literature

Hunting in the Darkness Ch. 5

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Hunting in the Darkness (Chapter 5)
The morning sun hit Azael's back, waking him gently from his sleep.  His eyes opened slowly, fighting off the desire to yawn.  He looked up and stared at the still sleeping forms of Moonlight and Anthony.  
Anthony had snuggled closer to Moon in his sleep, who in turn had pulled the boy into a protective embrace.  A small smile was on Moon's lips as she shifted slightly, keeping Anthony close to her.  Azael watched the two sleep a little while longer before carefully leaving the bed.  
He pulled on his regular clothing, minus the cloak and his sword, which he left leaning against the wall.  Exiting the room, he descended the stairs, headed outside.  He shielded his eyes as the sun hit him fully in the face, enjoying the warmth that came with it.  
"Finally up huh?"
Azael turned slightly to see his father sitting at the edge of the barn, a pair of wooden swords in his hands.  He smiled crookedly as he stood and walked forward.  He stopped a few feet away, tossing a sword to Azael, who caught it easily.  
"Time to see if you managed to remember what I taught you," Drusus chuckled.  
Azael took his normal fighting stance, crouching on the balls of his feet, sword held out in front of him defensively.  Drusus stood straight up, sword hanging loosely in his hand at his side.  He smiled down at his son, waving his finger teasingly.  
Azael leapt forward, stabbing straight at his father's chest.  Drusus brought up his sword and knocked Azael's to the side, spinning around to deliver a back kick.  Azael used his momentum to roll under Drusus's leg, swinging at his leg as he managed to land in a crouch.  Reading his son's intentions, Drusus jumped and flipped out of harm's way, landing lightly back on his feet.  
Azael stood and began circling around Drusus, eyes staring directly into his.  Drusus smiled in return, completely at ease in this fight.  
"You just keep improving, don't you," he sighed.  
"Always trying to get to your level, father," Azael replied lightly.  
"As I've told you many times son, don't try to reach my level, create your own for others to strive for."
Azael snorted, charging at Drusus with his sword raised.  Drusus blocked the blow, leaving the two straining to push the other back.  
"I will always strive to be you then," Azael chuckled, smirking up at his father.  
The two separated, continuing their sparring match.  
Azael and Drusus continued at this for well over an hour, neither managing to gain the upper hand on the other.  While Azael was fast, strong, and used unorthodox attacks that would have caught any normal warrior completely off guard, he still couldn't beat his father.  His father's technique was simplicity in itself, never expending any more energy than he needed to in order to keep himself in the fight.  And if he ever managed to find an opening, he would strike at it immediately, not bothering with large moves that would only waste precious energy.  
Eventually, Azael managed to slip up when he overextended himself when thrusting at Drusus.  Drusus took this opportunity and used a backhand strike straight to the side of Azael's face, knocking him to the ground.  He strode forward and pressed the tip of the wooden blade to Azael's throat.  
"Yield."
"All right, I give up," Azael moaned, rubbing the side of his face.  
Drusus leaned forward and helped Azael stand, clapping his shoulder.  He suddenly looked over his shoulder, smiling.
"It seems we've attracted an audience."
Azael looked up and saw his mother, Moon, and Anthony all standing by the house, staring.  Elektra clapped lightly as she stepped forward, shaking her head in mock disapproval.  Moon and Anthony both followed, looking a little worried.  
Elektra rubbed her hand against the side of Azael's head, earning a light wince.  
"Bruising, but no real damage to the skull," she turned and lightly glared at her husband, "Lucky for you."
Drusus held his hands up protectively, chuckling nervously.  
"I think I should go make sure breakfast is ready," he murmured, jogging back to the house.
Elektra sighed, shaking her head.  She reached back up, fingers gently touching the side of Azael's head.  She whispered a few words in an ancient tongue that only she was familiar with, her fingers beginning to glow softly.  Pressing them against Azael's head, he immediately felt the pain go away, sighing contently.  
"How does it feel," Elektra inquired, pulling her hands away.  
"Much better, thank you mother," Azael replied, grinning.  
Elektra smiled and turned to move back to the house, Azael and the others following.  Whatever she had been cooking smelled absolutely amazing.  
***************************
"Um…Azael?"
"Yes Anthony?"
"I….is it ok….if I learn how to fight like you," Anthony finished, looking down at his lap.  
Azael stared at the boy, eyebrow arched.  
"Why do you want to learn how to fight," he inquired.  
"I….I want to be strong, and protect people like you do..."
Azael sat back, studying Anthony carefully.  
"Anything else?"
Anthony fidgeted with his hands further, still not looking up at Azael.  Moon leaned closer to Anthony, placing a reassuring hand on his shoulder.  It seemed to give the child the courage he needed to complete his thoughts.  
"I want to be able to keep myself safe, without any help from you or anyone else," he managed, finally looking up to Azael hopefully.  
Azael considered what the boy had said carefully.  He understood that Anthony had been trying to cope with his parents' deaths, putting on a brave face and continuing to smile.  But after seeing something so traumatic, he was afraid that he would lose that comfort once more, somehow turning the blame back onto himself for not being able to protect those who protected him.  
Azael sighed and finally stood, turning to walk out the door.  He turned his head to the side, looking back over his shoulder at Anthony as he walked.  
"Well, let's get started."
***************************
Azael stood facing Anthony, who continued to twitch with nervous energy.  Moon and Elektra stood off to the side while Drusus had volunteered to take care of things around the property.  
Azael walked up to Anthony, dropping down to his knees so he could look the young boy straight in the eyes.  
