The music was forgotten as she managed to throw me off balance thrice in a row. I got up and was about to ready myself when Mirxalyn appeared in front of me to give me a one-handed swing from her wooden blade. With reflexes, I blocked it, but the pressure was too heavy, throwing me off guard.
I coughed a little, tasted metal on my lip, and my hands were shaking. But instead of feeling frustrated, I felt rushed and excited. "This is the fun that I'm missing back in the pack."
I applied what I've learned so far at school, from physical combat to weaponry. I managed to show her, but it's Mirxalyn, the family head and the queen. She wouldn't be called a bloody conqueror if she wasn't a great fighter, and I was about to taste it.
Mirxalyn was receiving my strikes, and she either blocked them or easily deflected them. Then I heard her say, "It's wonderful that you're fired up." Her voice was laced with praise, despite its cold tone. I was steady on my pace, but her defense and offensive stunts were too thick to break. Then I heard her reminders. "But baby, you need to block your intentions, or else you're dead."
My ears twitched as I kept striking her from all sides at different angles, but none ever reached her body. Then I asked. "And how can I do that?"
"By clearing your mind as you do in your meditation," she answered as she landed a hit on my stomach without holding back.
I saw it, and in a split second before the strike made contact, I contracted my muscle, hardening it, making the pain bearable. But the contact was painful, and the impact was strong enough for me to crash into the lockers. I wasn't prepared for that landing, but I didn't care. I coughed, getting ready for anything.
"Clear my mind? That's easy for someone who has been doing it for a while," I mumbled under my breath as I composed myself, wiping the blood on my lip. Then I whispered to myself, "But it could work." I instantly calmed my breathing, my heart settled down, and my mind thought of only one thing. "Let's get even."
With one step, a gush of wind made me vanish from her sight. I noticed Mirxalyn's narrowed eyes and only gasped when I swung my wooden blade close enough to her face. In a small gap, she blocked it, but I didn't stop there. I gave her another random strike that came from every angle. Some were blocked, some were dodged, but I managed to make her move from her spot. But I decided to change my approach. I stopped in mid-swing and gave her a kick to the side.
She blocked it, but the contact was hard to resist and made her stumble; she almost lost her balance. It was an opening to strike, but I didn't. I was being cautious because she was not an ordinary opponent to begin with.
"That's good. Never strike when doubting." Her praising voice was delivered coldly before adding, "Watch your opponent, and every move must be taken carefully." She instructed as I cautiously watched her. Then it was her turn to attack me.
At first, they were slow and testing, but the more she released her strike, the heavier it became, and every angle aimed at my blind spot. I was surprised that I wasn't having a hard time blocking or deflecting all her attempts, and met them with the same intensity.
"Good instincts." She praised me coldly again, but her speed had increased, and her swings were heavier than earlier. It has deadly power. My hands were trembling from the contact, and I almost dropped my weapon if I didn't read the air flowing around her. She noticed immediately. She smirked, complimenting my change of phase. "Hm, you're quick at changing tactics. But make sure every attempt is counted. Make sure it's final, ending your opponent's life so they won't get back at you."
And I did. I thought of her. I thought of ending my wife's life to ensure my last strikes were precise, heavy, and lethal. Mirxalyn felt what I was trying to do, and her defensive instincts kicked in. She fought me as if she was facing a threat, like I intended her to do—or rather, I made her think that I did. By the time I threw my wooden blade at her, she dodged it, but she had forgotten my wooden whip sword. It was released in speed and captured her before I tackled her, pointing a small wooden blade that I had been hiding from her.
"Checkmate, Honey." I grinned menacingly before kissing her lips. "I won over you, am I right?"
"Yes, in training." Mirxalyn chuckled as she tucked some hair behind my ear before adding, "Keep the slyness hidden. It'll be useful for sneaky attacks or for finishing."
"Hm, I'll keep that in mind." I grinned, and she pecked my lips before she turned us around to help me up. "Shower?"
"Together?" she teasingly asked.
I blushed, but I managed to ask, "Do you think we're ready for that?"
"Hm, nope. I don't trust my restraint if I see you naked in front of me again. I barely contained myself when I saw it for the first time," she admitted sheepishly, but she laid her palm on me.
I took it as I remember what she was referring to. "Oh, that moment."
We were about to head to our room when Xerxec came and whispered something to her. Her smile went from thin to serious before sighing. She turned to me with her expression softened. I already understood what it meant. "Go; they need their queen."
She didn't want to leave me, but I understood her duty as the queen of her land. She sighed and kissed me, saying, "Soon you'll be too."
As she went on her way, my heart seemed to follow her. I sighed heavily, but I slapped myself and headed to our bedroom to rest, because our training was draining.
***
The thunder and the storm engulfed the night. And inside the small, worn-out cabin in the woods became a nightmare of terror. There was screaming of resistance, laughter of lust, and cigars filling the air to cloak the terror. Two deep wounds were inflicted on a weak body, unhealed due to silver, but the thrust lasted six times.
