Chapter 53

Akirexer and Waxx were conversing when Maradina suddenly stepped out of a portal. In her hands were three unconscious vampires. She tossed them towards Akirexer who took a step back. Waxx rubbed his hands with an approving smile written across his face.

"Thanks Maradina." He started. Turning to Akirexer, he continued, "Come on, absorb these three. You're going to need all the gamarax you need."

Akirexer absorbed the vampires while Waxx and Maradina patiently waited for her to finish. As soon as she was done, Waxx took hold of the palm of her right hand and nodded his head in satisfaction.

"Okay this will do for now." He stated.

Waxx picked up a stick lying on the ground. He proceeded to draw a 50 X 4 meter square making sure that Akirexer was at the center of it. Waxx threw the stick away and approached Maradina. Her heart skipped a beat when she met his eyes. She nearly lost her balance when Waxx took hold of her palm. Maradina helplessly blushed heavily as Waxx examined her palm.

"This is great. Your gamarax levels are good too." Waxx told her. "I need your help in training Akirexer. May you lend me a hand?"

Maradina slowly pulled her sweaty palm away from Waxx and rubbed her hand hoping that he would turn away from her.

"I will help you." She said underneath her breath.

Waxx jumped backwards with his jaw dropped. He took off his sunglasses availing his wide eyes and shot a stunned look at Akirexer but she appeared unfazed. Waxx turned to Maradina again with his jaw still down and she evaded his eyes. Waxx swiftly turned to Akirexer again and saw impatience in her eyes. He ignored it and placed his eyes on Maradina's shoulders.

"You can talk?" He whispered to her.

Maradina closed her eyes and nervously answered back in a whisper. "Yes I can, Waxx."

"You just said my name!" Waxx excitedly exclaimed. "This must be how parents feel when they hear their child speak for the first time."

Akirexer observed how uncomfortable Maradina was and she shook her head. With a tuck of her hair behind her ear, she said, "Knack it off Waxx. You are making her feel uncomfortable."

Waxx dramatically pointed at Akirexer with his nostrils wide and eye brows raised. "That's grand master Waxx. From now on, you will only refer to me as that." He commanded Akirexer.

"Oh please, I would rather die." Akirexer rolled her eyes.

"It was worth the try." Waxx shrugged his shoulders and laughed. "I am happy that you have found your voice Maradina. Perhaps now you and I can have real conversations."

"However, for now, I need you to go to that corner there." He pointed at the corner behind Akirexer. "I will stand opposite you in this corner." Waxx moved to the corner. "As for you Akirexer, you stay were you are at the center."

"Sounds easy enough." Akirexer remarked.

"Let me explain this exercise to you Akirexer. I am representing the dragon's head. My scythe can cause catastrophic winds that wipe out everything in their path. In this exercise, you will pretend that the wind is fire from a dragon. You are to dodge as many wind attacks as possible without the use of your sword."

"Why can't I use my sword?" Akirexer asked Waxx.

"Before facing the dragon, you will go through a process of surrendering your sword. Your dragon will appear as soon as you do. You are to defeat it without your weapon. Dragons only submit when they are defeated. Should you win, it will be loyal to you." Waxx paused and put his sunglasses back on. "Akirexer, however, should you lose, it will kill you." Waxx concluded.

"Yeah I kind of know that already." Akirexer admitted.

"Maradina will attack you from behind. She is taking the place of the dragon's tail. Just like you, she will not use her weapon. She will solely stick to her super strength. She will hit you as hard as she can. Do you understand?"

"I understand except for one thing. Why I'm I in a square?" Akirexer asked.

"The square represents the estimated length of a coiled up dragon. Dragons curl themselves and place their prey at the center while attacking. I have chosen to draw a square because it is easier to tell where the head and tail can be." Waxx answered Akirexer's question and she nodded her head in understanding.

"One blow under the jaw of the dragon is enough to weaken it. Your training will be complete when you hit me under my chin. Are you ready?" Waxx concluded.

"Let's do this." Akirexer spread her legs apart and took her stance.

Akirexer heard Maradina crack her knuckles and slam her fist into her palm. Waxx's eyes beamed red as his dragon mark turned into his scythe. He swung it from left to right causing a whirl wind that nearly blew Akirexer off her feet. She struggled to maintain her balance due to the high density of gamarax emanating from Waxx.

No wonder he was able to shield me from the blast. He is a lot stronger than I expected. Akirexer narrowed her eyes at him.

****

Alex walked out of the bathroom and into his bedroom. Dripping wet with a towel over his head, he stood looking at Britney who sat motionlessly on the bed. He could see the dry salty mark trails her tears left behind.

I understand why she is sad. She needs closure with Escabitha. I however, can't agree more with Akirexer to keep her out of the fight. I just hope she accepts this. Alex tucked his lips as he thought.

Britney felt Alex staring at her. She hastily wiped what she thought was left of her tears. Britney slowly got up with her hand on her belly. She gave Alex a faint smile as she approached him. Alex saw right through her as she dried his hair. Britney took the towel off Alex's head and turned to walk away when he held her hand.

"I know you are upset about Whitney's decision." Alex voiced out.

"Is it okay if I can see her tonight? I really need to speak with her about this." Britney asked with a frown.

"I don't mind that." Alex assured her with a peck on her lips.

****

Akirexer fell hard to the ground with a bang. Her fall caused a depression on the ground. Maradina pinned Akirexer with her fist held up. Both women were panting hard as they glared at each other. Waxx, on the other hand, was floating high up above her with the help of his wind.

