Secrets Ch. 41
Chapter 41
As the blade whistles through the air I raise my own black sword up to parry it causing a thunderous crack to echo around the yard. I growl out as I push back with my blade forcing Jakes practice sword away before following up with a strike of my own aimed directly for his neck only to have it deflected at the last second by a third blade imposing itself between the two of us.
Spinning around I use my momentum to carry out a retaliatory strike at the wolf who blocked my attack. As my blade rushes towards Richards side he works to parry it with skill born from his years of hard work and practice. Several more times our blades clash before I duck a surprise strike from Jake aimed at my skull.
I lash my demonic tail out wrapping it around his ankle before pulling his legs out from under him as I flair my wings wide, knocking Richard off balance. Before he can get his guard back up I place my blade to his throat parting his fur while I place one of my taloned feet on Jakes chest.
For a moment all three of us remain still panting before Richard drops his arms, “We yield.”
I lower my sword and lift my foot off Jakes chest before offering him a claw to help him up. When he reaches up and grips my wrist as I pull him to his feet saying, “You’re both doing good. Much better than when we first started.”
Jake dusts himself off as he grumbles, “You say that Ebony, but you still beat us two on one every time.”
I smile at him with my draconic grin as my body shifts back to my wolf form as I rest my blade over my shoulder, “True, but I am being forced more and more to rely on my demonic abilities each time. You have both learned a great deal. At this rate it shouldn’t be much longer till you are skilled enough to become a threat to most lower demons. In physical combat at least, in magical combat your best bet is still to just run.”
Richard grumbles and crosses his arms, “You say that, but we barely fought for five minutes this time before you had us at your mercy.”
I raise a paw and point a finger at him, “True, but that was five minutes with me in demon form before that you were both able to hold me off for up to fifteen minutes before I had to shift. So you are improving, though you need work more at anticipating counter attacks and not over extending your reach when blocking.” I turn to Jake, “And you need to be more aware of your opponent’s movements, you should have jumped out of reach of my tail before I had time to get a grip on your foot."
Jake dusts some grass off his pants before asking, “And if someone attacks us with magic how are we supposed to survive that? You haven’t shown us any way to defend against it.”
I tilt my head to the side with a raised eyebrow, “And just what makes you think your ready for that level of practice?”
Jake gets his panting fully under control and mimics my stance with his own practice sword, “You have been training us for a year now, but only focused on physical combat. I know you fight with more than just the sword, and can do magic. Shouldn’t we learn how to defend from that as well?”
I rub my chin with my free paw as I study Jake for a moment then look at Richard who is standing still but has the same hopeful look in his eyes. I let out a sigh and drop my arm, “First off, I actually use very little magic in combat beyond some physical enhancement so not much I can teach you there. But if you really are set on it…. I can see about either getting Dae to teach you some… or maybe Tribus?”
I say the last bit with a bit of a dark grin and I see both wolves eyes go wide before they look at each other with a tiny bit of panic in their eyes. I smirk at their reactions remembering the last time my grandfather came around how Richard had made a comment about how much bigger I was than him in demon form only for my grandfather to shift into his three headed dragon form on the front lawn. Pretty sure both Richard and Jake had trouble sleeping from that for a while.
Then there was the afternoon I gave Dae a bit of freedom to test some of his experimental spells. It took Jake nearly a month to grow back the fur he lost from that experience. Meanwhile Dae just muttered something about the runic structures being miss aligned causing the oddly shaped bald patches.
Richard clears his throat with a cough while Jake swallows hard before answering, “Maybe we can wait a bit longer…”
I can’t help but let out a small chuckle, “Smart, your learning. Tell you what, give me a day or two to come up with some ideas and we will see about starting you both on some basic methods to defend against magics commonly used by demons. After that we can see how you do and go from there.”
Jake grins with excitement while Richard lets out a grumble of a growl but a small smile still flickers across his muzzle before a voice comes from the porch, “And how are my warriors doing today?”
I look up to see Jasmine walking out the front door with Rick in her arms and Silver toddling beside her. Richard smiles and moves over to join his mate on the porch giving her a kiss on the cheek before answering, “Your ‘warriors’ just got their butts kicked… again.”
She smiles as Richard takes Rick in his arms saying, “Well what did you expect when you two agreed to be trained by a demon? That it would be easy? Or that he wouldn’t go hard on you?”
She lets out a sigh as the weight is taken off her arms and she rests a paw on her swollen belly before Jake moves past both of them rubbing his shoulder while heading inside with a grumble, “He could at least let us get a win once in a while, then my bruises would feel like they are worth it.”
At that Chase speaks up from where he had been resting against the side of a tree watching us spar while he was reading a book, “Now Jake, you are the one who asked for this training remember?”
Jake turns back from the door with a glare at his alpha, “Yeah, but I would have thought that over a year of training would have helped by now. Instead all I’ve done is learn to move with a hundred bruises.”
That gets a small chuckle from me, “Jake, you have improved. But I do have a few centuries more experience than you.”
With that he snorts and turns to go back inside, “I have dinner to cook, you old geezers can keep bragging how much better you are.”
