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Ch. 1

As I stood behind a tree, panting lightly, I had to try and think of a strategy to win our practice exercise. These training exercises are something we do almost every day, to get us prepared in case of an attack. By Demons of course. In this excessive there were around fifty Demon simulations out there, and only six of us. I closed my eyes in thought, as I want through the strengths and weaknesses of my friends and me.

Chichi, the smallest and youngest of us, had strawberry blonde hair that always fell just over her shoulders, yet she used a red hair band to keep the hair out of her adorable green eyes. Her power was that of healing any wound or injury, whether it is a cut or a broken bone, she could fix it. Yet that power would be useless in this fight, unless one of us got hurt of course. But what she could do is have her teddy bear, named 'Teddy' (don't know why it's named that), use some of his abilities to defeat a few of the Demons.

Edco, Chichi's older brother as well as the complete opposite of her, meaning the tallest and oldest, also had the same blonde hair as his sister except it was spiked, and also usually hidden inside the green hood of his jacket that also hid his blue eyes. He would be a heavy hitter in this fight with his ability to control sonic blasts of air and sound. And most likely he'd be by Chichi, so she'd be protected as well. Just like the big brother he is.

Amaya, the oldest girl in our group, had long red hair that fell down her back and that seemed to amplify her pale skin. Her green eyes were almost always in a curious stare that complimented her hair color. But the most interesting thing about her was her teeth. Teeth of a vampire. She's a vampire herself, and I learned that when I met her because she drank some of the blood I had on my bleeding finger. But enough about that. She also could control water, changing it into any form she wants in order to defeat her enemies.

Basanti and Firth, the two dark skinned twins among us, both had black hair and have brown eyes that are both deep and orb like on each of them. Basanti's hair was always tied back in a ponytail whenever she could put it that way while Firth just liked to have his hair shaggy and covering his eyes. There powers are almost similar as well, with Basanti being able to control flowers while Firth can control trees. Being twins as well they would stay together as much as possible to protect themselves and each other.

And then there's me and the black hair that falls over my forehead and barely covers my icy blue eyes. Unlike the others, I don't have a power, so I mainly have to rely on my sword, which is a simple double-edged one. But something I do have is this mark on my chest that I've had there since I came to the Academy for the Gifted, our school. The mark is of three black comma-like things that if you stare at long enough seem to swirl around in a circle.

But enough of my weird mark and back to the matter at hand: How should we defeat these Demons? I glanced around at our surroundings; this place was filled with tons of trees and flowers. That's when it hit me: This place would suit the twins’ abilities perfectly.

I reached up; touching the earpiece in my ear as I slowly started talking into the mike that extended from it toward my mouth. "This area is perfect for Basanti and Firth. Now, I need you two hit them hard and fast using your powers fast."

"Got it," Firth's twelve year old voice came onto the line, sounding like a mix between squeaky and a deep booming at the same time. He was trying to sound tough at the moment.

"Cut the macho voice bro," Basanti's voice said next, in her rolling-her-eyes type of voice. "We'll be in position soon."

"Alright. Now next, Edco and Chichi, I need you t-"

"You forgot to say Teddy's name," Chichi's innocent voice spoke up as I heard giggles and chuckles from everyone else as I sighed. Of course she would get on me for forgetting her precious teddy bear.

"Alright, Edco, Chichi and Teddy, I need you 'three' to circle around and hit them from behind while staying hidden. Chichi and 'Teddy,' could you cast a cloak around the three of you when the time comes?"

A low murmuring was heard from Chichi as she talked with Teddy about this. After a few moments she came back on the line, saying "Teddy will only do it if you ask him nicely."

I rolled my eyes before a fist contacted my arm. "Just say it," Amaya said, annoyed at my attitude. When she was like this there was only one thing I could do: Do as she said.

"Teddy, will you please make a cloak around you, Chichi and Edco when you're in position?" I asked, thinking I sounded like an idiot as I heard snickers coming from all the com-links.
After a few more mumblings from Chichi, she responded "Yes, we'll have the cloak ready soon."

