Heroes and Wolves [book 1]

Chapter eight

Layla

Maylock strides over to my punching bag, inspecting every tape stripe and bulge with further scrutiny. He's picking the tape, pinching the material of the bag and flicking the strings.

     "You know that punching bag needs to be replenished right? It's not safe. The bag isn't full properly, so with one powerful punch you can knock it right off" he observes, pushing and swaying the bag as well as wobbling the entire pole its supported on. "This hook is also rusted"

His conclusions aren't new to me. I already know that the punching bag isn't filled properly because I got it from Lakeintown's disposal ground. It's amazing what people throw away. I got all of my training equipment, the weights and swords from there, although the dummies don't have a head and one of them just has one arm but they are good enough. When I scavenged my swords, they had cobwebs all over them and two of them were rusty, but I cleaned them up. That's what I do; I manage and just get by.

     "Why is this any concern of yours?" I ask as he rolls his sleeves up and shakes his whole body in preparation for something.

It's then that he stands in front of the punching bag, keeps light on his feet and with one swift blow from his right hand, the bag is on the floor leaving just the lone, now shaking metal pole that kept it up. The stuffing from inside the bag falls like snow.

     "Because I am right" he smirks arrogantly but his expression soon clears from seeing the destruction. "Oh, I made a mess, sorry" he kneels down to pick up the white fluff and I find myself doing the same, bending down to his level and taking bits of soft stuffing from the floor. "I'm sorry, I got carried away, I didn't expect this fallout"

He completely and utterly destroyed the bag, I mean, it wasn't the strongest put together bag in the world but the stuffing has gone everywhere; some pieces are even near my shack.

We keep picking up the pieces of soft stuffing and throw them into the ripped open carcass of the bag to contain them. I pick up something metallic only to realise that it is the rusted hook. It really was unsafe.

I shuffle the bag to make more room when a continuous beep comes from his watch and a circle of white light forms around it. He pushes it for a man's raspy voice to sound out of it.

     "I need to be quick; this technology isn't holding out for as long as we thought it would so have you found anyone?" there's cackling interference that breaks up his voice. "Did you go where we told you to?"

     "Yes, it's a girl, Layla Taylor but I don't know" he replies, disappointment is laced through his voice. Why did he say my name to that man? "She's stubborn" he looks at me when he says it and I throw the hook at him. It misses him and rests on the grass.

     "Bring her to Miscellania. I will be there in a couple of days" Miscellania? But more worryingly is that he said that his watch doesn't work here because of the frequency in the woods. He lied.

     "Let's get this cleared up" he picks up a large amount of stuffing all in one go and chucks it into the bag as well as the hook. "Come on" he approaches me, bringing his hand up to grab my arm but I back away.

     "I am not going anywhere. You said that the watch didn't work here. You lied. Get away from me"

     "Didn't you hear the interference? That communication link was temporary, it took too much power for the link to sustain and combat the frequency of these woods" he explains. "Here, I didn't mean to joke around with this bag so I'm sorry" he takes one strap of my bag from his shoulder when rustles come from the forest.

The sounds are loud enough for birds to be shaken by it. They leave their nests, flying high and away from whatever caused it. These rustles are suddenly met with a low growl that encompasses them. Maylock's eyes move from me and focus on the trees behind me.

He hears it too.

     "Stay here" he instructs and briskly runs into the woods with my bag bouncing along with him.