Challenged - Skinwalker Book 2

Chapter 13

After a brief warm-up to get stiff, tired muscles reactivated, Adele got to work. She trained with Sierra for the next two hours, trying to help her get a sturdy grip on some of the basics of hand to hand combat. She showed her a range of moves and counter moves, then picked the ones Sierra was weakest at and worked hard at those until they began to become a little more natural to her. When she finally decided to call it quits, Sierra wasn't sure she'd have been able to carry on anyway. She flopped to the ground and took the water that Adele offered her.

"You are really lucky you have the were-thing," Adele remarked as she sat down on the mat next to Sierra. "Your altered physiology tends to adapt to new movement patterns more easily," she elaborated.

"Is that your way of telling me that I'm a fast learner?" Sierra laughed. "Coz I kinda feel like a big, fat snail."

Adele giggled. "I admit you're not the fastest-learning creature I've ever seen. But it will come, you shall see. The more times you repeat the exercise, the quicker it becomes a natural part of your learned motions. Your reflex time and proficiency will improve with practise - and with the amount of practise you are prepared to put in, I doubt it shall take you very long to become at least moderately adept."

Sierra looked at her contemplatively. That was quite a mouthful for a teen. Adele was clearly very interested in the physical aspect of her world.

"I'm not sure if I should, but I'll choose to take that as a compliment," Sierra grinned.

Adele smiled back. She was really growing on the skin walker. A friendship was forming fast between the two and it felt good - like a reliable anchor in her disorienting new world.

"It is getting late," Adele remarked. "We should probably head back before someone comes looking for us and discovers what we are doing. I assume you want to keep this a secret?"

Sierra nodded. "Yeah. I want to savour the look of surprise on Kalko's face when I kick his butt in the hopefully not-too-distant future," she replied.

Adele got to her feet nimbly and offered Sierra a helping hand. She took it - and nearly fell over when she tried to get up. Her muscles felt leaden and stiff. She was pretty sure they'd never felt quite that bad before, but then, she'd also never really pushed herself quite so hard.

"Perhaps we over did it..." Adele remarked with concern on observing Sierra's unsteadiness on her feet.

"Nah, I'm just tired," Sierra replied as she tried to will her body back to life. It was being strangely uncooperative. "I'm sure I'll be okay in the morning after I've had a good night's rest," she mused in an attempt to comfort her young friend.

She wasn't all that sure she believed that herself, but she hoped it would prove true.

She tried to walk towards the exit, but she couldn't seem to get the momentum required for easy movement. Adele snaked under her arm and helped her get started.

By the time they'd climbed the first flight of stairs the difficulty had eased somewhat and Sierra could manage on her own again. She did her best to act normally for the sake of her companion and, for the most part, it seemed to work; when Adele said goodbye on the landing she seemed a lot less concerned. Her confidence bolstered Sierra against her own misgivings regarding her physical state. As soon as the skin walker made it out of sight through her doorway, she gave in to the heavy pull of her body and started to fumble. Fortunately all she had to do was climb into her bed. She was too hot for the comforter, so she separated it from the sheet and left it piled at the foot of the bed. Then she managed to slip out of the majority of her clothing before passing out on the luxurious comfort offered by her mattress. She knew she needed another shower, but she was too tired and too stiff to care. It could wait till morning.