Forbidden Lineage

Chapter 13

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Dante:

The clang of metal on metal filled the room as he blocked the paper thin blade yet again.  Sparks rained around the source of impact, darkly highlighting his face.  He smirked, but his heart wasn’t in the game today.   Something was up.  There was an irksome knot at the back of his head which had been continuously pulsating with a warning since he got news of Kai’s disappearance.  The feeling had been stronger a few days ago, but now it was just there, taunting him, making him wonder if he was missing some vital piece of information.  In his thousands of years of existence, this feeling came rarely, and it was almost always followed by discord.  He pulled away and stepped back, his movements lithe and swift while keeping his eye on his opponent.  A grin spit his face as Caleb rushed forward again, feet barely touching the ground, weapon aimed for impact.  Dante arched backwards, twisting away and twirling his blade in a blur of movement.  Each blow was successfully blocked and matched with equal fervor, but Caleb eventually grunted, irritated that he missed his target by a millimeter this time.  To a normal person, all they would discern would be the sound of contact, and an occasional glimpse of two figures appearing and disappearing.  They would not be able to admire the stark differences in their fighting techniques, they would not see the precision in which they sparred, nor would they be able to understand how they managed all that without breaking a sweat or receiving a scratch.

“Stand still for a minute, will you!”  Caleb hissed while throwing his body into the air and landing on the far end of the room poised for another attack.

“Like hell I would.”  Dante growled, lunging forward and cutting him off again. 

A few short moments later, Caleb found himself flat against the wall, his weapon on the ground beside him.  Dante tilted his head, one hand loose at his back, the other guiding the flimsy sword to its target, years of practice keeping him perfectly balanced while the blade whipped ahead of him and stilled at his opponent’s neck.

“Dammit!”  Caleb cursed steadying himself so he wouldn’t slide into the tip.

“I win…again.”  Dante grinned half heartedly and retracted his sword.

Caleb bowed slightly, but looked unsatisfied that the session was over already.  He could tell that something was bothering Dante, but he was wise enough not to ask.  The man would either open up a floodgate of angry thoughts or shut him off altogether.  Either way, it wasn’t something pleasant to deal with.  He gathered his things and said goodbye before leaving Dante to brood.  He’d go find Ulrica to play with for a while.  She was always ready for a good fight.  

Dante whipped off his shirt and tossed it on the floor already reaching for another.  His thoughts were on something bigger than a refreshing shower right now, namely finding the source of the maddening ache in his head.  Although all the Crimson Guardians had an equal right to make decisions regarding their people, the others had gladly left him to take charge because of his nature.  He was the type to confront things head on, hands on and without any mercy whatsoever.  Yesinia was much like him, yet she chose to use her power as Guardian for other purposes…namely being treated like something revered by those beneath her.  Caleb and Ulrica were happy with investigating issues, and were very well liked among the others.  They were very diplomatic when it came to reasoning with younglings and issuing punishment, often leaving the culprit able to recover and redeem themselves.  Nik, well, he was Nik.  There wasn’t a bad bone in his body, but whenever things got out of hand, he would not hesitate to assert himself.  And that was when Nik truly was a Guardian.  He’d chosen a long time ago to proceed with any undertakings having Nik as his ally, but lately something just rubbed him the wrong way when he remembered Nik’s handling of Kai.  Where the others would treat him indifferently, Nik had kept him close.  He’d known about the little disappearing acts Nik had pulled before, but Kai had never once shown any sign of rebellion afterwards.  He always thought it was his way of keeping him in line, but now he seriously wondered what all that was about. Leaning against the window frame, he raked frustrated fingers through his hair while he went through the events of the last few hours.  Early this morning, all of them had met to discuss the best possible way to confront the others.  They needed to let the council of Guardians know that the issue at hand was recognized and being dealt with, and that they should keep a lookout as an added assistance to locate their beast.  Given, he was a threat to anything alive, but he was the main concern of the Crimson, not theirs.  The knot pounded insistently again at the thought sitting through a meeting with those stinking shifters.  He could tolerate Hugo, but if he could use Kai to get rid off Locke, he’d do it in a heartbeat.  That dog was not worth his time.  His mind drifted to amusing himself with ways he could put him down again when a sudden thought came to him.  Nik seemed a little too happy this morning.  Yes, he was usually the happy one, but there had been an almost gleeful glint in those slate gray eyes whenever they mentioned Kai.  All through the meeting, Nik had been casual about the whole disappearance, seeming deep in thought about something he wasn’t opening his mind to.  He stalked out of his room, and headed straight for his study, where he flipped through the folder on his desk.  Breathing in angrily, he picked up the photo of the little girl he had been searching for.  She would be of age to mate right about now.  They’d never did find out where she’d been hidden, but if through some twist of fate she and Kai crossed paths and discovered each other, he could kiss his days of power goodbye.  Her parents had been thorough in covering their tracks.  Their scent had been picked up a few years go, and the Witches had confirmed that it was the same two who had escaped punishment before, but somehow, they once again managed to elude the Guardians and disappear.  Why wouldn’t anyone believe him when he told them that they would all suffer through Kai’s destruction?