"Let's go Chichi," Edco's deep voice said as it came onto the mikes as I heard the sound of him picking up Chichi before breaking off into a run.

"Now, Amaya and I w-"

"Yes Captain?" Amaya smirked, snickering as she knew I didn't like to be interrupted too often. But I simply huffed, rolled my eyes, and continued.

"Amaya and I will attack from the front of their pack, and with our combined attacks we should start trapping them in," I said, hoping my plan would work as I fingered the hilt of my sword.

"This'll work, don't worry," Amaya said quietly next to me, as we waited for them to get into position.

"Hopefully," I said, not sure of how this plan would actually turn out.

"C'mon, you've got to have a little faith," Amaya smiled. "Fearless Leader."

I couldn't help but chuckle at that. When I met her a few years ago we always used to play adventure games, and I'd always try to be the 'Fearless Leader' although I was never fearless in real life. "Now c'mon, just sit back and wait for the others," Amaya said, as we both leaned against the tree. Neither of us noticed this, but our hands that were right next to each other were soon intertwined together.

.....

Basanti and Firth raced through the forest, trying to find the tallest tree they could. "You don't know which one is the tallest?" The sister of them asked her brother, as she didn't have a clue.

"Of course I do, I'm just testing you," her brother responded, in his very sarcastic type voice. He seemed to be thinking hard by his attitude, and he wanted to also find a way he could defeat a lot of the Demons to show how good him and his sister were to the others.

Basanti sighed, shaking her head as she looked up at the tree in front of them. She raised her hand, pointing to its top. "Would that one do?" She asked.

Firth looked up at it, before walking up to its trunk, touching it with his hand while closing his eyes. He focused on the tree as it's branches leaned down to them, large enough to act as a lift for both of them. "C'mon," he said, opening his eyes before he walked onto the tree lift, sitting down on the middle of it.

Basanti sighed, looking up at the tree as she tried to figure out a way up the tree. She scanned over it before she found what she was looking for: Flowers. Basanti smiled as she closed her eyes, before the flowers' vines grew longer and longer as they came down to where she was, curling up to act like a vine swing on which she got on quickly. "Let's go," she said, the swing heading toward the top of the tree.

Firth shrugged, patting his tree lift as it started up as well, staying just below his sister the entire way up to a position where they could see the enemies better. Overall there were the fifty Demons, although most of them were Werewolves, vicious black furred wolves with blood red eyes that could walk on two legs, along with some Minotaur, large humanoid bulls with curved horns that wear leather pants yet they wield large bronze hammers that could smash through rock. Overall there were seventeen Minotaur and thirty-four Werewolves, and there were two other Demons as well.

They were known as the Demon Guard, the strongest warriors of the Demons. They are recognizable by their armored helmets, which are modeled after the heads of dragons, along with their armored plating that has various Demons hexes on it. Each Knight would fight to the absolute end, and wouldn't be captured because if they were they were considered traitors. So each Knight knows an attack that an effective killing technique yet it cost them their lives. Once of the two knights here wielded a sword while the other one had a lance.

Before either of them could talk or think, their twin telepathy acted up, when it does it's really scary by the way, but both of them touched their com-links at the same time as they spoke in unison, telling me the information.

"Alright, great job you two," I said through my own com-link. "Now all we have to do is just wait for Edco and Chichi to-"

"You forgot Teddy again!" Chichi's voice came on again as they had just been listening in on us. The snickers resumed again as I groaned.

"Fine...Now we have to wait for Edco, Chichi and 'Teddy' to get into position then we can begin, ok?"

"Teddy says thank you Jolon!" Chichi's giggling voice said as I heard Edco sigh. "Big brother says we're almost to where we need to go! We'll get back to you soon so byee!" Their com-links went out as I told the twin wonders to stay put and be ready to attack.

...

Edco continued running toward their destination, while holding his sister who in turn held her teddy bear in her small arms. Chichi moved her head so she was looking at her brother's hidden face before she asked the question while clutching Teddy: "Big bruddar, why doesn't Jolon believe Teddy is real?"

