Fighting Lesson

I was taken aback by this sudden move of his, it was an act of a subject, not a friend and I would never ask that of him.  

“Gabryl, please get up. Why have you suddenly bowed? And why have you called me Luna?”

By this time my mother and grandmother had rounded the corner into the room and were taking in the scene in front of them. Their faces held as much shock as mine did seeing Gabryl on his knees before me.

“Gabryl, speak to me please, you are beginning to worry me.”

It was only then that he looked up at me, when I met his eyes I saw admiration, I saw loyalty, and I saw the love of a man who was like a father to me. His eyes were wet and as suddenly as he had bowed, he was on his feet and engulfed me in a hug.

“My sweet Netta, I can’t believe it is time. You are so beautiful, so grown, so powerful.” He spoke softly as he held me at arms reach looking me over.

“Gabryl I am not the Luna yet, I am not even a wolf yet, my birthday is still a week away. Why the sudden show? Why the change in demeanor already?”

He studied my face for a moment before his smile grew. “My dear, you may not be 18 yet, but keep in mind that your wolf is not the only part that makes you Luna. You are the spirit of the Earth Goddess. You hold the power to recreate life of an entire planet, right here right now. You control the elements at your will and once you reach 18 your powers will have reached a level unimaginable. Your powers have been growing steadily since you were born. But oh, my dear, they have tripled in the time since I last saw you 6 months ago.”

“Wait, What? Tripled? How can you be sure?”

“Your aura. It is magnificently strong. It wreaks of royalty, of power. It demands loyalty and admiration simply by its presence. The moment I walked in the room it hit me like a ton of bricks. If it is this strong now, I can only imagine how impressive it will be in a week when you gain your gift from the Moon Goddess.”

How had I not noticed the increase in power?

“Is this why I’ve had more difficulty controlling the elements in the past year? Because they are stronger?”

“Most likely” He responded.

“Gabryl, why have we not been affected by her aura?” My mother asked cautiously.

“Because you are family. Her powers will never hard a member of her bloodline, and her bloodline will never be affected by the royalty of her aura. You are, after all, all members of the same royal bloodline. It is simply that Vynetta has the only power and the position to hold a crown.”

I knew that my powers had no effect on them, I had learned that long ago, when I was a toddler in the middle of my fire harnessing stage. A couple of close calls and even a few full blown fire balls hitting their skin without a single injury was all the proof we needed to know I couldn’t harm them.

“How soon did you sense it? My aura? Was it noticeable before you entered the room?” I asked as worries bubbled up.

He looked slightly confused as to the question but thought for a moment and then answered. “Actually yes, I noticed the fluctuation when I entered the home, but I couldn’t determine where it was coming from until I walked in the room, then it was so strong I almost couldn’t breathe.”

I sighed. They all 3 looked at me concerned but they hadn’t realized new problem we had yet.

“This aura is strong. It is undeniable and once you sensed it you immediately determined that it was not only mine, but more importantly that it was the aura of the Luna, correct Gabryl?”

He nodded. “Yes, I knew exactly who the owner of the aura was once I sensed it.”

“Then we have a new problem. Human’s cannot sense auras, but wolves can. Any wolf outside of Haven will immediately be able to place my aura, their wolf will submit to mine because of its royalty. They will know I am Luna right away.”

I watched the realization spread across all 3 faces. I had been out of Haven before, along with Gabryl. A year ago, we took a trip to a village as far as we could safely travel. He wanted to see how wolves and humans alike responded to my presence. No one turned, no one looked. They went on with their lives aside from a couple polite hellos. This village was under his protection and it itself was a secret due to several supernatural bloodlines living there, even though they weren’t aware of their lineage. He still watched over them.

After this trip he was satisfied, knowing they could not sense my aura. But it seemed that was no longer the case.

“You can learn to suppress it, Vynetta. It won’t be the easiest thing, but you can hide your aura. I hide mine constantly, you cannot even sense it because I never allow it to seep out for my own safety.”

“Can I see it? Just this once?”

He sighed and took a deep breathe. I watched as my mother and grandmother both drew in a breathe at the same time. I looked back at Gabryl and then at their wide eyes. As far as I could see, nothing about him had changed.

“Vynetta why do you look confused?” He asked.

“Nothing about you changed.”

He looked taken aback. “You cannot feel it?”

“You feel the same as always. Strong, true, powerful.”

