chapter 21

Else's pov, 'that damned fool... it's a wonder he's still alive right now... I mean who would willingly put themselves in danger by fighting enemies leagues above themselves, it's the equivalent of fighting a war by yourself, with nothing but your hands!' I ranted internally as I walked back to my room.

[ehh, I don't know why you're mad about it. it's a rare and good quality for a vampire.] the hooded woman said with a shrug of her shoulders.

[I'm getting sick of you just popping out of nowhere all the time.] I said as I glared at her.

she ignored me, and started to strut around the room. touching different things as she hummed a song.

[it's odd that you want to teach him your clans secrets, what would she say if she saw you doing this, of your own volition too?] she chuckled as she half-hazzaredly placed a small statue of a armor-clad woman back on the shelf.

[I'm free to do whatever you want, and if sister has a problem with it, she can mind her own business.] I said as I carefully reorganized the statue back to its original spot.

[heh, that woman has a couple screws loose. do you think he would be good enough in her eye's?] she questioned as she looked out the window.

I walked over to the window, and looked down towards the yard. Jake was practicing with the same dagger he usually used. his form with it is very good, but the weapon does not fit him, which means his form will always have openings.

'he needs a different weapon...' I thought to myself as I watched him shadow spar.

[to be honest, I'd rather have her disapprove of him... because knowing her if she likes him...] I thought of the possibility of that damned woman taking a liking to him, and with her personality she would be all over him.

[alright alright calm down, I doubt she'll notice you're gone any time soon, so focus on getting him stronger.] the hooded woman said in an attempt to calm me down.

[what's your objective with Jake?] I asked.

[you're not ready to know yet, nor do you need to know, so don't worry about my business child.] she waved me off as she disappeared.

'heh, defensive much?' I chuckled internally as she vanished.

~

Jake's pov, I've been practicing with my trusty dagger for a while after we finished our food and the fire burned down.

since Sam said that he will bring me another target, I've been trying to stay active with my training.

again the visions of my adopted family, and the white haired woman that's possibly my biological mother kept on flashing through my head with each movement I made.

yet again I was reminded of how weak I am, dispite how far I've come.

'it's not good enough... I need to be stronger, so no one else I care about will die anymore...' I repeated the sentence over and over in my head.

suddenly my entire body screemed danger, I hopped back a couple of Inches just to see a crimson streak zap by like lightning.

I looked over to where the attack came from, and saw Elise walking towards me with a cocky smile.

she was now wearing more combat oriented clothing. black combat pants, with similar colored boots, and a dark grey tight fitting v-neck shirt, obsidian colored metal gauntlets where strapped tightly to her arms, her straight crimson hair was tied into a long braid.

"reflexes aren't that bad, but not that good either..." she stated as she strutted towards me.

I looked down at her hands. two swords laid in their sheath as the rested in her armor-clad hands.

"you know, that would've killed me if it hit..." I muttered in a dry tone.

"please, it wouldn't kill you... but it would've just hurt really bad, that's all." she ignored my statement, as she tossed me the sword in her left hand.

catching the blade, I unsheathed the sword to inspect it.

judging by the size of the sword, it seems to be a long sword. the grip of the hilt of the sword was wrapped in dark brown leather. the pommel sported a cats head like shape, that was black in color. the guard of the sword was the normal "t" shaped, but with a slight curve at the end, and just like the pommel, it was black.

but what caught my eye the most was the blade. the blade was a mixture of silver, and dark blue. markings ran along the edges of the blade, the feeling of familiarity washed over me as I ran my fingers along the double edged blade.

"what's this for?" I asked Elise without looking away from the sword.

"you need a different weapon." she stated with a sharp tone that told me there is no room for protest.

"but the dagger works just fine... and it's concealable, how am I supposed to hide this thing?" I sighed as I waved the sword around to get a feel for it.

Elise chuckled at my words.

"concealing won't be a problem..." she said as she fiddled with her gauntlets.

"... why not?" I asked as I looked up from the sword that nearly put me in a trance.

"because you're going to learn how to do this..." she said that as the sword in her hand was covered completely by a blood red energy.

the energy covered the sword like a cocoon, and just as fast as it started the sword disappeared.

"what did you do?" I asked with wide eye's.

"this is something only my family can do... it's like a little storage slot that's sitting right next to me. but nobody can touch, or see it, it's only accessible to me." she explained with pride written in her voice.

"I see... then why try to learn it if I can't? like you just said, it's something only you and your family can do." I said as I scratched my head.

"don't worry, you'll be able too, why would I bring it up in the first place if you couldn't learn how to do it?" Elise put her hands on her hips as she stretched.

she said I could learn it, but doesn't that make the "family ability only" title worthless? if I'm able to learn it, than how come others can't?

'she's confusing sometimes...' I thought to myself as looked back down at the sword I was given.

"alright. what do we do?" I asked without looking up.

"first we test your abilities under pressure..." Elise said with a dark tone.

"wha-" was all I could muster before the blade of her sword glazed my throat.