he kissed Alluna's forehead and nodded to where Angel sat in a big lounger, Devon had acquired for her.

***

Alluna walked toward the blonde called Angel. Enormous blue eyes looked up at her as she approached.

Angel sat sprawled out in a big round chair that looked like a giant stuffed sack. There were circles under her eyes but her cheeks glowed pink. Alluna's eyes drifted down to her rounded belly. A baby. Angel had a baby inside her...planted there by Devon. The thought of having something alive inside her still made her feel uneasy.

Pressing her hand to her concave stomach, Alluna took a smaller seat next to Angel.

"I miss sparring," Angel sighed after a moment of silence.

Alluna looked at her in surprise. "You know how to wield a sword?"

"I am a Venushtian warrior." She glanced down at herself with a sigh. "Although I'm sure you cannot tell in my present state. Men should be the ones to become pregnant." Angel scowled at Devon. He only blew her a kiss from where he stood.

Angel grinned. "He's such a sexy son of a mongura."

Alluna looked back to the training hall. Both Zak and Devon had taken their uniform shirts off and walked in opposite directions. Zak lifted an arm and a gleaming sword appeared in his hand. Alluna watched enthralled as he rolled his shoulders and made sweeping motions with his sword.

And then Alluna was seeing double. Another Zak and Devon appeared and paired themselves with the real men. Each one reflected perfectly what the other was doing.

Zak turned and stood with his legs apart and sword lifted.

Alluna jumped with a start when both men engaged. It was like watching a sword fight in a mirror.

The swords flashed and sparked, the noise of metal bashing against metal loud. Zak used his brute strength to hack away at Devon. Devon on the other hand looked as if he were dancing. His moves were fluid, graceful,...and lethal. Alluna shot up from her seat when he almost beheaded Zak. Zak spun and swiped back—missing him entirely. They circled, parried and then circled again.

Zak lunged, but Devon was quicker. Alluna watched horrified as Devon's sword stabbed through Zak's belly.

Her shriek echoed through the training hall, the last thing she saw before she fainted was Zak's blood dripping down his chin.

***

"Is she okay?" Devon asked.

Zak could feel his commander's unease stabbing through him. "It's not your fault Dev. She'll be fine once she sees I'm alright."

"Fuck. She's going to have nightmares about me," he almost wailed.

"She had to see us spar sometime, Dev," Seth tried to reason with him.

Zak patted Alluna's cheek. Angel leaned as far forward as she could with her bulging belly and Anniel hovered close by.

"Baby. Alluna, sweetheart."

She moaned, stirring in his arms.

Zak pulled her into his arms in an embrace. "It's okay, baby. Dev didn't hurt me. It was just..."

He felt the surge of power bloom inside her. It felt like a vortex and sucked his breath from him. Zak couldn't talk for a second and then the power burst free.

He felt it burst behind him. "Alluna," he snapped looking into her glowing eyes.

"Oh, god," Anniel screamed. "Seth?"

Zak turned to see a white-haired five-year-old boy in Devon's arms for about two seconds before he snarled and disappeared.

"She turned Seth into a cub," Devon exclaimed incredulously.

"Alluna, what did you do? Why?"

She stared at Zak, golden eyes luminous with tears. "He tried to hurt you. I didn't mean to hit Seth. He jumped in the way."

"Baby, Devon didn't hurt me. It was a hologram. The swords aren't real. I told you before we started. What happened to Seth? What did you do to him?"

"I-I'm not sure. I've never done anything like that before."

A flash of red-gold fire announced Remi's arrival.

"Look who's home?" he cried out with obvious excitement, but upon seeing everyone's apprehensive faces his grin disappeared. "What'd we miss?"

"Alluna turned Seth into a little boy by mistake," Angel answered.

After a moment of silence, Remi began snickering.

Rowie elbowed him. "Not funny, bozo."