The Chaos Of Knowledge

Chapter 11

Selene was strangely gentle compared to how he had seen her just a few hours before. Rubbing the sponge soaked in an alcohol solution across his shoulder and watching it wash away the blood and grime that was piled on his back.

He hissed quietly as he pulled from her grasp in pain. "I'm sorry." She muttered lifting it quickly from the scratch. Nomas shook his head looking at her.

"Keep going." He said relaxing again. She had taken care of and wrapped most of his wounds with only minor scratches and internal injuries untouched. "The more we get rid of the less I need to heal."

She nodded slightly beginning to rub the wound again. Nomas remained still flexing his fingers and watching the muscle move under his skin. He was familiar with cleaning up after a fight, but he had never been beaten to the ground like that before.

"Where did you learn to fight like that?" Nomas asked with a frown.

"You're new to this aren't you?" Selene asked rinsing the sponge before looking at the man a long moment. Nomas felt something odd, a tinge of regret, of anxiety, as he looked at her and her unblinking gaze.

Nomas didn't know quite how to respond to her question, New to what? "It is traditional to answer a question without using another one," Nomas said looking back down at his arm.

"We'll get to that." She said back before crossing her arms. "How long have you been fighting Shifters?" He asked with a frown.

"Few days," Nomas admitted looking at her for a few seconds trying to figure out what was going on in her head. But her green eyes seemed to show no signs of her inner thinking. She took a second before nodding.

"I should have figured. How many have you fought? How many have you killed?"

Nomas stood now and crossed his own arms looking at her. "I think that's quite private don't you think?" He asked quickly to which she didn't even stop for a second.

"I have fought fourteen shifters in hand to hand combat. Twenty-seven in weaponized. And have killed all of them." She said with a cold tone on the end of her tongue.

Nomas winced slightly before looking at her. "Four, and I killed three of them."

She nodded. "Do you see the difference between us?" Nomas shook his head knowing he had no way of figuring out what she was going to say next. "I have experience, I have training, you have... what? A tail?" She asked with a frown.

Nomas felt his tail wrapped around his leg, a subconscious reaction from when he got nervous. "Your point?"

"I learned to fight like this from both my father and yours. From experience and understanding. I use both instinct and intellect to knock people like you down a few pegs. But you can get to where I am one day, of you don't die on the way there." She said before wringing out the sponge over his back making him yelp in pain and jump from his seat. "You're done by the way."

Nomas frowned grabbing a cloth from nearby and quickly dabbing the burning wound. "I've trained a lot of my life." Nomas shot back throwing the towel away. "But I have never seen anything fight like a shifter."

"Of course you wouldn't." She said letting a sigh and grabbing the bucket. She started walking towards the door before stopping a moment. "Shifters are apex predators Nomas, the only thing that can stop them is something stronger." She said before disappearing out the door.

Nomas sat a long moment thinking on what she had just said. Something stronger. The way he had seen the brute in the castle fight he never thought anything could be stronger than that.

Blinking once he tried to get a good look though his swollen left eye as he looked over himself. He had already changed quite a lot in the few days he had been gone. He could see his skin was a few shades darker than it was before and his tail was a bit darker. A single short scar was on his wrist, though he couldn't remember how he had gotten it he knew it was new.