Demons

Chapter 5: Training

He raised his fists and got into a fighting position.

"Training?!" I exclaimed, "No no no, you don't understand. It's physically impossible for me. I don't like the idea of hurting other living being."

"Okay, then let the Demons kill you then." Onax said sarcastically. It was obvious I didn't have a say in this.

I mimicked his body stance. He told me to extend my at and I slowly followed his order.

"Okay, now do it faster." I quickly pushed my arm out. "Great, that's a punch."

"I'm not an idiot. I k now what a punch is. Teach me something I can actually use if my life is on the line."

"A single punch can be the difference between winning and losing. Life and death. A single punch can render the battle over. Now do it again. Punch!"

We trained for several hours. Finally, he told me I could rest. I was sore all over. My arms, my legs, even my stomach ached. I knew He was trying to help, but why do the after effects have to be so painful.

"Ugh, am I dead?" laying stretched out on the ground. It felt cool. Now that I had lied down I didn't think I would ever be able to stand up again. It felt amazing just to lie there. Still. Quiet. I closed my eyes and felt as if none of this had happened. It was peaceful.

As the Sun set, I grew more tired. In some ways, I was scared to go to sleep. But honestly, who wouldn't be. I had to go to sleep knowing that there were monsters out there. The monster under my bed was no longer just a nightmare. And worse, I could call on daddy to come save me. My only defenses were a knife, my fists, and some guy I knew next to nothing about.

I looked over at Onax, who was slowly walking around our little camp, checking for animals and anything else that could be a threat for me. It made me feel a little better knowing he was going out of his way to make sure I was safe. For some reason, I calmed down some watching walks around.

After he did a few more laps around, he looked over at me and noticed I wasn't asleep. "Crystal, you should have been asleep hours ago."୹

"I can't sleep." I still wasn't completely sure if I could trust him, though... There was something calming about him. Something in his eyes. The way he looked at me.

He sighed, "Okay, let me help." He pulled out a small case out of his bag. Inside the case was a small, silver piccolo. Its not the kind of instrument I pictured him playing but, the way he sounded while playing it. It was beautiful. He was amazing. It was... Peaceful.

I don't remember falling asleep, but I found myself waking up to the smell of eggs cooking. It made me forget about being out in the forest. It reminded me of home. Which I needed. It smelled delicious. I sooner snapped back into reality when I remembered that I wasn't home. I was was with Onax out in the forest.

I sat up still sore from yesterday's training. "Good morning, Crystal. I'm making eggs. How do you like yours?"

In a groggy voice I answered, "Scrambled, but they need to not be to done. I like it a little bit runny." He looked at me as if I said something odd. "What? It's how my mom used to make them."

He chuckled. "Yes, princess. Would you like some freshly squeeze orange juice with that?" he asked sarcastically.

I rolled my eyes at his sarcasm And thought to myself, 'You asked me how I wanted them so I told you.' I stood and walked over to him and smugly replied, "Well if you don't know how, I'd be happy to take over."

"No. I said I'd do it, so I will. I just don't know anyone who likes runny eggs." he said while cracking an egg into a small pan over the fire.

I was sorting on a stump by the fire watching him cook. It smelled amazing. I couldn't wait to finally eat. I guess I didn't really notice but I hadn't eaten anything yesterday or had dinner the night before. I had been so busy running around with Onax.

All of the sudden, my stomach made a sound that could probably hear from a mile away. Which, of course, made Onax laugh. I could feel my face light up, bright red. I held my stomach and looked away. I could tell I was as red as a lobster. Onax stood up and walked over to me holding a small, tin plate with my eggs on them. "Is one of those Demons stuck in your stomach." he teased.

"Ha ha, you are so funny. I didn't eat anything at all yesterday and I'm starving." I took the plate from him. It looked even better than it smelled. Runny and not over done. Prefect.

"You really do need to eat. I'm not sure how close they are, but if I'm able to hear it, they might be able to as well."

"I understand." As I began eating I heard him mumbling something to himself. I couldn't make out exactly what he said, but he sounded serious. I wanted to ask what was wrong, but I didn't want to sound snoody.

I looked over at Onax. He wasn't eating. In fact, he didn't have any food.

"Onax, aren't you going to eat something? You must be pretty hungry as well." I asked him, finally breaking our silence.

He shook his head and answered, "My job is to be sure you are safe and well kept. Those were the only eggs I could find this morning, so, I just won't have anything for right now." I held out my plate offering him some of my eggs. He chuckled and said in a teasing tone, "I would never eat my eggs like that."

I set my plate down. It didn't feel right eating in front of someone who didn't have anything to eat. Things got silent again. Onax sat there sharpening one of his knives. My head was racing as I tried to think of something, anything, that we could talk about.

"Are you feeling alright?" I was surprised that he finally spoke up.

"Yeah, I'm fine." I watched as he resheathed his knife and started to stand up. "Why, are we leaving?" He nodded and dumped the rest of the left over eggs onto the ground.

He offered his hand down to me. "Good. We need to get going." I slowly took his hand and he pulled me off the ground. Suddenly, this whole thing didn't feel that weird. I thought to myself, 'This might not be the worse thing in the world.'