Hiding Shadows

Chapter Twenty-Five- Who's in her room?

Athena had been training everyday for the past week. Every day she was getting better and better. On the eighth day of training, King Buledal allowed her to fight one of his guards. Before, she had just practiced with him and hadn't officially fought anyone.

Excited, she turned towards the demon she was going to fight. He was tall and muscular. His dark red, scaly skin shimmered in the low lighting of the room. He held a long scepter looking in his hands. His stance was firm and ready for her to make the first move.

Athena held her hands down by her sides with her palms pushed toward the floor. A blue light shimmered from her hands. She smiled at the comfortable feeling of her power flowing through her body.

Suddenly, the demon in front of her slammed one side of his staff on the floor causing the whole room to shake and cracks begin to form on the floor. Athena stepped out of the way of a crack coming to her and watched as it created a large hole in the floor separating her from the demon.

"Obstacles are going to present themselves to you," she heard King Buledal instruct her from a ways away. "You need to learn how to get past them to defeat your enemy. You need to think fast and smart."

Athena thought about what to do before kneeling down and placing her hands on the floor. She looked up and stared at the demon. She felt the power of electricity flow through her veins and come out of her hands. With her mind, she made the electricity move through the floor unknowingly and wrap itself around the demons ankles. She watched smugly as the demon writhed and screamed out in pain from being electrocuted.

To her surprise, the demon pointed his staff towards his ankles and turned the electricity against her. It felt as if her hands were glued to the floor as electricity shot through her body and pierced her everywhere with pain. She fell on the floor and screamed. With great effort, she removed her hands away from the floor and the flow of electricity was cut off. She laid there for a moment trying to get over her pain.

"Get up!" King Buledal ordered her. "Warriors don't lay on the floor."

"They do if they're in pain!" she barked back through clenched teeth. She struggled to get her feet underneath her, but eventually found the strength to stand up on wobbly legs. She took a quick look at King Buledal before turning her attention back towards her enemy.

King Buledal huffed loudly. "This battle is taking too long. Finish him already!"

Athena conjured up all the energy in her body, formed a large shard, and threw it towards the demons chest. He dodged out of its way and didn't have enough time to stand before Athena threw another one at him. He easily dodged it again. This time he caught Athena off-guard by creating a ball and throwing it straight at her. She tried to move out of its way, but was too slow. It struck her right in the shoulder knocking her to the ground. She screamed out in pain as she heard a sickening crack. She tried to move her arm, but a sharp pain shot through her body.

Athena took a deep breath and bit her lip to stop her from crying. Tears formed at the corner of her eyes, but she refused to let any of them fall. She returned her full attention back towards the demon and punched the floor. To her amazement, a hole formed underneath him and swallowed him up. She heard his screams as he fell. The screams stopped when a sickening crunch sounded.

She stood up and slowly walked towards the hole. Her eyes widened and she covered her mouth to prevent herself from screaming. The demon no longer looked like a demon. His limbs were broken and laying at awkward angles. Blood was pooling around him.

Athena slowly started to back away from the hole while cradling her hurt arm. She bump into something hard and quickly turned around. She glared at King Buledal.

"You made me kill him," she tried to be intimidating, but couldn't as her voice continued to crack.

King Buledal slowly nodded. "You had too, Athena."

"Why?"

"If you didn't, you wouldn't have been able to past your test." He leaned closer to her so he could whisper. "If you didn't pass, I would have no choice but to kill you."

"You wouldn't kill me."

"No?" King Buledal straightened. "And why would you think that?"

Athena took a deep breath. "Because I'm valuable to you. You need me, King Buledal. You know you do. If you kill me, you won't win your battles or even your wars. You need me. That's why you won't kill me." She kept her eyes leveled with him the whole time, trying to challenge him.

King Buledal glared down at her before pushing past her and walking out of the room. Athena stood where she was until Kassach came behind her and gently led her towards the healer. After her arm was healed and working again, Kassach took her back to her room.

"You're right," he told her when they got to her door. "He can't kill you."

Athena nodded. "If I get him too angry he'll try."

"But he won't succeed." Kassach turned to face her. "You were right when you told him that he needed you, but you still need to be careful."

"Why?"

Kassach sighed and shook his head. "He might not kill you, but he can still hurt you. He can even put you back in the dungeon and make your life miserable while your here. Also, if you're not careful, after he wins the war, he'll kill you then." He took a deep breath and gave her a slight bow. "I will see you later, Miss Athena."

"The same to you, Kassach." Athena watched him go before turning back towards her door. To her surprise, she found Celso sitting on her bed. She stood there in the doorway, dumbfounded. There wasn't anything restricting him. He was free and in her room!

"Well, are you just going to stand there or are you going to hug me?" Celso smirked.

Athena slammed the door shut behind her and ran towards him. She threw her arms around his neck as they both fell against the bed. She pulled away from him and gave him a questioning look. "Why are you here? I mean, I'm certainly glad you're here, but shouldn't you be in the dungeons?"

Celso chuckled and gave her a peck on her nose. "Your demon friend decided that it would good for you if I was here instead of down there."

"Kassach suggested that?" Athena asked him surprised.

"Yep." He flipped her over so that he was laying over her. "I'm glad that he suggested this." He leaned down and connected their lips together. Their lips moved in synch. Celso moved his hands up and down her sides.

Athena tightened her grip on his shirt and pulled him closer to her. She deepened their kiss until a knock sounded at the door. They both froze at the sound. The knock came again. Athena pushed him off of her and pulled him off the bed.

"Get under the bed," she whispered to him.

When he was finally out of sight, she walked toward the door and opened it up. She sighed with relief when she saw that it was only Kassach. "Hi, Kassach."

Kassach bowed slightly to her. "Hello, Miss Athena. There's one thing that I forgot to tell you. May I come in?"

"Of course," she stepped aside and let him in closing the door behind him.

"Where's your boy toy?" he asked her.

"My what?" she asked surprised at his question.

"Where's that boy you talk to?"

"You mean, Celso?" She walked towards the bed and bent down. She grabbed a hold of Celso's hand and helped him out from underneath the bed. She helped him stand up. "I didn't know who was at the door, so I - uh - hid him."

Kassach looked Celso up and down before speaking. "That's good. That's what you should do. No one else is allowed to know that this boy is out of his cell and in here."

"The guards will figure it out when they don't see him in any of the cells, won't they?" Athena asked.

Kassach shook his head. "I had an ally conjure up an apparition of your boy. They won't figure it out, I promise. But," he paused. "You need to get ready."

"Why?"

"It's almost time for the war to begin."