A knowing look crossed his face and he cleared his throat. “Kyda, Prym can you possibly leave us alone for a few moments. I want to see if I can work on something with her but we will need complete solitude. Please lock the door on your way out.”

They both nodded their heads and obeyed. Once the door was locked the room was sound proof and no one could hear us.

“Netta what did you mean when you said I felt powerful?”

“I can feel your strength as a human, but I can also feel your supernatural power. I do not know what your power is, but since I was a child I have sensed it. It was always a comfort for me, knowing you possessed a power strong enough to defend us.”

He shook his head and chuckled. “I really should have known. You’ve known all along.”

“Wait, if you have always had your aura hidden, how have I always been able to feel it?”

“You can thank the Earth Goddess for that one. Seeing as how you embody her spirit, you are part of an original aura. You may not be able to recognize mine by name, but I cannot hide it from you. Which most likely means no one else will be able to either.”

“Well that’s both helpful and troubling. I can sense anyone, whether they want me to know of them or not, however my aura is so powerful that if not hidden it will without a doubt reveal my identity.”

“True, but as I said before, you can learn to hide your aura. And that my dear, is exactly what we will now learn to do.”

With that, he removed his jacket and his shoes and joined me on the training floor.

Learning to hide my aura was one thing, but learning to contain it while also focusing on another task was where the true struggle was. It took me only a matter of minutes to grasp how to hide my aura. In itself, it was simple. However as I gained control of it, Gabryl hit me with a swift kick to the ribs. As soon as he made contact my concentration broke and I was once again revealed.

I cursed under my breathe and he chuckled.

“Come now, lesson two. You must learn to train a small part of yourself to constantly conceal your aura, while the rest of you can focus on other tasks. You cannot be thinking about It all the time. Mine is concealed every minute of every day, but I still live my life at the same time. You must do the same. The best way to learn, is to practice concealing while also fighting. Combat involves your physical and mental focus. It will draw away from the concentration you put to concealing. If you can master concealing during combat, you will be able to conceal during any other task.”

I shook out my legs and arms preparing myself for an attack. Gabryl was strong physically, and while I had no proof, I had my suspicions that he had been in his fair share of fights. I squared up and concealed my aura. Then I focused on his movements. I felt my mind slip from concealing the first time he took a jab at me, but my recovery was quick. It slipped the next few blows he threw that I dodged, but after 10 minutes or so of sparring, I was fairing better. More often than not, I was able to conceal while fighting. The worst blows were the hardest to remain focused through. So I knew the tactic that would help me the most.

“Hit me harder.” I breathed out.

Gabryl chuckled and seemed surprised, “Excuse me?”

“Fight me Gabe, for real. I can hold my own and you know that, so come at me. I have one week and no time to fuss over broken bones that will heal by the end of the day.”

“Netta I cannot fully fight you, I am your guardian. Initiating an attack on you, even for training purposes is against my stance.”

“Fine.” I answered and as he was about to nod, I quick stepped and punched him square in the nose.

I can’t tell you what Gabryl is for sure, but I do know that he has incredible healing abilities that he tries to hide. Another perk of reading auras. Minutes after hitting him his nose will be healed. We were perfect sparring partners, I just had to antagonize him enough to make him agree.

“Vynetta!” He hollered at me as he felt the blood run from his nose.

“Hit me Gabryl.”

“This is not customary, and I fail to see how this is necessary.”

“I have no one else here to fight Gabe! I HAVE to practice. I have NO choice! In 7 days I will be potentially leaving Haven and I will have to fight by MYSELF. I wont have you Gabryl! And you know that. You aren’t allowed to interfere once I’m 18. You aren’t allowed to protect me, so PLEASE. Help me learn to protect myself. Hit. Me. Now.”

My breathe was rapid as I finished my outburst. I honestly don’t know where it came from but it was necessary and I knew that. I didn’t want to think about what would happen once I left but the reality was that I would be alone. The 3 people, the only people I had in my life would have to stay behind. This was my journey and mine alone and they had been telling me that since I was a baby.

Gabryl huffed out annoyed. But as I searched his eyes I realized that I had convinced him. So instead of waiting for his reply, I once again squared up. And this time when I took a step forward he took a step to the side and swung, hitting me square in the ribs. I laughed as pain radiated through my chest at the broken bones. I had what I needed, a real fight. And if that rib was any indication, I’d have to truly work for a win.