Devoid Chronicles : Book 1 Blood Secrets

No hold bars

Xandra was going to kill me for being late. I continued jogging, slowly a few feet from her camp. The sun was still low in the morning sky, pausing at the entrance I fought to catch my breath. I would have all my energy for the punishment that Xandra was surely to execute on me. I broke the treeline and found Xandra standing at the center of the camp. Her back was to me and I noticed that her hair differed from other days. Instead of wearing it down like she did normally it was pulled back into a ponytail. She still wore her brown leather boots that she tucked her pants into. A red sleeveless shirt that she tucked into her pants. Today she looked like she was ready for a fight, and a huge lump formed in my throat.
"Late, Azari. Did we not agree no more being late." She turned to me and began to head in my direction. The lump in my throat grew as thoughts about what reasoning I should tell her.
"Uh, There was this guy who blasted me with water." She held a hand up telling me to shut up. I listened.

"I don't care for your reason for being late. You will face no punishment, today we will spar. You will be allowed to use your powers. The only condition is that you must contain your aura to your body, If it ever expands beyond the borders of your body you lose and we start over understood?"

Nodding, I swallowed the lump in my throat, all those long days with this women would pay off. Pulling deep within myself , I brought my powers to the surface. My whole body tingled as my aura coated me in a light static blue armor. Xandra remained where she was, eyes locked with mine and without another word she charged me. Three weeks prior I would have not been able to keep up with Xandra's movements, but today I am stronger. Keeping my aura tight knit to my body I countered all of her attacks. I scanned her moves looking for an opening and came up with nothing. I was playing defense in this fight and she was leaving little room for me to attack.

Zae's voice drifted into my mind
"If your opponent has a great defense create space and throw them off their game"

As Xandra threw another punch, I pushed my lightening infused fist into hers. I knew Xanda would see this coming and would counter it with her ice but it created my opening. A cloud of small crystals filled the air where the two attacks made contact and I jumped back. There were about 30 yards between me and Xandra now. She changed her stance and watched me. In the middle of the battle, I could not help but notice how bright her eyes seemed to shine. A slow warmth started to drip into my chest.

"You lose, you dropped your aura" Xandra dropped her guard and stood straight up. All the attention that I placed on her eyes were now staring at her chest. Sweat made the red shirt she had been wearing stick to her chest in a way that would make any man take a second look. I cast my eyes to my feet and swallowed. I would not be distracted like this again and I would win next time.

"Yeah, My mind began to drift" I rose my eyes back up to the beautiful yet foreign girl before me. With ease I pulled my aura back up to rest on my skin. Before my hair could stand up I throw a finger through it and brought my guard back up.
"You can not let your mind be distracted in the middle of battle, that could result in the loss of someone precious to you." She rose her hands up and a  frost armor slowly crept across her skin.

"Understood" I nodded and the battle started again. This time I would keep a distance between us. Throwing my hands forward I shot lightening towards Xandra. She countered it with her own ice attack. Once again a cloud of small ice particles filled the sky, and she was hidden in the mist. Channeling my power into my palms, I sliced through the cloud. This would make Xandra jump into the air if I predicted her move correctly.
And I did. She sprang into the air and I followed. Keep the distance between us I continued to throw lightening bolts at her while I closing the distance. She easily dodged every one of my attacks while remaining airborne. I foreshadowed this too, as she continued playing into my plan, I couldn't help but smile.

As the distance between us closed I knew without a doubt I was about to win. I was going to beat Xandra. Once within striking range, I rose the intensity of my attacks. Unlike her, it was beyond easy for me to stay afloat. It was time to execute my master plan, raising both hands to Xandra I sent lightening in her direction. This was the turning point of the battle if she did not do what I planned next this would all be for nothing and in hand to hand combat she was far superior. Shooting forward, Xandra clasped her hands around mine. Our hands, now interlocked she pushed her ice into my lightening, attempting to freeze it at the source. A cloud of ice crystals to emitted from our hands as Xandra smiled.

"You will not outlast me Azari, surrender"

I returned her smile, she played well into my trap.

"Rule number 1, Always have a trump card." Xandra realized her mistake, evident by the change in her confident expression. Attempting to release my hands, Xandra pulled hard. The cloud around us to grew consuming both of us in a nimbus.

The time was now.

Emptying my lungs, I allowed my power to swell in my stomach. Movement in the treeline broke my attention, causing my aura to almost slip. Returning my attention back to Xandra ,I noticed her attention was also on the tree line. She attempted to yell something when a force slammed into my side. My attack forceful burst from my chest, sending me rocketing to the ground. I fought to remain conscious for two reasons. The first being I had to defend myself, The second was also simple. I did not want Xandra to see what I was really capable of. She would never witness the dark power that rested inside of me. An unknown figure approached me from the other side of the opening.

In one swift movement he freed a beautiful black blade from its hilt. A wicked aura emitting from the blade sent goosebumps across my whole body. I still couldn't move,
Fuck.

As the man continue to close the distance his face came in to frame. He was young, early twenties maybe. Leveling his sword at my chest, he stood over the crater my body had made in the ground. I fought to sit up but my body refused to move.

"You have some nerve attacking my sister, Demon" I immediately knew who this man was. He eyes mirrored the same girl I was locked in combat with just minutes before.

Today was just looking lovely.