She was alive but barely holding on. Her mind became defensive. She thought about it as a nightmare until it came again, rushing.
They were the same people, but lost in alcoholic drinks, drugs, and cigars filled the air, cloaking the crime with the same weak prey. Two more wounds from a claw whip were added to the lower back and thigh, and a long thrust was made six times.
Those six left her like trash, weak and dying, but the seventh man held her delicately. She felt it; the same person who had been her light in the terror, she made a decision, and the seventh man gave the love she deserved.
***
I quickly jolted up from a dream that I thought wouldn't be visiting me anymore, but sadly, it came. I was sweating, panting, and had a hand resting on my stomach. It took a few seconds to realize what had happened, and I gasped, covering my mouth, crying in silence.
"Oh my God…" I cried as quietly as I could before adding, "I almost forgot…" My tears won't stop from falling, although I had been wiping them off. I grabbed my phone and called someone who remembers that night. There were two rings when Clayne answered, then I said, "Clayne, sorry to disturb the night, but tell Agilus the date tomorrow."
'Oh, that's tomorrow? Okay, he'll be there.'
I'm so grateful that he found her. Then I thanked her, "Thank you; you can come too."
'Okay, I will.'
I put down the phone on the bed, curled up, and let myself feel the pain from what I had lost during that moment until I fell asleep. I wasn't aware what time I fell asleep, because the next thing I felt was the morning sun rising. I jolted up tired, but I had to get up because of school. After freshening up, I noticed a note lying on the bed. I looked around, but Mirxalyn wasn't there, and I read the note.
My wife,
Kindly take care of yourself today. And I'm sorry if I was not there beside you last night until you woke up this morning. I'm stuck with land work. I'll make it up to you when it's less stressful. Always on your guard. Love you.
Your wife, Mirxalyn
After reading the note, a smile crept at the corner of my lips before I put it inside the bedside table's drawer. "Let's get going."
***
As soon as I arrived at the school ground, eyes were following me again. If it was not about my rank, it was about my clothing style.
"You're not attending a funeral, are you?" Almira's amused voice asked when she saw me arrive at the locker hall.
"I thought the same." Allison agreed, snickering a little while some of my fans greeted me as usual.
From head to toe, I went all black. I wore black sunglasses, a black sleeveless turtleneck, a black leather jacket, black jeans, and black ankle-heeled boots. But the only thing that stood out from my dark clothing was the red bolo tie around my neck.
"I felt like a Goth," I replied, not answering the real reason why I was wearing black, when Talia jumped behind me, hugging me.
"Morning." She kissed my cheeks, greeting me before adding, "I had prepared the flowers."
"And snacks too," Clayne added as soon as she arrived with Agilus.
I nodded, but I looked at Agilus, and he was the same. I reached out to him and hugged him, whispering clearly enough for our friends to hear. "Don't worry, he'll be happy." Then I pulled away, dusting his shoulder, fixing his tie before saying, "Stand up straight; be the man who stood beside me."
Agilus nodded before his mate teased us. "If I didn't know your past, I would be jealous." Humor was in her tone, but when she met my eyes, there was gratitude in them before she added, "You're like an alpha to him."
I shrugged my shoulders, and the bell rang.
Classes started with the same phase, but whenever I do my combat classes, my instructors can barely keep up with me. They weren't either surrendering or receiving fatal hits from me until one of them told me something I was surprised to hear.
"You know what, don't attend my class anymore," Sir Edgar suddenly announced.
I stopped fixing my things when I heard it. I frowned, worried about his reason. Then, with a careful tone, I asked, "Why? Did I do something wrong?"
"No, it's the opposite." Lady Selena chuckled, shaking her head before patting my shoulder.
These two confused me.
"I already sent my final assessment to the dean, and from here, you're a graduate from this class. I had no more to teach you." He informed me steadily before smirking, adding another reason, "And besides, you can beat me up already, and it's embarrassing to the rest of the class."
I nodded, understanding their reason. "So, that's the real reason." I smirked before teasing them, "I could tone it down."
"And take pity on me? Us? Not a chance." He scoffed, waving his hand dismissively at my offer.
I chuckled, but I am grateful for the help they gave me in getting back on my feet. "Then, thank you for sharing what you know."
I might be freed from a few classes, but not with Gilmesh. I tried to talk to him again, but I received the same response, although I kept making him waver through Sigbin's malice. But he was like Mirxalyn; they were both hard to crack. I was growing frustrated when my phone buzzed.
Text Message:
Agilus: We'll go ahead and set up the picnic. Meet you there.
Me: Sure. I'll be there in a minute.
Agilus: Tell us if you're near.
Me: Noted.
As soon as I put my phone down, I felt the malicious intention coming from behind. I sighed because I knew the two people who owned them. But I kept my cool and went my way to the public graveyard that was not far from the school grounds.
"I don't want to deal with them now," I muttered under my breath as I kept walking further in the woods.