1 - Smoke and Daemons: Caught Between Worlds by Candice Bundy

Author:Candice Bundy [Bundy, Candice]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Caught Between Worlds#1
Publisher: Lusios Publishing
Published: 2012-09-29T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 13

MERI

Meri scanned the well-lit dojo in the basement of the burrow. All of the walls and floor were padded with blue gym mats, and along one wall a vast array of weapons and body armor hung for display and use.

She fumed, wishing again that she’d been allowed to wear some of the lighter body padding. Kobol had insisted they were only doing ‘light work,’ although judging by how much she was sweating and breathing hard it was anything but for her.

“All of those weapons,” she motioned to the wall, “will they kill daemons too?” Meri asked.

“They aren’t like the tre’jor if that’s what you’re asking.” Kobol’s hands rested lightly on his hips. “But Belial has worked them to cause severe damage. We use them to incapacitate daemons, and then we move in with the tre’jor for the killing strike. From what Azimuth’s told me, the tre’jor is one of Belial’s newer inventions, while the other weapons he’s been doing from the beginning.”

“Is he always looking for new ways to kill his enemies?”

“Yeah. Are you ready for another round?” Kobol asked. She noted he was hardly winded.

“Bring it on.”

He grinned and then disappeared into thin air. A second later movement whipped by her ear, telekinetically pushing her back on the mat a few feet. Meri redoubled her focus, listening carefully to her left, then her right, but she saw nothing.

“Nice power,” she said but he didn’t respond.

Her Gleaner stirred in reaction to her innate need for knowledge, and she tried to focus it in the moment. Gleaners were critical information gatherers, and Meri intended to learn to use this ability like a weapon. Yes, she asked, where is he? Illuminated footprints lit up across the floor, flowing in a pattern. They suddenly got brighter and moved faster, and Meri threw her arms up into a defensive block when she saw Kobol outlined in light, his arms bearing down directly over her head. He hit with quick but sure force, not for the first time that session.

Meri screeched in frustration at Kobol. “What are you trying to do, kill me?” She rubbed her wrists which had multiple bruises in evidence.

He reappeared out of thin air. “I’m not the only daemon who can make moves like these. And besides, you’ll heal faster than you realize.”

Meri rubbed her wrists gingerly. “Somehow when you said we’d be training in hand-to-hand combat I thought I’d be able to see my opponent!”

He shrugged, not moved by her complaints. “We did that part earlier. These are the same moves. Now you have to anticipate them by my energy signature. It’d be the same if we were in the dark, in a tunnel, or other poorly lit location. You can’t rely on your eyes alone. You need to embrace your daemon skills, or your opponents will crush you.” His eyes flashed green with that last sentence. She didn’t know Kobol well enough to know for sure, but her gut said he wasn’t referring to losing a battle just now.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.