As the door closes behind him I just shake my head with a smile as Chase moves beside me and places a light kiss on my lips before he heads inside as well, “If you will excuse me I think I will go give our grumpy pup a hand in the kitchen.”
When he passes by Richard and Jasmine I hear a small voice from around my knee alongside a gentle tug on my pants, “Up up unc Eppy! Up up!”
I look down and see Silver reaching up for me to lift him. Reaching down I lift the young cub up into my arms causing him to give a happy yelp and giggle, “And what are you doing running around out here Silver?”
I reach a paw up to his nose and give it a gentle tweak making him laugh before he points to the afternoon sky, “Go up up pwease?”
Raising an eyebrow I look up to his parents where Richard rolls his eyes and Jasmine shakes her head answering my silent question, “He saw you and Chase flying the other day and has been wanting to go with you ever since.”
“Ah I see.” I look Silver in the eyes with narrowed eyes, “So you want to go flying do you?”
Silver nods with a big grin on his face, “Up up!”
That causes me to let out a soft laugh as I reposition him on my arm a bit better, “Im afraid you will have to wait till your a bit older and have your parents permission little one.”
With that he starts pouting and folds his small ears back and turns to glare at his mother and father who just glare back as Richard says, “We already told you, you’re not old enough yet.”
Silver just lets out a soft whine and hugs onto my neck as I start walking back to the house carrying my godson. As I step on to the porch I look at Jasmine and her swollen belly, “And how is the next little one doing?”
With that Jasmine lets out a sigh, “They have been kicking a storm all afternoon, the twins were never this active when I was pregnant with them.”
Smiling I hold the door open for both of them as we all head back inside. As we do I think back on the on my time living here. It has been just over a year since Chase and I officially became mates, well since I officially asked him to be my mate at least. Since then I have taken to training Jake and Richard in fighting against demons, something they have both gained a fair bit of skill in. Jasmine is pregnant with her and Richards third cub, they are hoping for a girl this time.
The rest of the pack has learned about my true nature and most have had no issues with it what so ever and the few that did were quickly put in their place by Jasmine of all people. When the first complaints were heard about my true nature you could hear her tearing into the wolves who voiced it across the entire house.
Jasmine heads up stairs with a small basket of baby clothes to take to their room as I move to sit on the couch. As soon as I get seated Ranger appears near the fire and pads over to us looking up at Silver. Once I am settled in Silver climbs off me and moves to start climbing on Ranger who takes it in stride playing with the young cub.
Relaxing back I cross one leg over the other as Richard sits across from me with Rick in his arms already starting to doze off against his father. I look over at the wolf as he gets comfortable before he starts speaking, “Ebony, I just want to say thank you again. For training us and for helping as much as you have…”
I wave a paw, “Richard, we have been over this how many times now? You don’t have to keep thanking and apologizing to me. We are all part of the same pack, the same family now.”
His mouth is open to retort but instead he closes it and shakes his head, “I know, but still. You have taught Jake and I so many things this last year, and helped us all so much. Even your grandparents have helped us a lot with the twins. It’s just… I still feel bad for how I treated you at the start and how I exposed you to the rest of the pack before you were ready.”
Letting out a sigh I look at him, “Richard, it’s ok. You can stop beating your self up over that. If the truth hadn’t come out when it had it would have soon enough regardless. I had already been here longer than I had intended at that point and longer than normal before my secret gets exposed so it was only a matter of time. Besides, this way I don’t have to hide anymore.”
With that he raises an eyebrow, “You say that but you still remain in your wolf form a majority of the time.”
I shrug, “It’s the form I am most comfortable in, besides, none of the furniture is made for a over sized lizard in mind. I’d crush anything I sat on.”
With that he lets out a small laugh, “Thats fair. Didn’t really think of it that way.”
We fall into a comfortable silence as he gently rocks Rick in his arms and Silver climbs onto the back of Ranger like a horse. I smile at the young cub when the door to the kitchen opens and Chase backs out with his paws raised as a dish rag is thrown at him, “Ok, ok I get it, my space is more valuable than my help. You’re worse than Eb when you’re cooking.”
I look up with a raised eyebrow as Chase sulks over to the couch and sits beside me with a huff, “Have you been kicked out of the kitchen again?”
Chase looks at me with a slight scowl, “Since when did Jake get the nerve to kick me out of the kitchen like that?”
Chuckling I answer, “The same day he asked me to let him cook on his own for the whole pack, face it love, everywhere else you may be the alpha, but in that kitchen, Jake and I rule above all others.”
He snorts and leans against my side, “You know there was a time when no one kicked me out of anything around here.”
I chuckle and wrap an arm around my mate before placing a soft kiss on his cheek, “That may be true, but then you invited a demon into your home, and we love to make trouble.”
Chase grumbles but moves in closer to me as a soft laugh comes from the stairs, “Well now isn’t that a pleasant sight.”
I look up to see Jasmine coming back down the stairs smiling as she continues, “Never thought I’d see the day when the big gruff demon was cuddling on the couch.” She moves to sit beside Richard and nestles in next to her mate, “It’s so good to see how much you have relaxed Ebony, the last year has really seemed to help you a lot.”