"Stand up straight, hands at your sides," he ordered.  
Anthony stood up as straight as he could, arms held stiffly at his sides.  Azael stood and circled around him, checking his posture.  He didn't seem to be leaning over in any direction, and his back was fairly straight, showing no signs of previous injury or potential problems.  
"Hold your arms straight out to your sides and tighten the muscles."
Anthony complied immediately, fists clenched tightly as he held his arms in place.  The muscles bulged slightly, showing that they had been used often for work, very common for a young boy living in such a rural area.  Azael nodded approvingly.  
"Put your hands in front of you, palms down."
Kneeling back down, Azael took the boy's hands into his own, studying them carefully.  Small scars, toughened skin where various calluses had formed multiple times, and incredibly rough: the hands of a dedicated worker.  
Azael stood back up, taking a few steps away from and expectant Anthony.  He crossed his arms and stared down at Anthony, smiling lightly.  
"I can already say that you have the potential to be a warrior Anthony," he explained, "You're young, healthy, and very well built for someone your age."
Anthony looked over at Moon, who nodded and smiled in approval.  Elektra watched how Azael was holding himself, already taking his new role as teacher very seriously.  
"Just like his father," she mused, smiling at the memories of Azael's first day of training as a little boy.  
"Alright Anthony," Azael called, regaining the boy's attention, "take a fighting stance."
Anthony tried to do so, but Azael immediately walked forward, shaking his head disapprovingly.  
"No, that will never do," he explained, "You need to keep your weight distributed evenly between your legs, otherwise you'll be unable to move quickly."
He tapped at the boy's legs lightly, readjusting them until Anthony was in the correct stance.  
"As for your arms, one should always be closer to your body, thereby protecting your face, while the other is extended a little further out, allowing you to attack and defend with it."  
Anthony adjusted his arms accordingly, looking up for Azael's approval.  Looking over the boy's stance once more, he nodded, signaling it was what he had been looking for.  
"Alright, now we're going to begin with the basics.  First, a jab."
Azael took the same stance as Anthony, standing to the side so the boy could see clearly what he was doing.  He hopped forward, striking the air with his arm and drawing it back to the starting position as he stopped his forward motion.  He returned to a normal standing position and signaled for Anthony to try.  
Anthony did so, but because of his inexperience, he managed to stumble a little bit.  He looked up at Azael fearfully, knowing he had made a mistake.  Azael smiled reassuringly, showing he wasn't angry.  
"I don't expect you to be able to learn everything in one day Anthony, you just need to remember to practice.  Go ahead and try again."
Anthony did so, still stumbling every now and then, but managing to do fairly well for his first few attempts.  Azael didn't offer any advice, waiting for Anthony to come to him for advice.  Anthony finally stopped, looking up at him pleadingly.  Azael strode forward, standing parallel to the boy, taking his fighting stance once more.  
"Watch my legs."
Azael lightly pushed off of the balls of his feet at the same instant, propelling himself forward almost effortlessly.  
"You use both legs at once, not one after the other.  This way you can control how far you move more easily, once you get the hang of it."
He allowed Anthony to practice the move several times more before showing him several different moves to practice.  Anthony was more than eager to learn, taking in every new move as if he were drinking water.  Azael finally had to put the lesson to an end when he realized that it had been several hours since they had begun.  
"That's enough for the day young Anthony.  We can continue this tomorrow."
Anthony smiled and ran over to Moonlight, who caught the boy into a happy embrace.  Elektra moved to follow her son into the house.  
"He's taken quite a liking to you and Moon," she murmured.  
Azael grinned, looking down at his mother.  
"I think it's more towards Moon than me."
"Nonsense, did you see how he continuously looked for your approval while you trained?  He looks up to you, almost like a father."  
Azael shook his head looking back to see Moon walking with Anthony, hand-in-hand.  Moon looked up at him and smiled, the happiest he had ever seen her.  
"A father…"
***************************
Azael walked into his room, finding Moonlight tucking an unconscious Anthony into bed.  She turned her head up and smiled at Azael, signaling to try and be quiet as he entered.  Azael did so, looking down at the young boy.   Moon approached him, looking back at Anthony lovingly.  
"He fell asleep as soon as he hit the bed," she whispered, golden eyes glinting with amusement, "But before then he couldn't stop talking about how amazing you are."
Azael stared at Anthony's sleeping form, smirking lightly.  
"He's far too kind."
Moon lightly shoved Azael's shoulder, giving him a reproachful look.  
"Why must you do that to yourself?  Anthony looks up to you, that's not a bad thing."
Azael shrugged, moving to sit on the edge of the bed.  
"Never said it was.  I just think he could do better as far as role models."
Moon walked up to him, gently placing her hand on the side of his face.  A gentle smile played on her lips as her eyes bore down into his.  
"There is no one better that he could admire."
Azael stared up at Moon, surprised by her statement.  He finally smiled, gently taking her hand into his own.  
"Thank you, Moon.  For everything…"
Moon gave his hand a gentle squeeze before moving to the other side of the bed, resting next to Anthony.  She placed an arm over the boy protectively before falling asleep a short time later.  
Azael finally lay back as well, staring up at the ceiling as he waited for sleep to take him.  He finally closed his eyes, a smile spread over his lips as he drifted off to sleep.  
Here's the next chapter! Hope you all enjoy it :). Comments are very welcome.
© 2011 - 2024 crow5by5
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wolfish-vampiregirl's avatar
another absolutely amazing chapter!! seriously have you shown anybody this who could actually put it out there out there??