Edco grimaced behind his hood, not expecting the question yet trying to think of an answer since he didn't believe that Teddy was 'real' besides being able to protect Chichi when needed. He sighed before answering, "I don't know sis, maybe he doesn't have as much imagination as you do."

"But I'm not imaging! Teddy is real!" Chichi protested cutely. "Can't you hear him talking?" She held Teddy up to Edco to try and get him to hear what he couldn't.

Edco grimaced more when the bear remained silent before he sighed. "Chi, can we discuss this more after the mission?"

"Ok..."Chichi pouted as she hugged Teddy tightly before her ear twitched, as if she was listening to her silent stuffed animal.”Ed, teddy says we're almost too where we need to be."

Edco nodded, looking around as he heard growls and stomping nearby. "We're here....we need to tell Jolon and the others." His sister nodded, touching her com-link before saying sweetly, "Jolo, Ama, we're where we need to be."

I sighed over the com-links Amaya and I were called our nicknames. Amaya giggled over her com-link before saying, "Thanks Chichi, I think we're about ready to begin. So could you ask Teddy to hide you and Edco?"

Chichi put Teddy to her ear, as it 'said' something into her ear before she spoke into her com-link. "Jolo, Teddy wants you to ask him to put the cloak thingy around us."

"Really?" I asked, getting a yes in reply, before sighing. "Fine...put Teddy up to where he can hear me..." She did so as I took a breath, not wanting to do this. But, I sucked it up and did it anyway. "Teddy...Could you throw up a cloak around you and Chichi plus Edco?"

Teddy's black marble eyes glowed white as a silver black substance started appearing around Edco and Chichi, as it circled around them one of the Demons, a Werewolf, darted out from behind a few trees behind them, thinking it had heard something, yet seeing and smelling nothing. The furred being scanned around, looking through the three multiple times as it walked around, almost stepping on Chichi's foot, which made her gasp before she covered her mouth quickly afterword. But the Werewolf took little note of this, however, because it still did not see or smell anything. After another minute looking for what it had heard it gave up, running back toward the pack of Demons.

Once they were sure it was out of hearing range, Edco touched his com-link and relayed what had happened back to me and Amaya. He also told us that he was sure that the Demon they saw was the scout of the group, so now they were officially behind the group of Demons.

"Good work," I said, commending them. "And now we're all set up to destroy them today. Be ready at my call to attack." I got a mixed reply back from everyone, but it all meant that they were ready to do what was needed to be done.

...

I sighed, grabbing the hilt of my sword with my right hand, the nervousness starting to set in as my fingers were shaking feverishly. The shaking of my free hand was soon stopped as a soft, smaller hand intertwined itno mine as it started to calm down my nervous fingers.

"We're going to be fine," Amaya's calm voice said from next to me. Her hand and her voice were both starting to calm down my nervous nerves at the moment.

"How are you so sure? How do you know we're not going to fail?" I asked, still doubting my plan would actually work. That was my thinking on everything: always doubting my plans, always unsure of my battle skills and always having no self-confidence what so ever.

Yet Amaya's thinking was different. She always seemed to know that my plans would always work, always thinking that my battle skills were superior to everyone in our group and she also always seemed to have confidence in me. So how she responded only surprised me a little bit: "I just do." She said, smiling at me with her vampire-like teeth. As I started to smile back, Edco's voice cut into the conversation: "Hey Jolon, Amaya, are we ready to begin?"

I nodded to Amaya, who needed back at me. "Yeah, we are. Everyone get ready, and when you hear the clashing of weapons jump in, got it?"

"Teddy says, 'Ok Jolo,'" Chichi's voice giggled over her com-link to us.

"We're ready up here." Firth's voice came on next, closely followed by his twin's: "We'll barrage them as soon as you begin."

"Let's go," Amaya whispered, giving my hand one last squeeze before letting go and taking out her gourd full of water from her pocket and attaching it to her hip as she lightly loosened the lid on it before she nodded toward me.

