Shadow Keepers (Unedited)

Ten: Practice and a Close Call

“Oof.” That’s the sound of me hitting the ground… hard.

“That was… sweet.” Penny said sarcastically as she transformed out of her eagle form and landed next to my prone form.

          I had to bite my tongue against my retort. I focused on catching my breath. Man, Penny can knock the wind right out of you… literally. I’m training Penny in her Shadow form, and it really is painful. See after all the years Shadow Keepers have been around we have mixed our blood, some with trolls, giants, Were beasts and such, while others went for the gods and goddess, creatures of Olympus, or even the Shadows themselves. Penny’s father was a Shadow blood mix; therefore she would have a Shadow form. Matt’s father was a werewolf mix, so he’s a Wolf too. Angel’s, father’s, mother was a siren, so Angel, being the next woman in line, has the beauty of a siren, smarts of our mother, Athena, the power and skill of a water Shadow Keeper and her form is a red fox; don’t ask why ‘cause I really don’t know.

What mix am I? You might ask. Well I know my mother is Athena, so I get my looks (people say I have good looks, I am obviously blind to that fact), my smarts, and my weapon skills from her. But I don’t know who my father is besides that he was expected to be ‘The One’. Ya know, the one Apollo prophesied about, the one to bring peace throughout and restore power to the humans? Yeah, not true see he only brought a little peace and it was only for 10 years so he wasn’t the one. But he had excellent control over his form; his Silver Blood side.

See a Silver Blood is a magical panther that lives on Olympus along with some types of Dragons. Silver Bloods and Dragons don’t really get along but that’s off subject. So Silver Bloods are really Strong, really fast and above all else, really deadly. The god’s have used them as their assassins for years. They can maneuver in and out of the shadows without being trapped by ‘security’. Their blood, as you may have guessed, is silver along with their fangs and claws. The elders have silver markings on their chests and tails. Silver Bloods have only one really effective offensive move, and that is their… for lack of a better word, venom. It’s really a sort of acid made out of their blood. There is no cure for it and being acid it burns you from the inside out. Very painful and depending on your will to live, quick. They inject the venom through a bite. So if you ever come across a black panther with electric green eyes in a city area, don’t run or turn your back on it, just stand very still and pray for mercy. So if that didn’t answer your question then, my form is a Silver Blood, that I have one heck of a time controlling.

          During explaining all of the above, I had caught my breath. I stand up in one swift, smooth movement, or well as smooth and as swift as one can get with a bruised bone. Yes, my wound has healed so that it is now only a bruise. Any who, I make a bo-staff out of my flames ( one of many weapons I can make with my flames all of which are a type of metal, I am fire I can’t make wood, but I can make glass) and get into my favorite stance. My left side facing my opponent, staff in my right hand behind my back, standing straight, looking my opponent in the eyes. Penny notches an arrow and draws it half way. Ok ever read the Ranger Apprentice Series? Well take Halt’s skill with a long bow and mix in paranormal powers and you get, Penny. I’m serious that girl is wicked fast and has deadly accuracy. Mix in her ability to control the wind and her telekinesis and well, if you’re our enemy, you should be running. 

          I closed my eyes, took a deep breath and focused on how to perfect Penny’s close range fighting skills. Being an archer, she didn’t have much skill in close range, neither did Angel, but that’s why Matt and I are teamed up with them. See we are a team of four but we sometime need to break up in to units of two. So it would be Penny and I in one, and Matt and Angel in the other. One long range, one short range and one skilled in healing. Angel = Long range and Healing, Matt = Short range, Penny = Long range, me = Short range and Healing.