Shadowraven: Ascension

Night

After a couple of hours, Shadowraven leapt off the railing and into the living room. Everyone looked at him, slightly curious to what Shadowraven was planning or going to say. Katrina was sitting with Keller, leaning on him while he had an arm around her shoulders. Charmcaster and Serena were, surprisingly enough, talking. They were talking as if they had been friends for years, which sort of scared Shadowraven. Amber was nowhere to be seen, Blaze was playing a game on his phone, and Angel and Tigerblaze were talking as if they were worried about something. Shadowraven cleared his throat even though everyone was paying attention to him. "So I think we should use Serena's tactic. It's clever, but I want to avoid having Charm fight. She knows healing spells that the rest of us don't, so we need her alive and well. That's why she'll also be our last line of defense in case the Elders manage to break through our ranks. Anyone disagree?" He asked. Nobody said anything and Shadowraven smiled.

"Good. Now get weapons and get ready, we have a lot of training to do. Serena, come with me." He said, motioning to the kitchen. Serena stood up and followed him into the kitchen, where Shadowraven leaned on the back door. "Serena, I have several questions for you. I want you to answer truthfully. Why do you want to help us?" He asked. "I want to stop them. I swear I want to stop them. They're going to hurt a lot of people and they'll hurt-" she suddenly stopped, looking down. Shadowraven didn't press on. "So you want to help?" He asked. She nodded, her face serious. Shadowraven smiled at her, causing her brain to temporarily short circuit. He smiled at me. Probably at something I did, but what? What did I do? He's never smiled around me, much less at me. Oh gods what do I do? She thought. Shadowraven straightened out and walked towards her. She tensed up even more and several scenarios played through her head. Then he walked past her, causing Serena to blink in surprise.

She sighed, hating herself for her thoughts and for wishing for romance. She was about to walk back to the living room when Shadowraven walked back to the kitchen. "I wanna see what you're capable of. Meet me out back alright? If you want to prepare before facing me, go ahead." He said, walking through the door before she could answer. Serena immediately ran out, hoping to see him. She did, seeing him practicing some sword swings with his blade. He looked over at her and smiled, causing her brain to short circuit again and for her face to turn a brilliant crimson. She walked forward, Monroe appearing in her hands. "Nice blade. Does it have a na-" Shadowraven was cut off as Elizabeth shifted out of her sword form. Monroe did the same and Elizabeth tackled him in a hug, sending them both to the floor. Monroe began to laugh as he hugged the spirit in return.

"Monroe, you're back!" Squealed Elizabeth. Monroe nodded and put a strand of Elizabeth's hair behind her ear. "You haven't changed a bit, darling." He replied. Elizabeth blushed in reply, her smile getting bigger. "Well, considering we had to go through puberty and stuff again, you shouldn't be surprised I didn't change." Elizabeth said. Monroe laughed and planted a kiss on her lips. She held the kiss and the two stayed there, enjoying each other. Meanwhile, Shadowraven and Serena watched the two lovestruck spirits make out, blushing and extremely uncomfortable.

"So, um, you two know each other?" Asked Shadowraven. Elizabeth pulled away first, and looked as if she hadn't noticed Shadowraven. "Oh, hullo. Yeah, I know him. He's my boyfriend from long ago." She replied. Monroe smiled, causing Serena to look at her sword spirit in worry. "Monroe?" She asked. He just laughed in happiness. "Um, how about we saw what you can do when it's time to fight?" Shadowraven asked. Serena nodded her approval and the two of them walked away from their sword spirits, who were giggling happily. Shadowraven and Serena walked through the yard, looking around at the roses and other flowers growing around them. They eventually reached the center of the garden in which a beautiful silver tree grew, it's branches filled with green leaves, even though it was autumn. Underneath the tree was a bench, which was decorated with stags and other woodland creatures. Serena gazed at the tree, awed. Shadowraven shared her awe, gazing at the tree and the bench. The two sat walked into the center, Serena sitting first.

Shadowraven sat next to her, leaning back on the seat. They both enjoyed the quiet and calm of the evening, the night slowly awakening to take its throne. They waited until night came, it's cloak of stars making the sky seem more beautiful and mysterious. They smiled, enjoying the silence and company of each other. Meanwhile, inside, everyone slept as their bones creaked with tiredness and their muscles sang with pain from training.