I nodded back as I reached for my blade, pulling it out of its sheath to reveal it's silver metal that was reflecting my face onto itself. I didn't have a power so this was my way of getting things done, such as killing Demons and slicing potatoes, but mainly the killing Demons part. Everyone else had a power that they used in their fighting styles, but since I had none, I had to rely on my physical strength and speed to get the job done. But since I've had my sword since I came to the Academy, I've had a few years’ experience with it. And now it's another day to put those skills of mine to the test.

I swung my blade silently through the air a few times before I looked at Amaya, who was in a stance that looked like she was ready to run. "Go," I whispered before we both broke off into a run toward the army of Demons. When we got closer to them, it had looked like they had already found out about us since five Werewolves came charging at us, their eyes full of bloodlust and pride for the hunt.

Amaya, who had been running next to me, and I split up, with three of the furred attackers following me and the remaining two going off after Amaya. The ones that after me and came at me at three different times. The first Werewolf tried biting my throat, but I sidestepped the bite, slashing my blade across its chest, as it fell forward the next attacked my sword arm with it's claws. But I dropped my elbow, the double edged part of my sword slashing the top of it's head before my blade sliced down it just as the third attacker came around from behind me but I back stabbed behind me, hitting its stomach before I slashed out of it, blood from the three attackers on gleaming on my blade as I left the three corpses behind as I ran at the rest of the army.

As I ran, I noticed how some of the Werewolves and Minotaur were either being tossed away by the trees, being sliced till they were on the ground by flower petals, being frozen before sliced by water or being blasted away into others by sound waves.

My team and I were starting to pin them back as I noticed as I deflected a Minotaur's hammer before rolling past it and slashing down it's leg before it fell to the ground in a heap. I only had a moment's rest before a Werewolf tried biting the back of my neck before I whizzed around, using my sword in defense as it bit into it before it pulled it from my grasp and tossing it about ten feet to our left but because of the two hundred pounds of teeth and fur in front of me I was unable to get to it.

The wolf jumped at me, but I rolled to my left, before taking off into a run for my sword as it recovered and chased after me, but before I could get to my sword, it jumped, about to rip my head off before a blast of lightning came down upon it, electrocuting it before it fell down onto the ground, too burned to move. I picked up my sword before looking around for who had shocked it and saved my life.

I couldn't help but chuckle when I spotted who had saved my life. "Thanks Teddy!" I laughed to Chichi and Teddy, who were a few feet away from the now dead Werewolf.

"Teddy says 'Welcome!'" Chichi giggled, hugging Teddy tightly before I turned, rushing toward the two attackers we needed to defeat: The Demon Guards. When I charged at them, the lanced one was battling Edco, who couldn't get a direct shot at the Guard and had to rely on evasion for now. I tried rushing toward them but was blocked by a large broadsword wielded by the other Guard.

The Guard glared at me, tempting me to make a first move. Which I did so, even against the unwritten law of combat, which was never to make the first move in a fight. I ran forward, slashing my blade through the air to see if it could contact his armor, but it didn't because he blocked with his longer blade. I pulled my blade back to fake a swipe at his helmet, but when he brought the broadsword I used the flat part of my blade to hit his stomach, before darting around him quickly while he lost his breath as I slashed his exposed back.

The Guard grunted in pain, as it turned, bringing down its blade to where I had been a moment before. As I jumped away, I slashed his armored boot, slashing through it, as he fell down to one knee and swung his blade horizontally at me. But I ducked under it, before running toward him, just as he tried to pull his blade up my blade contacted with the his slightly exposed neck before it simply fell off his body as my blade finished its downward slice.

As I looked to expect some more enemies to attack, yet when I scanned around I found none. Edco had finished off the lance Guard, while Chichi, Teddy, Amaya, Firth and Basanti had finished off the rest of the Werewolves and Minotaur that I had missed in my slice shots had missed.

I looked to the sky as all the corpses and the blood on my sword all started blinking out before vanishing. As the sun broke through the clouds I couldn't help but smile.

We had passed yet another test.