The Witching Hour

Ch. 39

Connor

Much of the next morning was spent preparing and gathering supplies for the journey to the Nitehardt's castle. Connor had a full night's sleep, but his mind felt restless. Being around such strong sources of magic was an unique experience for sure, but his mind felt as if he was trying to reach out to all of them at once. He had to force himself to even sleep in the first place, his vampire side not letting him rest. In what should have been a peaceful night, Connor was restless.

"What is wrong, Connor?" Lydia asked as she approached. They both were outside near the front of the Council's home. The sun did not bother them much, as most of the area was shielded by clouds and snow. Lydia seemed happy to be out in the open more often recently.

"Nothing, my mind just won't settle." He replied with a smile.

"I see, well maybe we should do something to distract you." She said with a slight smirk.

"W-what? Here?" He asked and his cheeks lost color. He did not want to imagine how fast his heart would be racing if it could.

"Yes, it is one of the best places for combat training isn't it?" She asked and raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, yes, combat training. Of course." Connor said with a sigh of relief and a laugh. His mind really was elsewhere this morning.

Lydia hid a laugh and slowly stepped away from Connor. The wind picked up around them but neither felt the cold and were quite comfortable. She took her fighting stance and taunted Connor with a wink.

"Are you ready to see what experience does for our kind, dear Connor?" She asked teasingly and crouched a little lower down.

"Don't worry, I won't hurt you before we face the Nitehardt's. I will wait until after for that." She added and laughed.

"I don't think you'll need to go easy on me, Lydia." Connor replied and took a stance of his own. He still wasn't adept at fighting as a vampire, so he attempted to mimic Lydia's stance. Somehow she still seemed more powerful and graceful than he did.
"I can handle myself, I just hope Queen Aurora doesn't behead me for this." He smirked.

"Is that so? Well then, challenge accepted." Lydia replied and lunged at Connor at blinding speed. If he wasn't a vampire himself, he would never have even noticed she moved.

Connor reacted purely out of instinct and dodged and blocked many of Lydia's strikes. If his heart still beat, it would be beating out of his chest. The more he thought about his motions, the harder it became to counter the strikes.

"In the heat of battle," Lydia spoke as she quietly and silently struck at Connor,
"You do not always have time to think, you must be adaptable and go off your instinct. You must use whatever you can. You must survive."

Her blows became stronger with each sentence she spoke and she was knocking Connor back. She fought with a mixture of knee strikes and jabs that were unfamiliar to Connor and his confidence began to dwindle. Connor tried to fight back, but his attacks only struck a quarter of the times Lydia's did. Within a few moments, Lydia spun and swung quickly and sent Connor to the ground. Lydia had won and stood over Connor.

"Were you listening to anything I said?" Lydia asked and helped Connor up. He was breathing hard and felt slightly sore from the sparing session.

"Of course I was, you said to survive and use instincts. I tried, Lydia, but I still wasn't as fast or as strong as you." He replied and steadied himself as he stood.

"You don't have to be. There are times where the opponents you face are bigger or stronger. You still must survive." She paused and kissed his cheek apologetically.
"You will never have more experience or knowledge of our abilities than I do, the time between us is too great. However, I believe there is always a way to win, to change things to be in your favor. I clearly have the advantage in our inhuman side, so what must you do?" She asked, poking Connor's chest firmly but affectionately.

"I can't defeat you as a vampire..." Connor started as he thought about her words,
"However, I am more than a night creature. I am also a warlock." He concluded and his confident smile returned.

"Exactly, use what you have." Lydia replied with a grin,
"This is a training session, but I never said no magic." She nodded and took several steps back. She returned to her stance and readied herself.
"Now, are you ready for a true battle? I won't hold back this time." She laughed and began moving around Connor.

"Oh, that wasn't you at full strength?" Connor laughed and braced himself for Lydia's attack. He took a sturdier stance then last time and closed his eyes to focus on his magic as well as his fighting.

The strikes came quick, and Connor was able to counter them much better than before. Lydia decided to switch her fighting technique several times to try and defeat him. She swung at him and he deflected it with his arm and then began using his magic.

"Ignis!" he chanted and his arms became engulfed in flames. Lydia was forced to back up and go on the defensive this time. He smirked and struck swiftly, but she moved just as fast. She kept her arms down and kept backing up and turning to avoid every hit. She ducked after Connor swung wildly and kicked his chest and he went stumbling back.

"Come now, Connor. Maybe you're not quite ready for this." Lydia said with a smile.

Connor nodded and winked at Lydia and she laughed. She charged again, this time using kicks and spinning so fast it appeared as if she was floating. He dodged as much as he could, but the kicks kept coming. His flames began to die out, both from the winds of Lydia's strikes and his lack of concentration. He became slightly angry, then calmed down and recollected his thoughts. He saw Lydia's strikes coming much more clearly and began to deflect them. Then he thought of something different. He reached into his pockets and threw out his falcon statue at Lydia when she was striking.

"Avem!" Connor yelled out the name he chose for the bird as the falcon came to life. It screeched loudly and defended Connor aggressively. Lydia then focused all her offense and defense on the large bird of prey and Connor saw an opening.

"Ventus!" he cast his arms out and a strong gust sent Lydia flying back towards the Council's home and Avem flew back to Connor's side. He breathed out and his knees buckled slightly at the use of his magic, but he was proud in his victory.

"Are you ok, Lydia?" he came over and helped her up. Avem returned back to his statue form and went back into Connor's pocket.

"I am fine. You did quite a good job." She smiled and embraced Connor.

"That was certainly a good example of using what you have."

"I agree!" Avalonna said as she and Aurora came from towards the house. She smiled and embraced her brother.

"I have much to tell you, but from what I've seen we now have a better chance than ever to defeat the Nitehardt's."