It had been two hours since the training began. Akirexer had made no significant progress in hitting Waxx under his chin. She tried her best to dodge his wind attacks but it was like the wind came in all directions. There was just no dodging it. Maradina also didn't give her a break. Her last punch nearly knocked Akirexer out completely.

"Akirexer, if you were dealing with a real dragon, you would have been dead by now. You have to get your shit together or we might accidentally kill you." Waxx warned.

"Cut me some slack will ya. I am doing my best. You are just so fast." Akirexer shoved Maradina off of her and sat up holding her aching head.

"That's the whole point of this training. Dragons are fast and ruthless. You have to double up your speed and over pass our level or you will die." Waxx cautioned Akirexer again.

****

Akirexer's heart raced as she dodged and blocked Maradina's lethal attacks. Maradina kicked her so hard that she fell right into Waxx's whirlwind. She got slammed to the ground. When the dust settled, Akirexer laid bleeding and dusty on the ground.

"Okay I need a break." Akirexer coughed.

"Not for another three hours." Waxx refused.

"Oh come on please." Akirexer begged.

"I wouldn't mind taking a break either." Maradina chipped in.

"See! Even Maradina wants to take a break." Akirexer moaned in pain as she sat up.

Grass and pebbles were blown off the ground before Waxx's feet returned to the ground. His scythe disappeared as he pushed his sunglasses up the bridge of his nose.

"Okay fine let's take a 15 minute break." Waxx finally agreed.

Akirexer let out her hand to Maradina and she helped her back to her feet. They both spotted Alex riding into the yard. Alex looked over to the trio and cheerfully waved at them. Akirexer waved back at him with the same intensity and winced at the pain it caused.

"Good morning Wolfie...ooops I meant to say brother in law!" Akirexer laughed.

Brother in law? Waxx wondered.

"You're late today." Akirexer tilted her head at Alex.

"Yeah I am. I had to look for my bicycle in the woods." Alex scratched the back of his head with his eyes closed and wide smile across his face.

"Oh I am sorry about that." Akirexer showed sincerity.

"Don't worry about it... please." Alex assured Akirexer. "Well I wish you all the best in your training."

"Please I need it." Akirexer glanced over at Waxx and Maradina then turned back to Alex. "I'm almost a hundred percent sure that these two are planning on killing me."

"Excuse me? And risk facing Queen Sharaina's wrath?" Waxx asked Akirexer and Maradina laughed softly with her hand covering her mouth.

"Wait a minute though..." Waxx rubbed his chin. "Seeing her beauty wouldn't hurt. Maybe we should just kill you." Waxx grinned deviously.

Akirexer took cover behind Maradina and glared at Waxx over Maradina's shoulder. "Are you out of your mind?" She asked Waxx.

Maradina giggled. "Waxx has a huge crush on Queen Sharaina."

"Huh?" Akirexer gasped stunned. "You were scared shitless the last time she was here."

Waxx laughed hard. "Can you honestly blame me or any man for crushing on Queen Sharaina?"

There was a moment of silence as Akirexer dramatically processed Waxx's question. "Yeah I totally can't blame you either."

Waxx laughed at her response. "And don't you forget it."

"Aw now I'm wishing that they would kill you so that I get to see how Queen Sharaina looks like." Alex lamented with a dramatic sigh.

Akirexer furiously pointed at Alex. "Not you too! Don't forget that you are married to my sister." Akirexer scolded Alex. She glared at Waxx and he smirked at her. "You are also married. Shame on both of you for fantasizing about someone else's wife."

"We are allowed to dream." Alex laughed.

Waxx wiped his tears of laughter. "Alex, you are married to Akirexer's sister. Tell me how this is so."

"I'm married to her youngest sister, Britney. She is a werewolf like me." Alex explained.

"So you have a vampire sister and a werewolf sister. You on the other hand are a darkas god. I have never seen anything like this before." Waxx pointed out to Akirexer.

"Tell me about it." Akirexer laughed.

****

Escabitha sat still in a bath tub full of blood. She softly whistled to herself as she drifted away in her thoughts. Suddenly, a frown crossed her face. Her beautiful bright eyes became dull.

Standing three feet away from the tub was a woman. Her chocolate skin graced her body. She stared at Escabitha with her emerald eyes. Her thick curly hair fell to her back. The freckles on her cheeks highlighted her perfect cheek bones. She smiled at Escabitha.

"So nice to see you smile for a change, mother." Escabitha leaned on the tub. "You visit me nearly everyday but not once had you ever smiled at me. Care to tell me what has made you so happy?"

"I smile because I am amazed at the extent to which your wickedness grows. Your insanity knows no bounds." The woman responded.

Escabitha chuckled with her leg stretched up out of the tub. She traced down her leg with one finger. She then proceeded to lick the blood off that finger with a devious grin.

"Oh so the ghost speaks." Escabitha softly said. "I assumed your silence was because I ripped your neck off. Now I see that you were just giving me the classic silent treatment."

"I wouldn't be so comfortable if I were you. Soon you will face your own punishment." The ghost coldly said.

The lights in the room began to flicker. The appearance of the ghost changed. Her hair was covered in blood and broken glass. Half her neck was out and it was oozing out blood that stained her dress.

"Tell me mother, if I died today and joined you, would you love me?" Escabitha asked.

Without another word, the ghost vanished into thin air. The lights stopped flickering. Escabitha felt her loneliness return. It crept through her completely forcing her back into a cold and distant feeling she had gotten so used to.

"A monster like me wasn't meant to be loved but still, I yearn to be loved. Does this make me weak?" Escabitha's voice echoed across the bathroom.

She slowly sank into the blood until it completely covered her. All that was seen on the surface were bubbles.