I let out a sigh before responding, “Well it’s not like I was given a lot of choice now was I? None of you were willing to just leave me alone and let me leave when I had paid back my debt were you?”
Richard raises one paw while handing the sleeping Rick to Jasmine, “Actually I was fine with that at first, but I got over ruled.” At that Jasmine swats the back of his head playfully while Chase throws a pillow at him getting a round of laughs from all of us.
As he tries to avoid the attacks he smiles as he continues, “Seriously though, it is nice to finally see you so comfortable Ebony. You have changed a lot in the last year, we all have for that matter.”
Chase lets out a snort, “Speak for yourself, Im the same as ever.”
I grin as I hug my mate closer, “Yes you are, still just as needy and spoiled and demanding of my attention as the first day we met.”
He nods then pauses and looks at me, “Hey… I am not spoiled!”
Richard snorts, Jasmine bites back a laugh, and I just raise an eyebrow at him until he lets out an exaggerated sigh, “Ok fine, I'm not spoiled enough.”
I just laugh and kiss him on the cheek before nuzzling into his neck playfully before a voice echoes from the kitchen, “Ebony, can I get some help? I can’t get this to taste right.”
Chase grumbles as I move him off me and get up saying, “I’ll be right back.”
He grumbles something about losing his demon pillow as he gets comfortable again while I move to the kitchen. When I push the door open my nose is instantly hit with the sharp scent of numerous spices and cooking meat mixed with a variety of vegetables. Stepping over to the stove next to Jake where he is working over a large wok trying to get a stir fry going I lean down and take a deep breath.
The scents of multiple exotic spices fills my nose bringing back memories of my travels, “It smells good Jake, whats the problem?”
He holds out a spoon with a piece of beef and veggies on it, “I don’t know, it just doesn't quite taste like how you made it last time, and I’m using the same recipe.”
I take the offered spoon and place the bite in my mouth and roll it over my tongue a bit before chewing while focusing on the flavor. After a moment I swallow and furrow my brow, “I see what you mean… it’s missing something.”
Turning the cook book I skim over the recipe a bit, “You added the garlic and soy sauce… and the snow peas…” I glance over his listed ingredients and compare it to the spices and sauces he has out on the cabinet, “Im not seeing anything missing….”
Snapping my fingers, “Right, you forgot the Worcestershire sauce.” Opening the fridge I rummage around a bit before pulling out the bottle.
Jake looks at me with a questioning look, “But that’s not in the recipe?”
I nod, “That’s right, I add it special to several things I cook for a little extra flavor.” I tilt the bottle over his wok and give it a couple good splashes as he stirs. After giving it time for the sauce to be worked in I grab another spoon full and offer it to him while he stirs. He takes the bite and chews for a moment before nodding, “That’s much better, why didn't you mention that earlier?”
I just chuckle as I lean against the fridge, “Honestly I forgot I added it, it’s just something I do by habit. Don’t even think about it most the time.”
Jake grumbles and goes back to stirring making sure all the veggies and beef are well coated before he begins spooning the stir fry into a large bowl, “One day I am just going to have to sit down with a pen and paper and write down all the recipes that you cook. Your originals are much better than the cookbooks we have.”
Laughing I just shake my head, “In time Jake you will figure out what flavors go best together, it just takes time and practice. Before long…”
My head turns hard to the side and I stare hard in the direction of the forest my attention pulled hard by a sudden pulling sensation like someone has grabbed hold of my muzzle and yanked. Jake notices my sudden change and asks, “Ebony, is everything ok?”
Slowly I move from the kitchen, “I don’t know, but I think something is coming. Wait here.”
Moving through the living room I grab my sword from beside the couch as I head to the door with Chase, Jasmine, and Richard all looking at me funny as Chase says, “Ebony, whats wrong?”
Shaking my head I reply, “Im not sure, feels like someone is getting closer…” I turn to Jasmine and Richard, “I think you should keep the boys inside, just to be safe. I will go check it out.”
Glancing down at Ranger who is staring up at me with a hard gaze as Silver bounces on his back, “Keep them safe, go full hell mode if you want to.”
Ranger blinks once up at me then shifts into his hell hound form, his horns growing from his head and orange flames flickering through his fur, much to Silvers delight who grabs his horns and laughs.
Chase gets up and follows me to the door, “Ebony… What is it?”
I shake my head as I open the door and step out on to the porch and into the light of the setting sun, “I don’t know Chase, but somehow I think something or someone is coming. Someone I have met before…”
He stiffens beside me and I see his face harden, “Is it Agerex?”
I slowly shake my head in confusion, “No… I don’t think so… This doesn’t feel like him.”
For a long moment I stand there staring off into the trees trying to get a feel for what I am sensing. Then a powerful tug of a memory comes back to me and my eyes widen. Stepping off the porch I shift back into my demon form and spread my wings as my clothes shift in a burst of flames around me, “He has returned, but why?”
Chase is beside me in an instant, “Who has returned?”
Instead of answering I scoop Chase up in my arms and spread my wings before launching us both into the sky and start winging my way in a north westerly direction towards the intruder.